Sweating Bullets

Rally Aftermath, Veep Pick

In an Oval Office address following a shooter's attempt to assassinate Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, PA, President Biden explained, "We can’t allow this violence to be normalized. I believe politics ought to be an arena for peaceful debate ... Our politics must never be a literal battlefield ... We resolve our differences at the ballot box -- not with bullets." He's right, of course. But as much as this is a story about political violence—which is thankfully rare—it's also a story about gun violence in America—which is anything but. The shooting in Butler was a uniquely awful moment in America. But it's also part of a never-ending story of lunatics with easy access to weapons of war and our refusal to address the issue. It's also the latest chapter in a political news cycle that has gone from nauseatingly overwhelming to dangerously all-encompassing. During the second half of last night's Copa America soccer final, a TV commentator said "we have a half hour of remaining normal time." What would we all give for that much political normal time? At one point over the weekend, I turned off my phone, closed my laptop, unplugged the WiFi, and put my head on a pillow ... And the stream kept going. You can’t tune it out or turn it off anymore. Some Americans are shooting bullets, but we're all sweating them.

+ By the time the bullets' echo had stopped reverberating, the echo chamber was in full swing. It won't surprise you in the least that the conspiracy theories about the Trump shooting started immediately. But it should worry you that these dangerously irresponsible comments weren't just coming from the social media masses. They were coming from leading political figures and some of America's most powerful CEOs. The Atlantic (Gift Article): The Trump Shooting Conspiracies Outpaced Reality.

+ "The FBI has not found a manifesto, and Crooks had never been under FBI investigation. The official confirmed that he did not have an unusual online history for a 20-year-old man. He liked to play chess, video games and was learning how to code, according to a review of his online activities." NYT (Gift Article): FBI Finds Few Red Flags on a Would-Be Assassin. (The less we learn about the gunman's motives, the more people can make them up to fit their political goals.) Philly Inquirer: Why Thomas Matthew Crooks tried to assassinate Donald Trump is a mystery to investigators and his ex-classmates. "The majority of the class were on the liberal side, but Tom, no matter what, always stood his ground on the conservative side. That’s still the picture I have of him. Just standing alone on one side while the rest of the class was on the other."

+ Secret Service faces serious questions about security footprint and rooftop access at Trump event.

+ David Frum in The Atlantic (Gift Article) with an excellent overview of tragic and tragically ironic moment in America. The Gunman and the Would-Be Dictator. "The despicable shooting at Trump, which also caused death and injury to others, now secures his undeserved position as a partner in the protective rituals of the democracy he despises. The appropriate expressions of dismay and condemnation from every prominent voice in American life have the additional effect of habituating Americans to Trump’s legitimacy. In the face of such an outrage, the familiar and proper practice is to stress unity, to proclaim that Americans have more things in common than that divide them. Those soothing words, true in the past, are less true now. Nobody seems to have language to say: We abhor, reject, repudiate, and punish all political violence, even as we maintain that Trump remains himself a promoter of such violence, a subverter of American institutions, and the very opposite of everything decent and patriotic in American life."

+ The man killed in the assassination attempt on Trump died shielding his family.

+ And, in an age of constantly moving media, WaPo on the powerful photograph that could change America forever. (With the caveat that in today's media landscape, where news moves faster than a speeding bullet, forever doesn't last long.)

2

Veep a Creep, Document Case Shredded

There have been many pronouncements about what the rally shooting will mean in terms of the election. It may very well have an enormous and irreversible impact. But like life, the stories come at you fast, so we don't know how even a massive one will resonate over a matter of months. Consider that just today, we got Trump's VP pick: JD Vance (former Trump critic and current election denier), locking up the angry white males who have nothing to be angry about vote. It is very notable that JD Vance was among the political leaders who blamed Biden and spread hate immediately after the Butler shooting.

+ And we have another terrible legal decision (and another reminder of the importance of the election). This one comes from Judge Aileen Cannon, who just dismissed the documents case. The Atlantic (Gift Article): An Astonishing Ruling in Trump’s Classified-Documents Case. "Cannon found that the appointment of Special Counsel Jack Smith violates the Constitution."

+ If the decision sounds familiar ... "Cannon's dismissal on the appointments clause violation comes after the Supreme Court ruled two weeks ago that Trump is entitled to immunity from federal prosecution for official acts taken while in office, a decision that stemmed from the 2020 election-related case. Justice Clarence Thomas authored a solo concurring opinion that called into question the constitutionality of Smith's appointment."

3

Bee All End All?

"The 69-year-old Nyongesa recalled how he would plead unsuccessfully with loggers to spare the mangroves or cut only the mature ones while leaving the younger ones intact. 'But they would retort that the trees do not belong to anyone but God,' he said. So he has turned to deterring the loggers with bees." To protect mangroves, some Kenyans combat logging with hidden beehives. (I'm thinking of setting up one of these between me and my laptop.)

4

Via Maya

"That just reminded me, there was some bullshit—somebody asked me about being a nepo baby, and I was, like, Are you seriously coming for me? What planet do you have to be on to think that I’m not aware that I was raised in a show-business family? I would have to be brain-dead not to notice that. All the things our families do influence who we are. If my dad had been a lawyer, that would have influenced me. There’s this concept that nepo babies are people who got the job because their dad’s good at something. And I just think, Bitch, have you seen my work?" The New Yorker: Maya Rudolph Is Ready to Serve.

5

Extra, Extra

People Gets Ready: "Other conservative groups have defined Republican Presidencies: the Heritage Foundation staffed the Administration of Ronald Reagan, the American Enterprise Institute that of George W. Bush. But C.P.I. is categorically different from its peers. It’s not a think tank—it’s an incubator and an activist hub that funds other organizations, coördinates with conservative members of the House and Senate, and works as a counterweight to G.O.P. leadership. The effort to contest the 2020 election results and the protests of January 6, 2021, were both plotted at C.P.I.’s headquarters, at 300 Independence Avenue." Let's circle back to what this election is really about and the people plotting for an entirely different and more impactful Trump presidency. Jonathan Blitzer in The New Yorker: Inside the Trump Plan for 2025. And from People (yes, this story is going fully mainstream): What Is Project 2025? Inside the Far-Right Plan Threatening Everything from the Word 'Gender' to Public Education.

+ The Spanish Fly: "When you combine the tennis and international soccer titles with Real Madrid’s Champions League success in the men’s club game and Barcelona’s dominance in the women’s game, Spain is winning big in both sports. And this new era of success is being propelled by young players, drawing parallels to the generation that propelled Spain to the top of both sports two decades ago." From Carlos Alcaraz dominating in the Wimbledon final to a Euro 2024 win, it was one hell of a weekend for Spain. It's tough to compete at Wimbledon. And not just for the players. Inside the cutthroat world of becoming a Wimbledon ball boy and ball girl.

+ Fan(atics): Argentina won the Copa America, but the big story took place before the match. Mayhem at Copa America gates in Miami prevented ticketed fans from getting into game. And from BBC: Fans use stadium air vents to get into Copa America.

+ Rust Remover: Alec Baldwin’s Rust shooting trial dismissed after lawyers say evidence was withheld.

+ Dr. Ruth: "Ruth Westheimer posed a perpetual contradiction: Her form never seemed to match her content. A tiny woman with an old-fashioned 'beauty parlor' bouffant, high-pitched voice (with distinctive Old World accent) and grandmotherly demeanor, she was the last person you’d expect to hear talking about orgasms (or slaloming down an Alp). But 'sexual literacy' was her field, and she dispensed learned, serious advice to the general public for over 40 years — in dozens of books, articles, her wildly popular radio and TV shows. She was even the subject of a one-woman Off Broadway show." NYT: The Irony of Dr. Ruth, who passed away at 96 last week.

+ Richard Simmons: "Richard Simmons was instantly recognizable in his short shorts, sparkly tank tops and frizzy hair. He was one of the most original, flamboyant and beloved fitness personalities of the last 50 years." Richard Simmons, who believed fitness is for everyone, dies at 76.

+ Wedding Lasts Longer Than Some Marriages: "After seven months of extravagant pre-wedding celebrations, Anant Ambani, the son of India’s richest man, completed his long-awaited marriage to pharmaceutical heiress Radhika Merchant before thousands of guests on Friday.'

6

Bottom of the News

"An Italian-led team reported Monday that there’s evidence for a sizable cave accessible from the deepest known pit on the moon. It’s located at the Sea of Tranquility, just 250 miles from Apollo 11’s landing site. The pit, like the more than 200 others discovered up there, was created by the collapse of a lava tube." Scientists have confirmed a cave on the moon that could be used to shelter future explorers. Please, send me...