The Showrunner, Marathon Man
In the moments following the arrest of a man who opened fire in the Washington Hilton, where the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner was taking place, Donald Trump issued a statement that could double as a tagline for his entire presidency: “LET THE SHOW GO ON.” Cooler heads prevailed and the remainder of the dinner was canceled. But the show? Oh, the show went on. The show always goes on. And it always has the same host. Thankfully, everyone inside the Hilton survived the evening. So did a key metaphor for our era: At an event that was attended by hundreds of members of the media, Trump was still the one breaking all the news; from what happened, to the arrest, to the first photo of the attacker, to updates on when the event (that he wasn’t hosting) would be rescheduled. Even in a situation when he’s being grabbed by Secret Service personnel and rushed from a hotel, Trump still manages to drive the news cycle, and after nearly a term and a half of his presidency, the media hasn’t figured out a way to change that dynamic. He’s the newsmaker, the news-deliverer, the news-distorter, and the news-critic in an all-hours, all-medium show that never ends.
+ Once the news is delivered, it quickly gets manipulated to address items from a long list of prior goals and grievances. What does a shooter at a hotel event hosted by another organization have to do with tearing down the East Wing and building a ballroom? Nothing. And yet… here come the headlines: Trump uses the correspondents’ dinner shooting to renew his White House ballroom push. What does this attack have to do with Jimmy Kimmel? Nothing. And yet… Melania used the news to call for him to be removed from the air, again, for supposedly violent rhetoric. (Forget that Trump’s rhetoric is a thousand times more violent than anything Kimmel has ever said. And Trump isn’t joking.) And, of course, an attack that endangered both White House officials and members of the media couldn’t possibly provide an opportunity to target the media. Sorry, folks. Let the show go on. THR: Trump Gets Defensive in ’60 Minutes’ Interview After Norah O’Donnell Reads From Suspect’s Manifesto, Calls Her a “Disgrace.” Maybe some other favorite targets like our NATO allies or Bruce Springsteen will catch some verbal shrapnel before this story runs its course. Although Springsteen already explained: “We can be critical of those in power… but there is no place in any way, shape, or form for political violence of any kind in our beloved United States.” Of course, you know that’s true, and I know that’s true. But we aren’t the ones running this show.
+ ‘I don’t expect forgiveness’: Authorities review writings of California teacher suspected of shooting.
+ “The assailant was intercepted by armed agents from the Secret Service before he came anywhere close to his intended victims. He was tackled, restrained, and arrested after sprinting past a security checkpoint, through which guests passed earlier in the evening. Shots were fired. The alleged assailant, later identified as Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, California, hit a Secret Service agent, whose bulletproof vest and cellphone protected him.” The Atlantic (Gift Article): The Correspondents’ Dinner Was a Security Success.
+ Maybe Michael Glantz, a senior talent agent with the Creative Artists Agency, should get into the security business. He was chill. He can be seen on video “leisurely forking leaves from his burrata salad into his mouth against a backdrop of a stage just yards away.” Cool as a cucumber: man calmly ate salad as press dinner shooting unfolded. (No one told this guy that America’s salad days are over.)
AIDS and Abetting
“During President Trump’s first month in office, his administration upended much of the flagship global H.I.V. program that had saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in Zambia. The Zambian government went into emergency mode, desperate to ensure that people with the virus could continue to receive lifesaving medications. But other crucial aspects of the program had to be scrapped — interventions that had helped stop the spread of the virus and protected the most vulnerable people.” AIDS Creeps Back in Parts of Zambia, a Year After U.S. Cuts to H.I.V. Assistance. “The State Department is negotiating new health assistance funding agreements with countries that used to have U.S.A.I.D. support. These come with conditions, and Zambia’s has proved particularly thorny, because the State Department has tied support for the H.I.V. program to access to the country’s minerals.” (Before scrolling on to the next thing, just think about this for a second. The world’s richest man working with the administration of the world’s richest country is bringing back AIDs, but they will reconsider … for a price.)
It’s Always Darkest Before A Complete Blackout
We’re in an era when we need to rock down to Electric Avenue. But we’re in danger of ending up on the Boulevard of Broken Dreams. “Lately Americans have become fixated on the explosion in data centers and the power needs of artificial intelligence. That is actually a small part of a much bigger problem. Our grid is too old and our supply of electricity too small. If we don’t meet this moment, we will face an impoverished future of more expensive, less reliable energy, and slower economic growth.” Robinson Meyer in the NYT (Gift Article): It’s the Age of Electricity and America Isn’t Ready. “If you want to fix the grid, you first have to understand it. The place to start is your electricity bill.”
Dropping the Deuce
“Nearly seven years have passed since Eliud Kipchoge ran 1:59:40 in Vienna, Austria, at INEOS’ carefully curated 1:59 Challenge. The wait for an equivalent performance in record-legal conditions, while always a case of when and not if, had been getting tantalisingly longer. That was until Sunday, when Kenyan Sabastian Sawe clocked 1:59:30 in London. Yomif Kejelcha, just 11 seconds behind him, is arguably an even more impressive story — this was the Ethiopian’s marathon debut after years of success on the track and in the half marathon.” The Athletic (Gift Article): Super shoes and perfect conditions — how Sabastian Sawe broke the two-hour mark at the London Marathon. (I can’t even procrastinate before exercising in under two hours.)
+ These guys are basically sprinting for two hours. Check out this NYT (Gift Article) from a few years ago. How Fast Is Eliud Kipchoge? You’ll Fall Down When You Find Out.
Extra, Extra
The Vance Advance: When things don’t go according to plan, the leaks start. And you get stories like this from The Atlantic (Gift Article): Vance Doubts the Pentagon’s Depiction of the Iran War. “In closed-door meetings, J. D. Vance has repeatedly questioned the Defense Department’s depiction of the war in Iran and whether the Pentagon has understated what appears to be the drastic depletion of U.S. missile stockpiles.” Meanwhile, “Iran has offered to end its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for the U.S. lifting its blockade on the country and an end to the war, two regional officials said Monday. Under the proposal, discussions on the larger question of its nuclear program would come later. U.S. President Donald Trump seems unlikely to accept the offer.” Here’s the latest from AP.
+ In Context: “That Obama-era agreement suffered from flaws and omissions. It would have expired after 15 years, leaving Iran free after 2030 to make as much nuclear fuel as it wanted. But once Mr. Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018, the Iranians went on an enrichment spree much sooner, leaving them closer to a bomb than ever before. Now, Mr. Trump’s negotiators are dealing with the consequences of that decision, which he made over the objections of many of his national security advisers at the time.” NYT (Gift Article): Trump Seeks to Abolish Iran’s Atomic Stockpile, a Problem He Helped Create. (And this probably won’t improve Trump’s view of NATO: US is being ‘humiliated’ by Iran’s leadership, says German chancellor Friedrich Merz.)
+ All That Gold Does Not Glitter: “The Mint buys gold that originates in a Colombian drug cartel mine. It makes Lady Liberty coins out of gold from Mexican and Peruvian pawn shops and from a Congolese mine that is part-owned by the Chinese government, records show. Some Mint gold has come from a company in Honduras that dug up an Indigenous graveyard for the ore underneath.” U.S. Mint Buys Drug Cartel Gold and Sells It as American.
+ Netanyahu Let the Dogs Out? “As is usually the case with Netanyahu, who is legendary for his short-term approach to politics, the long-term damage to the American Jewish community and to Israel’s standing in the United States is a problem for another day. With an Israeli election looming later this year—and as his seemingly endless trial for public corruption continues—Netanyahu appears more focused on his immediate political problems. For american jews, however, the problem is in the here and now.” How Netanyahu Hurt America’s Jews.
+ Ground Control to Major Calm: “We see students all the time change majors. That’s not new or different. But it’s usually for a ton of different reasons. The fact that so many students say it’s because of AI — that is startling.” College students are changing course in search of ‘AI-proof’ majors. But no one knows what they are.
+ Florida (Gerry)Man: “The path toward redistricting in Florida is difficult. The state outlaws political gerrymandering, or redrawing lines for partisan gain. Other states allow partisan gerrymandering and that was the reason politicians have used to justify joining the race Trump kicked off last year.” Florida’s DeSantis unveils a voting map that could add to Trump’s GOP redistricting
+ Boon Walk: I mean, at this point, knowing what we know, people wouldn’t want to see a Michael Jackson biopic that totally avoids any mention of child sexual abuse, right? Hah. The Michael Jackson film scored the top launch ever for a biopic domestically after passing up ‘Oppenheimer,’ as well as the best global opening for a music biopic.
+ Springing in the Rain: “In experiments with rice seeds, the team found that the sound of falling droplets effectively shook the seeds out of a dormant state, stimulating them to germinate at a faster rate compared with seeds that were not exposed to the same sound vibrations.” Plants can sense the sound of rain, a new study finds.
Bottom of the News
WSJ (Gift Article): San Francisco Is Going Nuts Over a Giant Sea Lion Named Chonkers. “Last week he delighted visitors by shooting his one-ton body out of the water and hopping up on one of the floating docks west of the pier, sending two of the previously lounging 700-pound California sea lions skeetering into the bay’s frigid water.”
