The Garden was overflowing with manure this weekend as Trump and his MAGA cohort cosplayed a 1939 Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden (although even the actual Nazis wouldn't have featured a keynote from Hulk Hogan in character). The NYT(Gift Article), usually pretty reserved when describing Trump, called the evening as A Closing Carnival of Grievances, Misogyny and Racism. In The Atlantic (Gift Article) David A. Graham sums up some of the evenings lowlights. This Is Trump’s Message. Tony Hinchcliffe was the evening’s first speaker: "'These Latinos, they love making babies too. Just know that. They do. They do. There’s no pulling out. They don’t do that. They come inside,' he joked. 'Just like they did to our country.' A minute later: 'I don’t know if you guys know this, but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. Yeah, I think it’s called Puerto Rico.' It took a few more minutes before he got to the joke about Black people loving watermelons. Novel, edgy stuff—for a minstrel show in 1874.Other speakers were only somewhat better. A childhood pal of Donald Trump’s called Vice President Kamala Harris 'the anti-Christ' and 'the devil.' The radio host Sid Rosenberg called her husband, Doug Emhoff, 'a crappy Jew.' Tucker Carlson had a riff about Harris vying to be 'the first Samoan-Malaysian, low-IQ former California prosecutor ever to be elected president.' Stephen Miller went full blood-and-soil, declaring, 'America is for Americans and Americans only.' (In 1939, a Nazi rally at the old Madison Square Garden promised 'to restore America to the true Americans.'") So what was the goal? This hardly expands the base. The point, it seems, is divisiveness, hate, and rage intended to stir up the base in the event of an election loss for Trump. One could argue that his MAGA MSG act made such a loss more likely. If nothing else, in a campaign built on lies, the night at the garden was a wholly honest look at what Trumpism is all about. It's what you'd call Garden variety fascism. 2An Unsafe Safe BetThe fallout from Jeff Bezos' decision to pull the Washington Post Kamala Harris for President endorsement continues. There's been widespread criticism, big name resignations, and a critical joint column by 17 reporters who are sticking around. It's important to note that Bezos is hardly the only big business player to be hedging their bets in case Trump wins. From WaPo (where at least the news section still gets published): Some billionaires, CEOs hedge bets as Trump vows retribution. "With the race tight, some business elites are toning down past criticism of the former president." While craven and unethical and basically sad, these moves do have logic behind them. Why? Billionaires know they can buy favorable treatment from Trump without risking retribution from Harris because he's corrupt and she’s not. That alone is reason enough to vote for Harris. 3Don't Pick a Crow with a Crow"Over and over, the crows attacked Lisa Joyce as she ran screaming down a Vancouver street. They dive bombed, landing on her head and taking off again eight times by Ms. Joyce’s count. With hundreds of people gathered outdoors to watch fireworks that July evening, Ms. Joyce wondered why she had been singled out ... A Los Angeles resident, Neil Dave, described crows attacking his house, slamming their beaks against his glass door to the point where he was afraid it would shatter. Jim Ru, an artist in Brunswick, Maine, said crows destroyed the wiper blades of dozens of cars in the parking lot of his senior living apartment complex. Nothing seemed to dissuade them." NYT(Gift Article): If You Think You Can Hold a Grudge, Consider the Crow. "The brainy birds carry big chips on their shoulders, scientists say. And some people who become subjects of their ire may be victims of mistaken identity." 4Tough Cheddar"Mr. Holden said that he was initially flattered. A French chain wanted to buy that much British cheese? And Cheddar, such a quintessentially British variety? 'We’d been going around, proudly, saying: ‘Guess what, a French supermarket is buying our cheese,' Mr. Holden said, chuckling." That’s a Lot of Cheddar: Scammers Steal $390,000 of British Cheese. 5Extra, ExtraKim Jong Unbridled: "North Korea has sent about 10,000 troops to Russia to train and fight in Ukraine within 'the next several weeks,' the Pentagon said Monday, in a move that Western leaders say will intensify the almost three-year war and jolt relations in the Indo-Pacific region." (These international stories don't get much attention in our presidential election, but just imagine this story under a Trump administration. Two of his favorite dictators are teaming up against a NATO ally.) 6Bottom of the News"When DeLorenzo reflects on the surreal moment later, he tells me he’d assumed at first that this guy—the actual Timothée Chalamet—was just another Timmy lookalike. Truthfully, it took all of us a second to realize what the hell was actually going on." The Agony and Ecstasy of a Timothée Chalamet Lookalike Contest.
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