Editor’s note✏️: Welcome to an abbreviated version of War Notes — I am struggling with a summer cold; I blame my 1-year-old nephew!
Thanks to Amanda for organizing more than usual.
67 days📅: Iran is going to decide the midterms.
Prediction👀: So come November, somebody is going to look like the chump
Either Trump, because he got beat due to Iran
Or it’s Democrats and the media because oil prices have gone down and the Iranians have been marginalized.
💰The biggest issue for voters today is the economy — and the war in Iran decides the economy
📰Politico headlines “The Iran war is already on November ballots,” writing:
“President Donald Trump’s decision to wage war in Iran is on the ballot this November — not as a foreign policy issue, but an economic one.”
Today marks six months since the war started — and things may be going better than you think
Axios headlines, “U.S. gains the upper hand in the battle for Hormuz”
CNBC headlines, “Oil exports from the Gulf rise to more than 60% of level before Iran war”
Tonight📺: Amb. John Bolton on what will decide who looks like a chump.
2028 watch👀: Sen. Bernie Sanders is one of the most popular politicians in America right now
📈According to a YouGov poll, he has a 57% popularity rating nationwide.
What I’m thinking💭: For a man who’s never made it to the White House, that’s an impressive amount of political muscle
Why it matters‼️: Can he transfer that popularity to his sidekick, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez?
Today, AOC and Sanders spoke at the March on Washington — potentially trying to lay the groundwork for AOC’s way to the White House.
Tonight📺: Former Democratic strategist Evan Barker and a former White House official under President George W. Bush, Ashley Davis, join me
Putin threat🚨: Vladimir Putin wants to have a say in the midterm elections — and we can tell by what he’s doing.
Russia looking to test NATO
Sending fighter jets into NATO airspace
Threatening to retaliate against the United Kingdom
Sound the alarms🚨: The Washington Post reports “Putin sees U.S. as weakened by Iran war, intelligence reports say,” writing:
“Ratcliffe’s mysterious trip to Moscow this week was preceded by fresh U.S. intelligence indicating that the Kremlin sees the United States as weakened by the Iran war, offering Russia an opportunity to escalate action against American interests and allies in Europe.”
Tonight📺: Retired Gen. Philip Breedlove and retired Brig. Gen. John Teichert on what does NATO do if attacked? What are the options? What are the next steps?
Overarching point‼️: There are reasons to believe America is both weaker and stronger than we are being told.
Government fail🤦: We heard from a lot of you when I said Big Tech was more powerful than our government and that our attorneys general completely failed us — well, it’s true, they did.
⛓️💥There’s a giant disconnect between what state attorneys general told us about the $18 billion Meta settlement and the reality.
Attorneys general all week celebrated the settlement
Reality🤦: Facebook’s stock went up — that’s how meaningless this settlement is.
Tonight📺: Tennessee AG Jonathan Skrmetti, who is celebrating the settlement and calling it potentially the first domino to fall, joins me.
He’s warning other tech companies to “be paying very close attention.”
What I’m thinking💭: The settlement isn’t even a rounding error for big tech CEOs’ wallets.
Get flocked📸: There’s now this weird attempt to rehabilitate Flock cameras.
📰Emma Camp in the Wall Street Journal headlines, “A Flock Camera Might Just Prove Your Innocence,” writing:
“When the cops catch the right guy, it means they haven’t caught the wrong one”
But wait🛑: What about when they accuse the wrong one? Or the cops that abuse the cameras to track their exes?
“A Georgia Cop Used Flock to Track 2 Other Cops: His Ex and Her Friend”
These are just a few…
Reality‼️: The attempt to save Flock is not working — Americans don’t like being under surveillance, and their voices are being heard.
Over 100 cities have canceled contracts with Flock
Hope you feel better soon! Homemade chicken soup and sourdough toast might help. Looking forward to you expanding another great round of topics tonight.
Gee, feel better soon, Leland! Summer colds are the worst. Another bunch of good talking points for tonight's show and interesting and intelligent guests too. See you tonight ❤️