The Scan in the Arena

“Secretary of State Marco Rubio has invited senior ministers from more than 60 countries to a meeting next week about what the Trump administration views as a major peril: the ‘resurgence of transnational far-left terrorism.'” WaPo (Gift Article): Rubio tries to enlist other nations in antifa fight, but some allies recoil. (I know it sometimes seems like Rubio is one of the comparatively decent ones. But, sadly, it’s time to recoil from that notion.) “The meeting has prompted consternation among career and political U.S. officials, some European allies and independent analysts who do not see the threat in the same terms. Some U.S. officials told The Post that they worry it is part of a Trump administration effort to use powerful counterterrorism tools to crack down on U.S. activists they view as left-wing extremists.”

+ Related: “For much of the past year, DHS has been going after people who criticize President Donald Trump’s immigration policies in emails and social media posts, accusing them of threatening federal personnel or ‘doxing’ agents whose identities are already known to the public. OPR has opened more than 100 investigations into ‘incidents of doxing and threats’ involving ICE.” The Verge (Gift Article): ICE agents are making house calls for online critics.

+ Also Related: Three More People Charged With Damaging Reflecting Pool.

“On a sloping patch of ground less than a dozen miles from where the wealthy pay to swaddle their bushes, on a day cold enough to freeze a brook running through the woods, one of the men who stitched burlap around hedges disappeared on a Thursday in February.” NYT (Gift Article): Where Billionaires Summer, a Gardener Died in the Snow. “The workers’ plight isn’t new. In 2022, a concierge for some of the Hamptons’ wealthiest patrons gave an interview describing how he had spent two years living in a six-by-six-foot tent in the woods. In 2024, a Guatemalan laborer who was living in the woods was struck and killed on a highway while walking to a bus stop, leading to an outpouring of concern. But advocates for the workers say that the scale shifted in the last year. Where once the tents were clustered together, the workers have now spread out for fear of raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.”

“This is not the approach of a president who’s running a war; this is the flailing of a man who’s in over his head and is reacting to events, rather than guiding them. Lest this kind of equivocation lead the Iranians to doubt Trump’s resolve, the president has added that he’s still considering two other terrible ideas: an invasion of Iranian territory, and a campaign of probable war crimes.” Tom Nichols in The Atlantic (Gift Article): Iran, Not Trump, Is in Control of This War. “Trump is now going through something like the stages of wartime grief: Denial that America failed; anger, which has led to renewed attacks; and then bargaining, as if the Iranians could somehow be bought off like a gang of recalcitrant construction workers in New York. None of it has worked. Depression and acceptance await.” (That would actually be a perfect new tagline. NextDraft: Depression and Acceptance Await.)

+ For now, it looks like the ceasefire is officially off. Here’s the latest on the renewed and accelerating fighting from BBC and The Guardian.

+ The resumption of hostilities with Iran led the Secret Service to advise the president against using his new Qatari-donated jet. That means the jet was never ready in the first place. So Trump took the old Air Force One and then lied about the reason. Just another day of madness.

Bibi Cued: “Rahm Emanuel, a potential Democratic presidential candidate and longtime defender of Israel, warned Wednesday that the country has become increasingly isolated as its leadership has turned it into a ‘territorial pariah,’ in a speech at Tel Aviv University on Wednesday. ‘You cannot fight indefinitely against a world that has stopped believing you have the right to fight. You must instead find a new sustainable path to peace, security, and economic prosperity.'” Here’s the full speech. And from NPR: In a West Bank cave, Israelis and Palestinians hold an out-of-the-ordinary lunch. (You can love and want to defend Israel and think its leadership is terrible. Just like you can love and want to defend America and think its leadership is terrible.)

+ The View From Canada: “The rupture of the world order is going much better than expected. At first there was rage at America’s betrayal, when President Trump called for the annexation of Canada, threatened Greenland, imposed tariffs on its friends and began his campaign to undercut NATO, which continued at its latest meeting this week, in Ankara, Turkey. Now, a strange feeling is emerging in some of the countries that used to be known as America’s allies: Optimistic determination.” Stephen Marche in the NYT (Gift Article): The Zombification of America. “Zombie America creates, at least in the short term, contradictions. In Canada, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, jointly operated with the United States, continues to be our most important alliance. Yet civil servants here have also started training with drones for the possibility of asymmetrical conflict with the United States. Real security can be found only by removing your country from American influence, on every front as far as possible.”

+ The Reign in Maine Circles Drain: “Behind the scenes, his campaign was messy, disorganized and haphazardly run. Mr. Platner did not disclose explosive, politically damaging secrets to key members of his team. And he was guarded by an insular and zealously protective inner circle of advisers who did not always seem to grasp the seriousness — or strangeness — of what quickly became a steady drip of scandal … Repeatedly, Mr. Platner promised there was nothing else damaging from his past to come. And each time, he was wrong.” ‘A Slow-Rolling Disaster’: Inside the Implosion of the Platner Campaign. (Given his resignation video, it’s not clear that the implosion dust has settled.) Related: US appeals court rejects Trump’s latest bid to delay paying E Jean Carroll $5.8m. (I’m beginning to wonder if politics is attracting our best and brightest.)

+ FanDuel and Your Money Are Soon Parted: “By late November 2024, Thompson had incurred steep losses and resorted to desperate measures to fund his addiction. Then, one afternoon, he flicked open his phone and received a FanDuel reward that momentarily distracted him from his debts: a personalized video message from Philadelphia Phillies superstar Bryce Harper.” FanDuel sent a personal message from Phillies star Bryce Harper to a customer with a gambling addiction.

+ Mail Nurse: “In his job as a nurse and healthcare administrator, Chris decided on appropriate treatments for patients and checked their vital signs. Sometimes, he monitored up to 10 patients in intensive care — and he did it all from Manila, thousands of miles away from the U.S. hospital he worked for.” Your next nurse may monitor you from the Philippines.

+ Error Bags: “The air bag, it turned out, had been purchased on eBay and installed by the Texas dealership that sold him the used car. When he crashed, it sent metal shards flying into Kang’s face.” WSJ Gift Article): Counterfeit Air-Bag Parts Are Killing U.S. Drivers—and the Government Can’t Stop It.

+ Garbage In, Farage Out: “When British right-wing populist leader Nigel Farage announced he was resigning as a lawmaker and triggering a special election in the face of a swirl of allegations over personal financing, he sought the high ground, declaring that the ‘judges of my actions’ should be his constituents. Instead, rival parties dismissed his actions as a stunt and said they would sit out the election, leaving his principal opponent as a garbage-can wearing comedian whose policies include forcing rule-breaking cyclists to ride unicycles.”

+ You Token to Me? M.G. Siegler has been waiting a long time to talk to his computer. And with the latest iteration of ChatGPT, that wait may be over. The First True AI Chatbot. “As in, actually chatting. As in, with voice.”

Pickle Pie. Cracklin’ Corn Ribs. Butter Brew Mustache Pretzel. Yeah, our brand has suffered a bit of late. But it’s Summer, and America is gonna America! Buckle up: Here is this year’s crop of new State Fair foods.