-The first - and at this point, only - scheduled debate between Kamala Harris and Old Weird Convicted Felon Ex-President Trump (R-apist) is nearly here as of this Update, and the gaming and spinning and trolling is well underway by both sides. On the Harris side, her followers point to her prosecutorial background, 2020 debate performance against Mike Pence and his hair fly, and amazing (if by some accounts stalling) momentum to bring multiple states in play and a massive treasury - while trying to play down 2019 debate performances where she over-prepared and talked her way out of front-running status and (in some circles) plateauing in the polls, depending on which polls you believe. For her part, Harris told reporters while walking with husband Doug Emhoff that she was "Ready!" yesterday, and has brought former White House staffers Anthony Scaramucci and Olivia Troye to Philadelphia for pre- and post-debate trolling.
-As for Trump, it is unclear whether he has actually "prepared" for tonight's debate short of what most believe will be a typical "Gish gallop" of relentless lies and name-calling (with emphasis on the name-calling) and cocky belief that his last debate appearance knocked Joe Biden out of the race (it was more Biden's creaky performance than Trump's literal self-defecating (at the one hour 40 minute mark or thereabouts) that flipped the race). Despite reports that Trump has been working with Tulsi Gabbard and Matt Gaetz for the event, whispers around the Trump campaign are fearful that Trump's typical lack of discipline and finally-being-noticed-by-some-reporters cognitive declines could fuse with having to meet in person (for the first time) with an experienced Black female prosecutor could trigger Trump even more than usual, and thus prevent Trump from changing the trajectory of the election - and that tonight represents their last, best chance to seize the storylines away from Harris and Tim Walz and shift theoretically close polling his way into the final weeks of the election.
-Democrats continue to raise funds, organize volunteers to knock on doors, and continue to spike voter registration through not just the known swing states but some theoretically red states as well. In response, Republican efforts to suppress voting are amping up, in some draconian ways. In both Texas and Florida, officials representing MAGA Governors Greg Abbott and Ron DeSantis have reportedly begun visiting homes of opposition leaders and voters, with particular attention towards supporters of abortion rights. Republicans in both Florida and Missouri are attempting to remove abortion rights measures from their ballots in an attempt to suppress likely Democratic voters. And North Carolina has delayed sending absentee and mail-in ballots to voters because of a dispute involving now-Trump supporter Robert F. Kennedy Jr. being on the ballot - a delay that could result in ballots not being turned in with enough time to count votes in what is clearly a battleground state. Democrats led by super-voting-rights attorney Marc Elias are fighting in all the states, as Democrats have anticipated these anti-voting MAGAGOP measures since roughly January 7, 2021. All are worth monitoring as the heart of the stretch run of the election begins.
-Another area of potential suppression and shenanigans is a familiar site: the floor of the U.S. House. It is time for another continuing budget resolution to be passed, so naturally Trump's MAGA foot soldiers are prepared to do his bidding in an apparent attempt to blame a potential government shutdown on Joe Biden (who Trump continues to think will still be running for President even though Biden is ... well ... not running for President). To do so, Trump is demanding a non-budget provision be added to the resolution demanding anyone who registers to vote must be a United States citizen. Putting aside the minor detail that voting laws are administered state by state and another minor detail that non-citizens already cannot vote, the measure is simply a tool to make non-voters think about not voting. And while most Congresspeople do not want these games to be played with for this resolution. Trump puppet House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Jay-EE-Zuz!, LA) is reportedly ready to carry out the orders of Dear Leader.
-Gird Your Loins ...
-It's about time for our favorite 2024 feature, WHAT STUPID THING DID JD VANCE DO TODAY?! The answer involves spurious rumors that apparently began with billionaire weirdo Elon Musk and promoted by Benny Johnson, one of the podcasters identified as having taken Russian money to promote Russian talking points designed to disrupt the election and promote Vladimir Putin. The rumors, which Vance amplified and which were repeated to me by a family member, claimed that Haitian refugees living in a suburb of Dayton, OH were capturing live cats in order to (TRIGGER ALERT) kill them, barbecue them, and eat them.
-Needless to say, the story is TOTAL claptrap.
-The Police Chief of Springfield, OH denied the story, and CBS News confirmed there was zero credibility to the inflammatory and racist claims. While Vance himself hedged on the report in a subsequent social media post ("if reports are true"), the lie was amplified by disgraced former attorney Rudy Giuliani, and amplified by cartoons of Trump hugging kittens (Trump is the only President who had no pets in the White House and is known to hate pets) and ducks (ducks were also reportedly being captured and cooked by Haitian refugees, though at least ducks are tasty).
-In foreign policy news, new reports today may signal another positive escalation in Russia-Ukraine War. Specifically, it is believed Secretary of State Antony Blinken will be telling Ukrainian President Zelenskyy that the U.S. and NATO will give permission for Ukrainian forces to use long-range missiles to strike deep into Russian territory, specifically bases where long-range Russian missiles have been pounding Ukrainian cities as retaliation for Ukraine's surprise invasion of and seizing of Russian territory. This is a change Zelenskyy has been pushing for weeks, and there has been resistance among NATO allies because of the fear of escalation by Russia into NATO countries - but, given the depleted Russian military capacity and reports of potential unrest among Putin allies, the feeling may be now is the moment to allow Ukrainian forces to do so, particularly with the American election and support for Ukraine on the line.
-SLAVA UKRAINI!
-In recording industry news, it sure seems like Beyonce's point about making a country album has been made by the Country Music Association. Beyonce's COWBOY CARTER was recorded in large part to celebrate Black contributions to country music, and the release received universal praise and debuted at number one on the Billboard charts. So one would presume it would be well-positioned to receive nominations from the CMA. That presumption proved horribly wrong, as COWBOY CARTER was completely shut out of any nominations at all from the CMAs. The snubbing apparently manages to confirm other presumptions about country music and how much they really want certain artists to play country music and others, not so much.
-In closing, the Daytime Emmy Awards last weekend made history in adding two more artists to the vaunted EGOT Club. Songwriters and Producers Benj Pasek and Justin Paul won an Emmy for a song they wrote for ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING, meaning they have won an Emmy, a Grammy (for cast albums DEAR EVAN HANSEN and THE GREATEST SHOWMAN), an Oscar (for the song "City of Stars" from LA LA LAND), and a Tony (for DEAR EVAN HANSEN and producing A STRANGE LOOP). CONGRATULATIONS!
-A summary of the debate will follow, hopefully without the same kind of negative meltdown we all endured last summer. Until then ...
-On this date in 1813, Oliver Hazard Perry defeated the British in the Battle of Lake Erie. On this date in 1919, World War I officially ended. On this date in 1988, Steffi Graf completed a Grand Slam in tennis with a win in the U.S. Open. And on this date in 2000, CATS closed on Broadway.
-Debuts on this date: the sewing machine (1846), a drunk driving arrest (1897), GUNSMOKE (1955), KISS ALIVE! (1975), Alex Trebek as JEOPARDY! host (1984), "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (1991), THE X-FILES (1993), the Large Hadron Collider (2008).
-Happy Birthday to Robert Wise, Rin Tin Tin, Ted Kluszewski, Arnold Palmer, Philip Baker Hall, Bo Goldman, Karl Lagerfeld, Charles Kuralt, Roger Maris, Cynthia Lennon, Greg Mullavey, Stephen Jay Gould, Superstar Billy Graham, Jose Feliciano, Bob Lanier, Margaret Trudeau, Joe Perry, Gary Danielson, Gerry Conway, Amy Irving, Chris Columbus, Colin Firth, David Lowery, Randy Johnson, Big Daddy Kane, Guy Ritchie, Ben Wallace, Ryan Phillippe, Misty Copeland, Joey Votto, and Jack Grealish.
-Rest in Peace/Rest in Power to Mary Wollstonecraft, Dalton Trumbo, Fritz Von Erich, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Anita Roddick, Jane Wyman, Ted Stepien, Cliff Robertson, Richard Kiel, and Diana Rigg.
-Feed the Worms: Loofah-humping abusive pud Bil O'Reilly entered Earth on this date.