Harris Takes No Risks in Big DNC Speech - The Friday AM Quickie 8/23/24

By Corey Pein — Aug 23, 2024

If you ask me, the world's second-biggest diamond should belong to the miners who dug it up. Or maybe the government. Anyway, Jacob's back Monday, have a nice weekend! - Corey

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THE BIG NEWS

DNC Day 4: Harris Makes a Bid for Independents

In her big speech last night concluding the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Kamala Harris said her presidency would "chart a new way forward." But she laid out a vision that sounds a lot like a continuation of President Joe Biden's administration, which perhaps should not be surprising, considering she's been at his side for four years and has inherited his campaign apparatus. She seemed to strive to appear as traditional and nonthreatening as possible to white suburban swing voters who may be just getting to know her for the first time.

Harris promised to champion the middle class, which is "where I come from," by creating "an opportunity economy" and passing a middle-class tax cut. She pledged to "bring together labor and workers and small-business owners and entrepreneurs" to create jobs "and to lower the cost of everyday needs like health care and housing and groceries." She contrasted her policies to Donald Trump, who "fights for himself and his billionaire friends" and is scheming to pass "a Trump tax" with his proposed import tariffs that would cost families thousands of dollars a year.

She hit the Republicans especially hard on reproductive rights, calling out their plans to force states to report on women's miscarriages and abortions. "Simply put, they are out of their minds," she said.

On the contentious subject of Gaza, Harris offered nothing new. "Let me be clear. I will always stand up for Israel's right to defend itself," she said. "At the same time, what has happened in Gaza over the past 10 months is devastating." She said she and Biden "are working to end this war, such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination." She then quickly changed the subject to "dictators like Kim Jong-un, who are rooting for Trump." The speech proposed by the Uncommitted National Movement and rejected by the Harris campaign called for "enforc[ing] our laws on friend and foe alike to reach a ceasefire, end[ing] the killing of Palestinians, free[ing] all the Israeli and Palestinian hostages, and [beginning] the difficult work of building a path to collective peace and safety."

She concluded with an appeal to the faith and the flag, hailing "the greatest privilege on Earth: the privilege and pride of being an American." Conventions don't get more conventional than that. Progressives are tempering enthusiasm with caution.

Earlier in the day, "sources" spread the rumor that Beyonce would perform, but it "wasn't to Bey." Millennial pop star P!nk did show up, as well as Golden State Warrior and Olympic gold medalist Stephen Curry. Another highlight was the joint appearance of four of the Exonerated Five, including recently elected New York City Councilor Yusef Salaam. Trump "wanted us dead," Salaam said. "He has never changed. And he never will. That man thinks that hate is the animating force in America. It is not."

Former Arizona Rep. Gabby Giffords and other survivors spoke against gun violence. Former Illinois Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger said his party "is no longer conservative" and has switched its allegiance "to a man whose only purpose is himself." Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren tried her hand at a couch joke. And Florida Rep. Maxwell Frost spoke up for Gen Z and climate crisis victims for a couple of minutes.

If you missed all this, you can check out MR's live coverage here.

However you feel about the DNC, its final night clearly sent Trump into a conniption. "WHERE'S HUNTER?" he demanded. Also, for the record: Tim "Walz was an ASSISTANT Coach, not a COACH." Touché.

MORE STORIES TO WATCH

Future of Democracy Watch: RFK Jr. Withdraws from Arizona Ballot

Supreme Court Endorses Arizona Voter Suppression By Approving State's 'Proof of Citizenship' Requirement The 5-4 decision means more than "41,000 Arizona voters who did not submit a passport or birth certificate are now on a 'federal-only' list permitted to vote in presidential and congressional contests even as the state refuses to allow them to vote in state and local races." via Politico and the Arizona Republic.
Abortion Rights Won't Be on the Ballot in Arkansas After Bogus State Supreme Court Decision "Justices Karen Baker and Courtney Rae Hudson, in their dissent, accused Arkansas officials of unfairly changing the rules in order to disqualify the abortion-rights petition." via Politico and the Washington Post.
Trump Will Host 'J6 Awards Gala' at New Jersey Golf Club Next Month to Raise Money for Violent Insurrectionists (and Himself) Meanwhile, a resurfaced JD Vance speech from the 2023 book launch of far-right Claremont Institute extremists reveals him railing about various "deep state" conspiracy theories and suggesting "appointing people at the Department of Justice who actually take a side in the culture war, the side of the people who elected us." via HuffPost and the Guardian.
Texas Woman Cleared of Voting Illegally Keeps 'Faith That Justice Will Be Done' as Prosecutors Appeal Her Acquittal Crystal Mason, who is Black, was on supervised release for tax evasion charges when she cast a provisional ballot in Tarrant County in 2016, not knowing she was not allowed to do so under state law; an appeals court overturned her conviction and five-year prison sentence in March, but prosecutors are now dragging her back into court. via the Washington Post and the Texas Tribune.

AM Quickie Writer Beats Elon Musk in Court

You may recall that our very own Jacob Silverman is working on a new book about white supremacist billionaire Elon Musk. What you may not know, unless you read Jacob's blog, is that he had petitioned a federal judge in California, to publicly disclose for the first time a list of the shady investors who helped Musk buy Twitter two years ago and turn the social media platform into the far-right propaganda machine it is today, X. On Tuesday, NBC News reports, US District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco approved Jacob's request, citing a "strong presumption in favor" of public access to court records. The Washington Post was quick to pick up the story and published a copy of the unredacted list of X investors. They include Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz; another VC firm led by a founder of the surveillance contractor Palantir; Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal al Saud; Twitter founder Jack Dorsey; and the legally troubled music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs. Jacob was represented pro bono by the venerable Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, and the ruling represents a win for everyone who values press freedom, government transparency, and holding corporations accountable. So congratulations, Jacob – and also thank you.

QUICKEST QUICKIES

Trudeau Forces Canadian Rail Workers Into Arbitration to Block Strike Prime Minister "Justin Trudeau's actions are cowardly, anti-worker, [and] proof that he will always cave to corporate greed," NDP leader and Trudeau coalition partner Jagmeet Singh responded; the Teamsters union says its picket lines will remain in place. via the Associated Press and CBC News.
Texas Blocks Trans Residents from Updating Their IDs and Starts Building a Very Creepy Database Under orders from crooked Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, the state Department of Public Safety has stopped accepting court orders as a basis for gender changes on driver's licenses – and will make a record of everyone who makes such a request. via the Texas Tribune and the Washington Post.
Sikh Leader in California Survives Apparent Assassination Attempt on Freeway Satinder Pal Singh Raju, a Sikhs for Justice organizer, is the latest supporter of the separatist Khalistan movement to face an attempt on his life; the US and Canada identified the government of far-right Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as having organized the previous assassination plots. via the Los Angeles Times and the Guardian.
Amazon Delivery Drivers Are Employees and Can Form Unions, NLRB Rules More than 275,000 drivers work for Amazon's subcontracted "Delivery Service Partners," which the Teamsters union began to organize in California last year. via the Associated Press and the Washington Post.

SOME NUMBER

347

That's how many violent conflicts took place around the world over water last year, according to the Pacific Institute, up from 231 the prior year and 22 in the year 2000. Much of the increased violence took place in the Middle East, but water-related violence is also spreading fast in Latin America and the Caribbean as well as India, the Guardian reports.

ON THE SHOW TODAY

8/23: It's Casual Friday!

DON'T MISS MR CLIPS‌

Trump Very Interested in Theo Von's Coke Addiction Stories

Why don't you just hire a doctor to prescribe whatever you want?

Omar Calls Out DNC's Refusal to Acknowledge Israel's Ongoing Genocide in Gaza

Muslim Women for Harris has disbanded, in case you missed it.

PARTING WORDS

"Today, Venezuela's Supreme Court has finally consolidated the fraud. The Maduro regime obviously welcomes with enthusiasm its ruling that will be marked by infamy. ... The Venezuelan dictatorship is not the left. A continental left that is profoundly democratic and that respects human rights...is possible and necessary."

-- Leftist Chilean President Gabriel Boric, in a statement yesterday denouncing the Venezuelan Supreme Court's decision to certify President Nicolás Maduro's contested claim to have won the July 28 election, and offering an alternative vision for the South American left. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Colombian President Gustavo Petro have both called on their ally Maduro to hold new, more transparent elections.

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