SLINKY DAY UPDATES

It’s Time For A Comeback For The Slinky – It’s Fun for a Girl AND a Boy!

-The first “test” (according to the legacy media) of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz was for the most part “passed” last night, as their first interview on a major cable news outlet since Harris became the Democratic candidate aired last night on CNN. Neither Harris nor Walz made any gaffes or even any major headlines, this even though as other influencers noted, interviewer Dana Bash seemed to cull most of her questions from talking points hurled by Republican nominee Old Weird Convicted Felon Ex-President Trump (R-apist).

-Most notable was the question Bash asked Harris regarding Trump’s slur about Harris’ identity as Black and Asian, which Harris simply brushed off with a look, a breezy “Same old tired playbook – next question please?”, and a laugh. While some carped about Harris basically saying some of her positions have changed from her 2020 Presidential candidacy to now because being Vice President gave her information to shift her views – as if that was either a bad thing or uncredible! – overall the interview went so well even CNN said Harris “bolstered” her momentum, as the post-convention bounce has Harris ahead or tied in every swing state.

-Indeed, the Zoom calls for support of Harris continues apace. Last night, in an event organized by Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) and Padma Lakshmi, hosted a COOKING FOR KAMALA event that Lakshmi and Joel McHale hosted featuring a who’s-who of celebrity chefs, including Jose Andres, Marcus Samuelson, Nancy Silverton and most of Lakshmi’s TOP CHEF pals (including Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons and Carla Hall. A second group also has emerged: Muslim Women for Harris, who released a letter critical of Harris’ stance in the Israel/HAMAS war – but critically still openly declaring their support for Harris given what Trump would likely do if he were to retain power and how universally awful that would be for Muslims in the U.S. and the world.

-The momentum is rolling enough for Trump to notice. As the Harris interview was readied, Trump appeared in WI in a quasi-interview with newly-minted endorser Tulsi Gabbard, ostensibly to try to bamboozle female voters by claiming he was now not only in favor of in-vitro fertilization but was also in favor of federal funding for it. Gabbard tried to tee up the event by admitting that she and her husband are having difficulty having a child and have been using IVF to have one, but Trump being Trump, he ignored the hint to again deride Harris and discuss the scourge of windmills rather than staying on point.

-More to the point, given Trump continually bragging about killing Roe v. Wade, the Project 2025 goals of criminalizing all abortions and banning IVF in all its forms, and Trump being such an inveterate liar that he deserves literally no benefit of any doubt ever again, the entire concept should, frankly, be ignored if it’s spewing from his mouth.

-In any event, the event also demonstrated that there may be something to a report in The Bulwark that the Trump campaign team is now so concerned about Trump’s polling backsliding and exposure as being the oldest candidate in history – and the Harris campaign blazing along hitting most if not all of its cylinders (this morning announcing a 50-stop bus tour of Florida in an attempt to expand the map and possibly put that state in play in November – or at least get Trump to spend reportedly lean resources on that state to keep it) – that some in his camp are openly claiming the September 10 debate may be the last chance for Trump to slam the brakes on the Harris campaign in order to win the election.

-That reported admission comes as there continue to be contradictions about what ground rules there may be for that debate, particularly the question of whether microphones will “stay hot” or if one mike is muted when another candidate is speaking. Harris wants hot mikes, which is a reversal from a demand Biden made in his now ill-fated June debate, and while Trump claimed earlier in the week that he had agreed to “all conditions,” his demand to mute the mikes is still a point of contention (see “benefit of the doubt” above).

-And, if this is a 2024 election update on a day ending in a ‘y,’ then there must be at least one “How Did JD Vance Beclown Himself Today?” story – and as befits an oncoming long holiday weekend, there were TWO such moments yesterday!

-The first was at a convention of union firefighters, where the day befor Tim Walz made a triumphant appearance for the Democratic team. Vance went to the podium amid audience members proudly wearing TRUMP IS A SCAB T-shirts (Fact Check: TRUE), and Vance then tried to claim with a straight nasal whine that Trump and he were ‘the most pro-worker ticket in Republican history,’ Vance was roundly and righteously booed more or less off the stage.

-Apparently not feeling humiliated enough, however, Vance then went on social media to display some of that Vance wit by claiming he found a video of Harris preparing for the interview – and then showed a clip from the infamous 2014 Miss Teen USA interview Caitlin Upton of South Carolina in which she word-saladed her way through a question she clearly could not answer. Vance was confronted with both the clip and the added note that Upton was so bullied and mocked by the circulation of that clip that she contemplated suicide at one point – but despite that, Vance did not apologize for using the clip or his entire point that KAHMAAAAHLAAA HARRIS IS DUMBDUMBDUMB, AMIRITE YES I AM!!

-Trump praised Vance at his appearance in WI with Tulsi Gabbard last night, in case you think he will be dumped – Trump/Vance is the ticket, and they are apparently running on a ticket of unconcealed contempt and disrespect towards women.

-Trump today is appearing before Moms for Liberty, the ultra-radical MAGA organization most noted for being the primary driver of book banning efforts and loading local school boards with radical right-wing candidates.

-In Ukraine, as its forces consolidate gains made from its surprise offensive into Russian territory, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy continues to appeal to the U.S. and NATO to allow his Armies to use longer-range missiles they now have to make strikes deeper within Russian territory where many of their strikes are being launched from against civilian infrastructure. The strikes by Vladimir Putin are in reaction to the counteroffensive and are being made in their longstanding effort to inflict enough pain on Ukrainian citizens to erode their resolve, as well as string the war along long enough to get Trump reinstalled and use Trump’s support of Putin to win. But Russian losses continue to mount amid open questions of how long he can hold out, so unless something dramatic happens, watch to see if Ukraine gets that permission.

-SLAVA UKRAINI!

-We arrive at Labor Day with temperatures moderating, gas prices lowering, travel at a record high, inflation continuing to stay under control, and the launch of the soon-to-be-really-insane college football season with its new 12-team playoff format in place amid radical restructuring of the major conferences. There will be quick updates this weekend as I will be throwing an annual barbecue, so you all be safe and have fun after you’re done reading!

-On this date in 1918, Vladimir Lenin was shot twice in an assassination attempt that failed. On this date in 1967, Thurgood Marshall became the first African-American Supreme Court Justice. On this date in 1969, the band Earth changed its name to Black Sabbath. On this date in 1983, Guion S. Bluford Jr. became the first African American to travel into space. On this date in 2021, American forces completed their withdrawal from Afghanistan.

-Debuts on this date: Ty Cobb in the major leagues (1905), a hotline between Washington and Moscow (1963), “Hey, Jude” (1968), SWEETHEARTS OF THE RODEO (1968), Tom Brokaw as an anchor (1976), THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN (1993), THE RISING (2002), NORMAN F**KING ROCKWELL! (2019).

-Happy Birthday to Mary Shelley, Raymond Massey, Shirley Booth, Roy Wilkins, Joan Blondell, Fred MacMurray, Ted Williams, Kitty Wells, Angelo Dundee, Bill Daley, Geoffrey Beene, Warren Buffett, Sylvia Earle, John Peel, Jean-Claude Killy, R. Crumb, Molly Ivins, Tug McGraw, Peggy Lipton, Fred Hampton, Lewis Black, Timothy Bottoms, Robert Parish, David Paymer, Michael Chiklis, Paul Oakenfold, Lars Frederiksen, Cameron Diaz, Lisa Ling, Cliff Lee, Andy Roddick, Bebe Rexha, and Mikal Bridges.

-Rest in Peace/Rest in Power to Jean Seberg, Vera-Ellen, Philly Joe Jones, Charles Bronson, Glenn Ford, Seamus Heaney, Oliver Sacks, Wes Craven, Valerie Harper, John Thompson Jr., and Mikhail Gorbachev.

-Feed the Worms: Belarus President and Putin boot-licker Alexander Lukashenko entered Earth on this date.

-Huey Long was born on this date. You decide if he gets a Happy Birthday or if he Feeds the Worms.