This week in our Members Only Newsletter you missed:
Max Notes on Biden painting himself orange.
The Tuesday Top Five news articles everyone should be reading.
An original essay from News Beatâs Rashed Mian on the SCOTUS immunity decision.
And Ryan Stancoâs âNot for Nothingâ on Sundowning, the Hawk-Tuah girl and sâmores flavored ramen
So I guess the question isâŠwhat are you waiting for? Sign up today to become a member and level up to unlock a slew of additional perks!
Max Notes
Like pretty much everyone else in the country I remain gobsmacked after the debate. I thought I had braced for the worst but my expectations were far exceeded. Between our EU episode, my conversation with the great Yanis Varoufakis (pinch me), the Labour Party victory in the UK (not as left as one might hope) and the almost assured second Trump term my brain is on fire.
While Iâm certainly encouraged by the Tory rebuke in the UK, itâs important to take it with a grain of salt. In the neverending ebb and flow of partisan politics, the victories of the so-called âLeftâ are few and far between. The Labour Party in Britain is hardly what anyone would consider leftist by any standard. Itâs a center-left party that now has to deal with the structure created by decades of Tory rule, and bringing half measures to bear wonât restore the NHS to its former glory or launder the sins of Brexit. Much in the same way the half measures of a Biden administration failed to overcome decades of Republicans running the legislative and judicial tables, middle-of-the-road policies will only serve to frustrate the public.
As this weekâs episode on the DNC demonstrates, center left political bodies merely ventilate the corpse of democracy while the work to undermine it continues unabated in the dark corners of the political establishment. Throughout the European continent and North America, progressive movements are diminishing under the bureaucratic establishments of the elite ruling class.
Heed Nina Turnerâs words at the conclusion of this episode that mirror that of our Progressive Meditation. This isnât our fight. Our fight now happens in the same dark corners occupied by the elite powers that be. College campuses. The internet. State legislatures. The streets. Only a broad coalition of leftists and labor organizations can design a system that surfaces and normalizes popular sentiments and our representative bench is thin and getting thinner at the moment.
The middle ground may have forced us underground, but itâs here the seeds are planted.
Other things Iâm obsessing overâŠ
Was it a positive or negative review?!?! Arrrgghhh. The Bear. Season 3. Fuck.
Despite the same 87% participation rate (the percent of Americans surveyed who said they were âcelebratingâ the July 4th holiday), the anticipated figures spent on food items ballooned. Thanks inflation!
Headlines
Preach, Mehdi, Preach
For those outside of the UK looking to get a quick take on just how shitty the Tory-led governments have been, Mehdi Hasan has a few words.
From the article:
âGoodbye, in fact, to five different Conservative governments over 14 years; to five different Tory prime ministers in less than a decade and a half: David Cameron, who gave us austerity and Brexit; Theresa May who gave us the âhostile environment policy;â Liz Truss who gave us the âmini-budget that broke Britain;â Boris Johnson who gave us lies, lies, and more lies; and Rishi Sunak who gave his party its worst result since it was formed in 1834.â
Seriously. Subscribe to this literary wonder. Writer Travis Diehl reports on modern celebrations and re-enactments from the heart of the original revolution in Boston. Aside from the astute observations of how the MAGA patriots have massacred history and are already rewriting the events of January 6, itâs a treasure to get lost in the prose this magazine puts out month after month.
From the article:
âOr else, imagine the semiquincentennial reprise of the siege, in January 2271: revelers in tactical gear and Hawaiian shirts stewing on the Capitol grounds, waving American flags; booing and hissing as caricatures of Mike Pence and Nancy Pelosi scurry to safety; cheers of âU.S.A.! U.S.A.!â when the first window breaks and the crowd files inside the House chamber; cries of âHuzzah!â when an actor portraying the QAnon Shaman ascends the dais. He adjusts his raccoon-skin cap and tells the story of Ashli Babbitt, shot by police in these very hallsâthe Second American Revolutionâs first martyrâa veteran, and a woman. Rows of helmeted Capitol Police reenactors stand uneasily behind steel barricades, staunch on the wrong side of history. The fear on their faces looks real.â
With All Eyes on Gaza, the West Bank Slowly Disappears
As the international attention on Gaza fades (it was inevitable) Israel is doubling down with further attacks in Lebanon and land grabs in the West Bank. Israel continues to act with impunity on all fronts. And since the United Statesâliterally the only country that could stem the tide of bloodshedâis increasingly obsessed with internal politics and the upcoming election, it will likely remain this way until some catalyzing and catastrophic event refocuses the worldâs attention.
From the article:
âPeace Now said authorities recently approved the appropriation of 12.7 square kilometers (nearly 5 square miles) of land in the Jordan Valley. The groupâs data indicate it was the largest single appropriation approved since the 1993 Oslo accords at the start of the peace process.â
After Joe Bidenâs historically bad debate performance, many Americans were left wondering how the Democratic Party could allow him to remain in the race. The answer is a corrupt and wholly inept corporation called the DNC Services CorporationâDemocratic National Committee or DNC for short. This episode looks at the DNCâs failures over time and how theyâve worked with the RNC to rig the system against third party candidates. And it pulls back the curtain to reveal the tragic ineptitude that continues to deliver wins to the Republican Party.
Hereâs a snippet from the pod:
MAX: âA nominating convention as opposed to a coronation convention, which is what most of us have been living with for our entire lives, has the potential to implode. Of course, it might also be exactly what the Democrats need to reinvigorate the race and demonstrate that they can be a party of and party to the future. But Biden officially missed the window to look magnanimous. Every passing day he refuses to step aside is another day the jackals in the Democratic Party are held back from stripping away the carcass. Itâs all such a shitshow that one must wonder, âwho the fuck is in charge here?ââ
âDanny and Derek welcome to the podcast Matthew Kruer, assistant professor of history at the University of Chicago, to discuss his essay âIndigenous Subjecthood and White Populism in British America.â The discussion focuses on the American colonies of the 17th and 18th century, touching on the antimony between sovereignty and subjecthood, Englandâs notion of âbenevolent colonialism,â the Chesapeake regionâs indigenous leaders and their forms of political theory as they interacted with the English, and more.â
Since we discussed Schumpeter with Yanis VaroufakisâŠ
âIn this definitive third and final edition (1950) of his prophetic masterwork, Joseph A. Schumpeter introduced the world to the concept of âcreative destruction,â which forever altered how global economics is approached and perceived.â
âGreat episode on PBMâs. The sick nature of capitalism is made obvious. Then, the higher prices that are charged to the government become an excuse to attack government as inefficient and wasteful. A diabolical system that doesnât give a shit about people.â
The host of the The Young Turksâ âDamage Report,â John Iadarola offers blistering commentary with a smile. Iadarolaâs brand of empathy and keen political insight makes him unique in the streaming talk show space.
âFounded in 1976, Farm Animal Rights Movement (FARM) is a national nonprofit organization advocating for animal rights, veganism and sustainability. For many years, we were the only national animal rights organization fighting for farmed animals and advocating to end the use of animals for food. Operating from Washington DC and New York through a network of activists, FARM conducts massive public awareness campaigns and international programs (including MeatOut, Vegan Earth Day, World Day for Farmed Animals, and Compassionate Holidays). Our Animal Rights National Conference has inspired thousands of animal rights activists and motivated movement newcomers for over 40 years.â
