Web of Resistance

Next week brings the shameful spectacle of one of our major political parties coronating a would-be king.

Many millions of us had hoped it would never come to this; that the multiple civil and criminal cases against Trump would have prevented him from winning the Republican nomination.

But the legal system was no match for the machinations of a man with unlimited funds intent on delaying justice so that ultimately it would be denied.

Consequently, he will be on the ballot and polls indicate that if the election were held today, he would have a good chance of winning.

One option for the millions of us who think that would be a disaster for our democracy is to get depressed and withdraw from the fray.

But that would be a mistake. As long as we have an intact Bill of Rights, each of us has to speak out against the rise of a dictator who would abolish everything that makes our system of self-governance special.

Any small step — talking to neighbors and friends, donating to candidates with integrity, registering new voters, exposing Trump’s lies, organizing protests, letter-writing campaigns, anything — matters.

Supporting non-profits that work to enact positive changes in human rights, the environment, women’s rights, LBGTQ+ rights, diversity, education, healthcare, housing and other causes has never been more important.

Together, those of us on the ethical, humane, progressive side of history outnumber those who cluster in the sour eddies of hate, resentment and authoritarianism.

Together, we must weave a web of resistance to stop Trump and save our country.

HEADLINES:

• Biden delivers newly fiery speech declaring Trump unfit to be president (WP)

• Hakeem Jeffries says he met with president; big Democratic donors reportedly freeze money in objection to Biden candidacy (Guardian)

• 'Dangerous and record-breaking': Heat wave will wither West over the weekend (NBC)

• Inflation Cooled Further in June, Welcome News for the Fed and Consumers (NYT)

• AT&T says hacker stole data on ‘nearly all’ of its wireless customers (WP)

• The One-Child Policy Supercharged China’s Economic Miracle. Now It’s Paying the Price. (WSJ)

• Israeli Military Admits Wide-Ranging Failures in Border Village Attacked on Oct. 7 (NYT)

• Ukraine's top prosecutor has called for the International Criminal Court to prosecute Russia over a missile strike on a children's hospital in Kyiv earlier this week. (Reuters)

• Archaeologists find site of epic clash between Spartacus and Roman army (Independent)

• ‘Absolutely incredible’: Man rowing solo across Atlantic is surrounded by whales (NPR)

• AI's problem: The missing revenues (Axios)

• Will K-pop's AI experiment pay off? (BBC)

• Why The Atlantic signed a deal with OpenAI (Verge)

• Wall Street is becoming more skeptical of artificial-intelligence hype helping to power stocks (MarketWatch)

• Microsoft Surrenders OpenAI Board Position (NYT)

• OpenAI promised to make its AI safe. Employees say it ‘failed’ its first test. (WP)

• The Onion posted: Megachurch Conducts Successful Nuclear Missile Test (The Onion)