NATIONAL ROLLER COASTER DAY UPDATES
The Ride, Not the Existential Sense of Feeling You Have No Control of Your Life or Events
-It’s been Economics Days in the 2024 Presidential election, with both main candidates laying out their plans for jobs and inflation and interest rates and all that fun stuff. Democratic Nominee Kamala Harris laid out her plan in a speech in North Carolina this afternoon, and her plans build on a lot from President Biden’s legislation in the wake of recovering from Covid. Specific plans include a $25,000 credit for first-time homebuyers (to counter the rising cost of mortgage loans), a permanent reimposition of the child tax credit (up to $3,600 per child), extending the subsidies for the Affordable Care Act, and a new initiative her campaign says will end “price gouging” on groceries and other consumer goods many argue has been a driver of inflation rates during the Biden Presidency. MAGA Republicans have already labeled these plans “COMMUNISM!” which simply proves they don’t know what communism really is.
-As for the economic plans of their nominee … well, the campaign of MAGAGOP Presidential nominee Weird Old Convicted Felon Ex-President Trump (R-apist) gave their guy a chance to lay out the case in his lone campaign appearance for the week, also in NC. Unfortunately, despite prepared remarks that may have laid out discussion of Trump’s plans to expand tariffs (which most economists agree would explode both inflation and the deficit), Trump constantly refused to follow the transcript in order to attempt to personally insult Harris (with the same old same old of not being intelligent and having a laugh nobody likes and yadda yadda yadda), in fact stopping several times to ask his audience if he thought discussing the economy was important and answering, “I don’t think so!” and continuing to insist Biden will create a floor fight in Chicago to reattain the nomination.
-No matter – the Trump team decided it was worth giving Trump a second chance to talk about the economy, so they set up a “press conference” in Trump’s exclusive New Jersey golf club (which screams “middle class economic concerns”), laid out a table full of what some in the Trump entourage believe is a typical shopping list of items people buy (three kinds of coffee! Bacon! Cereal!) and trotted their guy out to refocus attention on how Trump will make it easier to buy all of those items if he returns to the White House.
-Unfortunately, Trump used the “press conference” to blab for over an hour with still more personal insults, pulling out some dusties from his years running for President (MS13 gangs, y’all!), again blowing off his team’s desires to stay on message, and only getting close to the topic by threatening to take a box of Cheerios from the display with him at the end of the event. (Reports are he did not.)
-So as you can see, the Trump campaign continues to do what it’s been doing since Biden dropped out of the race – and Trump is reportedly doing what he always does: gearing up a shakeup in the campaign itself. Two figures from his ‘successful’ 2016 race, Kellyanne “Alternative Facts” Conway and Corey “I Thwack Broads, Right Kristi (wink!)?” Lewandowski – are reportedly back to “advise” Trump on how to try to stop the still-building Harris momentum. Given that duo’s propensity to break rules and propriety with glee and “let Trump be Trump” in Lewandowski’s once-famous words, we can guess where some of the rhetoric and attacks are going to come.
-One place that looks increasingly unlikely that a change is going to be made is the Vice Presidency, where Trump designee J.D. Vance continues to pursue an apparent strategy to alienate as many women as possible. After interviews revealed Vance believes single cat ladies should somehow pay more in taxes because they only have value if they are brood mares, he attempted to resolve that controversy by going after post-menopausal women, who he said can best serve America by helping raise grandchildren and not much else. Despite new polling showing a potential record gender gap (with Harris +11 among women and Trump being +9 among men) (COME ON GUYS! REALLY!?!?!), at least one part of the Trump strategy appears to be succeeding.
-Meanwhile, Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz continues to just charm every chance he gets. This week, Walz released a video in which he entered the Minnesota State Butter Carving Contest – and earned an Honorable Mention for creating a school bus to help promote new state policies to protect and nurture children, including free school lunches regarless of financial need and a new plan to aid and expand higher education and higher education access. That was followed by Walz opening an account on TikTok – and, within a matter of four hours, topping Vance in the total number of followers of the new account.
-WHATTA GUY!!!
-In other news …
-The shock invasion of the area around the Russian city of Kursk by Ukrainian forces continues, with towns being captured and secured by the Ukrainian military amid the lumbering Russian army’s apparent inability to quickly shift strategies and troops, due to a combination of poor strategizing, an ill-trained military that has numbers but little else, and an inability to imagine what Ukraine is doing. The counterstrikes intimated by Vladimir Putin has not occurred, and in fact bridges are now being attacked near the critical island of Crimea, which if it were ever to be captured by Ukraine would truly be a game-changer in the war.
-SLAVA UKRAINI!
-There is new hope for a possible cease-fire in Gaza, at least according to the White House. Word is an agreement would be preceded by a prison swap, and the ability of the Biden White House to do so while also holding off Iran and Hezbollah from attacking Israel would be considered a miracle. Axios reports, however, a potential looming nemesis in the form of … who else … Donald Trump. Axios claims Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talked as recently as this week, and with Vladimir Putin releasing Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich despite Trump essentially claiming only he (Trump) could release him, the effect of Trump’s meddling with a leader clearly hoping he (Trump) will win, this too continues to bear watching.
-In closing … it took a while, but we have hosts for this year’s Emmy Awards show – and for the first time, it will be a father-and-son team! SCTV alum Eugene Levy and his son Dan, stars of the all-time great sitcom SCHITT’S CREEK, will entertain and try to keep the affair moving on September 15 on ABC this year. Clear out your storage!
- On this date in 1896, gold was discovered in the Yukon. On this date in 1920, Cleveland baseball player Ray Chapman was hit in the head by a baseball pitch (he died the following day). On this date in 1930, Walt Disney released the first cartoon with sound. On this date in 1962, Ringo Starr replaced Pete Best as the drummer of The Beatles. And on this date in 1975, Peter Gabriel left Genesis for a solo career (they both did pretty well).
-Debuts on this date: The rules of boxing (1743), SPORTS ILLUSTRATED (1954), Cyprus (1960), The Jackson Five (1968), Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young (1969), The Ramones (1976).
-Happy Birthday to Amos Alonzo Stagg, T.E. Lawrence, Harold Foster, Otto Mesmer, George Meany, Menachem Begin, Charles Bukowski, Fess Parker, Norman Wexler, Ann Blyth, Eydie Gorme, Bill Evans, Fritz Von Erich, Frank Gifford, Robert Culp, Tony Trabert, Forrest Mars, Julie Newmar, Anita Gillette, Bruce Beresford, Bob Balaban, Dick Murdoch, Lesley Ann Warren, Carol Moseley-Braun, Reginald Veljohnson, Kathie Lee Gifford, George Galloway, James Cameron, Laura Innes, Angela Bassett, Madonna, Flood, Timothy Hutton, Christian Okoye, Steve Carrell, Ed Olcyk, Taika Waititi, Colt Brennann and Young Thug.
-Rest in Peace/Rest in Power to John Pemberton, Robert Bunsen, Robert Johnson, Babe Ruth, Margaret Mitchell, Bela Lugosi, Elvis Presley, Earl Averill, Shamu the whale, John Cameron Swayze, Bobby Debarge, Dorothy West, Max Roach, The Missing Link, William Windom, John McLaughlin, Aretha Franklin, and Peter Fonda.
-Feed the Worms: Idi Amin bought it on this date.