The Conversation -- August 19, 2024

Grace Ashford, et al., of the New York Times: "George Santos, the disgraced former Republican congressman from New York whose penchant for lying led to one of the oddest sideshows in modern U.S. politics, pleaded guilty on Monday to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. While Mr. Santos's plea will allow him to avoid a trial on a total of nearly two dozen charges -- including money laundering and stealing public funds -- it all but ensures he will face at least two years in prison and as long as two decades. The trial was set to begin next month.... Mr. Santos repeatedly insisted that he would defend his innocence in court, only to reverse course as the opportunity approached."

Rhona Tarrant of CBS News: "... Donald Trump shared AI-generated images of women wearing 'Swifties for Trump' t-shirts to his Truth Social account on Sunday, including a satirical post that claimed Taylor Swift fans were turning to Trump after security concerns forced the cancellation of her Vienna concerts earlier this month. Trump captioned the post 'I accept!' and shared screenshots of four X posts that show women wearing 'Swifties for Trump' t-shirts, as well as a fabricated image of Taylor Swift that reads, 'Taylor wants you to vote for Donald Trump.' Swift has not endorsed a presidential candidate in this election but endorsed President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2020 race." ~~~

     ~~~ You can see Trump's post here. Thanks to RAS for the link. MB: Of the 10 photos posted, it appears 8 are A.I.-generated. Two, of the same young woman, are real.

The Bluff Cannot Hold. Michael Bender of the New York Times: "Senator JD Vance of Ohio on Monday accused Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota of misleading the public about their records and taking relatively few questions on the campaign trail. But Mr. Vance's attacks, made to supporters at an appearance in Philadelphia, also trained the spotlight on his own less-than-direct answers to specific questions, including whether he and ... Donald J. Trump would support an increase in the federal minimum wage and whether his own opinions have changed on the need for a federal abortion ban."

Jamie Gangel & Gregory Krieg of CNN: "Retired federal appeals court Judge J. Michael Luttig, a prominent conservative legal scholar put on the bench by President George H.W. Bush, is endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris over ... Donald Trump, whose candidacy he describes as an existential threat to American democracy. It will be the first time Luttig, a veteran of two Republican administrations, has voted for a Democrat. 'In the presidential election of 2024 there is only one political party and one candidate for the presidency that can claim the mantle of defender and protector of America's Democracy, the Constitution, and the Rule of Law,' Luttig wrote in a statement obtained exclusively by CNN. 'As a result, I will unhesitatingly vote for the Democratic Party's candidate for the Presidency of the United States, Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris.'"

The New York Times is live-updating news of the Democratic convention. (Copies & partial copies of some entries after about 6:45 pm ET, when the convention was gaveled in, appear in Tuesday's Conversation.) ~~~

Neil Vigdor: "Democratic National Committee operatives projected a series of messages onto the facade of Donald Trump's 92-story condo-hotel tower in Chicago last night, a move that was intended to goad the former president on the eve of the party's convention. Some of the messages read 'Trump-Vance "Weird as Hell"' and "Project 2025 HQ."'..."

Maggie Astor: "Several organizations focused on combating climate change joined forces on Monday for a $55 million advertising campaign in support of Vice President Kamala Harris, embracing what they describe as the economic upside of the Democratic Party's environmental efforts. The campaign will include ads in at least six swing states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin."

Nicholas Fandos: "Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, a leader of the Democratic party's progressive wing, will speak tonight in prime time from the convention floor, according to an aide to the congresswoman. The high-profile speaking slot is a sharp contrast to 2020, when she was allotted just 90 seconds to symbolically nominate Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont."

Jazmine Ulloa: "In Chicago, the Hispanic Caucus meeting at the D.N.C. this morning opened with a video of Vice President Kamala Harris speaking about her immigrant mother and how she was overlooked because of her accent.... The room breaks into applause for Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, as he drops in to make brief remarks."

Chris Cameron: "Delegates representing Democratic voters who cast 'uncommitted' ballots in the party's primaries held a news conference this morning, reiterating their calls for Vice President Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party to call for an arms embargo against Israel, and an end to its deadly military campaign in Gaza."

Cameron: "The Democratic party platform, released last night ahead of the nominating convention, has a few sections that are out of date: It erroneously mentions a 'second term for President Biden 19 times, nearly a month after ... Vice President Kamala Harris took over the top of the ticket."

Ernesto Londoño: "Demonstrators marching in Chicago said they remained hopeful that Vice President Kamala Harris would come out in favor of cutting military aid to Israel. During a gathering that has been peaceful and often joyful, many voters said they intended to support third-party candidates or refrain from voting in November."

Eric Lee: "Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois welcoming President Biden to Chicago upon his arrival at Soldier Field."

Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs: "A small group of demonstrators calling for an end to the war in Gaza broke off from the main protest march that started at Union Park a few hours ago.... About 50 Chicago police officers -- roughly equal to the breakaway group of protesters -- have arrived to assist the police officers who were already here.... A group of riot police with helmets and batons are now entering from the other side, closing off the breakaway protest groups on either end.... The police detained at least four protesters who had broken away from the main protest group and gone through one of the security perimeter gates, including taking one protester to the ground and then dragging him away. Several protesters had been lobbing signs and cans at the police."

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Presidential Race

Axios has a rundown of the main speakers at the Democratic National Convention, which begins today.

Jonathan Martin of Politico in Politico Magazine: "Democrats are a healthier, better organized, more hierarchical and even ruthless party.... This doesn't mean [Vice President] Harris is sure to prevail in November. Her challenges and those of the party remain.... As David Axelrod, the longtime Democratic strategist puts it, the Great Summer Swap of 2024 only handed the party a chance to compete -- it hardly guaranteed victory. Happy Days aren't here again just yet. That Democrats made such a wrenching decision, though, illuminates a crucial distinction between the parties. Saddled with an aging and unpopular incumbent president, Democrats used President Biden's disastrous debate performance to stage what was effectively a front-bench putsch. Orchestrated by other party leaders, Biden's ouster revealed how pragmatic, cold-eyed and unsentimental Democrats have become in the age of Trump.... The non-MAGA Republicans only wish they could pull off what their opposition did last month."

Rebecca O'Brien & Nicholas Nehamas of the New York Times: "... Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, headed out on a brief bus tour on Sunday to fire up voters in perhaps the most crucial battleground state in the 2024 election.... Ms. Harris and Mr. Walz were joined on the outing by their spouses, Doug Emhoff and Gwen Walz, traveling in two new campaign buses from the Pittsburgh airport, where they arrived on Air Force Two to greet a small group of supporters. The Pittsburgh and Philadelphia areas are the two main drivers of Democratic support in Pennsylvania, a state whose 19 electoral votes could decide the presidency. Recent polling shows a neck-and-neck race there between Ms. Harris and ... Donald J. Trump, with some surveys showing Ms. Harris gaining a narrow edge recently.... Speaking to a crowd of supporters outside the Rochester campaign office on Sunday, Ms. Harris appeared to suggest that Mr. Trump was a 'coward.'... Over the last several years there's been this kind of perversion that has taken place, I think, which is to suggest that the measure of the strength of a leader is based on who you beat down,' Ms. Harris said -- though she did not name Mr. Trump. 'Anybody who's about beating down other people is a coward.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Reuters' story on the cowardly lyin' Trump is here.

Anumita Kaur of the Washington Post: "Former Republican congresswoman Barbara Comstock endorsed Kamala Harris's presidential bid on Sunday, joining another former Virginia representative [Denver Riggleman] in crossing party lines while the state's GOP establishment remains firmly in Donald Trump's camp. 'After Jan. 6, after Donald Trump has refused for four years to acknowledge that he lost, and his threats against democracy, I think it's important to turn the page,' Comstock said during a CNN interview Sunday. 'That's why I will be voting for the vice president.'" The Hill's report is profiles President Biden. (Also linked yesterday.)

Peter Baker & Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times evaluate Kamala Harris's tenure as vice president. (Also linked yesterday.)

Are you better off today than you were four years ago? Here's Rhode Island casting its delegate votes for president in the 2020 virtual Democratic National Convention": ~~~

Colby Itkowitz & Hannah Allam of the Washington Post: "From the moment Vice President Kamala Harris emerged as the surprise Democratic presidential nominee..., Donald Trump began arguing that she was anointed through a 'coup' rather than chosen by primary voters. After barely mentioning election integrity at the Republican convention in July, Trump is now casting the upcoming election as 'rigged' against him and baselessly labeling any hurdle in his path as election interference. 'This was an overthrow of a president. This was an overthrow,' Trump said at a rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., on Saturday, referring to Harris replacing Biden on the ticket.... This was a coup.' Trump's efforts to undermine confidence in this year's election are reminiscent of the tactics he used in the 2020 campaign and indicate how he could again seek to delegitimize the results if he loses, setting the stage for another combustible fight over the presidency, election and national security experts said." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: If you're thinking, "So what?" see Nick Corasaniti's report & Rachel Maddow's op-ed, linked below. And if you still think the GOP plot to steal the election if necessary won't work, think of the corrupt Supremes. There's a high possibility that five or six crooked justices could rule that an operational plot was Constitutional.

Miranda Nazzaro of the Hill: "Fox News chief political analyst Brit Hume on Sunday argued that while former President Trump could win the November election, voters' dislike of him makes him 'not a majority candidate.'... While Trump has a 'very hard, solid base of support,' Hume argued, it does not go above 40 to 45 percent. 'So, his weakness is the predicate for our politics going back now three elections,' Hume said. 'He was able to surmount Hillary Clinton, a uniquely unpopular opponent, but he couldn't beat Biden, and you know, you look at the losses in the midterms -- or the disappointing results in the midterms -- it's all about one thing, it's about that.' In the end, the enthusiasm felt among his supporters will not be enough to make him a 'majority candidate,' Hume said."

Trump & Vance, Expert Statisticians

As a result of Kamala's inflation price hikes, they've cost the typical household a total of $28,000. These are numbers coming from the government. They are not coming from me. -- Donald Trump, media event in Bedminster, N.J., August 15

Trump might have picked up the $28,000 figure from "a random statistic in a blog post." -- Glenn Kessler, Washington Post

Senator Jay Dee Gets His "Crime Stats" from the Movies. Jazmine Ulloa & Chris Cameron of the New York Times: "Senator JD Vance of Ohio, the Republican vice-presidential nominee, on Friday defended his past unsubstantiated claims about immigration in which he suggested that early waves of Italian, Irish and German immigration led to higher crime and interethnic conflict, by citing the movie 'Gangs of New York.'... 'Well, first of all, I also said there were a lot of benefits to that wave of immigration, but has anybody ever seen the movie "Gangs of New York"? That's what I'm talking about,' he said. 'We know that when you have these massive ethnic enclaves forming in our country, it can sometimes lead to higher crime rates.'... Historians and criminologists say there are no empirical studies to support claims like those made by Mr. Vance. The studies that do exist have repeatedly concluded that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than people born in the United States.... Tyler Anbinder, a historian who ... served as a historical adviser for the movie 'Gangs of New York,' said immigrants in New York during the film's time period and since have not committed crime disproportionate to their population numbers and have almost always been arrested at lower rates than natives."

Azi Paybarah, et al., of the Washington Post: "More than $247 million was spent in the first six months of this year on television, streaming platform and digital ads that mention immigration, according to AdImpact, which tracks campaign advertising. That is $40 million more than ads that mention any other issue. Over 90 percent of the ads supported Republican candidates and were paid for by their campaigns or political action committees backing them.... Taken as a whole, the ads convey an unrealistic portrait of the border as being overrun and inaccurately characterize immigrants generally as a threat, of which there is little evidence. FBI data show U.S. border cities are among the nation's safest. And a 2023 report from a group of economists found immigrants are at least 30 percent less likely to be incarcerated than U.S.-born individuals.... Footage [show Border Patrol agents teargassing migrants storming the border] was taken during the Trump administration, but in dozens of ads, it is paired with voice-over and text tying it to Democrats."

The New & Improved Jim Crow. Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: "Since the [Republican] takeover [in May], the Georgia State Election Board has approved a host of rules on certifications and investigations backed by right-wing election activists who claim, falsely, that the 2020 election was stolen from Mr. Trump. The moves underscore a sharp rightward turn for what is supposed to be an apolitical body.... If there is another chaotic challenge to the election results this November, Georgia is shaping up to be a hot spot, as it was in 2020." ~~~

~~~ Rachel Maddow, in a New York Times op-ed: "Since Donald Trump and Ronna McDaniel, the then-chair of the Republican National Committee, phoned local officials in Michigan in November 2020 to encourage them not to certify vote totals, Republicans have quietly seeded county and state election boards with eager allies. Election boards across the country now include Republican officials who have not only propounded Mr. Trump's lies about the last presidential election being 'stolen,' they have tested how far they can go in denying the certification of the vote.... In the past three and a half years, the ad hoc certification ploys that failed to flip the last presidential election to Mr. Trump have been professionalized and systematized by Republican officials and their allies.... In Georgia, the State Election Board approved a rule this month that gives election officials in each of the state's 159 counties the option to delay or refuse certification in order to make a 'reasonable inquiry' into the results.... The point of ... certification refusals may not be to falsify or flip a result, but simply to prevent the emergence of one. If one or more states fail to produce official results, blocking any candidate from reaching 270 electoral votes, the 12th Amendment prescribes ... a vote in the newly elected House of Representatives to determine the presidency. Each state delegation would get one vote; today, Republicans control 26 state delegations; Democrats control 22; and two are evenly divided."

Fake Impeachment Report Caps Fake Impeachment Investigation. Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "House Republicans on Monday formally made the case for impeaching President Biden, releasing a lengthy report accusing him of corruption and seeking to allow his family to profit off his office in connection with foreign business deals made by his son Hunter, who has been charged with felony tax crimes. In the 291-page document, released on the day that Democrats gather in Chicago to begin their party convention, Republicans call Mr. Biden's conduct 'egregious' and say he should be impeached for abuse of power and obstruction. But the report contains no proof that Mr. Biden, when he was vice president, engaged in any corrupt quid pro quo to benefit his son's business partners, and Republicans admit they have no direct evidence that he ordered any interference into a Justice Department investigation into Hunter Biden.... Like the impeachment investigation itself, the report -- prepared by the Oversight, Judiciary and Ways and Means Committees after a monthslong investigation -- appears to be orchestrated for maximum political impact."

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Minnesota. We Think We Can, We Think We Can. Katie Robertson of the New York Times: "Many metropolitan newspapers across the country have narrowed their ambitions in recent years, closing regional bureaus and cutting back statewide coverage in an effort to trim costs. The Star Tribune in Minneapolis is taking the opposite tack. The paper will now be called The Minnesota Star Tribune, its chief executive announced on Sunday, and it will use an injection of money from its billionaire owner [Glen Taylor] to expand its coverage beyond the Twin Cities into other parts of the state. Steve Grove, the publisher and chief executive, said the push, which includes hiring reporters in various parts of the state, was part of an effort to as much as triple the publication's paid digital subscriptions over the next five years."

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Israel/Palestine, et al. The New York Times' live updates of developments Monday in the Israel/Hamas war are here. Here's part of the pinned item (@ 8 am ET): "Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken met with officials in Israel on Monday at what he called 'a decisive moment' for diplomatic negotiations aimed at reaching a cease-fire in Gaza and securing the release of hostages. After months without progress, talks that ended in Qatar on Friday and were expected to resume this week in Egypt represented 'probably the best, maybe the last, opportunity to get the hostages home, to get a cease-fire, and to put everyone on a better path to enduring peace and security,' Mr. Blinken said as he met with President Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv."

News Ledes

New York Times: "Phil Donahue, who in the 1960s reinvented the television talk show with a democratic flourish, inviting audiences to question his guests on topics as resolutely high-minded as human rights and international relations, and as unblushingly lowbrow as male strippers and safe-sex orgies, died on Sunday at his home on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. He was 88."

New York Times: "Ruth Johnson Colvin, who founded what became one of the world's largest organizations of volunteers tutoring basic language skills to functionally illiterate peoples in America and other lands, opening doors to citizenship and better lives, died on Sunday at her home in Syracuse, N.Y. She was 107."

The Conversation -- August 18, 2024

Are you better off today than you were four years ago? Here's Rhode Island casting its delegate votes for president in the 2020 virtual Democratic National Convention": ~~~

~~~ Robert Draper, in the New York Times Magazine, profiles President Biden.

Peter Baker & Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times evaluate Kamala Harris's tenure as vice president.

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Presidential Race

Maureen Dowd of the New York Times, as she is wont to do, airs top Democrats' dirty laundry, even if she has to make up some stuff. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

Ezra Klein of the New York Times on what unites Democrats: Democrats "are unified in wanting to use the government to make people's lives better.... The modern Republican Party, by contrast, is built upon a loathing of the government.... [Democrats] are unified in believing Trump must be stopped. And so it is not quite true that this election is just a contest between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. It is that, but it is also a contest between Donald Trump and the Democratic Party."

Marianne LeVine & Isaac Arnsdorf of the Washington Post: At a rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Saturday "Donald Trump fixated on Vice President Kamala Harris's appearance in terms he acknowledged were offensive, rejecting pressure from GOP allies to emphasize policy differences over personal attacks.... He appeared to take exception to a Wall Street Journal column that listed Harris's appearance as one of her political assets, saying, 'I am much better looking than her. I'm a better-looking person than Kamala.' He also said he mistook an illustration of Harris on the cover of Time Magazine for the actresses Sophia Loren or Elizabeth Taylor.... Trump repeatedly described Harris as a 'lunatic' and mocked her laugh. 'As soon as she laughs, the election's over,' he said.... In other recent remarks, Trump suggested Harris's appearance would undermine her with world leaders, saying they would view her as a 'play toy' and declining to specify why." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Sophia Loren? She hasn't made a film in a decade. Elizabeth Taylor? She's been dead for more than a decade. I pay far, far less attention to Hollywood celebrities than does Trump, but even I could come up with the names of contemporary beautiful movie stars without thinking too hard about it. ~~~

~~~ Meredith McGraw of Politico: "For ... Donald Trump, the 2024 race is a contest between him and Vice President Kamala Harris. And President Joe Biden. During a rally in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, Trump repeatedly blamed Harris and Democrats for Biden dropping out of the race more than a month ago -- undermining Harris' legitimacy as a candidate and highlighting his one-time opponent. He claimed, without evidence, that the upcoming Democratic National Convention in Chicago next week is 'rigged' because Biden isn't on the ticket.... Trump also brought up Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a finalist to be Harris' running mate before she tapped [Minnesota Gov. Tim] Walz, and he claimed without evidence she did not pick him because he is Jewish. 'I don't think he's good but they turned him down because he's Jewish. That's why they turned him down, and I'll tell you this, any Jewish person that votes for her or a Democrat needs to go out and have their head examined,' Trump said."

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. James Fallows, in a Substack post, calls out the mainstream press for their coverage of presidential elections. "Eight years ago, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and other leading news organizations raced to publish embarrassing secrets about the Hillary Clinton campaign, extracted and fed through Wikileaks by Russian-led email hackers.... This past weekend Politico reported that it, plus the NYT and the Washington Post, had again received hacked data, this time about the Trump campaign. The hacking was again foreign-directed, apparently from Iran. But this time the news outlets thought it wiser not to publish info aimed at disrupting a campaign.... Regardless of rationale, as a blunt reality the editors' decision in 2016 enabled (and probably elected) Donald Trump. Their decision in 2024 protects him." And this: "Especially after Robert Hur's notorious description of Joe Biden as 'an elderly man with a poor memory,' the state of Joe Biden's cognition became the 'but her emails!' of 2024.... [The MSM has covered every Biden gaffe while ignoring his mastery of the facts.] Over the past ten days..., nearly everything [Donald Trump] has said ... has been a fantasy or a lie. And yet: No major news organization has yet run even one serious story about the state of Trump's cognition and thus of his fitness for office. We saw dozens of these about Biden; so far, none about Trump." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: In 2016, Donald Trump said, "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters, OK?" What we've learned is also accurate: "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and the New York Times would give me a pass, OK?"

Bad, Bad Willie Brown. Heather Knight & Shawn Hubler of the New York Times: "Willie Brown, the former mayor of San Francisco, had a message for ... Donald J. Trump on Saturday afternoon: Keep my name out of your mouth or get sued. He stood with his longtime lawyer, Joe Cotchett, on a sidewalk in downtown San Francisco, outside John's Grill, the Saturday spot on Mr. Brown's lunchtime rotation, and told reporters that he would sue Mr. Trump for slander and defamation if he repeated his concocted helicopter story one more time. 'He's never brought a lawsuit in his life,' Mr. Cotchett said of Mr. Brown. 'But you know who's pushing him to it? A guy by the name of Trump.'... Mr. Trump ... said that Mr. Brown, who dated Vice President Kamala Harris in 1994 and 1995, said 'terrible things' about Ms. Harris just before they almost plummeted to their deaths. 'He was not a fan of hers very much, at that point,' Mr. Trump said. Mr. Brown promptly called the tale a lie -- saying he had never ridden in a helicopter with Mr. Trump and had never told him disparaging things about Ms. Harris. In fact, he repeatedly told reporters that he respected her and desperately hoped that she would beat the man with whom he had never ridden in a helicopter."

News Ledes

New York Times: "Heavy rainfall in southwestern Connecticut led to mudslides, washed-out roads and flash flooding on Sunday, while thunderstorms sweeping through New York City disrupted flights and train service. The National Weather Service declared a flash flood emergency or flash flood warning into Sunday evening for parts of Fairfield, New Haven, Litchfield and Hartford Counties, as overfilled rivers crested their banks and additional thunderstorms were predicted. Emergency crews carried out widespread water rescues, especially in the Southbury area, and several mudslides were reported, according to the Weather Service."

New York Times: "Alain Delon, the intense and intensely handsome French actor who, working with some of Europe's most revered 20th-century directors, played cold Corsican gangsters as convincingly as hot Italian lovers, died on Sunday. He was 88."

The Conversation -- August 17, 2024

Maureen Dowd of the New York Times, as she is wont to do, airs top Democrats' dirty laundry, even if she has to make up some stuff.

Presidential Race

Erica Green, et al., of the New York Times: "Vice President Kamala Harris unspooled her economic agenda on Friday in her first major policy address, casting her vision as one for the future and ... Donald J. Trump's as of the past, as she argued that she would improve the lives of middle-class Americans and benefit generations of their descendants. In a roughly 30-minute speech in Raleigh, N.C., she painted a sharp contrast between herself and Mr. Trump, who has spent more time attacking President Biden's economic policies than laying out his own.... In her speech, Ms. Harris emphasized middle-class Americans' everyday experiences, like sitting at the kitchen table paying their bills or browsing grocery-store shelves. She detailed how she would build what she called an 'opportunity economy' that would lower the cost of living, provide economic security and remove barriers to building generational wealth.... Much of Ms. Harris's agenda represents an expansion of policies proposed by Mr. Biden in his latest presidential budget and during his re-election campaign....

"On Friday, the Trump campaign called the vice president 'Comrade Kamala' and said she had gone 'full communist' in a news release." MB: Seems like a well-reasoned critique, dunnit? (Also linked yesterday.)

Alex Henderson of AlterNet: "During a lighthearted conversation about food with ... Kamala Harris, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz humorously said he likes 'white guy tacos' -- meaning hard taco shells with 'ground beef and cheese' as opposed to authentic Mexican tacos with soft corn tortillas. 'Black pepper is the top of the spice level in Minnesota,' Walz joked.... Walz's comments have been drawing fake outrage ... from MAGA Republicans who believe he is disparaging white people." MB: When the leader of your party is a humorless sociopath (have you ever seen him laugh?) who would never, ever, under any circumstance, engage in self-deprecating humor, you might be dumb enough to be outraged by self-deprecating humor. (Also linked yesterday.)

Remember the Emails! Marie: I'm almost surprised the WashPo editors didn't get upset about white guy tacos. But that could be next, because in today's paper they're "disappointed" that Walz's running mate -- as part of her foreshortened presidential campaign -- outlined economic policies that include some voter-popular gimmicks. "Even adjusted for the pandering standards of campaign economics..., Ms. Harris's speech Friday ranks as a disappointment." Hmmm. Are they disappointed that Donald Trump's economic plan is a Project 2025 disaster with the extra added attraction of an economy-busting 20 percent tariff on imports? Are they disappointed that Donald Trump doesn't think much of the Medal of Valor because recipients may be "losers" who have died or been severely injured in earning the medal? Are they disappointed that Donald Trump calls Kamala Harris names that are sexist, racist, obscene and generally disparaging? Or are they disappointed that Bobby Kennedy, Jr., dumped a dead bear in Central Park? I'll admit the editors' economic analysis is okay; I just don't think Kamala Harris is the candidate to target right now. But, hey, it's great the Post decided not to publish any juicy content from the purloined Trump emails. I hope they'll send me a back copy of John Podesta's tips for creamy risotto, though.* ~~~

     ~~~ * Truth be told, that's the way I've been making risotto for decades, and Podesta is right about breaking down the starch. I don't make risotto often because I have to stand at the stove for 45 minutes stirring stock into arborio rice. I think I got the recipe from the original Craig Claiborne NYT cookbook.

Ezra Klein of the New York Times: "... the 2024 election is ... about gender. In Donald Trump and in Tim Walz, you have two very different, but very explicit, archetypes, visions of what it means to be a man. Trump's pitch is built on what I would call an almost cartoonish overperformance of masculinity, which is aimed at alienated young men.... But in Tim Walz, Democrats have found their own version of a male archetype: a football coach, a soldier, a guy who will fix your car, but also an ally, a man comfortable being in the role of supporting women, a man unthreatened by social change, a man even excited by it. And then there's family.... What does it mean to be pro-family? Is it to support people in finding the life path they want to walk, whether that's becoming a parent or not?... Or is it to use policy and culture to push people to have children?" Klein interviews two writers, Christine Emba of the Atlantic & Zack Beauchamp of Vox, who have written on these topics. An interesting conversation.

     ~~~ Marie: A topic Klein & his guests don't discuss is the accessibility of the three types of masculinity the writers define: Trump's comic he-man, Vance's "neopatriarchy" & Walz's strong nice guy. The appeal of Trump's phony persona is precisely that it is not realistically achievable. Even the quasi-delusional realize they are not likely to become masters of the universe. But it's fun to watch supermen in movies and associate yourself with someone who appears to be super-rich and who posed as the leader of the free world. On the other hand, a man could be expected to achieve Vance's or Walz's masculine ideal, so these images of masculinity present real challenges. They require hard, sustained work. And even then, for many reasons, a man might not get there. He cannot fail at being Trump because he doesn't have to try. He can fail at being Vance or Walz, because to many people, he should be like one or the other of them. If Vance brings down Trump, or irony of ironies, it will be because he turns off the lazy, good-for-nothing hillbillies he condemns in his best-selling book.

Maggie Haberman & Jonathan Swan of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump has begun preparing for his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris and has brought in the former Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard to help sharpen his attacks in a recent practice session at his private club and home, Mar-a-Lago.... Ms. Gabbard, who left the Democratic Party after her 2020 presidential run and has rebranded herself as a celebrity among Trump's base of support, has long been friendly with Mr. Trump and was briefly considered to be his running mate. But her involvement in Mr. Trump's debate preparation ... was partly because of her own performance in a 2019 Democratic presidential primary debate, when Ms. Gabbard eviscerated Ms. Harris in a memorable onstage encounter.... Ms. Gabbard's attacks in that July 2019 debate, however, all came from the left. Ms. Gabbard said during that debate that Ms. Harris, when she was a district attorney in San Francisco, 'put over 1,500 people in jail for marijuana violations and then laughed about it when she was asked if she ever smoked marijuana." The Hill's story is here.

Michael Gold of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump on Thursday described the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which honors civilians, as being 'much better' than the Medal of Honor, because service members who receive the nation's highest military honor are often severely wounded or dead. Mr. Trump's remarks follow a yearslong series of comments in which he has appeared to mock, attack or express disdain for service members who are wounded, captured or killed, even as he portrays himself as the ultimate champion of the armed forces. At a campaign event at his golf club in Bedminster, N.J., billed as a discussion about fighting antisemitism, Mr. Trump recounted how he awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Miriam Adelson, the Israeli-American widow of the casino magnate Sheldon Adelson. Ms. Adelson, who attended the event, is among his top donors. 'It's actually much better, because everyone gets the Congressional Medal of Honor, that's soldiers, they're either in very bad shape because they've been hit so many times by bullets, or they're dead.' Mr. Trump said, using a common misnomer for the military award. 'She gets it, and she's a healthy, beautiful woman.'" The Guardian's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

No, the Medal of Honor is not the equivalent of the medal Trump gave to Rush Limbaugh and Jim Jordan. No, they are not 'rated equal.' Not even close. Every single member of the military knows the significance of the MEDAL OF HONOR. Every single Commander in Chief in the history of America knows the significance of this medal ... except Donald Trump -- Amy McGrath, former Marine pilot, in a tweet

Marie: Trump may think troops are suckers & losers, but he plans to make those suckers and losers work on his little domestic projects: ~~~

~~~ Charlie Savage, et al., of the New York Times: "In his first term in office, Mr. Trump never realized his expansive vision of using troops to enforce the law on U.S. soil. But as he has sought a return to power, he has made clear that he intends to use the military for a range of domestic law enforcement purposes, including patrolling the border, suppressing protests that he deems to have turned into riots and even fighting crime in big cities run by Democrats.... During his time out of power, allies of Mr. Trump have worked on policy papers to provide legal justifications for the former president' intent to use the military to enforce the law domestically -- particularly on immigration.... But ... an internal email from a group closely aligned with Mr. Trump ... shows that, privately, the group was also exploring using troops to 'stop riots' by protesters....

"A post-Civil War law called the Posse Comitatus Act generally makes it a crime to use regular federal troops for domestic policing purposes. However, an 1807 law called the Insurrection Act creates an exception to that ban. It grants presidents the emergency power to use federal troops on domestic soil to restore law and order when they believe a situation warrants it. Those federal troops could either be regular active-duty military or state National Guard soldiers the federal government has assumed control over."

Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "Republicans [-- like strong> Kellyanne Conway, Peter Navarro, Kevin McCarthy, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy & Frank Luntz --] are begging Donald Trump to stop being so insulting.... They all might as well ask Trump to abandon Mar-a-Lago and move into a double-wide. Trump abandon insults? They are the very essence of the man." MB: Milbank's column is worth reading if you have a WashPo subscription. I experimented here with what the Post calls a "gift link." I don't know how or if it works. It may count against the number of articles/month you can access. Anyway, Milbank puts in one place quite a few of the insults Trump has dished out recently and a number of the more outlandish lies Trump has told. (Also linked yesterday.)

Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post: "... Trump's delusions have gotten wilder, his thinking more scattered.... A glitch-plagued X interview (unable to start for 45 minutes) with Elon Musk ... only made things worse. People on social media reflected shock at hearing him slur and ramble his way through a softball interview. His obsession with President Joe Biden, who is no longer running, sounds like Trump cannot cope with his actual opponents. A much less alarming performance in the debate effectively ended President Biden's campaign. Had the media been conscientiously covering Trump, the public would understand these bizarre outings as part of his noticeable cognitive decline.... The media's refusal to convey Trump's unfitness amounts to misleading the public." (Also linked yesterday.)

Say, here is a news story that might help Donald Trump understand that rising sea levels do not create more waterfront property. It involves a multimillionaire, a disappearing beachfront, a lawsuit, and a sports franchise. Maybe some aspect of all that could pique Trump's attention. ~~~

~~~ Broad Beach Is Not So Broad Anymore. Maria Paúl of the Washington Post: "... in recent years, sea level rise and erosion have washed away nearly all of the dunes in [the] Malibu neighborhood [of Broad Beach,] turning sand into a premium commodity and a source of conflict between neighbors. Now, the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team's principal owner, multimillionaire Mark Attanasio, is up to bat in the dispute. His neighbor accused him in court last week of stealing the neighborhood's scarce public sand and using it for an ongoing construction project at his home.... Between June and July, the suit alleges, construction machinery descended into the neighborhood -- and 'at times restricted public access to the entirety of Broad Beach.' The 'enormous excavators' transferred large amounts of sand from the beach's tidal zone to Attanasio's property, leaving traces of gasoline residue in the water and sand, the lawsuit states.... According to a research article published in the Pacific Historical Review in 2023, the high tide line in Broad Beach began moving landward about two feet each year starting in 1974 -- resulting in 'a loss of sixty-five feet of beach by the start of the twenty-first century.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ In yesterday's Comments, both NiskyGuy & Patrick provided plausible explanations as to why Trump thinks rising seas create more waterfront property. One of the reasons, as Patrick noted in passing, is that Trump is a moron. But Patrick's main point, which appears at the end of the Comments, well may be the "real reason" Trump is so confused. In all seriousness, it sometimes takes a very nimble mind to understand a simple one. So thank you, gentlemen.

Marie: You know how we all say we like government to be transparent? Well, you couldn't get much more transparent than sleazeball Rep. Jim Comer (R-Ky.) ~~~

~~~ Jordain Carney of Politico: "Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) on Friday announced that he is opening an investigation into [Gov. Tim] Walz's work related to China, including coordinating student trips, and sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray requesting a swath of documents and any correspondence with Walz related to China. 'Americans should be deeply concerned that Governor Walz, Kamala Harris's vice-presidential running mate, has a longstanding and cozy relationship with China.... The American people deserve to fully understand how deep Governor Walz's relationship with China goes,' Comer said in a statement. Walz in 1989 went to China as part of a teach-abroad program. He also helped coordinate trips for students and has visited China more than 30 times -- two details highlighted by Comer as part of the groundwork for his investigation.... Walz has also been critical of China, particularly on human rights. During his time in Congress he served on the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, which focuses on the issue." The Washington Post's story is here.

Will Sommer of the Washington Post: Premise for a sitcom episode: a Marxist writer finds a Project 2025 dufflebag at a Washington, D.C. corner where people leave free stuff. That really happened, but other than the Heritage Foundation siccing the cops on the writer, the story ends not with a bang but a whimper.

Congressional Crime Blotter

Mark Morales of CNN: "Former New York Rep. George Santos is expected to plead guilty Monday to federal charges relating to fraudulent activity during his 2022 midterm campaign, according to multiple sources familiar with the deal. Santos, who was expelled from the House last year, previously pleaded not guilty to 23 federal charges, including allegations of fraud related to Covid-19 unemployment benefits, misusing campaign funds and lying about his personal finances on House disclosure reports."

Buh-Bye, Bob. Tracey Tully of the New York Times: "Senator Robert Menendez, a famously pugnacious Democrat whose five-decade political career came to a crashing halt last month when he was convicted of corruption, has run his final race for re-election. After resisting what felt all-but inevitable to people close to the senator, Mr. Menendez pulled his name from November's ballot hours before the Friday deadline. He had planned to run as an independent.... Mr. Menendez, 70, was found guilty of taking bribes and acting as an agent of Egypt after a two-month trial in Manhattan, and he had virtually no chance of winning re-election." (Also linked yesterday.) Politico's report is here.

So you thought the Supremes were away for the summer, some enjoying luxury vacations at exotic ports of call on somebody else's dime? Apparently, not entirely ~~~

~~~ Abbie VanSickle & Michael Shear of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Friday temporarily continued to block Education Department rules intended to protect transgender students from discrimination based on their gender identity in several Republican states that had mounted challenges. The emergency order allowed rulings by lower courts in Louisiana and Kentucky to remain in effect in about 10 states as litigation moves forward, maintaining a pause on new federal guidelines expanding protections for transgender students that had been enacted in nearly half the country on Aug. 1. The order came in response to a challenge by the Biden administration, which asked the Supreme Court to intervene after a number of Republican-led states sought to overturn the new rules. The decision was unsigned, as is typical in such emergency petitions. But all nine members of the court said that parts of the new rules -- including the protections for transgender students -- should not go into effect until the legal challenges are resolved."

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Florida Woman. Annie Correal of the New York Times: "A white woman in Florida who shot a Black neighbor who confronted her at the door of her home last year in a case that prompted national outrage was found guilty of manslaughter on Friday by a jury in Marion County, Fla. Susan Lorincz, now 60, shot Ajike (A.J.) Owens last June as the 35-year-old mother of four stood outside a door to Ms. Lorincz's home in Ocala, a city about 80 miles northwest of Orlando. The two neighbors had been involved in an ongoing dispute over neighborhood children -- including Ms. Owens's -- playing near Ms. Lorincz's home, the authorities said. After Ms. Lorincz argued with the children and threw things at them, Ms. Owens went to Ms. Lorincz's door to confront her, the police said. Ms. Lorincz fired a handgun through the door, striking Ms. Owens in the chest. She was not armed." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The story is fine, but the headline is of a genre that irritates me: "Florida Woman Found Guilty of Manslaughter in Fatal Shooting of Black Neighbor." Too often journalists -- but in this case, the headline writer -- assume that if a subject is an American person, s/he's a white person. Here, where race matters, that's what happens. A person shot a Black person. This elevates the perp -- "Florida woman" -- to being more important or more human or more relatable or something than the "Black neighbor" she shot dead. I wouldn't mention this, except that it's a common assumption among journalists, so I suppose among Americans. A "typical" or "average" or "normal" American is white. That isn't even statistically true anymore.

Georgia. The Times They Are A'Changin', After All. Ron Harris of the AP: "A large bronze statue of the late civil rights icon leader and Georgia congressman John Lewis was installed Friday, at the very spot where a contentious monument to the confederacy stood for more than 110 years in the town square before it was dismantled in 2020.... The obelisk [memorial to the Confederacy] was erected by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1908."

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Ukraine/Russia. Constant Méheut of the New York Times: "Ukraine has destroyed a critical bridge and appears to have targeted at least one more in Russia's western Kursk region as it tries to sever Russian supply lines and consolidate its territorial gains, a dozen days into its startling cross-border offensive. Analysts say the destruction of the bridge -- which spanned the Seym River near the town of Glushkovo, about 10 miles west of the battle zone in Kursk -- could hamper Russia's response to the Ukrainian attack by making it harder to move troops and materiel, although there are alternative routes."