Extra, Extra
Rallying Cries: “The call to let the rally go ahead while law enforcement looked for a potentially dangerous person is one of many Secret Service decisions now being called into question. The agency is also under scrutiny for allowing a building within a rifle’s range to be excluded from its secure perimeter, creating a blind spot close to the former president that the gunman exploited.” A Blind Spot and a Lost Trail: How the Gunman Got So Close to Trump. There’s no doubt there were major security flubs at the Trump rally. But does it seem OK that a group people “chased Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle through the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, shouting that she has refused to answer questions regarding the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.” Before you answer that, I should mention that it was a group of US senators. And MoJo on The Troubling Mystery of the Trump Shooter’s Motive. “That information void, unusual after a high-profile attack, may have its own repercussions after being filled by a maelstrom of partisan exploitation and conspiracy theories.”
+ Euro Step: Ursula von der Leyen secures five more years in top EU job. “She said the result showed she had been right to focus on ‘bundling the democratic forces together’ and to offer to work together with ‘all those who are pro-Europe, pro-Ukraine and pro-rule of law.” (I don’t suppose she’s available to bundle those forces here in America…)
+ An Own Goal: “Instead of hiding from authorities, [the kingpin] had used his fortune to purchase and sponsor soccer teams across Latin America and in Europe. U.S. and South American investigators would learn that he was using those teams to help launder millions in drug proceeds. Along the way, Marset, now 33, deployed his power and wealth to fulfill a boyhood dream: He inserted himself into the starting lineups.” Kevin Sieff in WaPo (Gift Article): A double life: The cocaine kingpin who hid as a professional soccer player. (Let the story-rights bidding among streaming giants begin!)
+ Kick Start: “Cavan Sullivan, at 14 years and 293 days old, stepped onto a Major League Soccer field Wednesday night and, in the 85th minute of the Philadelphia Union’s match against New England, made all sorts of history. He became the youngest player to ever appear in an MLS game … Sullivan is also the youngest kid to ever appear in any major U.S. team sports league.” (When I was 14, my mom had my sister park on a hill above my high school to secretly watch my football practices to make sure I didn’t have an over-exertion related medical emergency.)
+ Newhart: “Before his TV success, Newhart’s comedy albums were wildly popular for their at-the-time new approach of observational humor. He ruled TV for the better part of two decades, first with “The Bob Newhart Show” as a befuddled Chicago psychologist and then on “Newhart” as an equally at-a-loss New England innkeeper.” Bob Newhart, Comedy Icon, Dies at 94. (Here’s a nice, short doc about Newhart’s friendship with Don Rickles: Bob and Don: A Love Story.)
+ Hundred to One: ESPN’s ranking of the top 100 professional athletes since 2000 is one of those clickbaity lists published just to get people to mindlessly argue over a meaningless topic. In other words, it’s exactly what we need right now.
