Morning

Manic Monday.

Sunday Night

Rock on.

Sure Why Not

Whatever one thinks about Biden, this is not the way.

Biden would step down as the Democratic nominee in mid-July, and announce the new system, with backing from Vice President Kamala Harris.

Potential candidates would have a few days to throw their respective hats in the ring. The Democratic Party then would begin a primary sprint in which the six candidates who receive the most votes from delegates pledge to run positive-only campaigns in the month leading up to the convention.

The “blitz primary” would involve weekly forums with each candidate moderated by cultural icons (Michelle Obama, Oprah, and Taylor Swift are among the names floated in the memo) in order to engage voters.

Reasonably confident  that this will not happen. 

Wasn't There A Red Line?

I remember something about that and arms sales. Maybe Biden just forgot.

Israel has repeatedly described its ground operation in Rafah as “limited.” But in this neighborhood in southern Rafah, the destruction looks almost identical to what I’ve seen in northern Gaza, in central Gaza and in Khan Younis through the limited prism of trips into Gaza with the Israeli military.

Some homes are flattened and other buildings bombed out.

Plot Twist?

Maybe?

At the time of publication of this text, several initial projections in seats from polling institutes based on the French vote give the left in the lead with between 170 and 220 seats for the New Popular Front (NFP).

A huge surprise. Behind, the presidential alliance would fall between 150 and 190 deputies and the National Rally (RN) and its allies would end up with 130 to 160 seats. And the traditional right of the Republicans not allied with the RN, below 75 seats.

...

The exit poll has the left coalition wining the most, Macron's in second, and the right .. not winning.

Chickenshit Club

What does "no path" mean?

The House returns to Washington on Monday, and Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) is looking to rally fellow senators to call for a change. Multiple people publicly vouching for Biden, at the behest of the White House and campaign, privately say there’s no path.

It still isn't entirely clear to me whether all these people are just panicked about polls, or if they really have spent months being concerned about his brain not working and not bothering to speak up about it.

All the Dems doing their "maybe somebody else should do something" dance to reporters are not helping anything!

Seems Bad

Anyway

Nearly 2 million people have been displaced in Gaza – almost the entire population – after the Israeli military last week ordered a further 80,000 people to evacuate parts of Gaza City amid a renewed ground operation, latest UN figures show.

The North was first "evacuated" on October 13, and it's just been one false claim of safe zones after another since then. "If you just go there, no there, no there..."

Morning

Sunday funday.

Saturday Night

Rock on.

Saturday Happy Hour

enjoy

Comeon, Man

What is he doing.

BIDEN: I’ll feel as long as I gave it my all and I did the goodest job as I know I can do, that’s what this is about. Look, George. Think of it this way. You’ve heard me say this before. I think the United States and the world is at an inflection point when the things that happen in the next several years are going to determine what the next six, seven decades are going to be like.

And who’s going to be able to hold NATO together like me? Who’s going to be able to be in a position where I’m able to keep the Pacific Basin in a position where we’re — we’re at least checkmating China now? Who’s going to — who’s going to do that? Who has that reach? Who has — who knows all these pe—? We’re going to have, I guess a good way to judge me, is you’re going to have now the NATO conference here in the United States next week. Come listen. See what they say.

Just Send It To The States, They Said

And as people manage do do this in more states, they'll stop that too.

An Arizona abortion rights group turned in a petition on Wednesday morning for a ballot measure that would enshrine the right to an abortion in the state's constitution.

Arizona for Abortion Access, the organization behind the petition, said it collected 823,685 voter signatures -- more than double the 383,923 signatures required from registered voters to qualify for the November 2024 election.

Nobody's Been Saying What They Mean

There's a "maybe somebody else should do something" theme with the effort to push Biden out. Just go on teevee and say, loudly, what his problems are. Or shut up.

Well it's only July. No hurry.

Morning

We all do the best we can.

Happy Hour

Get happy.

If You Come For The King

I really don't have an opinion, all things considered, about What Should Happen, but all the people pushing for Biden to get out have seriously damaged him and I don't know if they've thought this through!!!

NEW from @LACaldwellDC and @lizcgoodwin
Sen. Mark Warner seeks to assemble group of Democratic senators to ask Biden to exit race https://t.co/btMwS05sJU

— Rachel Van Dongen (@RachelVanD) July 5, 2024

Afternoon

Busy with stuff.

The Politics Of Other Countries

What I mean when I say that most Americans who talk about the politics of other countries have no idea what they're talking about is that every country has a large cast of characters,  institutions and media outlets who are part of the grand tapestry of their "politics" and unless you really, really pay attention as a hobby - or live there and get it through osmosis - you have little idea what you're talking about beyond a vague sense that 'nominal left wing parties better than right wing parties.'

Sure as a basic rule of thumb that probably guides you pretty well, but it obviously doesn't provide you with a very full understanding of what is happening in a country.

We follow a great big sprawling cast of characters here as we cover The Politics Show. Every country has the equivalent.

I follow UK politics enough to get it but I would have a very very hard time explaining it. 

Lunch

 eat

Rudy!

Trump stiffing the worst people in the world is the one thing I like about him.

Rudy Giuliani has sought a $2 million payment from Donald Trump "any number of times," the former New York mayor told a bankruptcy deposition.

Giuliani lost a $148 million lawsuit and has been disbarred as a lawyer as a result of his work for Trump, yet has never been paid for his services. He told the deposition that the former president's campaign officers have ignored the numerous invoices he has sent and have only ever paid his expenses. Newsweek sought email comment from Giuliani's spokesperson and from Trump's attorney on Thursday.

I understand that he stiffs everybody, but why don't these idiots?