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BY BRIAN BEUTLER, PRIYANKA ARIBINDI & CROOKED MEDIA Friday, August 2, 2019 |
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| —James "Come At Me" Comey. Help. |
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| THANKS OBAMA |
| Why did so many Democratic presidential candidates spend the week attacking Barack Obama, the most popular figure in their party? That’s the question basically the entire political establishment is asking, two days after the second round of primary debates came to a close.
It’s a great question! Except for one small thing: It didn’t really happen.
Follow along for a story about how false narratives take shape, and what really happened:
What are they saying? In the 48 hours since the debates ended, it has become an article of faith that the Democrats savaged Obama, as illustrated by the following headlines:
Obama’s biggest cheerleader in the race, Joe Biden, capitalized on this frenzy: “I was a little surprised by how much incoming there was about Barack, about the president,” he told reporters.
So did President Trump: “The Democrats spent more time attacking Barack Obama than they did attacking me.”
We could go on like this, and it would indeed mark a “dramatic” shift if it were true. But it’s not.
Ok, so why is everyone acting like it is true? A few Democratic candidates did have the gall to say that some aspects of Obama’s legacy aren’t perfect. These “criticisms” fell into two categories:
That sounds reasonable, what’s all the fuss about? Great question! In general, this round of debates did not dramatically change the shape of the race the way the first one did (at least briefly), and media thrives on dramatic narratives. Thus, “Democrats want to build on Obama’s legacy without repeating his mistakes” became DEMOCRATS SHIT ALL OVER POPULAR PRESIDENT. But the banal truth is that Obama isn’t perfect and didn’t fix every problem for all time, and nobody, including him, thinks otherwise. That’s why he called Medicare for All a good idea last year. It’s why he shifted his own approach to immigration over the course of his presidency. And it’s why it would be completely crazy if Democratic candidates confined themselves to cementing his legacy and nothing more. |
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| After a number of high-profile incidents of misconduct by U.S. Navy SEALs, the top SEAL, Rear Admiral Collin Green, sent a letter to the force in July acknowledging, “We have a problem.”
Earlier this year, an entire SEAL team was sent home from Iraq after facing sexual assault and drinking allegations (drinking is prohibited by their regulations). In another case, members of another team allegedly used cocaine and other illicit substances while stationed in Virginia. "I don't know yet if we have a culture problem, I do know that we have a good order and discipline problem that must be addressed immediately," said Green. He has given commanders until August 7 to detail the problems within their teams and provide recommendations on how to solve them.
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| Reminder: Pod Save America is doing a Live Show in Los Angeles at the Greek Theater on August 17. It is now August, hence the reminder.
Aside from the tons there is to talk about, there will be performances from Maggie Rogers, Amanda Seales, Best Coast, and Jim James. Plus, all proceeds from the show will be donated to organizations at the forefront of the fight to protect the vote across America (vote.org, Election Protection, The National Redistricting Foundation, and Think Social Impact).
So to recap, you get to: Hang with Crooked crew, watch a fun show, hear great live music, AND protect democracy…?
Get those tickets → crooked.com/thegreek |
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| President Trump will not nominate Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX) to be director of national intelligence, and blamed the “LameStream media” for his decision to throw Ratcliffe under the bus. Though Ratcliffe is a shameless Trump loyalist, he had no relevant experience for the job and lied repeatedly about his national security accomplishments at the Department of Justice. We are not sad about this.
Puerto Rico’s House of Representatives has confirmed Pedro Pierluisi—disgraced Gov. Ricardo Rosselló’s successor of choice—as its new secretary of state. The secretary of state is supposed to take over if the governor steps down, according to Puerto Rico’s Constitution, but the Senate has not yet confirmed Pierluisi, leaving his fate (and Puerto Rico’s) uncertain. Rosselló claims that Pierluisi does not need the Senate’s confirmation, as he was named by Rosselló himself while he was still governor (his resignation became effective at 5 p.m. on Friday).
Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX) announced that he will not seek re-election in 2020, because Donald Trump is a political genius who makes Democrats play right into his hands. Hurd is the House’s only black Republican. Here’s a fun fact: There are more black women with the last name “Lee” in the House Democratic caucus than there are black Republicans in Congress.
The U.S. has formally withdrawn from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia, and the military is preparing to test a new non-nuclear missile developed specifically to target Moscow. Russia announced that it would no longer recognize the treaty in February after the Trump administration demanded that it demonstrate compliance, so naturally the administration just ripped up the treaty Russia didn’t like.
On the other hand, the Trump administration imposed new sanctions on Russia over the 2018 poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in response to continued pressure from the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Russia still denies involvement in the attack.
North Korea conducted its third missile test in eight days, launching two apparently short-range projectiles. Trump claimed those don’t violate his agreement with Kim Jong Un (then… what did they even agree to?) and that he thinks Kim will “do the right thing” because he “doesn’t want to disappoint his friend, President Trump.”
Women in Saudi Arabia can finally travel independently thanks to a new amendment that allows them to hold passports and travel abroad without the consent of male guardians. Saudi Arabia's notorious restrictions on women's freedom have loosened slightly in the past few years, allowing them to drive and vote, but they still face many oppressive laws, including one that requires them to obtain a male guardian’s permission to marry or divorce.
A committee of federal judges dismissed all 83 ethics complaints against Brett Kavanaugh on Thursday, because Supreme Court justices are not subject to the judiciary's ethics review process. How convenient. The only body that can discipline Kavanaugh now is Congress.
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A New York judge has recommended that the NYPD fire Daniel Pantaleo, the officer who killed Eric Garner. The city’s police commissioner will now decide whether to follow that recommendation. Pantaleo was suspended Friday after working a desk job for the five years since he killed Garner, but he still remains a member of the department. |
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| Gov. Roy Cooper (D-NC) has signed an executive order banning the use of state and federal funds for LGBTQ conversion therapy for minors on Friday in an effort to protect children and ensure that the funds are only used for effective and therapeutic services supported by actual experts and evidence. Elections! Vote in them! |
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