Still free to subscribe to this nearly daily newsletter! Greg Mitchell is author of fourteen books and director of five films for PBS since 2022. In a previous life, he was a longtime editor at the legendary Crawdaddy. His latest film “Woody Guthrie and The Ghost of Tom Joad Today” is now streaming everywhere via PBS.
The Natalie Harp story expanded even more yesterday with more quotes from love letters (“with all my heart”) to Trump. So cartoonists, of course, are having their fun and driving it home while also noting her crucial place in his world, all without, for at least a year, a national security check.
Charles P. Pierce: Sounds Like Trump Insiders Are Getting a Little Jealous of the President’s Weirdly Close Relationship with His Favorite Aide
Somebody in the White House—or, perhaps, someone occasionally photographedthere—has it in for Natalie Harp, the suddenly famous presidential aide, and is leaking like a sieve as a result.
Meanwhile, another election race called out in California: Aisha Wahab, a progressive Democratic state senator, defeated Melissa Hernandez, a moderate Democrat, backed by AIPAC, in a special election to replace disgraced Eric Swalwell in California, according to The Associated Press. She will become the first Afghan-American in Congress. Rematch coming in November.
Many other candidates losing races partly due to backing AI data centers. Garrett M. Graff comments (h/t Barbara Bedway):
Politicians and AI consultants seem focused on the “one neat trick” idea, imagining they’re just a couple smart talking points and slick slide decks for local city council meetings away from turning around the industry’s reputation. People misunderstand how wonderful data centers are!
No, they don’t. They recognize exactly what’s happening here.
I suggest that the problem is both more obvious and more fundamental: The daily lived experience of the AI boom sucks.
Here’s the basic problem: AI has arrived in American life and communities across the country as a giant turd mountain. No one wants it; it makes everything worse when it arrives; and it’s been pushed and backed and cheerled by the absolute worst people in modern American life.
That’s not a landscape where a couple improved talking points turn around an issue. As that Axios article explained, “Data centers are as popular as spent nuclear waste, and more broadly have become a proxy for feelings about AI.”
Been a fan of Rob Delaney going back to his “Catastrophe” series and Melville’s “Moby Dick” among my favorite novels ever, so have to be intrigued by his new podcast, which will probably be pretty funny:
And, finally, the Peter Asher doc starts streaming today at Amazon, Apple TV, YouTube…This will be followed by the October 6 release on DVD and Blu-ray with bonus tracks and extra features, including additional scenes with Peter Asher, Carole King, Natalie Merchant and others.
Music Pick
Song released last night from upcoming John Prine collection, “Found Dogs,” a cover of an old Johnny Horton song, “All for the Love of a Girl.”
From Tune to Toons
Sheneman:
Goris:
Britt:
Wuerker:
deAdder:
Bagley:
Anderson:
Bramhall:
Natalie and apparently Mrs. Hegseth - both without security clearances.
Yes indeed