People Will Talk

( This one is from 2021.)

Back when I worked on film projects in Hollywood, the only one that ever made it onto the screen was "Rollover" with Jane Fonda and Kris Kristofferson in 1981. 

The lead actor in the film was supposed to have been Robert Redford, according to the plans dawn up by Fonda's production company, IPC Films, which hired Howard Kohn and me to write the story. 

Accordingly, the story we had submitted had two main characters named "Fonda" and "Redford."

But they were two of the biggest stars of that era, in their thirties at the time, and it proved impossible to join their schedules to our movie's shooting schedule.

So Kristofferson was subbed in for Redford, which was a disaster and the movie bombed. He was and is a great songwriter but he can't act. Had Redford played the part as we wrote it, who knows what might have happened. 

The other day, I watched Fonda and Redford star in the 2017 film "Our Souls at Night." By now the stars in their eighties, and arguably better than ever.

I remember how much the pair had wanted to act in a film together when they were young (they actually did once in "The Electric Horseman.") Knowing that history, it was satisfying to see them finally together again in their later years.

"Souls" a sweet film about two elderly neighbors who get together romantically, which causes a bit of a stir in their town but they really don't care about that. I suppose you could say the story celebrates what happens when you reach the point where be you can do what you want to do regardless of public opinion.

***

Recently, a group of friends who are all of my age range met up and agreed that none of them cared all that much what people thought of them any longer either. At least not as much as when they were younger.

It is kind of a relief to reach this stage, they said. Every one of them had led a relatively successful career and those who had had marriages and children felt pretty much okay about how all of that turned out too.

They all seemed to be saying that while perception mattered more in the past, now reality is all they have time for.

Just like in the movie.

HEADLINES:

• What we saw at the DNC in Chicago (NPR)

• Kamala Harris has put Trump in a box, and he’s struggling to break out (WP)

• 2024 US presidential polls: Harris makes gains on Trump in national averages (Guardian)

• Why Was It So Hard to Replace Biden? (New Yorker)

• What Drives Kamala Harris: The Art of the Possible (NYT)

• Democrats gave Harris a strong liftoff. Now comes the harder part. (WP)

• Trump accepts RFK Jr endorsement and vows to release JFK assassination files (Guardian)

• Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he’s suspending his presidential bid and backing Donald Trump (AP)

• Trump is hosting a fundraiser for domestic terrorists convicted of assaulting police officers, and some defendants still facing those charges, as part of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. [HuffPost]

• RFK Jr. Was My Drug Dealer (Atlantic)

• Powell just suggested interest rate cuts are coming. What everyone wants to know now (CNN)

• Elon Musk’s Lawyers Quietly Subpoena Public Interest Groups (Mother Jones)

• Sometimes You Just Have to Ignore the Economists (Atlantic)

• Experts weigh in on next-generation nuclear reactors (AP)

• A newsroom expands and the Onion is out again on paper. Not kidding. (WP)

• AI-powered coding pulls in almost $1bn of funding to claim ‘killer app’ status (Financial Times)

• China's robot makers chase Tesla to deliver humanoid workers (Reuters)

• Chips or Not, Chinese AI Pushes Ahead (WSJ)

• The Search Engine Wars Are Back On (New York)

• Kennedy Curse Sure Taking Its Sweet Time With RFK Jr. (The Onion)

 

The Knife

I first encountered Kamala Harris over 20 years ago when she launched her initial political campaign for D.A. in San Francisco. 

Her opponent in that race, Terence (Kayo) Hallinan, was the incumbent from a storied left-wing Bay Area family. He was a colorful, no-holds-barred character out of the Old West, whose nickname stemmed from his former boxing career and a propensity to still get into fights even in the courtroom.

He also was a friend of mine. We’d occasionally meet for drinks at a dive bar in the Mission District, where I would connect him with other leading journalists and activists. When one of my kids was among those arrested in a peaceful antiwar demonstration downtown, he told me not to worry because he had no intention of pressing charges against any of the protestors.

During those years, I was teaching public interest journalism at Stanford and Kayo generously agreed to sit for a long meeting with my entire class of graduate students in his office.

The meeting was risky for him, as these students were already active journalists, so we agreed it would be off the record. Kayo was refreshingly frank about the ins and outs of San Francisco politics, the tensions between his office and the police, and how he made charging decisions.

For my students, this was an unprecedented educational opportunity to interact with an elected official, albeit an unusual one. (For me it was just pure fun.)

Meanwhile, Kamala Harris was a young assistant D.A. making her first foray into electoral politics. Running against Hallinan, her boss, as a relative unknown, she was the decided underdog in the race. But when I attended a debate between the two candidates, set in the Women’s Building in the Mission, I developed a sinking feeling about Kayo’s ability to win re-election.

Kamala was tough, smart, articulate and knew instinctively how to work the crowd. He seemed disorganized and a bit dazed by comparison. Honestly, I don’t think he knew what hit him.

These memories came back to me this week as I listened to Republicans brand Harris as a dangerous left-wing radical. Leaving aside the left-wing radical piece, which is nonsense (she is a moderate), these critics at least got the “dangerous” part right.

She represents a major danger to Donald Trump, especially at their upcoming meeting on the debate stage on September 10th. Harris is much smarter than Trump and she will very likely do to him what she did to my friend Kayo 20 years ago — slice and dice him into pieces like an onion on a cutting board.

Who knows what will happen in November, but I can tell you what happened after that debate in San Francisco.

Kamala won the election and she has never looked back.

(Read Kamala Harris’ full speech at the Democratic National Convention.)

HEADLINES:

• Kamala Harris delivers forceful speech to close out DNC and accept 2024 nomination (CBS)

• In Harris' ancestral village in India, people cheer her U.S. presidential bid (NPR)

• Stunning Harris rollercoaster reaches new apex at Democratic convention (The Hill)

• The reinvention of Kamala Harris (WP)

• Gus Walz broke the internet with his tearful love for his dad. Then the bullying began (USA Today)

• Watch: Fox News Shuts Down Trump’s Deranged Lie About Harris (TNR)

• Company that sent AI calls mimicking Joe Biden to New Hampshire voters agrees to pay $1 million fine (AP)

• America Hasn’t Valued Teachers Properly. Can the Walzes Change That? (Slate)

• Ukraine Is Blowing Up Bridges In Kursk As Fast As Russia Can Build Them (Forbes)

• The War in Gaza Is Making Thousands of Orphans (NYT)

• Israeli demands for troops in Gaza blocking truce deal, sources say (Reuters)

• Elon Musk was just forced to reveal who really owns X. Here’s the list (Fortune)

• Only six of the 23 candidates Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) endorsed won their school board races. [HuffPost]

• The Taliban says it wants people to visit Afghanistan. Here’s what it’s like (CNN)

• Congo has reported more than 1,000 new mpox cases in a week (AP)

• Google Joins $250 Million Deal to Support Newsrooms in California (NYT)

• Perplexity AI plans to start running ads in fourth quarter as AI-assisted search gains popularity (CNBC)

• Silicon Valley Is Coming Out in Force Against an AI-Safety Bill (Atlantic)

• The Year of the A.I. Election That Wasn’t (NYT)

• Financial Advisor Recommends Fraud (The Onion)

 

It's Hot in Chicago

 If you stick a thermometer in boiling water, you can watch the mercury rise. That’s the image I have of the opinion polls this week during the Democratic National Convention.

Whereas 538 had Harris ahead of Trump nationally by 2.5 points when the convention started, and it was up to 2.9 points by last night, it soared overnight to 3.3 this morning. I suspect that margin will reach at least 4 points once the effects of the convention excitement has registered with the public a week from now.

Day Three of the four-day party gathering featured an old and tired-sounding Bill Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, Nancy Pelosi, poet Amanda Gorman, among others leading up to the keynote, Vice-Presidential nominee Tim Walz, who was straight out of central casting as a Midwestern Dad.

But the best speech for me came from the minority leader in the House, Hakeem Jeffries. I’d never heard him give a rabble-rouser before, but now I see why he’s Pelosi’s hand-picked successor. The other high point was Kenan Thompson and his hilarious panning of Project 2025.

Now on to the final day and the ultimate headliner, Kamala Harris. My hope is that she offers up some concrete policy proposals, because no one else has. And the mercury keeps rising.

HEADLINES:

• Nate Silver Predicts Kamala Harris Will Keep Rising in Polls Post DNC (Newsweek)

• How Harris shifted Democrats’ message from ‘democracy’ to ‘freedom’ (WP)

• 56 protesters arrested after clashes with police outside Israeli Consulate in Chicago during DNC (PBS)

• Biden Approved Secret Nuclear Strategy Refocusing on Chinese Threat (NYT)

• Attorney for far-right Oath Keepers extremist group pleads guilty to Capitol riot charges (AP)

• Ukraine attacks Moscow in one of largest ever drone strikes on Russian capital (Reuters)

• Ukraine Is Trying To Double The Area Of Russia It Controls—By Destroying Bridges And Blocking Reinforcements (Forbes)

• Pro-Palestinian protesters clash with US police during DNC (Al Jazeera)

• Bernie Sanders’ tough love for the Harris campaign (Politico)

• Trump’s former press secretary Stephanie Grisham says he has ‘no empathy, no morals’ (WP)

• Federal authorities launched a civil rights probe into reports of murders, sexual abuse and other violence at Tennessee’s largest correctional facility. (WP)

• Millions of Americans face blistering temperatures as heat dome blankets Gulf Coast states (USA Today)

• A Massachusetts professor has filed a lawsuit against Meta using a novel interpretation of Section 230, a law known primarily for shielding social media companies from liability. (NYT)

• An ‘AI Scientist’ Is Inventing and Running Its Own Experiments (Wired)

• Why video game performers want their work protected from AI (AP)

• Earth Towed, Impounded After Illegally Parking In Milky Way (The Onion)

The Speech

The best political speech s far this election year was given last night by somebody not running for office, someone in fact who’s never even held elected office.

There were other very good speeches at the DNC’s second night, including a charming one by the Second Gentleman, Doug Emhoff, about his wife, Vice-President Kamala Harris.

And the greatest political orator in a generation, Barack Obama, delivered an impassioned speech, inspiring Democrats to get out the vote for Harris this November.

Both of them were terrific.

But the best political speech so far this election year was given by Michelle Obama. It was flawless; the words flowed out of her over the crowd, bathing them in light and evoking the sense of a shared mission.

It takes something exceedingly rare in any person to give such a speech, one you don’t want to end, one that unites the speaker and the spoken to in the poetry of a heart beating with hope.

This business of politics can sometimes make you cynical. The naked drive for power so blatantly on display in our normal political discourse is tiresome.

But this speech was not normal.

If you missed it, check it out.

HEADLINES;

• Can Kamala Harris beat Donald Trump? (Independent)

• How a Far-Right Takeover of Georgia’s Election Board Could Swing the Election (NYT)

• Biden’s Emotional Speech Hints at a Bigger Takedown of Trump to Come (TNR)

• The tech donor network co-founded by JD Vance seeks to push America to the right. (Reuters)

• Israeli military recovers bodies of 6 hostages in Gaza operation (WP)

• Hamas accuses US of ‘buying time for Israel’ in Gaza ceasefire talks (Al Jazeera)

• Elon Musk’s Twitter Takeover Is Now the Worst Buyout for Banks Since the Financial Crisis (WSJ)

• Scientists Seeking Life on Mars Heard a Signal in 1924 That Hinted at the Future (NYT)

• Why do pelicans keep dropping dead in California? Scientists are searching for answers. (WP)

• Condé Nast Signs Deal With OpenAI (Wired)

• OpenAI to Let Companies Customize Its Most Powerful AI Model (Bloomberg)

• Apple ‘Poised To Win’ AI Wars, But The Market Already Priced That In (Forbes)

• Trump Promotes A.I. Images to Falsely Suggest Taylor Swift Endorsed Him (NYT)

• Philosopher’s Friends Constantly Pitching Him Ideas For Dilemmas (The Onion)

 

Walkaway Joe

Joe Biden gave his final speech in a firm voice. For once, his family and aides didn’t have to hold their breath lest he would falter. And he didn’t falter.

When you are older yourself, watching someone else end their career has a familiar, bittersweet quality. Many of us did not want to leave the stage when circumstances forced us to do so, and that is what Biden is doing.

Aging is cruel and younger people, without realizing it, are cruel about aging. But their day will come.

Biden could have been bitter. (Maybe he is.) He could have been angry. (Maybe he is.)

But he closed his remarks with a flourish by citing lyrics from “American Anthem.”

For those who think they have nothing to share,
Who fear in their hearts there is no hero there.
Know that quiet acts of dignity are that which fortifies
The soul of a nation that never dies.
Let them say of me, I am one who believes in sharing the blessings I receive.
Let me know in my heart when my days are through, America, I gave my best to you.

That he did. ‘Bye Joe.

HEADLINES:

• Biden lays out choice to ‘save democracy’ with Harris (ABC)

• The Speech Biden Never Wanted to Give (NYT)

• Hillary Clinton says it's time for Kamala Harris to break 'glass ceiling' (BBC)

• DNC joy over Kamala Harris, Donald Trump’s sinking polls: Joe Biden made it all happen. (USA Today)

• How Democrats Reversed the Script on the GOP (Politico Mag)

• The Mistake That Could Cost Trump the Election (Atlantic)

• The 47 Seconds That Saved Kamala Harris’s Political Career (NYT)

• The Kamala Show (New Yorker)

• Conservative Republican endorses Harris, calls Trump a threat to democracy (CNN)

• The 2024 U.S. presidential election reflects a changing America. Expect conflict ‘for the next generation,’ say top pollsters (Fortune)

• Protesters rally outside of Democratic National Convention as Chicago officials pledge to keep peace (AP)

• Fed to deliver three 25 quarter-point rate cuts this year; recession unlikely (Reuters)

• Kursk Operation Exposes Putin’s Weakness (Forbes)

• High-stakes negotiations are underway for a cease-fire in Gaza (AP)

• Blinken warns Israel and Hamas of last chance to end Gaza war (Reuters)

• Deep in the Amazon rainforest lives a community whose hearts age more slowly (BBC)

• Ernesto Is an Ominous Sign of What’s to Come (Mother Jones)

• 74% of IT pros see AI making their skills obsolete (CIO)

• What is ‘model collapse’? An expert explains the rumours about an impending AI doom (The Conversation)

• AI Cheating Is Getting Worse (Atlantic)

• How A.I. Can Help Start Small Businesses (NYT)

• Mayoral candidate vows to let VIC, an AI bot, run Wyoming’s capital city (WP)

• Democrats Panic After Kamala Harris Ages 40 Years In Single Night (The Onion

 

The Border "Crisis"

In 2021, Vice-President Harris was tasked by President Biden to explore the root causes of illegal immigration from the “northern triangle” countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

Donald Trump has mischaracterized this assignment, calling Harris the “border czar” during a period when thousands of people from those countries headed north, many seeking asylum in the U.S.

Trump also has repeatedly labeled those immigrants as dangerous criminals who were released from prisons and “insane asylums,” for which there is no evidence at all. Only after listening to his puzzling accusations numerous times did it occur to me that Trump, who has a very limited vocabulary, must be confused about the meaning of “asylum” in this context.

Apparently he assumes that the immigrants are seeking access to better mental health care facilities. An excellent SNL parody would be to reach back in time to Gilda Radner’s amusing character who misunderstood the meaning of headlines, only to state “never mind” when told of their true meaning.

Someone close to Trump should explain to him that political asylum is a legal status, not a psych ward, but even then I don’t think we can expect him to back down.

Meanwhile, in contrast to the Republican attempt to demonize immigrants, Harris investigated what was actually happening and made recommendations.

“The COVID-19 pandemic and extreme weather conditions have indeed exacerbated the root causes of migration — which include corruption, violence, trafficking, and poverty,” Harris reported.

“The root causes must be addressed both in addition to relief efforts — and apart from these efforts. In everything we do, we must target our efforts in those areas of highest out-migration — and ensure that these programs meet the highest standards of accountability and effectiveness.”

Harris came up with various ideas to address the problems, including “a young women’s empowerment initiative to increase education and economic opportunities for girls and women,” as well as investments in ”agribusiness and affordable housing and supporting entrepreneurs.”

In addition, Harris discussed efforts to promote “anti-corruption and the importance of an independent judiciary.”

There is much more to know about her mission and its limitations, plus a lot to criticize, but suffice it to say Trump’s simplification of a complex issue is typical of one of the insults he likes to lob at his opponents — that of a “low intelligence person.”

Of course, he is incapable of appreciating that irony.

HEADLINES:

• Democrats on defensive after Kamala Harris’s economic plans poorly received (Financial Times)

• A Vice Presidential Learning Curve: How Kamala Harris Picked Her Shots (NYT)

• Harris holds slight national lead over Trump, Post-ABC-Ipsos poll finds (WP)

• Discord in Chicago and An Effort to Impeach Biden (NYT)

• 'The middle wants to believe in America': Why Trump's doom and gloom falls flat (MSNBC)

• Trump’s Got Troubles (New Yorker)

• Deploying on U.S. Soil: How Trump Would Use Soldiers Against Riots, Crime and Migrants (NYT)

• Walz is winning the popularity contest, despite GOP attacks (The Hill)

• ‘The guy is ambitious’: How Walz got on Harris’ radar — and onto the 2024 ticket (Politico)

• Infiltrating the Far Right (The New Yorker)

• How a small group of nuns in rural Kansas vex big companies with their investment activism (AP)

• Zelenskiy’s gamble: success of shock Russia offensive hangs in the balance (Guardian)

• Kremlin response to Kursk incursion shows how Putin freezes in a crisis (WP)

• Ukrainian forces strike 2 key bridges in Russia’s Kursk area in a possible sign they intend to stay (AP)

• Solidarity with Palestine must be about decolonisation, not just ceasefire (Al Jazeera)

• Elon Musk’s financial woes at X have Tesla bulls fearing he will liquidate more stock (Fortune)

• Google takes on OpenAI with Gemini Live (TechCrunch)

• AI is unlocking new uses for military drones (CNBC)

• Chicago Cracks Down On Rising Violence By Installing Enormous Metal Detector Over City (The Onion)

 

That Stupid Economy

So the candidates for President, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, offered their much-anticipated proposals on the economy this week, and I was underwhelmed.

The problem is that both sides start with a set of flawed assumptions. One is that the U.S, economy is an independent entity; another is that the President has significant control over how it performs.

You could also call these useful political myths.

An emphasis on economic conditions in political campaigns is nothing new. As Democratic consultant James Carville famously instructed Bill Clinton during his initial drive to power, “It’s the economy, stupid.”

Had he been completely honest with his client, he would have added, “And there’s almost nothing you can do about the economy, stupid.” Except, perhaps talk a better game than your opponent.

In fact, the national economy, at $27 trillion, is more like that of a large state inside a much larger ($100 trillion+) unit — the global economy — over which the U.S. President has influence but not control. Global supply chains keep the whole thing afloat, and they can be disrupted by factors way beyond any leader’s control. Weather, war, pandemics, and climate change are just a few of those factors, but the human element also matters and Americans influence varies as conditions elsewhere change.

Furthermore, at the root of many of the most intransigent economic problems of our time, like the high cost of living and the growing disparities in the distribution of resources and wealth, intractable poverty and a growing sense of powerlessness is capitalism.

No serious candidate can run against capitalism, although Bernie Sanders gave it a pretty good try.

In this context, the proposals by Harris and Trump are almost laughable. No taxes on tips? Crackdown on price gouging? These may sound good but they won’t make any real impact on what is needed — a radical redistribution of wealth.

But no one is talking about that. The one area where there is a substantive difference between Harris and Trump — on tax policy — re-litigates the failed philosophy of “trickle-down economics.” And the thing we should have learned about that myth is that the only thing that trickles down in capitalism is the opportunity to join the ever-growing class of those on this planet who no longer can keep up.

And since Trump would bring even more of that kind of trickle-down pain, Harris is by far the better choice on economic grounds.

HEADLINES:

• Rising stars have the chance to shine at Democratic convention (Guardian)

• Democrats buoyed by Harris, sense of optimism as they prepare for convention (WP)

• Georgia Republicans lay groundwork to oppose certifying presidential election (AJC)

• On a Scrambled 2024 Map, North Carolina Democrats Say Harris Has a Shot (NYT)

• Is the US actually prepared for the next pandemic? (Reveal)

• Israeli attack on Gaza shelter kills 15 members of one Palestinian family (Al Jazeera)

• How Russia looked the wrong way (Reuters)

• Ukraine’s offensive derails secret efforts for partial cease-fire with Russia, officials say (WP)

• Kremlin Is Treating Ukraine’s Incursion Like a Natural Disaster (Bloomberg)

• X says it is closing operations in Brazil due to judge's content orders (Reuters)

• This Is the Most Detailed Map of Brain Connections Ever Made (Wired)

• Revealed: Shell oil non-profit donated to anti-climate groups behind Project 2025 (Guardian)

• Why Indonesia moved its capital to a jungle hundreds of miles away (WP)

• MIT engineers design tiny batteries for powering cell-sized robots (MIT)

• How AI’s booms and busts are a distraction (Vox)

• OpenAI Says It Disrupted an Iranian Misinformation Campaign (NYT)

• Screaming Man Lying On The Ground Supposed To Be There Probably (The Onion)