Wednesday Night #2209

Whatever else may have happened over the past week, it has been completely obliterated by the assassination attempt (Trump survives assassination attempt at campaign rally after major security lapse)  leading up to the Republican National Convention and the announcement of Trump’s selection of J.D. (in case you care, that’s John David) Vance (J.D. Vance Is Trump’s Pick for Vice President), who has to be as unsavory a figure as Donald Trump. That is of course to be expected, as we are given to understand that he came highly recommended by trusted political advisors Donald Jr and Eric Trump.
Whoever thought we would long for Ivanka and Jared?
Elaine Kamarck’s Brookings piece Trump chose Vance to reinforce his message  paints a pretty scary picture of Vance, along with a good history of the evolution of the role of vice president and relationship to the presidency since Truman-FDR.

The NYT paints a glowing picture of the second day of the RNC: On Tuesday, Republicans effectively took a victory lap in the middle of the presidential race, expressing a sense of invincibility at their convention,  however, our ever reliable Heather Cox Richardson is more skeptical:
“The Republican National Convention is a moment to reintroduce Trump and MAGA Republicans to voters who have not seen them up close since at least 2021. So far, the convention has proved that the Republican Party is now the MAGA Party. It has not been a smooth unveiling. … The last time a Republican vice presidential nominee has been named so late was 1988, and while announcing at the convention has the benefit of generating enthusiasm for the novel story, it has the downside of bringing an avalanche of opposition. Vance brought the latter.”

The Gunshots Rang Out. Then the Conspiracy Theories Erupted Online.
Claims that President Biden and his allies ordered the attack on Donald J. Trump, or that Mr. Trump staged the attack, started quickly and spread fast across social media.

We are not reassured by the reported assessment of Vance by Canada’s ambassador to Washington ‘Somebody who knows Canada well’. One has only to examine Vance’s about-faces on any number of issues to be disabused of any optimism regarding US-Canada relations.

It was expected that -even without the unanticipated events of the past days- the RNC would steal most of the thunder of the US political scene, but it is agonizing to watch the death throes of the Biden presidency.
Nearly two-thirds of Democrats want Biden to withdraw, new AP-NORC poll finds and Younger Democrats are especially restive: Those between the ages of 18 and 44 report being very dissatisfied with Biden by a more than 2-to-1 margin over Democrats over 45.
Please, Joe, GO, while there is still time to salvage some votes and dignity for the Democratic ticket.
Biden, Grasping to Stabilize Beleaguered Campaign, Lurches Left
President embraces rent control, debt erasure, court reform
Close Pelosi ally Schiff calls on Biden to drop reelection bid
“A second Trump presidency will undermine the very foundation of our democracy, and I have serious concerns about whether the President can defeat Donald Trump in November,” Rep. Adam Schiff said.
Schiff, who is expected to become California’s next senator, is a close ally to Nancy Pelosi, who has been privately fielding concerns about Biden.

France is coping with the aftermath of the inconclusive elections
French president accepts prime minister’s resignation but keeps him as head of caretaker government
(AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron accepted the prime minister’s resignation Tuesday but kept him on as head of a caretaker government, as France prepares to host the Paris Olympics at the end of the month.

While in Britain, UK’s new government announces legislation for ‘national renewal’ as Parliament opens with royal pomp
Stabilizing the U.K.’s public finances and spurring economic growth were at the center of Prime Minister Keir Starmer ’s legislative agenda, announced in a speech written by government officials and delivered by King Charles III.

The Iranian Connection
Eduardo del Buey
Last week the American Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines reported that Iran has been funding the current mass demonstrations and concomitant university occupations that have plagued the West since October 7th.
Crowds of Western students and demonstrators calling for sharia law, jihad and Islam underscores the extent to which Iran’s soft power has infected the West and, especially, our future “leaders” at elite universities and in leftist political parties.
At the same time, once again, the left has united with Islam to create an anti-Western synergy that is, in my opinion, a major threat to our way of life.

Shlomo Ben-Ami: Israel Is Enabling Iran’s War of Attrition
Some in Israel now fear that Iran is making good on its long-held plan to annihilate the Jewish state. But what many fail to recognize is that the key enablers of Iran’s war of attrition are, in fact, the messianic hallucinators in Israel’s own government, who are determined to engage in an apocalyptic war in Gaza and Lebanon.
Smoke on the horizon – Israel and Hezbollah edge closer to all-out war
As the war in Gaza grinds on, there are growing fears another Middle East war may erupt – with devastating consequences for the region, and beyond. For now, a low-level war simmers in the summer heat, along a 120km (75 mile) stretch of border. One spark here could set the Middle East alight.

Interpol arrests 300 people in a global crackdown on West African crime groups
Interpol has announced the outcome of a global operation targeting West African organized crime groups across five continents in 21 countries

Bravo Andrew Caddell who turned his back on all things (geo)political in favour of a delightful column celebrating the 350th anniversary of the founding of his beloved Kamouraska
A Love Song to My Home
The events marked the signing of the documents for the seigneury of Kamouraska in 1674 by Olivier Morel, the seigneur of La Durantaye, near Quebec.
“… Most Canadians have their own Kamouraska: their cottage, their cabin, their camp, their tent, their refuge in the country. It could be anywhere, but it allows us to unwind and marvel at nature. It is what we keep in our heart in the harshness of winter, and when we are away. That connection with nature helps to define us.
“All of this takes place in a world that seems to be falling apart. … I have been writing this column for seven years this week, and sometimes I need to take a break from writing about all the conflicts in this world when so much is negative. It is times like these we need to be reminded that life isn’t perfect, but it can be amazing when we just take a step back and listen to nature, and one another.”

Varia
Donald Trump is considering Jamie Dimon for Treasury Secretary after a ‘lovefest’ CEO meeting
The JPMorgan Chase CEO has said he has thought about serving “in one capacity or another”

For many across the globe, the US’ ‘beacon’ of democracy dims
Political violence and increasing polarization in the United States have led much of the world to question what the country represents. Steven Levitsky, author of Tyranny of the Minority: The rest of the world is somewhat shocked, I think, to see a political system that is descending into violent dysfunction and a regime that is increasingly unstable, in which democracy is increasingly precarious. Now, it’s not because of the assassination attempt. The world’s concern has been focused on the United States since 2016, and I think two events are even more shocking than the assassination attempt. One is Jan. 6, and the refusal of Donald Trump to accept the results of a presidential election — just the cardinal rule of democracy. And then I think the recent fact that it looks like Donald Trump will not be held legally accountable for any of the crimes that he committed, including crimes against American democracy. That’s also shocking. So, the assassination attempt is occurring in a much broader context, in which US democracy has fallen into this serious crisis.

‘I will probably never be able to go home again’: Russian American journalist Masha Gessen on their Moscow court conviction
A court in Moscow handed Russian American journalist Masha Gessen an eight-year prison term in absentia for criticizing the Russian military. Gessen, who lives in the US and is a columnist for the New York Times, could end up being imprisoned if they travel to a country with an extradition treaty with Russia.

UGH!
Tucker Carlson seems to be having the time of his life at the RNC
The right-wing media personality, cast off by Fox News 15 months ago, is a VIP in Milwaukee.

Long reads
Principles of Propaganda
Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election because he knew the fundamental principles of propaganda and used them effectively to obliterate his opposition.
The nine fundamental principles of effective propaganda (slideshow)
Principles of Counterpropaganda (slideshow)

What to Make of the New Russia-North Korea Alliance
A new military alliance between Russia and North Korea has unnerved China as much as it has the United States and its Asian allies, owing to its potential to destabilize all of Northeast Asia.