Blue goes on to say that we must ALWAYS run like we’re behind…never assume we’ve got it in the bag…in politics, anything can happen. We must remain on offense, offense, offense. He adds, “A big, beautiful WIPEOUT is on the horizon for us…let’s embrace it, reach for it, and make it ours.” Bill Palmer reports that copycat Trump decided to hold a rally in Georgia, same venue that Kamala successfully filled, and it was a humiliating disaster for the former prez, as the camera panned around to a half full arena. His attempt to outdo his opponent in drawing a crowd is evident that his base is simply tired of him, and his gibberish, and his Hannibal Lecter cannibalism joke. Trump is defending himself against the commentary regarding his cognitive abilities, but the wheels keep coming off, as he accused Harris of “nation recting,” with his claim of having “so much fertility” in his brain. In an earlier rally, he kept referring to a candidate he was ‘endorsing’ as the state’s next governor, where in reality the office-seeker is in a senate race. A complete Fertility Wreck!

Kamala Harris continues to prod the Trump camp to a debate, with Harris stating that she intends to show up for the September 10 face-off on ABC News; but Trump is backpedaling on it because Joe Biden was his intended victim, before he unceremoniously, and “unfairly” dropped out of contention. Bizarrely, Trump, out of the blue, announced a September 4 debate on the open sewer of Fox News, which he may attend alone, having failed to involve the Harris team in the discussions for such a meeting. Harris fired back at his announcement, saying the imaginary debate shows that he needs a “safe space,” pinpointing that this stunt has no traction. She should have picked up a line from a former Kentucky governor, ‘Happy’ Chandler,’ whose opponent demanded a campaign debate. Chandler’s response: “Tell that son of a bitch to go find his own publicity!” Trump then went on a Truth Social meltdown declaring that, “Kamala is really DUMB! She’s unable to speak properly without a Teleprompter. She has an extremely Low IQ, and our Country does not need someone who is unable to put two sentences together.” Code words all, to appeal to his racist MAGA base! Someone change his diaper…please!

Smokscreen! We need to watch out for this one! Attorney Paul Dans is stepping down from his director’s chair at the Heritage Foundation, and his involvement in Project 2025 which is the +970-page playbook for a second Trump presidency. The intense debate stirred up in presidential politics by this document, which was initially welcomed by the Trump camp, is now seeing a complete disavowal of its importance in the GOP platform. Folks at the Heritage Foundation claim Dans’ bailout was expected, following their plans as the project entered another phase, post-RNC happenings, as efforts to build a conservative personnel apparatus continue. He’s only wearing a different hat and coat over his true identity! In recent weeks, The Donald has criticized P2025, claiming some of its content “absolutely ridiculous and abysmal,” with “no idea who is behind it,” and “anything they do, I wish them luck, but I have nothing to do with them.” Trump adviser Chris LaCivita referred to it as “a pain in the butt” for their campaign. Over 100 leading conservative organizations came together to create a unified conservative vision, “motivated to devolve power from the unelected administrative state, and returning it to the people, and built for any future administration to use,” so explained Kevin Roberts of the Foundation. Kamala Harris says that the change will not dampen her campaign against Project 2025. “Project 2025 is on the ballot because Donald Trump is on the ballot. This is his agenda, written by his allies, for him to inflict on our country. Hiding the blueprint from the American people doesn’t make it less real…in fact, it should make voters more concerned about what else Trump and his allies are hiding,” says Julie Chavez, Harris campaign manager.

But what of Trump’s denial that he knows nothing about the content of the manifest or its creators? A video, and speech transcript, from April 21, 2022, has Trump praising the formation plans for Project 2025 at a Heritage Foundation event in Amelia Island, FL held for the developers of the manifest! Observers across the political spectrum since that time have expressed fears this is a precursor to authoritarianism, reversing LGBTQ+ protections, limiting or eliminating abortion access, and halting federal efforts to cope with climate change, yada-yada-yada. Many of the contributing authors (around 140) have direct connections to Mr. Trump, and in his speech he terms the Heritage Foundation “a great group” and saying the plans for “a colossal mandate…will lay the groundwork for exactly what our movement will do…in order to save America.” YouTube removed the original live video of the Trump speech, after being viewed around 537,000 times, and any attempt to see it is met with the message, “This video has been removed for violating YouTube’s Community Guidelines.” Seems that it violates much more than that, and just remember…you won’t have to vote anymore! Smokescreen, smokescreen…ignore the adopted RNC platform adopted at the gathering of MAGAs!

It is estimated that 50% of eligible young people in the age group 18-29 voted in the 2020 presidential election, up from 39% in 2016, with some states seeing turnout rates of more than 80%. So what does this commitment to political engagement of young voters portend for November since this group has historically voted in lower rates than older peers? Several factors are at work here, such as competitiveness of elections, amount of contact political campaigns devote to young people, state voting laws, and the local or regional culture and its education policies. Comparing 2016 and 2020 turnouts, there was no decrease for youth voting in our states, only Louisiana remaining flat, with a higher voter turnout in states that automatically mailed ballots to voters. States with the most restrictive mail-vote laws had the lowest youth turnout, a factor lawmakers need to consider in attracting a youthful electorate. With a record number of young people registered to vote, they will need encouragement to update registrations, with a concerted effort by family, educators, and lawmakers to emphasize what is at stake in maintaining our democracy. We can only hope that an aging population is decreasing the prevalence of those voters who would take our country back to the ’50s or ’60s, with its discrimination, racism and male-dominated culture. Attrition to the rescue?

Steve Schmidt writes on The Warning, “MAGA is a sinking ship. There will be chaos, rage, racial hatred, grievance and lunacy ahead. They will go, but not gently into the night. Suddenly, the man who was measuring the drapes for this return to the Oval Office is lost, bewildered and utterly disoriented. Once again, The Donald is about to have something taken from him that he didn’t have the wits to defend. Like his casinos and businesses before, The Donald is about to face the consequences of moral bankruptcy. It will come in the form of a massive rejection by the American people who say, ‘No!’ to his latest schemes and self-interested ploys…For years I’ve been pointing out that those within the MAGA movement are like the ‘Star Wars cantina’ comprised of crooks, weirdos, wifebeaters. Let’s tell them ‘No!'”

Trump’s mocking of Kamala Harris in his live interview at the Black Journalists convention continues to take the wind out of the sails of his campaign. Telling the crowd that Harris “was always of Indian heritage…and she happened to turn Black,” he insisted on attacking and insulting interviewer Rachel Scott of ABC News, continuing his politics of insult, resentment and retribution. The former president insists, disrespectfully, on mispronouncing ‘Kamala,’ but Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, says, “Here’s the good news – after the election, you can just call her Madam President.” The panel brought up JD Vance’s “stumbles” and the “controversy” he has stirred since joining the campaign, but Trump dismissed his running mate’s indiscretions, saying, “Historically the choice of vice president makes no difference.” Tell that to your unfavorite war hero, John McCain…Stanford University claiming selection of Sarah Palin lost him roughly 2.1M votes! Meow, meow! Vance attempted to spin this Trump disaster by terming it “valiant,” but the only courage on display was from interviewer Rachel Scott. Satirist Andy Borowitz wrote, “Trump brought JD Vance’s streak of saying the day’s most idiotic things to an abrupt end. Trump said, ‘JD is very talented when it comes to offending millions of people, but I needed to show that I was still the undisputed champion. When he said that thing about childless cat ladies, I said to myself, ‘Hold my beer.’ Vance praised Trump, asserting, ‘I have so much to learn from him.'”

Tom Tomorrow’s ‘This Modern World’  11-panel cartoon entitled “TOO MANY THINGS ARE HAPPENING: A Brief History of the Last Few Weeks” begins with June 27 panel, captioned ‘Presidential Debate throws Democrats into panic.’ Two characters are arguing, “We are DOOMED…if he STAYS…if he GOES!” Panel two, headed June 28: ‘SCOTUS kills Chevron Deference.’ Judge Alito is saying, “Who needs REGULATORY EXPERTISE…when you’ve got six right wing JUSTICES!” July 1 is captioned: ‘SCOTUS rules that Presidents have ABSOLUTE IMMUNITY,’ the Chief Justice clarifying the ruling by saying, “I mean, REPUBLICAN presidents, OBVIOUSLY.” July 3 follows with its caption: ‘President of Heritage Foundation says his REVOLUTION‘…”Will be bloodless…if the LEFT ALLOWS it to be!” July 13 panel features the newscaster on Action McNews Network, below the heading, ‘Trump survives assassination attempt by registered Republican, confidently declaring, “He is CERTAIN to pivot to kindness and gratitude NOW!” July 13’s panel announces, ‘Judge Cannon throws out classified documents case,’ with Cannon’s explanation, “Jack Smith didn’t say ‘Simon Says!’ Case DISMISSED!” Panel for July 15 heralds: ‘Vance named Republican V.P.’ below which JD is explaining, “When I said Trump was America’s Hitler..I meant it in a GOOD WAY!” July 17 panel states: ‘MAGA convention continues. Mentions of GUN RIGHTS and ABORTION are conspicuously absent. They do, however, have these signs,’ with an attendee holding up a placard reading, “MASS DEPORTATION NOW!” July 18 panel depicts a sweating Donald Trump, with ear bandage, as he ‘gives DISASTROUS speech,’ saying, “I’ll bore you like nobody’s ever SEEN before! Big strong men will come up with tears in their eyes and BEG me to stop talking! And I’ll whisper, NO.” Big news for July 21 panel: ‘Biden steps down, Kamala Harris becomes presumptive nominee.’ A whining Trump, ear bandage intact, says, “WAIT! This is no FAIR! I could have beaten HIM! This should be ILLEGAL!” ‘NEXT: Who the HELL knows?’ heads the last panel, showing a green extra-terrestrial announcing, “People of EARTH…prepare to be ENSLAVED! Or else eaten. Depends on our mood.”

Trump took his campaign back to Pennsylvania recently. In Harrisburg, he claims that the wife of Corey Comperatore, the retired fire chief who was killed by the Butler, PA sniper last month, told fundraisers that she would rather have her husband back instead of the funds being raised. “But you know what? Corey’s wife said, ‘I’d rather have my husband. Isn’t that good?” Trump said to his crowd. Then, to the laughter of the sick MAGA followers, Trump added, “I know a lot of wives that would not say that, I’m sorry. They would not say that.” The dead guy is now a prop, providing a new punchline for the disturbed former president.

‘Daily Show‘ correspondent Ronny Chieng summarized Trump’s bizarre appearance at the NABJ convention, saying, “Trump was like, ‘Listen up Black people: your’e always late, your microphones are ghetto and I’m Abraham Lincoln,’” adding, “I think he just won the Black vote.” Referring to Trump’s claim that Kamala Harris was “always of Indian heritage” but then “happened to turn Black…I think somebody should look into that,” Chieng said, “I don’t know what’s worse…that he thinks she turned from Indian to Black, or that he thinks someone should look into that? Does he think the FBI is the Federal Black Investigators?” Chieng questions the former prez’s grasp on Harris’s ancestry, asking, “What does Trump think the other half is? Woman? How does this guy not understand what ‘half’ means? Like, he constantly tells us he’s a genius, but he can’t comprehend a goldendoodle?” And, what of JD Vance’s wife, Usha, offspring of Indian immigrants? Uh-oh, trouble ahead!

The Donald has used the term “Black jobs” several times in recent weeks, prompting Simon Biles, after winning Gold at the Olympics and dominating gymnastics competition, posted on X, “I love my Black job.” Several Black Democrats have called him on it, with Texas Representative Jasmine Crockett writing, “I’m assuming Trump doesn’t think my job is a ‘Black job.'” Update at 11:00……

Democrats will highlight Vance’s previous disdainful criticisms of Trump when he called him “noxious,” “reprehensible” and “America’s Hitler,” his excuse being that he didn’t really know the man, but his presidency “proved him wrong.” He once wrote an op-ed piece entitled ‘The Opioid of the Masses,’ comparing Trump to heroin addiction. Now he is a fierce defender, a junk-yard dog, for the chief MAGAman, which might be characterized by his blaming Joe Biden for the attempted assassination in Butler, PA. “Today is not just some isolated incident. The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.” Not a bad premise…just dump the bullets! Trump called JD a “genuine convert” to the MAGA fold, and Vance has positioned himself the heir apparent among the MAGA faithful for the future. Echoing a Trump theme, the VP designee said, “But I also think his presidency revealed, at least to me, how corrupt the media was. It taught me a very important lesson about how the media lies.”

With Trump picking Vance, he probably signals that he has earned abandonment of all pretense of reaching out, particularly with the GOP, especially for escaping the assassin’s bullets. His choice can be expected to parrot any MAGA extreme, sort of a more literate Marjorie Taylor Greene, or Lauren Boebert. Vance started his kissing-up to the former president when he launched his Ohio Senate campaign, getting an endorsement, and with a victory, he transitioned into the favored column of the MAGA faithful. He was the most like Trump, out of the final three names considered…an absolute scam artist who left behind all previous political positions for a career advantage. So, was there ever any consideration for anyone else…really? Vance announced publicly that Mike Pence was wrong in not overturning the 2020 election results, saying that states should have been able to have multiple slates of electors, allowing Congress to slug it out later…hardly a qualification for high office!

Satirist Andy Borowitz writes, “Senator JD Vance attempted to sell his soul to the Devil ‘multiple times’ but Satan declined to buy it, the Prince of Darkness disclosed on Wednesday. ‘The fun part of my job is making a person turn to the dark side,’ Satan said. ‘JD was already there.’ ‘I read Hillbilly Elegy, he added. ‘I didn’t care for the writing. But more importantly, anyone who would engage in such a blatant cash-grab has already sold his soul, quite frankly. Plus, the movie sucked,’ Satan said. ‘I enjoyed downvoting it thousands of times on Rotten Tomatoes.’ Calling Vance’s soul ‘a hard pass,’ the Evil One said, ‘I’m not like the worm who ate RFK Jr.’s brain – I have standards.'” A Paul Noth political cartoon has JD talking on the phone, saying, “And, again sir, I’m sorry that I called you America’s Hitler, and so relieved that you took it as a compliment.”

Trump has resurrected from his 2016 campaign, the use of lyrics from a controversial 1963 civil rights song by activist Oscar Brown, which was also a hit for soul singer Al Wilson in the late sixties. ‘The Snake,’ in Trump’s interpretation, points to the dangers posed by illegal immigrants and refugees, whereas it is actually an allegorical tale of a woman who unwisely takes in an injured snake, succumbing to its entreaties for help. Undeterred by a cease-and-desist letter from Brown’s children, Trump would occasionally recite it to the MAGA crowd…as recently as September of last year. In the tale, the women nurses the snake back to health, but she ends up with its poisonous bite, and asks the snake why it wishes to kill her. “Oh shut up, silly woman,” said the reptile with a grin. “You knew damn well I was a snake before you took me in.” Seems that Trump should take a closer look at his new cat-hating VP designee?

On CNN, Anthony Scaramucci, who worked as Trump’s communications director, getting fired after eleven days on the job, predicts that JD Vance is not long for the GOP ticket. He terms Trump’s pick a misstep, when a moderate like Nikki Haley would have had more voter appeal, particularly to independents and women, instead of the hard-MAGA ticket. “He went with a strange guy that’s very dull on stage, and you know, Trump hates that,” Scaramucci said. His short stay with the Trump White House brought about the expression ‘Mooch,’ a “nonscientific term for a unit of time equal to 11 days, the length of Scaramucci’s White House employment,” according to The Atlantic. It was coined by Trump’s aides, and now Scaramucci possibly finds it useful for predicting the inevitable departure of Vance from the GOP ticket. “I’ve had that experience with Donald Trump. It’s just a question of how many Scaramuccis JD is going to last,” he remarked. Trump needs examine what the cat dragged in and act quickly…only nine ‘Mooches’ remain before the big November date!

Kamala Harris has, of course, been the recipient of the expected rash of GOP/MAGA criticisms, mostly racial vitriol. Stew Peters, former bounty hunter, anti-Native American, and a live streamer posted, “The leading Democrat presidential candidate’s mother was named Shyamala Gopalan…that should be enough for disqualification.”  A far-right media pundit posted on X, “They’re literally going to spend the next few months running the DEI candidate and calling everyone who opposes her sexist Hitler.” Self-appointed prophet Lance Wallnau of the New Apostolic Reformation, who claims God speaks to him, called Harris “the spirit of Jezebel in a way that will be even more ominous than Hillary because she’ll bring a racial component and she’s younger.” Media Matters reports that some pundits are regenerating the ‘birther’ conspiracy theory, as applied to Barack Obama, and applying it to Harris, musing,“Is Kamala Harris eligible to be president under the US Constitution’s Citizenship Clause?”

Straight out of Atwood’s ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ and the Republic of Gilead, Wisconsin Representative Glenn Grothman accused “the angry feminist movement” of emasculating men and that the country should “work our way back” to 1960 once Trump is back in office. Grothman went on to criticize supporters of government-funded childcare programs, saying Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty “took the purpose out of the man’s life, because now you have a basket of goodies for the mom. They’ve taken away the purpose of the man to be part of a family. And, if we want to get American back where this was almost unheard of, we have to fundamentally change these programs.” He maintains the “breakdown of the family” was caused by “people like Angela Davis, well-known communist, people like the feminists who were so important in the 1960s.”

Brian Tyler Cohen writes, “Clearly reeling from the historic news that completely upended the general election and their MAGA cult leader’s prospects of winning in November, House Republicans have introduced ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT against Vice President Kamala Harris. Her supposed transgressions? Something, something, something immigrations and – no joke – obfuscating the physical and cognitive well-being of President Biden. Heck of a game plan you’ve got there, boys.” Tennessee Representative Andy Ogles feels Harris is a threat to a second Trump term…plus he has to make headlines…after being caught falsely claiming he loaned his campaign $320,000??

Trump has claimed he knows nothing about Project 2025, but there he was at the Turning Point Believers’ Summit in Florida, telling supporters they won’t have to vote again if they elect him to a second term. “You won’t have to do it anymore, it’ll be fixed; it’ll be fine; you won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians.” So, there we have it…a major party presidential candidate specifically stating his aim to eliminate elections per his vision of autocracy. His admiration of strongmen such as Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, Viktor Orban, and dictators from the past, along with their playbooks, has long been apparent. Brian Klass of The Atlantic writes, “This funhouse-mirror inversion risks creating the false impression that both sides are a threat to American democracy. In fact, Trump is a unique threat to the core institutions that constrain power in the United States and make self-governance possible. We must not make the mistake, yet again, of giving Trump an undeserved benefit of the doubt. He has told Americans who he is and what he intends to do. All that voters need to do is believe him – and care enough to vote for democracy. After all, Trump said it himself: If you don’t, you may never need to again.”

Steve Schmidt of The Warning says it well: “The torch has been passed, and there is an explosion of excitement. This is very bad news for Donald Trump, who requires apathy to fuel the indifference necessary to make his math work. It is falling apart, but there there are miles and miles yet to go. Get involved. Be involved. These are exciting times to be an American. Democracy is messy, but deeply beautiful.”