Sanity in Missouri. Well, will wonders never cease? The U.S. Supreme Court, without dissent, restored the Missouri Supreme Court decision restoring the 2022 congressional map, setting aside the MAGA concocted re-redistricted map, affirming that the referendum blocked by Republicans should have gone forward. This is a victory for sanity, the rule of law, and for the principle that even this MAGA Supreme Court has its limits when it comes to Trump’s assault on voting.
The Trumpalooza bust. The Daily Beast headline in advance of the MAGA Dallas convention said it all: “Republicans Panic as Trump Becomes Midterm ‘Ball and Chain.’” Others noted “long lines in the heat waiting to get inside, many empty seats, and [an] ‘L’ in ‘Dallas’ fell off the podium at one point.”
Lying that he won the presidency three times and pleading to pretend he is on the ballot (Okay!, say Democrats), Donald Trump’s rambling remarks, essentially a recycled campaign speech, verged on self-parody (“we will leave the world in our dust for generations to come” … um, what?!?!). He hawked his plans to rename New Mexico, Lake Ontario, and the Strait of Hormuz (“Trump Strait”) and, to Democrats’ delight, expressed his love of tariffs (which are taxes). His personal obsessions and delusional insistence that he has brought down prices underscore that his narcissism is exploding and he doesn’t care about ordinary Americans’ concerns (or about helping to elect Republicans). And ever the con man, he promised (illegally, perhaps) a $5,000 bribe tax “dividend” if Republicans keep both houses. (You still haven’t gotten your promised $2,000 tariff rebate!)
The rest of the over-hyped, cheesy event included innocuous speeches from lesser-known MAGA foot soldiers and a video from the Democratic senator least interested in working and most reviled by his own side. (”John Fetterman is the laziest Benedict Arnold America has ever seen. He didn’t even have it in him to get off his couch in his million-dollar penthouse to kiss Donald Trump’s ring in person. He phoned it in, just as he has every day as our senator,” Pennsylvania state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, a Democrat, said in a delicious response.) Speaking of lesser lights, you wonder how much Republicans will continue to spend on losing candidates such as Texas U.S. Senate nominee Ken Paxton (who spoke very briefly and whose wardrobe Trump mocked), currently trailing Democrat James Talarico by 5 points in the most recent poll.
People think the economy stinks for good reason. Using payroll data, the Wall Street Journal reported that “from the end of 2020 to the end of last year, 34% of workers’ wages didn’t keep up with inflation…. [T]he effect of rising prices was far more pernicious than it would have been in a low inflation environment, where their buying power would only gradually deteriorate.” Trump’s war is making things worse. (“In July, consumer prices were up 2.1% from their December level, while average hourly earnings were up 1.7%.”) And those figures don’t even include soaring mortgage and other borrowing rates. And, as if to drive home the message of soaring costs, Brent crude oil prices rose over $100.
The arch. Trump is going all-in on his gargantuan arch, a 250-foot eyesore to be erected between between Arlington Cemetery and Memorial Bridge. VoteVets, the largest Democratic veterans’ group, has kicked off a public campaign against the monstrosity, saying it is “entirely inappropriate and borders on sacrilege to the men and women buried” at Arlington.
Meanwhile, challengers went back to court after Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum announced he was moving ahead with construction in defiance of a court-enforced consent decree. The judge was not amused, ordered Burgum to provide advance notice of any activity at the site, and reminded the Trump regime that any construction or demolition without 14 days’ notice to the court would violate its order.
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I am a Vietnam Veteran. Some of my squadron mates are buried there. My father served 30 in the Navy and both he and my mother are buried at Arlington. President Bone Spurs wants to glorify himself while diminishing those who served. This is fitting given how he has belittled those who serve now.
Jen, so happy you’re back. With the Jolt of a good idea. Thanks!