Tuning Out the Political Circus
It's time to turn American politics off and on again
Hi Readers! Welcome back to The News Lede. Since tomorrow is July 4, our nation’s Independence Day, this newsletter will be a short special edition of the UK Election results. Also, there will be no newsletter on Friday unless there is major breaking news. Trying to keep it light as the week of the 4th should be a national holiday where you’re taking it easy and not concerned about the news.
Tuning Out the Political Circus
It’s the day before America’s birthday and I think we can all see that she’s tired. The kids are running around in a state of cacophonous panic. The adults in the room won’t stop bickering or casting blame or creating more problems. To make matters worse, someone invited the drunk Uncle and the religious extremists over and they’re commandeering the entire gathering. And, the house is on fire and can’t be put out because the well is bone dry from excessive overuse.
America needs help and for people to listen to her, but no one will shut the fuck up for even a minute to give her a moment to speak. Or just a moment to herself.
Can we all agree we need to turn it off and sit with it for a minute before we turn it back on again?
There’s so many opinions and takes circulating right now, it’s difficult to wrap your head around what you personally think about the matter. Or to even find rational logic. So it would be irresponsible of me to add yet another voice to this maddening discussion. Even if it’s simply to point out the flaws in the arguments being made.
It’s time to take a step back and just observe what unfolds in the coming days so I can objectively portray where the hot potato issue stands, what detailed solutions have been proposed, and how we proceed from now. I’d be doing a disservice as a journalist if I were to add to the growing confusion and national anxiety that the U.S. news media and pundits are currently fueling.
With that said, tomorrow is a time to celebrate and reflect on what this country means to us. It’s also a time to consider what sacrifices we’re willing to make for this country and what we’re not willing to sacrifice anymore. And what each of us needs to do in order to preserve our freedoms granted to us in this country, as well as to overcome challenges and backsliding to our freedoms.
This is what America would want us to do on her birthday. Because it’s long past due and because it’ll buy her some time to put on her greatest hits, pour a glass of wine, and have a moment all to herself.
- Stephanie
Under the Radar
On Tuesday, President Joe Biden signed the National Plan to End Parkinson’s Act into law and no U.S. national or political news outlet is covering it. The bipartisan bill was introduced by Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) in September 2022 and was passed by Congress in December and in the Senate in May. The law gives the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) authority to coordinate with a Parkinson’s advisory committee to develop and oversee a plan that is dedicated to accurately diagnosing and supporting research efforts into treatments for the disease.
Project 2025
On Tuesday, The Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts gave a chilling message to viewers of Steve Bannon’s War Room that provides important insight into what the masterminds of Project 2025 have planned for the United States if their Manchurian Candidate, Donald Trump, wins. When asked what the far-right group is doing to protect the rule of law, Roberts spent 2 minutes not answering the question, but did make it clear that it plans to unleash violence against anyone against its agenda. He ended his bloodthirsty word salad with, “we are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.”
Election 2024 Watch
2 GOP election deniers faced off in Virginia’s June 18 House Primary for the 5th Congressional District and it’s going as dramatically as you’d expect. The Trump-backed VA state senator John McGuire barely eeked out a 50.3% - 49.7% win against House Freedom Caucus member Rep. Bob Good. On Tuesday, the State Board of Elections certified McGuire’s less than 1% victory and Good has pledged to seek a recount and file a legal challenge to block the certification.
France will hold its second round vote on Sunday and the country’s left wing and centrist parties have formed a coalition to block the far right from taking power. On Tuesday, 200 candidates dropped their bids in a united front to support those with the best chance of defeating far right leader Marine Le Pen’s party members. 577 seats in the French National Assembly are up for grabs, with 289 seats needed for an absolute majority.
Hurricane Watch
Hurricane Beryl approaches Jamaica as a Category 4 storm, which Jon Porter, chief meteorologist at AccuWeather, called “the strongest and most dangerous hurricane threat that Jamaica has faced, probably, in decades.”
Beryl left a path of destruction in its wake after passing through the Grenadines on Monday. Grenada’s Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell told reporters that power was down and roads are blocked. 3 people have so far been confirmed dead in Grenada and Carriacou, 1 in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and 2 in northern Venezuela with 5 people missing. St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves told reporters that 90% of homes on Union Island were destroyed, and that there may be “similar levels of devastation” on the islands of Myreau and Canouan.
Beryl will weaken as it approaches the Yucatan peninsula, which has issued a hurricane warning, and will regain strength once it enters the Gulf of Mexico.
Abortion Rights
3 white Christian Nationalist men are in charge of creating Trump’s platform and criminalizing abortion is a top priority. CNN’s KFile found that one of them, Ed Martin, who serves as the RNC Platform Committee deputy policy director, advocates for imprisoning women for getting abortions on his radio show “The Pro America Report.” Martin is the former chair of the Missouri Republican Party who played a central role in Trump’s scheme to overturn the 2020 election and encouraged MAGA loyalists to storm the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Also significant is his close ties to conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly—the woman responsible for preventing the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). Martin is the president of Phyllis Schlafly Eagles, a far-right “pro-family” interest group, and co-authored “The Conservative Case for Trump” with Schlafly.
Nevada became the fifth state to approve an abortion ballot initiative for the November election. State election officials verified more than 125K signatures on the petition where 102K were required. Voters will need to pass the initiative in November and in 2026 in order to amend the state’s constitution.
Arizona and Nebraska may also put constitutional amendments on their November ballots after exceeding the petition requirement. In Arizona, organizers told news outlets they submitted 823,685 signatures, more than double the 383,923 required. County election officials have until Aug. 22 to verify signatures. In Nebraska, there are two competing abortion measures that may both appear on the November ballot:
1) to enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution, which garnered 207K signatures
2) to enshrine the state’s current 12-week ban, which garnered 205K signatures
Each outpaced the 123K signatures required, but both will have to clear another requirement of clearing signature thresholds across key counties.
Good News
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) unanimously voted to authorize a lawsuit to block Tempur Sealy International, Inc.’s proposed $4B acquisition of Mattress Firm Group Inc. In a press release, the FTC wrote that merger documents show that Tempur Sealy aims to limit competing mattress suppliers’ access to Mattress Firm’s stores. These suppliers are primarily American manufacturers, which means this Antitrust move will result in mass employee layoffs and factory closures.
Texas attorney general Ken Paxton continues his unlawful crusade to abuse the courts (and his office) to obtain personal information against those he seeks to persecute. Texas District Court Judge Francisco X. Dominguez blocked Texas attorney general Ken Paxton’s attempt to bully a decades-old, faith based migrant and refugee shelter network near the U.S.-Mexico border into turning over records showing the names of those it housed or force it to close. The judge wrote, “The Texas Attorney General’s use of the request to examine documents from Annunciation House was a pretext to justify its harassment” of the nonprofit and those seeking refuge. He added that Paxton’s allegations are unfounded and his requests violated the Fourth Amendment.