Sunrise — 4:53, 5:28.

"People should be ebullient and happy.... you have to sit back and enjoy this particular period in our history...."

"A senile man refuses to abdicate the presidency. He's being encouraged to stay in the race by his wife, a woman who at 55 years old got a doctorate of education and makes people call her doctor. She's not a doctor. She's no more of a doctor than I'm a doctor. His son, a crack addict... is encouraging him to stay in the race. His wife is saying stay in the race. Everybody else is pulling out... and he still refuses to leave. The senile president refuses to leave. You must enjoy it. You must sit back and enjoy it.... The media has been covering for Biden... and the campaign just dribbled him out for a press conference here a state of the union there — very scripted, very tightly controlled appearances.... They juiced him for the state of the union and it worked and drugs don't always work... so whatever they shot him up with,  whatever... Pulp Fiction adrenaline shot they gave him through the... breast plate.... I'm not a doctor — Jill is — but whatever — that didn't work here...."

In case you want to sit back and enjoy the Biden debacle, there's no better companion than Tim Dillon....

Fungus of the Day.

"A lengthy manifesto written by Nashville school shooter Audrey Hale won’t be released to the public because its copyright now belongs to her victims’ loved ones..."

"... a judge has ruled. Families of the three children and three staffers gunned down last year by Hale, 28, at the private Christian Covenant School can block media outlets’ access to the writings, Chancery Court Judge I’Ashea Myles ruled Thursday night. 'The original writings, journals, art, photos and videos created by Hale are subject to an exception to the [Tennessee Public Records Act ] created by the federal Copyright Act,' Myles wrote in court documents.... Interest in Hales’ writings stem from the assertion by police that she was 'assigned female at birth' but may have identified as a transgender man...."

The NY Post reports.

Deborah Fisher, executive director of the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, criticized the judge's opinion: "To say that evidence collected by police can be copyrighted by the criminal, or the surviving parent or spouse of the criminal, does not bode well for the transparency of the police or the judicial system."

But the article says the judge said the victims' families own the copyright. 

At the Vampire Café...

... drink some conversation.

("Munch himself always claimed it showed nothing more than 'just a woman kissing a man on the neck.'")

"In 1988, Mr. Enger... slipped through a window at the Munch Museum in Oslo to steal a version of 'The Scream.'"

"But a hitch in their plan led them instead to snatch another Munch masterwork, 'Love and Pain,' also known as 'Vampire.' 'The disappointment lasted days,' Mr. Enger later recalled, 'but then it started to become fun.' In part, that was because he kept the painting hidden in the ceiling of a pool hall he owned that was frequented by off-duty police officers. 'They don’t know it’s hanging just one meter from them,' he added. 'That was the best feeling. We let them play for free just to have them there.'... Mr. Enger spent four years in prison for the theft.... He turned his sights back to his muse and quarry.... He and an accomplice clambered up a ladder outside the National Gallery in Oslo, smashed a window and... slipped out with the museum’s version of 'The Scream'.... The thieves left behind the ladder, their wire cutters and a note: 'A thousand thanks for your poor security.'... ... Mr. Enger was sentenced to six years and three months in prison, where he took up painting.... After his release, he established an art career of his own... In 2015, he was charged with stealing 17 paintings from an Oslo gallery."

From "Paal Enger, Who Stole Munch’s 'The Scream,' Is Dead at 57/A promising player for a storied Norwegian soccer club, he instead found infamy for stealing one of the world’s most famous artworks" (NYT).

Performance art?

"The Scream" is — I think — the only work of art for which I have a tag. My normal practice is to use the name of the artist, but I don't have an Edvard Munch tag. Only a "Scream" tag. It's useful! E.g.:

"You saw it today. How many-- how many people draw crowds like I did today? Find me more enthusiastic than today? Huh?"

Said Joe Biden, in his interview with George Stephanoulos, and Stephanoulos had to push him back:

"I don't think you wanna play the crowd game. Donald Trump can draw big crowds. There's no question about that."

Biden briefly tried to change the subject to the kind of people Donald Trump draws:

"He can draw a big crowd, but what does he say? Who-- who does he have?"

Yeah, who are those people who go to Trump rallies? At least he caught himself before making some sort of miserable "deplorables" remark.

Meanwhile, here's a view of Biden's audience yesterday (on TikTok).

Nate Silver's ladder.

You could debate the exact order, but right now we're about half way up this ladder. pic.twitter.com/k4wo9rDIB7

— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) July 6, 2024

"Have you had the specific cognitive tests, and have you had a neurologist, a specialist, do an examination?"

George Stephanopoulos pushed Joe Biden, in the big ABC interview that aired last night.

Biden had just wafted the theory that the job of being president is itself, inherently, "a full neurological test every day." As if we can just watch him. But we can't watch him. He's been hiding, and he's insulated by others who can cover for all his shortcomings.

Pushed — about "specific cognitive tests" by "a neurologist, a specialist" — Biden said "No. No one said I had to. No one said. They said I'm good."

Well, then, Stephanopoulos asked again, "Would you be willing to undergo an independent medical evaluation that included neurological and cognitive tests and release the results to the American people?"

And Biden repeated the theory that the job itself is the neurological test: "Look. I have a cognitive test every single day." He elaborated, wordily: "Every day I have that test. Everything I do. You know, not only am I campaigning, but I'm running the world" — running the world! — "not-- and that's not hy- — sounds like hyperbole, but we are the essential nation of the world.... I'm workin' on what we were doin' with regard to-- in Europe with regard to expansion of NATO and whether it's gonna stick. I'm takin' on Putin...."

In short, he adamantly refuses to take the specific tests from a specialist and show us the results. Because he's in the difficult job and attempting to do it, shielded from public view, we're supposed to feel assured that he's capable of doing it. I don't feel reassured. But at the same time, I wouldn't trust medical specialists to perform this task of testing the mental competence of political candidates. The specialists are human beings with preferences, who may deploy their expertise to mystify. I actually believe Biden's theory that the test is in the performance of the job. But the big problem is that we haven't been allowed to observe him doing the job. He has not exposed himself in action and his hiding gives rise to an inference that he lacks competence. 

Sunrise — 5:07.

"Yes, Trump is a terrible person and was a terrible president. I, like many of you, believe he is unfit to hold any office. But around half the country does not feel this way..."

"... and even many people who do not much like him are wondering if he is really a worse bet than a president who at any given moment might come across like your shellshocked papaw after a few snorts of schnapps."

Writes Michelle Cottle in "One by One, the Reasons to Stick With Biden Are Failing" (NYT).

I've been looking for Trump-haters to begin to show respect for their fellow citizens who support Trump, and when I saw "around half the country does not feel this way," I thought I was about to see it, but then I ran headlong into "your shellshocked papaw after a few snorts of schnapps."

Is that how we talk? Ironic that someone who purports to be appalled at the rough-spoken Trump came out with "your shellshocked papaw after a few snorts of schnapps." I guess it's funny/clever because you're mocking an old man using old-time-y words like "papaw," "snorts," "schnapps," and the endlessly hilarious "shellshocked"...

Anyway, as for the reasons to stick with Biden... what's plain is that a key Democratic Party issue has been something about democracy, and Biden won a huge victory in the primaries. You're going to overthrow the results of that duly conducted democratic process and proceed to keep crying out about Trump's supposed disregard for democracy? Another irony.

But it's too late not to pitch the old man overboard. They've let it show that they've been lying miserably for years about this presidency. And yet there is no way to begin to tell the truth. Old lies are better lies... usually. I would think.

Fungus of the Day.

I believe this is Trichaptum biforme...

... commonly known as the violet-pored bracket fungus, purple tooth, or violet toothed polypore, is a species of poroid fungus in the order Hymenochaetales. It is a saprobe that decomposes hardwood stumps and logs. It has a violet colored edge that fades with age. It is inedible....

"You always hear writers complain about the hellish difficulty of writing, but it’s a dishonest complaint...."

"The only difficulty is its necessity for solitude. Writing is not compatible with anything — its utter self-absorption is generally destructive to family life and friendships — and yet I find it joyous. All creativity is uplifting; I finish a book in a mood approaching rapture.... Growing up, needing privacy in a large family — I was the third of seven children — I became a fugitive, finding solace in libraries and in long hikes and in solitude, as well as in many menial jobs — anything to escape the conflicting demands and the scrutiny of my family. From childhood, I had always written stories in a secret way, offloading my thoughts on paper.... When someone confides to me that they think they might have an ambition to write, I suggest they leave home — go away, get a job. Never enter a 'writing program.'... Writing is neither dreary nor a job. I see it as a process of life...."

Says Paul Theroux, in "Paul Theroux on Necessary Solitude, Risks and the Joy of Writing/After 60 years and almost as many books, the novelist and travel writer, 83, will stop when he falls out of his chair" (NYT).

"I have the answer to the Crooked Joe Biden Incompetence Puzzle — Let’s do another Debate, but this time, no holds barred."

"An all on discussion, with just the two of us on stage, talking about the future of our Country. The ratings were massive for the First Debate, record setting, in fact, but this one, because of the format, would blow everything away! Let Joe explain why he wants Open Borders, with millions of people, and many violent criminals from parts unknown, pouring into our once great Nation, or why he wants Men Playing in Women’s Sports, or demand ALL ELECTRIC VEHICLES within five years, or why he allowed INFLATION TO RUN RAMPANT, destroying the people of our Country, and so much more. It would also, under great pressure, prove his 'competence,' or lack thereof. Likewise it would be yet another test for me. What a great evening it would be, just the two of us, one on one, in a good, old fashioned Debate, the way they used to be. ANYTIME, ANYWHERE, ANYPLACE!!!"

That's Donald Trump at Truth Social.

"President Biden arrives Friday in Madison, Wis., for what will be a critical few hours as he holds a rally attempting to inject new life..."

"... into a flagging campaign and sits for an ABC News interview as part of an effort to demonstrate his verbal and mental ability...."

I'm reading "Biden faces critical day to push back against calls to withdraw/With a rally in Wisconsin and an interview on ABC, Biden hopes to begin turning the tide after days of criticism of his recent debate performance" (WaPo).

Where is this "rally"? When is it? This is happening in my city, and I can't find anything in the local press about how a person could actually attend this event. Might I stumble into it if I go traipsing about? Will George Stephanopoulos and Biden do their interview in a room with an audience? It's disturbing that Biden has been hidden away throughout his campaign, so if the idea is now finally to emerge into view, why is he so hard to see?

Biden is scheduled to arrive in Wisconsin early Friday afternoon, with plans to be in the state for a few hours....

Does that sound like they want us to see him?

"Whoever wins—Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Vice President Harris, or anyone else—would be more coherent and more persuasive than Trump."

That's my favorite sentence in "Time to Roll the Dice/Biden’s party doesn’t need to sleepwalk into a catastrophe," by Anne Applebaum in The Atlantic.

Until now, I had not seen the name of our Governor in any of the replace-Biden discussions. Why not? He's a very low key calming presence. Example:

"Social media users have been sharing an image online that shows Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden with his irises black and claiming that he is 'on drugs.'..."

I found that at Reuters because I'd Googled "what happened to biden's eyes why are they black instead of blue." I was concerned about how, during the debate, Biden's eyes looked like black dots.

But you know what's really interesting about that? It's from September 30, 2020.  Headline: "Fact check: Biden's eyes appeared blue, not black, during debate."

I also found this, from June 9, 2021, also at Reuters: "Joe Biden’s eyes are still blue." Excerpt: "Posts making the claim that U.S. President Joe Biden has been replaced by another person because his eye color has changed with age are false. Examples can be seen here and here."

ADDED: Something current, from June 28, 2024: "The Writing on Joe Biden’s Face at the Presidential Debate/The true locus of the President’s humiliation onstage was not his misbegotten words but the sorry pictures he made with his face." This is by Vinson Cunningham (in The New Yorker):

Long after his misbegotten locutions are forgotten, I will remember the lost, misty mooniness in Biden’s eyes. When Trump was speaking... Biden’s face was often frozen: wide eyes, vague expression, slack mouth. He looked like he’d just remembered something of drastic domestic importance—the combination to the safe in his bedroom closet, the location of a lost key—and was in the process of forgetting it again. When he spoke, he seemed almost surprised—those eyes again!—to be hearing the hoarse sound of his own voice.... 

And then there's this, from last February, posted by Biden's own X account:

Just like we drew it up. pic.twitter.com/9NBvc5nVZE

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) February 12, 2024

Sunrise — 5:16, 5:20.

"The Conspiracy of Silence to Protect Joe Biden/The president’s mental decline was like a dark family secret for many elite supporters."

That's the headline at New York Magazine. This is exactly the subject I've been wanting to see developed. 

The piece is by Olivia Nuzzi. Excerpts (boldface added):

In January, I began hearing... stories from Democratic officials, activists, and donors. All people who supported the president and were working to help reelect him to a second term in office. Following encounters with the president, they had arrived at the same concern: Could he really do this for another four years? Could he even make it to Election Day?

Uniformly, these people were of a similar social strata. They lived and socialized in Washington, New York, and Los Angeles. They did not wish to come forward with their stories.

"It’s sort of a philosophical question. If I have a tree in my backyard and I cut it down and a stem comes back up from it..."

"... I would generally think it’s the same tree. But if you do it 10,000 times in a row, is it still the same tree?"

Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra, an evolution and ecology professor, quoted in "This tree survived the last ice age. It’s now threatened by development. The Jurupa Oak is older than almost any other plant on Earth. Soon it may face off with a business and housing development" (WaPo).

[The Jurupa Oak is] a collection of shrubs nestled atop a hill in a rocky gully. But those shrubs are just the crown of a giant, spreading oak tree, 90 feet long and 30 feet wide. Most of the tree is underground. Estimated to be 13,000 to 18,000 years old, the tree... is older than almost any other plant on Earth. It has survived an ice age and rapid climate warming. Its leaves may have brushed against saber-toothed cats and 500-pound ground sloths....

The perfect 4th of July playlist.

If you try a simple Spotify search, you'll get a lot of not that carefully curated efforts....

I started out looking for one to recommend — inspired by a not-too-inspiring playlist we heard last night in a fancy restaurant — but I ended up making a game out of trying to find one that didn't include "Born in the U.S.A."

"Born in the U.S.A." is not a 4th of July song! It's completely negative about America. Read the lyrics. From the "dead man's town" to the Vietnam War to joblessness to "shadow of the penitentiary" rhymed with "the gas fires of the refinery" — living in the U.S.A. is darkness and doom.

It belongs on an anti-American playlist:

The 4th of July Fungus.

I hope you enjoy that insane Fungus of the Day. It looked weirder in person, because it's not tiny, as it might appear in the photograph. Think of the cap as half of a softball to picture the size.

IN THE COMMENTS: Hassayamper said a lot of useful things, including: "As I’ve mentioned before, we could use a good look at the gills under the cap.... Careful examination of the entire stem including the base would also be necessary to clinch the identification." I remembered your advice from before and did go for that gills-y shot. Perhaps this is enough:

UPDATE: 21 hours later, it had flipped into this:

And here it is with a quarter to show the size and with a smaller and younger version of itself:

"Yes, I think Donald Trump should step down as his party’s presidential nominee. He is manifestly unfit to serve, both dangerously incompetent and clearly out of his mind."

Said Dana Milbank, one of 5 Washington Post columnists participating in an exercise called "If not Biden, who? Five columnists rate the field of potential replacements for the Democratic presidential nominee" (WaPo).

That's a gift link, so you can click over there and see them dream up the Whitmer/Booker ticket. Perry Bacon Jr. says:

Why pair Whitmer with Booker? He, like Kamala D. Harris, tried to run in between the left (Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren) and the center-left candidates (Biden) during his 2020 presidential run. That strategy didn’t work in such a crowded field. But a candidate who is not a clear leftie or moderate could be a unifying figure. Booker remains very well-liked in the party. Diversity matters, so it’s important to have a non-White candidate. Booker (who is 55) combined with Whitmer (52) are a ticket that could address some of Biden-Harris’s current shortfalls among younger and Black voters as well as appealing to the majority of voters who don’t want a president in his 80s.

Diversity matters, that's why we're kicking our diversity-matters VP Kamala Harris to the curb and replacing her with a new repository of diversity. We'll split the diversity of Kamala in two and run with a white female presidential candidate and a black male vice presidential candidate. The young folks will love it. And besides, we can do what we want because Donald Trump is clearly out of his mind.

But the "out of his mind" man knows it's got to be Kamala:

HIGHER QUALITY VIDEO:

Trump says Joe Biden is “quitting the race"

"I got him out” he’s an “old broken-down pile of crap… Now we have Kamala. She’s so f—king bad”

(looks like Barron Trump in passenger seat 👀👀) pic.twitter.com/GXBZjxiP7p

— Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) July 4, 2024

"I got [Biden] out of there, and that means we have Kamala. I think she's going to be better. She's so bad. She's so pathetic. She's so fucking bad."

***

There's much more at that WaPo link — so many crazy statements from people who smugly declare Donald Trump to be out of his mind. I could write 10 blog posts excerpting different quotes and riffing on them, but I need to spread the love around. Happy 4th of July!

Sunrise — 5:17, 5:19.

A new front in the battle against affirmative action?

I'm reading "Lawsuit: Northwestern’s law school is biased against White men in hiring/The complaint alleges that the private university’s law school gives hiring preference to 'mediocre' women and applicants of color" (WaPo).

A lawsuit filed Tuesday against Northwestern University opened a new front in the battle against affirmative action....

“For decades, left-wing faculty and administrators have been thumbing their noses at federal anti-discrimination statutes,” contends the suit, which was filed Tuesday in federal district court in Illinois. “They do this by hiring women and racial minorities with mediocre and undistinguished records over white men who have better credentials, better scholarship, and better teaching ability.”...

The suit names three White men it says were not hired despite strong qualifications, and names four Black women and one Black man who it alleges were offered faculty positions because of their race and/or gender, painting several of these academics in harshly unflattering terms.

This sounds not new but old to me, because I remember when the University of Wisconsin Law School was sued in exactly this way. The case went to trial, and I testified, because I'd served on the Appointments Committee. This was many years ago, and the jury found in our favor. It's very difficult to look at particular individuals who were hired and compare them to individuals who were not hired. This was decades ago, and the relevant case law has evolved since then.

Eugene Volokh is not one of the plaintiffs in the new lawsuit, but the complaint contains allegations about him.

"Show us your cats."

the annual @WedgeLIVE cat tour is undoubtedly the greatest summer event in Minneapolis. i love my neighborhood and the cats that call it home!!! #catsofthewedge pic.twitter.com/95myvGFnAZ

— linnae 🐀 (@substantialrat) June 27, 2024

I'm reading "Minneapolis cat tour started as joke, now draws hundreds of admirers/'I love to do weird, goofy stuff like this,' said John Edwards, who organizes the yearly event" (WaPo).

On the evening of June 26, about 500 people of all ages congregated at a local park, ready to start the seventh annual cat tour. Many held signs saying “show us your cats,” and people also wore official “Cats of the Wedge” T-shirts, tank tops and totes. Local reporters were there to cover the tour.

"Show us your cats" struck a mystic chord of memory... ah!

"President Biden acknowledged at a fundraiser Tuesday night in Virginia that he 'didn’t have my best debate night' last week."

"Citing pre-debate travel, he told donors that he 'nearly fell asleep onstage.' But Biden downplayed his struggles, saying he is 'feeling good' about his campaign. On Wednesday, Biden plans to speak with congressional leaders and meet with Democratic governors as he and aides seek to tamp down Democratic angst over his performance."

WaPo reports. I accidentally made that a gift link. So, enjoy the additional squibs over there: "Biden cites pre-debate travel as an explanation for his performance," "Biden to honor Civil War soldiers for wild Georgia train hijacking,""Obama shares concerns after shaky debate, offers Biden his advice," "Biden team seizes on his history of resilience to justify staying in race," "The Biden campaign is launching a new ad spotlighting the Supreme Court decision that gave Donald Trump partial immunity...."

Here's that ad:

Transcript of the ad: "Nearly 250 years ago America was founded in defiance of a king under the belief that no one is above the law, not even the President. Until now. The same Trump Supreme Court that overturned Roe v. Wade ruled that the President can ignore the law even to commit a crime because Donald Trump asked them to. He's already led an insurrection and threatened to be a dictator on Day One. Donald Trump can never hold this office again."

But the Supreme Court didn't say "the President can ignore the law." The Biden Administration just got hemmed in by law — the law that prevents it from criminally prosecuting the former President, waging lawfare to fight a political rival. And the Supreme Court only protected the President from criminal prosecution for his official acts. Where the President violates the law, he's subject to impeachment. You can't impeach a King. 

And it's funny how that ad refers to revolution twice, first to uphold it as a glorious ideal — "America was founded in defiance of a king" — and then to denounce it — "He's already led an insurrection." But the ad isn't about coherence. It's a montage of fear.

"What does Callahan hope to add to this vale of tears? Only her residual and, yes, partisan and ideological suspicion..."

"... that despite ample testimony (in many cases from the victims themselves), the Kennedy men have somehow gotten away with it all. So unfurls her multigenerational perp walk, which begins, as it must, with Big Joe.... Joe’s habit of treating women as, in Callahan’s words, 'accessories, broodmares, chattel' was inevitably passed down to his sons. John Kennedy’s White House notably featured what one aide called 'a conveyor belt of young women' running up and down the back stairs, 'leaving blond hairs and bobby pins,' Callahan writes, 'dripping water and passing their half-finished drinks to Secret Service agents as they scurried out the door, no doubt hearing that the first lady was on her way home.' In one particularly repellent act, she writes, the president commanded the 19-year-old intern he was having sex with to fellate one of his aides...."

Writes Louis Bayard, author of the novel "Jackie & Me," in "A Horror Story Starring the Monstrous Men of Camelot/Maureen Callahan’s lurid 'Ask Not' paints the Kennedys as mad, bad and dangerous for women to know" (NYT).

"To suggest that the donor community could do that is scary. Money plays too much of a role in politics already."

Said Craig Kaplan, a Democratic Party donor, quoted in "Big Donors Turn on Biden. Quietly. Some of the president’s past supporters want a new candidate, but they are leery of going public" (NYT).

At a breakfast on Friday morning at the Hotel Jerome in Aspen, Colo., where nearly 50 Democratic donors had gathered for a preplanned meeting convened by the super PAC American Bridge, one person asked the crowd for a show of hands of how many thought Mr. Biden should step aside. Nearly everyone in the room raised their hands, according to two people present.... 

The deliberations among wealthy Democrats, detailed in more than two dozen interviews as well as in written communications reviewed by The New York Times, only intensified as the Biden campaign and the party establishment formed a protective wall around him in the days after the debate....

At the Mourning Cloak Café...

... you can write about whatever you want.

***

The butterfly is "Nymphalis antiopa, known as the mourning cloak in North America...."

"Manhattan Prosecutors Agree to Delay Trump’s Sentencing/Donald J. Trump’s lawyers want to argue that a Supreme Court decision giving presidents immunity for official acts..."

"... should void his felony conviction for covering up hush money paid to a porn star," The NYT reports.

Although the Manhattan case does not center on Mr. Trump’s presidency or official acts — but rather personal activity during his campaign — his lawyers argued on Monday that prosecutors had built their case partly on evidence from his time in the White House. And under the Supreme Court’s new ruling, prosecutors not only cannot charge a president for any official acts, but also cannot cite evidence involving official acts to bolster other accusations. In a letter to the judge who presided over the trial, Juan M. Merchan, Mr. Trump’s lawyers argued that the conviction should be set aside....

UPDATE: The sentencing is now delayed until September 18th. 

How can anyone but Kamala Harris get their hands on the money contributed to the Biden campaign?

I'm reading "Campaign Finance Laws Give Harris Big Boost in Biden Dropout Scenario/If Biden were to withdraw his candidacy, only Kamala Harris could seamlessly use funds raised by the Biden-Harris campaign committee" (American Prospect).

The Biden for President campaign committee controls candidate contributions for the 2024 election... If Biden, as candidate, wanted to contribute money from this account to another candidate for the presidency, he’s limited to $2,000 per election. If Biden withdraws, he could convert this campaign committee to a political action committee. In that case he could direct $3,300 to another candidate.... It’s simply not allowable for a presidential candidate to directly transfer millions of dollars to another candidate....

[T]he Biden PAC could operate an independent expenditure campaign on behalf of the new candidate. But that PAC would not be able to coordinate with the new candidate.... [I]f Harris succeeded Biden, she would control all the funds in the [Biden/Harris] campaign committee and could use them in the election campaign....

One more reason why bypassing Harris would be a huge insult. Meanwhile, the Trump campaign is pre-attacking her:

"I’m not a journalist. I’m not in the media. This is a military headquarters for a populist revolt."

This is how we motivate people. This show is an activist show. If you watch this show, you’re a foot soldier. We call it the Army of the Awakened.... Immigration, spending — it’s the lack of confidence and self-loathing of their own civilization and their own culture. That’s the spiritual part that’s at the base. Immigration is just the manifestation of a loss of self-confidence. And it’s shocking...."

Said Steve Bannon, quoted in "My Unsettling Interview With Steve Bannon" (NYT) (free access link). 

The "me" is David Brooks, who says:

"I really wonder where the normal people are. Maybe someone should write up an article on what normal behavior is because it is getting hard to remember."

An apt comment on the WaPo article "'Narcissistic abuse' has gone mainstream. But what is it? Skeptics say it’s just a trendy hashtag. Survivors say it describes the unimaginably manipulative relationships they’ve escaped."

Skepticism-inducing lines in the article: "Experts aren’t sure how common NPD is. The disorder is underdiagnosed, partly because symptoms can be confused with other personality disorders and partly because most narcissists aren’t rushing into therapy."

Here's the popular YouTube doctor who calls herself the "#1 source of guidance about healing from narcissistic relationships."

"A campaign email slammed those calling on the president to step aside as the 'bed-wetting brigade'..."

"... and offered tips for responding to 'your panicked aunt, your MAGA uncle, or some self-important podcasters,' an apparent reference to the former Obama officials who host 'Pod Save America.'... I’ve heard hopeful Democrats enthuse about how much better Biden was in North Carolina than he’d been the day before at the debate, but that’s silly: We all know Biden is usually fine reading from a teleprompter. The question is whether he can think and speak extemporaneously.... [I]f Thursday were just a bad night, he could reassure doubters by doing a bunch of interviews and unscripted town halls. If he’s not doing that, it’s probably because his campaign doesn’t think he can pull it off.... Now, it would be worth it for the party to set its credibility on fire to keep Trump out of the White House.... Finding a Biden alternative would be risky and messy, and there’s no guarantee that it would work better than trying to put on a brave face and drag the current president across the finish line. But the Democratic Party’s leaders — the people, let’s remember, who got us into this mess — have no right to condescend to those trying to find a way out.... If you’re in a car careening toward a cliff and can open a door, you should jump out."

Writes Michelle Goldberg, in "There’s No Reason to Resign Ourselves to Biden" (NYT).

I don't think the headline is justified — you can see at least some reason — but I understand her distress. The party's credibility is already shot. So... do something drastic. Jump out of the car. That's her argument. Is it better than the campaign email idea to hold steady, keep the door closed and the seatbeat fastened, and fly out over the cliff?

ADDED: Check the operation of the door handle before attempting the tricky jump-out:

"The image is saintly."

Announces Washington Post fashion writer Rachel Tashjian, in "Jill Biden is Vogue’s cover star. What timing. The first lady covers Vogue for the third time, positioned by the magazine as a savior of the country’s fate."

Here's the image:

Tashjian proclaims that "a striking, fascinatingly out-of-character image in its storytelling."  What's the usual "character"? More smiley? More of a sidekick? I really don't know. Do you? We're told "the religious undertones are startling": "Her pose and visage, not to mention the color of her dress, recall religious paintings of saints communing with their higher power."

IN THE COMMENTS: Rafe — short for Raphael? — says "Which paintings? What a lazy comparison, to paintings which only exist, apparently, in her mind." 

I went looking for paintings of saints gazing upward. There's this, by Raphael:

Notice that Catherine's hands do not hang limply at her sides. They are expressive of ecstasy and placed in locations that would seem truly odd on a modern-day politico. Unlike Jill, she's got her weight shifted to one side, and also unlike Jill, she's leaning on what we know to be the device used to torture-murder-martyr her. Jill exists in an empty brown-gray void.

But it's the difference in the eyes that is most striking. Jill's eyes are rotated sideways, and only slightly upward, as if she is gazing fondly at her somewhat tall husband. They're not fixed on Heaven. 

Can we find paintings of saints with eyes rotated sideways, which seems mildly coy? Consider the entirely un-Jill-like Saint Lucy:

At the Sunrise Café...

... you can talk all night.

I took this photo yesterday at 5:24 a.m. and then I forgot to put it up — after driving out to Spring Green to see "Much Ado About Nothing." Sleeping a bit late this morning — almost until 5 a.m. — I skipped this morning's sunrise.

You can lie at Elon's place, but you'll look ridiculous.

When will politicians, or at least the intern who runs their account, learn that lying on this platform doesn’t work anymore? pic.twitter.com/wP7H4AJFwG

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 1, 2024

ADDED: If I had to argue that Kamala Harris was not lying, I would say that Trump's statement that he will not sign an abortion ban is not security enough. We lost a treasured right after he appointed 3 Supreme Court Justices, and he has touted the overruling of Roe v. Wade as a reason why voters should support him. In that light, we should not trust him to refrain from signing legislation that limits the right to abortion. Kamala Harris can't know what lies in the future if Trump is elected, and she may be sincerely expressing her belief about what he will do.

By the way, the use of the word "ban" skews this discussion. Few would ban abortion to the point of criminalizing all abortion — including abortion in the earliest weeks of pregnancy and where it is necessary to save the life of the mother. The concern should be about federal law that limits abortion, and it makes sense to think that Trump might sign legislation like that.

"As for a President's unofficial acts, there is no immunity. The principles we set out in Clinton v. Jones confirm as much."

"When Paula Jones brought a civil lawsuit against then-President Bill Clinton for acts he allegedly committed prior to his Presidency, we rejected his argument that he enjoyed temporary immunity from the lawsuit while serving as President. Although Presidential immunity is required for official actions to ensure that the President's decisionmaking is not distorted by the threat of future litigation stemming from those actions, that concern does not support immunity for unofficial conduct. The 'justifying purposes' of the immunity we recognized in Fitzgerald, and the one we recognize today, are not that the President must be immune because he is the President; rather, they are to ensure that the President can undertake his constitutionally designated functions effectively, free from undue pressures or distortions. '[I]t [is] the nature of the function performed, not the identity of the actor who perform[s] it, that inform[s] our immunity analysis.' The separation of powers does not bar a prosecution predicated on the President's unofficial acts."

From the majority opinion in Trump v. United States, issued this morning.

Where is the line between official and unofficial in the charges against Trump? The lower courts rushed through the question, which means the issues are not properly developed for the Supreme Court:

It's the last day for Supreme Court opinions before the summer break.

Watch the minute-by-minute reports at SCOTUSblog:

We are waiting on the court's ruling in the presidential immunity case, Trump v. US. We're also waiting on three cases from February: Corner Post v. Federal Reserve and the NetChoice cases....

UPDATE: The first case is Corner Post, a 6-3 decision, divided in the usual way, written by Justice Barrett. SCOTUSblog: "The court holds that a claim under the Administrative Procedure Act to challenge an agency action first comes into being when the plaintiff is injured by final agency action.... Justice Barrett started her announcement with a joke about how this case was not one that we were here to hear.... Justice Jackson... writes that 'there is effectively no longer any limitations period for lawsuits that challenge agency regulations on their face.'"

UPDATE 2: Justice Kagan writes the opinion in Moody v. NetChoice. Roberts, Sotomayor, Kavanaugh, and Barrett join in full. Jackson joins in part and has a concurring opinion. Thomas has an opinion concurring in part and concurring in the judgment. Alito has an opinion concurring in the judgment and joined by Thomas and Gorsuch. From Alito's opinion: "It is a mystery how NetChoice could expect to prevail on a facial challenge without candidly disclosing the platforms that it thinks the challenged laws reach or the nature of the content moderation they practice."

UPDATE 3: "The court holds that a former president has absolute immunity for his core constitutional powers. Former presidents are also entitled to at least a presumption of immunity for their official acts. There is no immunity, the court holds, for unofficial acts...." Here's the text: Trump v. United States. Written by Roberts. 6-3, in the usual lineup. Justice Barrett is in the 6, but she does not join Part III-C.

From the case syllabus: "Under our constitutional structure of separated powers, the nature of Presidential power entitles a former President to absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions within his conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority. And he is entitled to at least presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his official acts."

What is the plural of "mosquito"?

The question occurred to me after I wrote "mosquitos" in the comments to the previous post and saw that someone else had written "mosquitoes." My version looks spiffier and more Spanish — and the word is, the OED says, "A borrowing from Spanish" — but "mosquitoes" seems to coordinate with "tomatoes" and "potatoes." Why does that "e" intrude itself in the plural? (It can even over-intrude, as it did on poor Dan Quayle, who is remembered these days only for misspelling "potato.")

Anyway... take your pick. Both "mosquitoes" and "mosquitos" are correct. I give you this image from the OED, which treats both plurals equally and which also shows you the wild history of the spelling of "mosquito," beginning with "muskyto":

"I called on Mr. Biden to step aside almost a year ago, warning that he would be forever known as 'Ruth Bader Biden' if he didn’t."

"Since then, each time I would bring up that idea, publicly or privately, people would dismiss it out of hand: Get on board, they’d say, the Democrats will never replace him, it’s off the table.  Well, now it’s on the table, where it always should have been. And far from being some kind of disaster for the Democratic Party, it plays right into what works best in 21-century American culture. Americans like new.... Democrats could not buy, with all of George Soros’s money, the enthusiasm, engagement and interest they would get from having an open convention — and in Chicago no less, famous for Democratic convention drama. Suddenly, instead of rehashing the debate from hell — worst episode of 'The Golden Bachelor' ever — they would be hosting a competition, something Americans love. Who will get the rose this August in Chicago? Gavin or Gretchen? Suddenly, Stacey Abrams might say she’s in! And so might Tim Ryan, and Josh Shapiro! And Amy Klobuchar and Ruben Gallego! And Mayor Pete and Raphael Warnock! And Wes Moore, and who knows, maybe Andrew Yang says he’s a Democrat again!... My pick would be Gavin Newsom.... "

Writes Bill Maher, in "Why I Want an Open Convention" (NYT).

Maher, a comedian, claims not to be joking, but how can there be an open convention when the Democrats announced a plan to nominate Biden through a virtual convention that would take place in time to meet Ohio's ballot-access requirement?

But that's not the only reason to balk at a chaotic convention. Bandying about all those names of people who did not subject themselves to any of the debates and primaries that voters think of as a democratic process?

But let's look at the rules —"What happens if a presidential candidate cannot take office due to death or incapacitation...?" (Brookings):

"When age comes in, wit goes out."

A line that jumped out at us in the play we saw last night.

The play is "Much Ado About Nothing," the prescient wordsmith, William Shakespeare.

"Only the National Rally appears in a position to secure enough seats for an absolute majority. If it does, Mr. Macron will have no other choice..."

"... than to appoint [28-year-old Jordan] Bardella prime minister. He would then form a cabinet and control domestic policy. Presidents have traditionally retained control over foreign policy and defense matters in such scenarios, but the Constitution does not always offer clear guidelines. That would put an anti-immigrant, Euroskeptic far-right party governing a country that has been at the heart of the European project. Mr. Bardella could clash with Mr. Macron over issues like France’s contribution to the European Union budget or support for Ukraine in its war with Russia.... If the National Rally fails to secure an absolute majority — Mr. Bardella has said he would not govern without one — Mr. Macron could be facing an unmanageable lower house, with two big blocs on the right and left opposed to him. His much-reduced centrist coalition, squeezed between the extremes, would be reduced to relative powerlessness...."

From "Four Takeaways From France’s Snap Election/It was a big day for the far-right National Rally. Just how big will not be clear until a second round of voting is over" (NYT).

Milkweed.

"[O]ne person close to Biden described his mood as humiliated, devoid of confidence, and painfully aware that images of him appearing confused..."

"... during the debate could be damaging to both his campaign and presidential legacy. Another source close to Biden suggested that First Lady Jill Biden’s opinion will significantly influence the President’s decision. 'The only person who has ultimate influence with him is the first lady,' the source said. 'If she decides there should be a change of course, there will be a change of course.'" 

From "White House denies rumors Biden is heading to Camp David to discuss dropping out of race with family/'The premise of the story is not accurate,' a White House official said" (Post Millennial).

I keep seeing this message to Biden: If you drop out, we will portray you as a noble and beloved public servant, but if you don't let go, everything you've done over your long life will count for nothing as against this one cataclysmic wrong — letting Trump back into the Oval Office.

And I guess it's really a message to Jill: That's a grand, honored husband you have there, and if you don't take him home and hide him, he's going to be attacked and scorned for the rest of American history.

Who came into the debate with a planned zinger that just had to be zinged and that was supposed to be the focus of the post-debate spin?

I think he practiced that line and received coaching on how to look and sound truly angry. I think his people believed this was the stake to drive into Trump's heart. But Biden looked old and ugly and weird, and Trump grabbed that stake and clonked him over the head with it.

***

"Clonked" seemed like exactly the right word, but I got distracted wondering if "clonk" is a real word.

"Pride Month has always been about a political and progressive embrace of our rainbow of choices. But lately..."

"... I find myself feeling alienated by loud voices among activists in the L.G.B.T.Q.+ community on all sides of the Israel-Gaza war. They’re intolerant of nuance, complexity and opposing views."

Writes Amichai Lau-Lavie, leader and a co-founder of Lab/Shul, in "The Pride March Doesn’t Have a Place for Me" (NYT). Amichai Lau-Lavie "is the spiritual leader and a co-founder of Lab/Shul, an everybody-friendly, God-optional congregation in New York City."

Why would a parade about pride partake of nuance, complexity and opposing views?

"For [Biden] to remain the Democratic candidate... would be an act not only of self-delusion but of national endangerment."

"It is entirely possible that the debate will not much change the polls; it is entirely possible that Biden could have a much stronger debate in September; it is not impossible to imagine that Trump will find a way to lose. But, at this point, should Biden engage the country in that level of jeopardy? To step aside and unleash the admittedly complicated process of locating and nominating a more robust and promising ticket seems the more rational course and would be an act of patriotism.... To stay in the race would be pure vanity, uncharacteristic of someone whom most have come to view as decent and devoted to public service. To stay in the race, at this post-debate point, would also suggest that it is impossible to imagine a more vital ticket. In fact, Gretchen Whitmer, Raphael Warnock, Josh Shapiro, and Wes Moore are just a few of the office-holders in the Party who could energize Democrats and independents, inspire more younger voters, and beat Trump."

Writes David Remnick, in "The Reckoning of Joe Biden/For the President to insist on remaining the Democratic candidate would be an act not only of self-delusion but of national endangerment" (The New Yorker).

Does trying to "energize" people — at this late stage — about Gretchen Whitmer/Raphael Warnock/Josh Shapiro/Wes Moore seem "more rational" to you? Gretchen Whitmer/Raphael Warnock/Josh Shapiro/Wes Moore did not go through the primary process, interacting with real people across the country and standing up to months of scrutiny, outlasting others. And what would this alternative process — this "admittedly complicated process" — consist of? It seems as though it would resemble the process of picking the VP candidate — similar to the way Kamala Harris was picked 4 years ago. Why would voters be "inspir[ed]" to have such a person foisted on them by the same people who presented Biden as excellent and are now asserting that he's hopelessly decrepit? I know they just want to win, but that's not the stuff of hopes and dreams.

Remnick worries about Biden's "self-delusion," but what about his?

By the way, is it "entirely possible that Biden could have a much stronger debate in September"? Not only is it entirely possible for Biden to have a much stronger debate in September, it's entirely possible that if you calm yourself, clear your head of preconceptions, and cue up last Thursday's debate and watch it again, you will perceive it as a much stronger debate than it seemed on first watch. 

And I will resist putting my time into a little exercise in cynicism, but this sentence is begging for a paraphrase: "To stay in the race would be pure vanity, uncharacteristic of someone whom most have come to view as decent and devoted to public service."