There will be a lot of soul-searching among Democrats, as there should be. Those who criticize Joe Biden for not dropping out earlier, or Kamala Harris for her campaign, are looking in the wrong place. This was a broader rejection ofe ruling elites. 1 Including military leaders like Milley& Kelly, exemplary scientists, more broadly all connected to the federal government. I continue to believe a core is Covid, the disruptions in life caused by it and the response to it, ironically driven by the failures of Trump. 2

The meme of the election is nauseously optimistic. I am there, for these reasons:
1. Turnout. Ds have a great infrastructure & framework. Rs turned the effort over to Elon Musk after Trump used the RNC $ to pay for his lawyers. Musk has done for R turnout what he did for Twitter 2. The October Surprise. Not Bibi taking reckless action to hurt Harris & help Trump. It is Madison Square Garden. A big backlash after the hatefest should make a difference in PA and other swing states. Late deciders breaking 2-1 for Harris.

The Supreme Court‘s opinion in the Virginia voter purge case is more deeply unsettling than it appears on the surface. It is about only 1600 voters, a significant portion probably perfectly legal. But right wing justices completely blew away the express language of the law. 1 Congress has superseding authority on federal elections. Actions like Youngkin took are expressly forbidden within the 90 day window before the election. Six justices decided that their partisan views are more significant than the law. This is not the first time. 2

Let's unpack this. Donald Trump just referred again to the press as "the enemy of the people. He has promised to lock up his adversaries, "the enemy within." Pledged to forcibly deport 12 million or more immigrants, legal or not, first putting them in detention camps. 1/ He has expressed admiration for Hitler, wants generals like Hitler had. He is talking regularly to Netanyahu, urging him to do nothing to help Biden. He talks to Putin, pledges to blow up NATO, shows increasing signs of mental decline. He is a narcissistic sociopath & grifter. 2/

This is a must-read thread. Unlike many on this site, I believe Maggie Haberman has done some terrific work on Trump, and is unjustly ripped because not every piece fits the narrative. But her frame here is simply wrong. 1/

https://twitter.com/DougJBalloon/status/1837915755935158743

It reflects a circle-the-wagons mindset that refuses to heed or accept legitimate criticism of the double standard and false equivalence that we see too often in our elite media that set the standard and the signals for all others. 2/

David, I understand why journalists want to take this stance. But the fact is we have had no reflection, no willingness to think through how irresponsible and reckless so much of our mainstream press and so many of our journalists have bern and continue to be 1

https://twitter.com/davidfolkenflik/status/1823382392452595780

Watch how often the White House press briefings end up as embarrassing zoos. Consider for example at O’Keefe’s shouting at and hectoring the press secretary. Far too many questions have little to do with what Americans care about, and more reflect the egos of the reporters. 2

There was a seminal study in North Carolina, a controlled one that showed that the same kids during times in the month when they were food insecure performed far worse than when they had enough food. It matters! And not just to the kids-- to the society. 1 My family and I sponsor a summer debate camp for public school kids in the DC area. 200 from sixth grade thru high school. 3 wks for varsity, 2 for JV and novice. All free, including breakfast and lunch each day. 2

I am a native-born Minnesotan. My mother's family was deeply involved in social justice, civil rights and the labor movement going back to the 1930s. I had many mentors in the state, including Hubert Humphrey, Walter Mondale, Don Fraser, Art Naftalin. Al Franken is my dear friend. So is Keith Ellison. 1 So is Amy Klobuchar. So were some Minnesota Republicans, like Bill Frenzel, Dave Durenberger, Jim Ramstad, Doug Head-- back when the state GOP was a model of intelligent and honest moderate conservatism. 2

An interesting piece by @ErikWemple which I believe misses the point. He says there have been a lot of stories about what a Trump second term would be like-- although they amount to far less than one a day over more than a year, across a slew of newspapers and magazines. 1/washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/… A story here, a story there, will never penetrate public consciousness. They do not signal to readers-- or importantly, viewers and the editors and producers who take their cues from what is front page above the fold stories in opinion leading media, esp. the NYT and WaPo. 2/

FTWE Cannon’s lawless decision, it is worth repeating a little history. In 1999, George Mitchell and Bob Dole asked me and Tom Mann to lead a project on alternatives to the Independent Counsel statute that was expiring, know informally s the Ken Starr/Brett Kavanaugh Abuse Law. 1 We spent a year, with an incredible staff led by Mike Davidson and Elaine Stone, researching what states and other countries had done. Then we assembled an all-star team to sit for three intensive days to draft an alternative. 2/

A couple of observations. First is the sharp contrast in reactions of Democrats and Republicans. Democrats from Biden on down offer sympathy for Trump and condemn violence, especially political violence. 1/ Contrast all that with the reactions of Trump, Don Jr, and others after Paul Pelosi was brutally assaulted in what was an abortive effort to assassinate Nancy Pelosi. Or Trump's ridicule of Gretchen Whitmer after the kidnapping attempt. 2/

Just saw the sad news about Dr. Ruth. Ruth was a family friend, from Renaissance Weekends. Here is my favorite story: we were together at a conference in Coronado California. After reception on the beach on Friday night, Ruth, a devout Jew, turned to me and said “I want to do a Friday night service, I brought books and we can get a minion of 10 from the attendees.” We walked together back into the hotel, where the lobby was filled with Pfizer sales people, there for a meeting of their Viagra team. The entire group swooped down on us, treating Ruth as if she were Jesus entering the Vatican. I got a Viagra pen! don’t worry, I won’t tell one of the many jokes that are obvious.

Let me be clear: I don’t criticize our media for intense coverage of the health of the president and whether he can fill another term or stay on the ticket. Those are big stories. They are not the only stories. The fact that he is the incumbent does not excuse the inattention to the other major party candidate who was a former president, much less the dereliction of duty that comes with treating his abnormal behavior as normal. 1/ Of course, Biden’s disastrous debate performance was the biggest news. But Trump’s serial lies was also really big, and brushed aside. The revelations from Jeffrey Epstein’s investigation, including the multiple trips Trump took with him, largely ignored. Far worse is what we know will be the consequences of another Trump presidency. 2/

Back in 1999, George Mitchell and Bob Dole asked me and Tom Mann to take on a major project, to look for alternatives to the Independent Counsel Statute that was set to expire. We did an intensive examination, including looking at other countries and states' experiences. 1/ With a crack team, including former Senate Counsel Mike Davidson and lawyer Elaine Stone, we took our evidence and convened a stellar group of eight to do, in effect a markup to find the best alternative. That group included former Attorney General Dick Thornburgh, former Solicitor General Drew Days-- and John Roberts, then in private practice. 2/

I am fiercely pro Israel, including its right to defend itself against terrorists. But I can also draw a distinction when leaders do bad things, including sanctioning armed vigilantes in the West Bank and pushing to annex more territory for settlements in a rebuke to Biden. 1 The millions of Israelis have demonstrated against Netanyahu's government, even during this war are not anti-Israel propagandists. What Bibi, Smotrich, Ben Gvir are doing will divide and alienate many of the remaining supporters of the country, further isolating Israel. 2

CNN, MSNBC et al are in their glory; horserace 24/7. They love it-- bloviate endlessly about who is up, who is down, using polls and analysts. But it is so dangerous. Normalizing Trump as just another candidate, ignoring the stakes and his open declaration promising autocracy. 1/ That he slaps the media in the face over and over, the enemy of the people has apparently made no difference in their frame of what matters. The focus needs to be on THE STAKES. A DHS run by Stephen Miller; DOD by Michael Flynn, DOJ by Jeffrey Clark; WH by Steve Bannon. 2/

Such utter nonsense from Megan McCardle, peddling GOP talking points. McCarthy as “relatively moderate.” He kissed Trump’s ass, punished Cheney & Kitzinger, embraced MTG and Santos, tried to blame Ds for a shutdown by cutting Ukraine aid. 1/ What would Democrats have gained by bailing out Kevin McCarthy? The answer is absolutely nothing. McCarthy had already reneged on the spending agreement. He would still have had the short leash of the lunatics. He would have been the same weak-kneed hypocrite. 2/

One again, NRA lickspittles like Lindsey Graham are returning to the "mental illness" talking point instead of confronting the gun issue. First, those with serious mental illness are much more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators. 1/ Second, the small subset of those who do commit violence are almost all untreated. Our mental health system, esp. when it comes to those with serious mental illness (SMI) and even more if they have anosognosia, a lack of insight, is broken. But no solutions from Graham, et al. 2/

There is a lot of commentary on why Nancy Pelosi was able to succeed with the thinnest of majorities while Kevin McCarthy failed miserably. Of course, the biggest reason is Pelosi’s skill and tenacity. There is more. Democrats, who have many factions, want to solve problems 1/ As a group, they are willing to swallow, hard and accept tough compromises to achieve policy goals. Thus, no public option on healthcare, and a compromise on abortion for Obamacare. Perhaps another leader would not have pulled it off. But it still reflects the party culture. 2/

Here is the rich irony of what is happening in the House. Kevin McCarthy is being attacked by GOP radicals because he has been too much of an institutionalist. In truth, there has never been a speaker in our lifetimes more contemptuous of the institution. 1/ He sold out the institution and Constitution over January 6. He trashed Liz Cheney, and Adam Kinzinger while protecting those who promoted a violent insurrection. He remove Democrats from Committee’s not because they had committed some offenses but because they were too strong 2/

I was privileged to know Jimmy Carter a bit. While consulting for the Carter/Baker Commission in Atlanta, I had lunch with him, just the two of us. I asked him about his work on river blindness. He told me how it had come about during one of many trips to Africa 1 How many lives had been destroyed, how a simple inexpensive cream could prevent it. He told me how he had gone about enlisting support, including from Pharma companies. No bragging, just a tale of how a former president could make things happen. The result? Countless lives saved