-First, THANK YOU for my last post, which was another record for this Substack! It is appreciated, and why not? LET'S BREAK MORE RECORDS!
-Now for today's update ...
-The wild and utterly made-up story (as an anti-immigrant racist slur) of Haitian immigrants eating pets continues to take an ugly turn in the town of Springfield, OH, as schools and a local hospital had to be temporarily shut down due to bomb threats being received in both institutions, and amid reports that the Proud Boys and other hate groups have now descended there to "protect" the "residents" (read: the white people) there. Despite both the Mayor and Police Chief of Springfield confirming there is absolutely not truth to the stories, and despite GOP Governor Mike DeWine calling out the claims as "not helpful" while also pointing out that the Haitian that have settled there are working to fit in and providing desperately-needed jobs, others on the MAGA end of the GOP continue to stoke the fires for their own racist and electoral ends.
-Leading the pack is known cat-hater, Vice Presidential nominee (and, shamefully, OH Senator) JD Vance, who freely admits to both enthusiastically spreading the story when it first emerged last week and, as recently as this morning on CNN, continues to flog it despite being confronted with the facts that the stories are lies. Vance first called out Dana Bash for daring to present real information in front of him as "Democratic talking points" (leading Bash to several startled looks in response) then going further and claiming he was "perfectly willing" to create "made-up stories" in order to perversely "protect (my) constituents." Vance was backed on his BS spreading by his electoral boss, MAGAGOP Nominee Old Weird Convicted Felon Ex-President Trump (R-apist), who was asked to condemn the bomb threats being made in Springfield - and slur-sleepily refusing to do so.
-That the attack on Haitian immigrants (who I will point out for no reason whatsoever have a large population in South Florida at a time when some polling is indicating a closer-than-expected Presidential race down there) is being flogged in right-wing media is undoubtedly partially a reaction to the decimation suffered by Trump at the hands of Kamala Harris during last week's debate as a way to divert attention from the thrashing (and subsequent national polling that shows a 5%-6% lead for Harris post-debate).
-That Trump is also reacting to the loss by absurdly claiming he won for a variety of insane excuses he has found on right-wing social media (Kamala got the questions in advance! Kamala had headphones in her earrings to get the answers! Kamala had ABC flash lights in Trump's eyes to make him look demented and old!) and a new batch of Things Kamala Has Never Said She Would Do (the newest: Kamala will restore the military draft to fight WORLD WARR THREE!) is also par for the course for a guy who can't change his act as it gets predictable and tired entering Year Nine of being in the political spotlight.
-But potentially most of all, the above diversions being played may be of use to Trump to divert attention from what might amazingly be one of the most salacious stories and rumors that have entered the culture since 2015 ... and that can only mean OHMYGODWEHAVETOTALKABOUTLAURALOOMER!!!!
-If you refer back to your program, Laura Loomer is - and this, we understand, is saying a LOT - one of the absolute craziest of the Tea Party/Ultra-Right/MAGASphere. A proud Islamic bigot who once chained herself to formerly-Twitter headquarters after being banned, she has already went on the record as "warning" the U.S. that if Harris becomes President the White House will "smell of curry" and phone calls will be farmed to an Indian call center. Loomer is also the woman who started the smear that Harris "isn't really Black," and we all undoubtedly remember when Trump actually said that in an interview with Black journalists shortly after Harris was able to win the Democratic nomination as President Biden dropped out.
-That should've been the hint, because in the last several weeks Loomer has become a presence in Trump's entourage. Many eyebrows were lifted (insert Loomer Botox joke here - and there are a LOT of them out there) when Loomer came off Trump's plane in Philadelphia before the debate, and even more were raised the next day when Loomer accompanied Trump to his first-ever 9/11 memorial appearance - in part because Loomer is also (surprise surprise) a 9/11 conspiracy theorist, AND BECAUSE, in case we all forgot, Trump is still at least ostensibly married to one Melania Trump, who reportedly lives full-time in New York City.
-This is where the Loomer story starts to get really icky, believe it or not, as whispers about just what kind of relationship Loomer and Trump have started to get louder. Photos of the two of them being extremely physically close (including their hands on each other and Loomer wearing tight clothing) began to circulate. Leaks about how often they travel got more numerous. Strategist openly worried that Loomer being around could result in Trump starting to lose votes. And two prominent Trump allies allowed themselves to talk about phone calls they made to Trump warning him about Loomer.
-And WE GOTTA TALK ABOUT THOSE CALLS! The first was from our old fave (who has been strangely quiet since at least the Republican Convention), MAGA Party Leader Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Z-Q-R, GA), the other from admitted (GOLF) ball washer Sen. Lindsay Graham (VapoRs, SC) - each going on the record about their Loomer worries. And Loomer being Loomer, she responded in kind - by first warning she would spill tea about many of Greene's alleged indiscretions (and to make the point more on point calling Greene "A WHORE!"), then by pivoting to Graham and publically calling him "GAAAAAAY!" (no duh, but we don't care).
-It all has built to a point to the Intertubes wondering whether Loomer and Trump are having an affair and what/if anyone cares or might be confirmed - and what that could do to the campaign. A Threads/TwiX poster named "MILO" (unclear if that is known right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulous) has made the most specific claims about ... things Loomer claims she has done to and for Trump ... and whether because of all the stories whether Loomer is now banned from boarding Trump's plane and traveling with him or not. You can find those stories and rumors if you want.
-As for Trump, he had a classic non-denial denial of his relationship with Loomer, calling her "a supporter" who is "a free spirit" and has "her own mind ... which I like." That (STANDS ON SOAP BOX) Trump would be more than willing to allow the rumors to fly, or even to provoke some kind of action from Melania - like a divorce filing? - could be a sign that he thinks the stories just what he needs to stop all the generally good press Harris keeps getting, and could even potentially be played by Trump to get more votes from young white men, who is the only constituency he is actively courting thanks to various interviews with figures with affiliations to such toxic male sites as Barstool Sports, Andrew Tate, the UFC, and others getting Russian money to broadcast pro-Trump propaganda. Not to mention a facile way to try to fight the "TRUMP B OLD" stories now finally starting to circulate ("I'm old? Look at this broad I'm fking - look at her rack! I'm old...") (MOVES FROM SOAP BOX)
-Speaking of Harris, her polling continues to inch upward, more states appear to be at least getting close (Iowa, which Trump won by 18% in 2020, today has Trump up by 4% - which could be the Tim Walz effect and/or Iowa having an abortion rights initiative on their ballot), and the only thing the mainstream media has continues to be her refusal to conduct live interviews with major news services, though she did have an interview with a Philadelphia station over the weekend that some are criticizing for her "lack" of "specificity" in responding to different questions, which is just what you say if you want to interview someone more. Expect more local interviews and more nudges by Harris to see if Trump will find the time between his extracurricular cannoodling (ALLEGEDLY) (eyeroll) to dare debate Harris again.
-I was going to go on to other stories, but there's an update tomorrow I can do that with - especially with THIS JUST IN: Trump's latest Social Media post, which simply and deliciously says ... "I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!"
-It's a cruel summer for you, Donnie, isn't it?
-I'll get the day's history for you and then head out for my day now ...
-On this date in 1950, United Nations troops stopped an invasion of North Korea at Inchon, South Korea. On this date in 1954, the iconic scene of Marilyn Monroe's skirt flying up from the movie THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH was filmed. On this date in 1963, the Ku Klux Klan bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, AL, killing four girls. On this date in 1978, Muhammad Ali became World Heavyweight Boxing Champion for the third time by beating Leon Spinks. And on this date in 2008, Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy, helping to trigger the deepest American financial crisis since the Great Depression.
-Debuts on this date: transcontinental mail (1858), trenches for World War I defenses (1914), the tank in warfare (1916), THE LONE RANGER (TV, 1949), LOLITA (1955), Greenpeace (1971).
-Happy Birthday to Marco Polo, James Fenimore Cooper, William Howard Taft, Max Factor, Ettore Bugatti, Robert Benchley, Agatha Christie, Jean Renoir, Roy Acuff, Fay Wray, Penny Singleton, Bobby Short, Norm Crosby, Cannonball Adderley, Murray Gell-Mann, Gaylord Perry, Merlin Olsen, Jessye Norman, Ron Shelton, Tommy Lee Jones, Pete Carroll, Wendie Jo Sperber, Lisa Vanderpump, Dan Marino, Earnest Byner, Josh Charles, Michael Malone, Tom Hardy, Mike Dunleavy Jr., Ben Schwartz, and Prince Harry of Britain.
-Rest in Peace/Rest in Power to Frank Chance, Thomas Wolfe, Bill Evans, Vincent Canby, Johnny Ramone, Brett Somers, Harry Dean Stanton, Physllis Newman, and Ric Ocasek.
-Feed the Worms: Watergate criminal John Mitchell entered Earth on this date.
-Filmmaker and conspiracy theorist extraordinaire Oliver Stone was born on this date. You decide if he gets a Happy Birthday or if he Feeds the Worms.
-The Number One Nonfiction Book in America on this date ... in 2024, PASSIONS IN DEATH by J.D. Robb ... in 2014, THE LONG WAY HOME by Louise Penny ... in 2004, THE DA VINCI CODE by Dan Brown ... in 1994, DEBT OF HONOR by Tom Clancy ... in 1984, THE FOURTH PROTOCOL by Frederick Forsyth ... and in 1974, TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY by John LeCarre.