President/National/Culture
Trump Tower Meeting: President Trump (R-United Russia?) has recharacterized the meeting his son, Don Jr., had with a FSB agent (cannot we presume all Russians are FSB agents just like a certain tourist who met President Reagan in Red Square?). Trump now says the meeting was about trying to gather dirt on Hillary, but was innocent. In 2017 the elder Trump claimed the meeting was about adoption policy. I am not aware of any Irish bookies opening bets on what Trump will claim the Trump Tower meeting was next, but I would not be surprised if one of them had such bets going already.
More Trump: President Trump stated during his campaigning in the OH-12 special election that the press is the enemy of the people and that they start wars. With the QAnon crowd making their presence known at his rallies and his speeches dripping with paranoia and comments you usually see in unstable democracies, you have to wonder if we really fall in that category now as well. Just the kind of things that play for college educated suburbanites who are fleeing the Republican Party during the era of Trump.
Netroots: Potential 2020 Democratic presidential candidates had a chance to say all kinds of crazy things at the Netroots Nation conference in New Orleans. Senators Cory Booker (D-Newly Bold Progressive), Kamala Harris (D-Identity Politics), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Tribal Caucus) all took turns saying crazy things over the weekend to get support from people who like candidates who say crazy things. Missing from this festival devoid of reality included former Vice President Joe Biden (D-Scranton) and Senator Bernie Sanders (Socialist).
Ignoring Netroots: CNN makes the case that the Democrats should avoid heading down the progressive sound bite rabbit hole and instead simply focus on defeating Trump, which is what I have been saying for months.
Biden: Speaking of former Vice President Biden, early polling indicates he has a modest advantage if he seeks the Democratic nomination, but many in his former stomping grounds, the US Senate, are skeptical of his chances. First, Biden has shown little actual interest in running. Second, Biden’s record seems to be out of sync with the new era where you cannot be Bold Progressive enough.
Keeping Up with the Kardashians: The Daily Beast has an interesting look at how a new documentary Generation Wealth discusses how our culture has become so superficially obsessed and distorted. Sounds like it has bled into our politics as well….
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