Opinions to go Online

Common sense and security coordination are critical to the safety of those, most notably presidents and presidential candidates, who are protected by the Secret Service. It’s a zero-sum game. And, no, we haven’t learned anything from Dallas.

 

Donald Trump didn’t just happen. America has had its faux populists, “dog whistle” racists and “America First” obsessers before. This time, however, the planet is even more fragile, and America’s leadership against demagogues and dictators never more necessary. To paraphrase FDR, Nov. 8, 2016 will go down in “infamy.” As will Jan. 6, 2021. And here’s hoping Nov. 5, 2024 doesn’t join them.

But let’s not forget that 2008 was the de facto catalyst for where we now find ourselves. When John McCain put the implausibly ignorant, female-insulting Sarah Palin on his presidential ticket, the Veep bar was lowered to subterranean depths. And then the historic election of an African-American president.

For all those who didn’t like their lives and needed scapegoats, they could always look down on those of color. But as of 2008, one of them was now president. An electoral bridge way too far. As a result, we’ve been living in the racist, nativist, Trumpster backlash.

But how utterly ironic–and sanguine for democracy–that a female president of color is now quite possible. If that happens, infamy would be more for historians than contemporary Americans.

• “I revere this office, but I love my country more.”—President Joe Biden.
• Remember when Sen. Kamala Harris grilled SCOTUS nominee Brett Kavanaugh on abortion rights? We’ll be seeing that again.
• A recent ABC News/Ipsos poll has Harris with a favorability rating of 43%: Trump was at 36%.
• Last month the Harris campaign raised $310 million—more than double what the Trump campaign took in. Fundraising is a major measure of campaign cred and optimistic energy among the base. More than 170,000 volunteers have signed on.
• “The one thing that is very apparent right now is there is a tremendous boost of energy, which is incredibly important for all of our races.”—Michigan Gary Peters, the chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
• Inflation was up 3.3% in May and 3% in June. The Fed’s target is still 2%.
• A swing of just four seats in November would make Hakeem Jeffries of New York the Speaker. Increasingly, he will become an even more important national player.
• Harris has branded Trump and Vance as “weird.” But when was the last time “weird” was an upgrade?
• According to Commerce Department data, the economy grew at an annual rate of 8% in the second quarter.

• No, Hocus-Focus doesn’t qualify as a cognition test.
• Silence is golden, duct tape is silver.
• Make America Less Vulnerable to Delusional Cult Figures. Please.
• The car in front of me had a “Do you follow Jesus this closely?” bumper sticker. I guess it was a rhetorical question.
• If a state requires the display of Commandments in classrooms, it ought to update and include all Commandments, including the 11^th, Thou Shalt Not Commit Evangelical, Political hypocrisy.
• Aging slows you down, but it doesn’t shut you up.
• Reproductive Freedom or Republican Freedoom?

• “Rival neighborhood groups:” How’s that for a euphemism for gangs? However labeled, it’s a serious, lethal Tampa issue that never goes away. And no one is impacted more than the Black community—from shooters to victims to terrified neighbors. Perhaps “Black Lives Matter” should expand its message.

• Sumter County is as deep red as it gets, and The Villages have become a GOPster icon. So, surprising–and encouraging–to see hundreds of golf carts parading around The Villages in support of Kamala Harris’ candidacy.
• “There is no political future for (DeSantis).”—FDP Chairperson Nikki Fried.

 

 

• “In establishing American independence, the pen and press had merit equal to that of the sword.”—Historian David Ramsay, in 1789. No, it wasn’t the enemy of the formerly colonized people.
• “CNN is one of the world’s most successful multi-platform global news brands. But we can’t thrive as a company unless we find new sources of revenue.”—CNN Chairman and Chief Executive Mark Thompson. CNN is cutting 100 positions across the company as it accelerates its push into digital subscription products.
• “Good Will Humping”: One of Stormy Daniels’ adult movies.
• Ron DeSantis’ post gubernatorial ambitions? Hints: He spoke at the GOP convention that coronated Trump. He has his acronymed PAC, RON (Restore Our Nation). He also recently guest-hosted Sean Hannity’s nationally-syndicated radio show. Look for him to become a Fox fixture.
• More doubling down: Kevin Roberts, the head of the odious Project 2025, has a book coming out in September. Its forward is written by JD Vance.
• “The whole point of American journalism has always been detachment from authority so that critical analysis is possible.”—Journalist Marvin Kalb, the founder of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy.

• “Patriotism is the exact opposite of nationalism. Nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism by saying: ‘Our interest first. Who cares about the others?’”—French President Emmanuel Macron.
• More than7 million Venezuelans have already left the country during the presidency of Nicolas Maduro.
• The WHO has listed vaccine hesitancy as one of the top 10 threats to global health.
• Trade between Russia and India increased by 66% last year. India now gets more than 40% of its oil imports from Russia.

• “Never say never. Next Olympics are at home (2028 Los Angeles).”—Gold Medal gymnast Simone Biles, on speculation that she will retire after the Paris Games.
• The U.S. men only won one Olympic gold medal in swimming. That was by Clearwater’s Bobby Finke in the 1,500-meter freestyle—in world record time.
• “Sixteen is our today, and 16 is our tomorrow.”—Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey, referring to the size of the newly expanded SEC.
• According to a 2023 Ipsos survey, cornhole is the most-played sport in America—ahead of bowling, swimming and golf. But, no, it’s not in the Olympics yet.
• But ping pong—oops, table tennis—is. BTW, when it comes to doubles, the table seems way too small for four players.
• The NBA, a predominantly black sport, has been promoting basketball in Africa for more than two decades. It even operates an academy for high-school-age players, an NBA Africa office and the headquarters of the Basketball Africa League in Senegal. Today, about 10% of NBA players are either African or have at least one parent from Africa.
• “We can’t let now beat us later.”—Rays baseball operations president Eric Neander, on the reasoning behind the Rays’ recent high-profile, high-salaried trades to better position the team for the future.
• Remember “amateurism”?

• “I don’t believe in ‘win/win.’ I believe in I win.”—Donald Trump on his zero-sum perspective.
• Who the hell other than Trump thought it was a good idea to sit on stage with an interviewing journalist in front of a gathering of the National Association of Black Journalists? His take on Kamala Harris’ morphing from Indian to Black didn’t go over well, to say the least.
• If Trump debates Harris, a former prosecutor well prepped to take on a felon, it means the race is closer than his campaign had assumed. Debating Harris would be like testifying, over the advice of counsel, at your own trial.
• Trump, of course, is an autocrat. When in charge, he also presides, as it were, over a chaotic adhocracy.
• According to the Pew Research Center, white evangelicals went 77% for Trump in 2016 and 84% in 2020.
• “I cannot in good conscience endorse Donald Trump in this campaign.”—Mike Pence.
• “I love my black job.”—Olympic gold medal gymnast Simone Biles.
• Lesley Stahl of CBS News once asked Trump, off camera, why he engaged in so much media bashing. His candid response: “I do it to discredit you all and demean you all so when you write negative stories about me, no one will believe you.”
• Before his fealty flip, Lindsey Graham once tweeted: “You know how to make America great again? Tell @real Donald Trump to go to hell.”
• MAGA: Make America Grating Again.
• “I never prepare for a big deal. I go in and I look the other guy in the eye and I make the big play and that’s how I built my business empire—and that’s why I am the greatest negotiator in the history of the presidency.” –Donald Trump on why he remains unread and unprepared before important negotiations. At least Vlad Putin appreciates the approach.
• “Who is our bigger enemy, (Fed Chair) Jay Powel (sic) or Chairman Xi?—D. Trump.
• The problem with Trump was that “he always does the wrong thing.”—Former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly.
• “He’s a lying mother f***er, but a lot of fun to hang out with.”—Lindsey Graham.
• “The Slim Reaper”: How Melania Trump’s chief of staff, Stephanie Grisham, referred to Jared Kushner.
• Hulk Hogan spoke at the GOP convention—but not as the VP nominee.
• “She’s crazy. She’s nuts.”—Trump in an ad hominem, juvenile insult of Kamala Harris.
• MAGA: Make America Grieve Again.