Government & Politics

• Tim Walz and JD Vance’s 2024 VP debate is tonight (CBS News)

• The AWOL administration: Hurricane Helene has taken its place among the worst natural disasters to ever hit our nation, with more than 130 people dead amid a path of destruction through the Southeast. But you wouldn’t know it by the response of the Biden-Harris administration. Neither the president nor the VP was in Washington this weekend to take charge in the aftermath of the devastating storm — Biden was relaxing on the beach, and Harris was fraternizing in Hollywood. Amid the uproar, Biden eventually announced plans to visit hard-hit North Carolina “later this week.” Harris, for her part, pulled herself off the campaign trail for a couple of hours, long enough to show up at FEMA headquarters and thank the staff for their work. “We will continue to do everything we can to help you recover and to help you rebuild no matter how long it takes,” Harris said. So long as it doesn’t interfere with her campaign schedule.

• NC Dem governor candidate hobnobs in PA while state suffers: It’s a bad look. While western North Carolina is struggling to recover from devastating flooding brought by Hurricane Helene, Democrat gubernatorial candidate Josh Stein has been hobnobbing with Pennsylvania Democrat Governor Josh Shapiro. On Sunday, Democrat Representative Kathy Manning posted a picture on X featuring herself, Stein, and Shapiro with the message, “There’s no joshin’ around in NC06 when it comes to protecting democracy. Thanks to [Josh Shapiro] for coming to Greensboro to join me in supporting [Josh Stein] and Democrats up and down the ticket.” With at least 30 deaths in and around the Asheville area, the political message was tone-deaf at best. As one commenter responded, “You have to be kidding me. The Western part of the state has thousands of people missing. More than 30 dead, and you had a party here today? None of you deserve your jobs.” It will be interesting to see if Stein’s insensitive misstep costs him come November.

• Walz’s Tiananmen Square big lie: Another Tim Walz lie has been exposed. During a 2014 congressional hearing on the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, then-Minnesota Representative Walz claimed that he was there. “I was just going to teach high school in Foshan in Guangdong and was in Hong Kong in May of ‘89. And as the events were unfolding, several of us went in. And I still remember the train station in Hong Kong.” He continued, “There was a large number of, especially European, I think, very angry that we would still go after what had happened, but it was my belief at that time that the diplomacy was going to happen on many levels.” However, Walz’s claims of being in China then are false. During the student protests in the spring of 1989 that culminated in the violent crackdown on June 4 in Beijing, Walz was nowhere near China; he was at his home in Nebraska and wouldn’t leave for China until August, arriving at least two months after the Tiananmen Square massacre. This is just another lie exposing the untrustworthy character of Kamala Harris’s running mate.

• Jill Stein’s mortal threat to Kamala Harris’s candidacy: Recent polls have shown Donald Trump to be statistically tied with Kamala Harris in the Democrats’ must-win Rust Belt states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, and the third-party candidacy of Jill Stein isn’t helping matters any. In these crucial swing states, with their considerable Arab-American communities, the Democrats have tried and failed to sufficiently appease Hamas in its existential war with Israel. And the Green Party’s Stein is all over it. As she says: “The Democrats cannot win without the support of the Muslim American community. And that community has left the station and is not coming back unless the Democrats decide that it’s more important to them to win the election than it is to conduct the genocide.” Stein added, “So they have to do a 180 on the genocide and they don’t appear willing to do that.” “Genocide” is an odd charge to level at the Jewish state, especially when its people are at war with an enemy sworn to its utter destruction. But this is what’s become of the Left.

• The Bee sues speech-suppressing California: Leftists hate being made fun of almost as much as they love political power. These two truths no doubt animated California Governor Gavin Newsom’s decision last week to suppress political satire in his deep-blue state. Newsom, through a series of “deepfake” laws, has targeted purveyors of satire and parody like the conservative Babylon Bee, but the Bee isn’t inclined to stand for it. Indeed, it’s suing the Golden State because, as CEO Seth Dillon puts it, Newsom is targeting satirists “by requiring them to put disclaimers to let you know that this is parody that you’re reading right now — which completely stifles and kills the joke.” But that’s precisely the point. The Right has dominated the funny space in recent years because the Left has gotten weirder and weirder. Humor is a powerful political mover, and the Democrats can’t seem to compete in this space. Thus, the crackdown. “If we’re unable to publish satire without putting disclaimers all over it,” says Dillon, “and we’re going to face potential penalties if we don’t do that, then that’s a very serious issue too. So we’re fighting back.”

Security

• Israel invades Lebanon: How much geopolitical sway does Joe Biden command? Well, not much. On Monday, Biden warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against invading southern Lebanon to take out Hezbollah. Responding to a reporter’s question following Israel’s taking out of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Biden said, “I’m comfortable with them stopping. We should have a ceasefire now.” Hours later, Israel Defense Forces entered Lebanon. Early Tuesday morning, the IDF began its ground offensive against Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon. This is the first time IDF has crossed the border and engaged in ground combat with Hezbollah since its monthlong war with the Iran-backed terrorist organization in 2006. The IDF explained that this incursion was a “limited, localized, and targeted ground raid” against Hezbollah and that “these targets are located in villages close to the border and pose an immediate threat to Israeli communities in northern Israel.”

• Iran preparing ballistic missile attack against Israel, senior U.S. official warns (Just the News)

• Suspect Ryan Wesley Routh, charged in Trump golf course assassination plot, pleads not guilty (CBS News)

Good News

• Women volleyball players stand up for themselves: In the latest example of women defending themselves against men masquerading as women, the Boise State women’s volleyball team decided to forfeit its game against San Jose State University this weekend rather than compete against a “transgender” player on the San Jose roster. Boise State thus becomes the second team this month to do so. In response to the Broncos’ bold announcement, an indignant NCAA offered a tone-deaf response: “College sports are the premier stage for women’s sports in America, and the NCAA members will continue to promote Title IX, make unprecedented investments in women’s sports and ensure fair competition for all student-athletes in all NCAA championships.” The NCAA just doesn’t get it. But Riley Gaines does. “Some principles transcend winning on the court,” said the former Kentucky swimmer and current champion of women’s sports. “The safety and well-being of female athletes is one of them. It’s encouraging to witness a growing number of institutions prioritizing fairness and athlete safety over forced inclusion. I hope to see more universities follow the lead of Boise State and Southern Utah, standing up for what’s right and protecting the integrity of women’s sports.”

• Netflix subscribers cancel in droves after CEO donates to Harris: Mixing business with politics has rarely been a good idea. Netflix cofounder and CEO Reed Hastings endorsed Kamala Harris in July and revealed that he had donated $7 million to her campaign. Cue the negative business fallout from that move. Netflix reports that cancellations of the online streaming platform spiked at a higher rate than any month since February 2024. Netflix spun the spike as a response to the company announcing the phaseout of its lowest-price option. However, Bloomberg reported that “the five-day period after Hastings’ endorsement was unusual, even for July,” noting that the highest number of cancellations came just three days after Hastings revealed his endorsement and donation to Harris. While Hastings has been a longtime supporter of Democrats, it’s hard to shake the notion that customers ditched the service over his Harris endorsement. Later this month, Netflix’s subscription numbers will be released, and they will demonstrate if this cancellation spike was merely a blip or a more significant response.

Misc.

• Georgia judge overturns state’s six-week “heartbeat” abortion law (Fox News)

• Gavin Newsom bans California from requiring ID to vote (Newsweek)

• VA employees accessed Vance and Walz medical records, investigation underway (Just the News)

• The first coal-powered country is officially coal-free (Morning Brew)

• FBI to pay millions in one of largest sexual discrimination settlements in bureau’s history (Daily Caller)

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