June 29, 2024

Vol. 13, No. 2118

THE MORNING AFTER: President Biden admitted the obvious yesterday at a North Carolina campaign rally when he said, “I don’t debate as well as I used to.” 

  Following the President’s disastrous performance Thursday night against Donald Trump, the discussion among Democrats and opinionators has been about whether Biden could or should be replaced as the party’s nominee this fall. 

  “Joe Biden, a good man and a good president, has no business running for re-election,” Thomas Friedman said in The NY Times.

  In The Los Angeles Times, Kurt Bardella says “duty to country” requires Biden to bow out.

  And David Ignatius writes for the Washington Post that, “There was something Shakespearean about the gaunt, haunted face of Biden on stage squinting as if to see in a dwindling light, struggling for words even as the nobility of his purpose remained.”

  Yesterday on the stump Biden was alert and forceful. He says he’s not quitting, but Thursday night he managed to make his age and acuity the issue rather than the character of his opponent.

  Despite saying that Donald Trump is “an erratic and self-interested figure unworthy of the public trust,” the New York Times editorial board wrote that Biden should get out of the race. They went on: “He struggled to explain what he would accomplish in a second term. He struggled to respond to Mr. Trump’s provocations. He struggled to hold Mr. Trump accountable for his lies, his failures and his chilling plans. More than once, he struggled to make it to the end of a sentence.”

  Biden’s failure Thursday night was to skillfully deliver truth in the face of Donald Trump’s lies, perfidy, and criminal conviction. What The NY Times and others failed to do yesterday was to demand that the Republican party replace Donald Trump. 

THE NATURE OF PROCEEDINGS: The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that possibly hundreds of January 6^th riot defendants and convicts were wrongly charged under a law that makes it a crime to corruptly obstruct, influence or impede any official proceeding. Donald Trump is among the defendants.

  The court majority said that law applies only to physical evidence such as hiding or destroying records, not a proceeding such as Congress certifying the vote for president. Trump declared the ruling a big win.

  In another major win for forces trying to weaken the administrative power of the federal government, the court reversed a longstanding precedent and said the power of regulation belongs to Congress rather executive agencies.  That’s a big one that can affect everything from abortion pills to the environment.

  The court also upheld an Oregon law that bans the homeless from sleeping and camping in public spaces. Governments can now clear out homeless encampments.

  The justices did not issue their ruling on Donald trump’s claim of immunity from criminal prosecution for actions taken while in office. It’s as if they are waiting to drop the last big bomb and skip town for the summer.

CHRIST ALMIGHTY: Oklahoma’s state superintendent of schools this week ordered that all public schools must teach the Bible, including the Ten Commandments, in furtherance of a movement in some parts of the country to inject Christian religion into public education.

  The Christians have been getting their nose in the door by describing the Bible as more of an historical than a religious document. The superintendent, Ryan Walters, said the Bible is an “indispensable historical and cultural touchstone.” He did not specify what grades would require Bible education.

  Walters’ directive is almost certainly going to be challenged in court. It comes just a week after Louisiana became the first state to require public schools to post a copy of the Ten Commandments in classrooms.

GENDER BENDING: Despite President Biden’s public support for transgender people, his administration this week said it opposes gender-affirming surgery for minors. The most common surgery is breast removal or reduction.  

  The policy does not oppose other forms of transgender treatment, only surgery.

  On that same issue, the Texas Supreme Court upheld by 8-1 the state’s ban on gender-transition medical treatment for minors. That encompasses medications like hormones and puberty blockers as well as all surgeries. 

  The majority opinion compared the state ban to limits on child labor and laws and prohibitions on minors from getting tattoos. The opinion said the Legislature had made “a permissible, rational policy choice to limit the types of available medical procedures for children, particularly in light of the relative nascency of both gender dysphoria and its various modes of treatment.” 

THE WAR ROOM: In a twist on World War I warfare, Russian troops have resorted to storming Ukrainian trenches riding motorcycles, dirt bikes, quadricycles, and dune buggies, often into a cloud of bullets, The NY Times reports. The ground in front of Ukrainian trenches is littered with destroyed vehicles … and bodies.

THE OBIT PAGE: Martin Mull, a comedian known for his roles in the sitcoms “Roseanne,” “Arrested Development,” and “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman” as well as his own “Fernwood 2 Night,” died of an undisclosed illness. He was 80.

THE SPIN RACK: The Supreme Court rejected an appeal by podcaster and former Trump advisor Steve Bannon to delay going to prison for his conviction of contempt of Congress. He goes behind bars on Monday. Bannon ignored a subpoena to appear before the House January 6^th committee. — A court filing revealed that pop star Michael Jackson, who made a fortune during his 50-year life, died half a billion dollars in debt. — Four people were killed when a van plowed through a nail salon in Deer Park, Long Island. Nine others were injured, some seriously. — Despite plans for swimming events in the Seine River, the water remains dangerously polluted according to the latest tests. Competitors will be motivated to swim faster to get out of the water.

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For an audio review of the week’s news, click here