NATIONAL RASPBERRIES N'CREAM DAY UPDATES
Like Strawberries and Cream ... Except for, Y'know, the Raspberries ...
-"And I got to tell you, I can't wait to debate the guy ... that is, if he's willing to get off the couch and show up!" With that zinger, MN Governor Tim Walz (pronounced "walls") won the souls of Democrats after being named by Kamala (pronounced "comma-la") Harris to be her running mate for the 2024 Democratic ticket. Walz had already won hearts throughout the country with everything from viral videos with his daughter Hope about turkey ("I'm a vegetarian - turkey is meat" "Not in Minnesota!") to his lifelong defense of progressive values in seemingly unprogressive places (leading his high school's Gay Straight Alliance while coaching the football team to their first-ever state title) to a killer sense of humor to fit into Harris' Joyful Warrior approach to the campaign - all while delivering a smooth and impactful speech despite never having used a TelePrompTer (including yesterday).
-The pick of Walz over the other apparent 'finalist,' PA Governor Josh Shapiro, was decried by many early day hosts of MSNBC and numerous political pundits, but was met rapturously by Democrats from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (who noted that Democrats are now "in disconcerting levels of array") to Nancy Pelosi (who also endorsed the choice of JD Vance for the MAGAGOP ticket, right down to the Hillary-esque cackle of delight) to not-even-a-Democrat anymore Joe Manchin.
-Attack lines against Walz have achieved a bit of focus, albeit without any real idea of effectiveness. The choice of Walz over Shapiro have made a number of MAGAt commentators to scream "UNSEMITISM!" against Democrats (never mind that everyone from Senate leader to Secretary of State to THE VICE PRESIDENT'S HUSBAND are Jewish") while others have said Walz' role in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd will be prominent. And in the oddest note, some on the right are trying to bite into Walz' "Big Dad Energy" by labeling him "Tampax Tim" - apparently because among the other good things Walz did in his high school teaching career was ensuring female students had access to tampons. "What a monster!" as Walz himself likes to say about himself.
-It is clear that the new nominee and still-ascendant Harris campaign is cutting deeply into the disturbing psyche of her opponent, Republican nominee Weird Old Convicted Felon Ex-President Trump (R-apist). Trump phoned an appearance in to Fox and Friends this morning continuing to flail over the developments over the last two weeks, selling himself to his followers by telling his supporters that "(The Harris-Walz ticket) would want the country to go communist immediately if not sooner ... very heavy into transgender ... Anything transgender (Walz) thinks is great ... I think (the Harris-Walz ticket?)'s very insulting to Jewish people."
-Later in that same interview, Trump - whose name does not appear on the New York Times home page for the first time since nobody can remember - fluffed himself by boasting that "ALL THE NETWORKS LOVE ME!" while continuing to dodge Harris to debate her as previously scheduled on September 10. Trump asserted he is "ready" to "debate" on September 4 on Fox News - an assertion Harris blows off without a second thought as she should.
-This morning's Trump Fox word salad came after another round of nutbag posts on social media by Trump - the main posting being one in which Trump fantasized a scenario where an enraged Joe Biden would swoop into the Democratic National Convention to overturn the "COUP!" Trump calls Biden leaving the race and defeat all the regulars - Crazy Nancy, Shifty Adam Schiff, Barack HUSSEIN Obama, the Professor and Mary Ann - to retake the nomination from who he referred to as "Kamabla" Harris - and debate Trump again in September so Trump could "beat" Biden and win the race.
-Perhaps that is why, while Harris and Walz begin five days of campaigning in swing states today, Trump is sending his Vice Presidential minion JD "Couch Love" Vance to trail them for three days (hopefully doing better than a rally in PA yesterday in which Vance spoke in front of a sign that read KAMALA CHAOS but, thanks to the arrangement of the crowd behind him, only read KAMALA, making it look like Vance was endorsing Harris) (d'oh!) and dusty old arguments (Vance - who lived in San Francisco for four years - labelled Walz - who has only visited San Francisco once - as “a radical San Francisco liberal!”) while Trump himself gears up for his lone campaign appearance for the week this Friday in the battleground state of ... (checks notes) ... Montana.
-Speaking of races, another round of state and local primaries took place, the most significant development being the defeat of Squad member Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), whose race was swamped with money from the pro-Israeli government AIPAC because of Bush's stance against Israel's war with HAMAS. Bush was defeated by Wesley Bell, a prosecutor in St. Louis County.
-And speaking of HAMAS, negotiations to try to broker a cease-fire in that war took an ominous turn when HAMAS announced that the replacement for assassinated political leader Ismail Haniyeh would be Yahya Sinwar. Sinwar ascended to the role after being labeled by the world press as "the mastermind" behind the October 7 terrorist attacks that sparked the war in the first place, and Sinwar is reportedly still in Gaza communicating to Palestinian supporters and his leadership in Qatar through written notes and codes. Needless to say, Sinwar's presence makes any cease-fire negotiation far more fraught, not to mention difficult ...
-Russia is accusing Ukraine of invading its country after numerous reports that Ukrainian forces made a surprise (and thus far little-resisted) attack in Kursk, a Russian city to the North and East of the current Eastern front of the Russia-Ukraine war. It is not clear what the military objective is, though Kursk is the home of both a nuclear power facility and a central node in a gas pipeline that feeds other European countries. The move also comes as long-awaited American-supplied fighter jets are now in use by Ukrainian forces and new waves of drones are being used to attack Russian helicopters and tanks. That Ukraine is moving after two pro-Ukrainian American candidates in Harris and Walz have seized control of the American Presidential race over Putin's BFF Trump may also be of note. Keep an eye on events here in the coming hours ...
-SLAVA UKRAINI!
-The Summer Olympics build towards their climax, as the United States retook the Gold Medal lead thanks in large part to the upset win by Cole Hocker in the Mens' 1500 Meter race, beating defending World Champion Josh Kerr of Great Britain (who barely held off America's Yared Neguse for the Silver) and defending Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsten (who finished out of the medals despite leading after the final turn of the race). The favored US Men's basketball team got to the semi-finals, and the highly-regarded women's soccer team will face Brazil on Saturday for the Gold there.
-USA! USA! USA!!!
-On this date in 1942, American forces seized a critical airfield on the Pacific island of Guadalcanal. On this date in 1970, Christine Perfect joined Fleetwood Mac (and would become Christine McVie). On this date in 1974, Phillipe Petit walked between the twin towers of the World Trade Center on a tightrope. On this date in 1978, a federal health emergency because of a toxic waste leak was declared in the Niagara Falls neighborhood of Love Canal, NY. On this date in 1990, President George H.W. Bush ordered troops into Saudi Arabia to begin Operation Desert Shield, later Operation Desert Storm.
-Debuts on this date: the Purple Heart badge for bravery in action (1782), consumer transistor radios (1952), satellite photo of Earth (1959), CRAZY RICH ASIANS (2018).
-Happy Birthday to Mata Hari, Louis Leakey, Nicholas Ray, Stan Freberg, James Randi, Don Larsen, Ruth Carter Stapleton, Abebe Bikila, Helen Caldicott, B.J. Thomas, Garrison Keillor, David Rasche, John Glover, Alan Page, Dave Wottle, Alexi Sayle, Wayne Knight, Bruce Dickinson, David Duchovny, Kristin Hersch, Michael Shannon, Charlize Theron, Kyler Murray, Jalen Hurts, and Sydney McLaughlin.
-Rest in Peace/Rest in Power to Oliver Hardy, Salvatore Ferragamo, Red Adair, Peter Jennings, Bernie Brillstein, Judith Crist, Stan Mikita, Jane Withers, Markie Post, David McCullough, Roger E. Mosley, and William Friedkin.