The Week in Review: DNC Comes to a Close, Trump Melts in the Arizona Heat
The Week in Review: DNC Comes to a Close, Trump Melts in the Arizona Heat
PLUS: Links to TPA posts you may have missed
I decided to do an old-school weekly recap post this week. If you missed any of the pieces published this week at TPA, you can find those linked at the bottom of today’s newsletter.
But in addition to that, I wanted to share some stories by others that caught my eye.
The DNC comes and goes.
“Here Is the Speech That the Uncommitted Movement Wants to Give at the DNC” (Mother Jones, Noah Lanard, 8/22/24)
Pro-Palestinian protesters unsuccessfully lobbied to get a speaking slot at the Democratic National Convention. Mother Jones published a draft of the speech that never was.
“Rep: Beyoncé Is Not Performing at DNC; “Was Never Scheduled” to Attend (Exclusive)” (The Hollywood Reporter, Mesfin Fekadu, 8/22/24)
Despite rumors and reports that Beyoncé would be appearing during the DNC's final night, she never showed — and for good reason: she was never actually booked to appear or perform. The Hollywood Reporter was the first to burst everyone’s bubble when it snagged a statement from one of the singer’s reps: “Beyoncé was never scheduled to be there. The report of a performance is untrue.”
“Kamala Harris Turns the Page on the Trump Era” (, , 8/23/24)
Dan Pfeiffer has a smart piece on the language used during Kamala Harris’s acceptance speech, how she managed to become the “change candidate” despite being part of the current administration, and what it would mean to finally “turn the page” on the Trump era of American politics.
“Dingus of the week: Richard Hanania” (, , 8/23/24)
Lyz Lenz goes in on right-wing influencer and white supremacist blogger Richard Hanania for misogynistic comments he made about Harris’s stepdaughter Ella Emhoff. By no means are these sexist comments the worst thing Hanania has written (only because his collection of vile opinions is so massive), but I’m always here for Lenz taking a dingus down a few notches.
“The total mystery of America's undecided voters” (, , 8/23/24)
As the DNC came to a close, Margaret Sullivan offered up some smart thoughts on voters who are still in the “undecided” category at this late stage in the campaign. Her theory is that the decline of local news has led a lot of people to simply tune out, staying unengaged and uninformed.
Meanwhile, in Trump World…
Trump’s makeup was no match for yesterday’s Arizona heat. The result? This:
This week at The Present Age
This week’s writing went heavy on politics (and especially heavy on DNC-related stories). If you missed them the first time around, check them out here:
Perfect convention except for the blunder of not including a Palestinian speaker. Go to the Mother Jones link and read the 2-minute speech that Georgia State Rep. Ruwa Romman would have given, see anything in it that any sane person would find objectionable?
That Trump close-up was not the mid-day jump scare I needed. Good lord.