A Scathing Spot

Feels a little weird to have these Republican campaign geniuses on our side this time. But boy oh boy can they deliver a punch...

I’ve worked for GOP candidates since I was 17, but this year it must be Country First. Proud to be joining ⁦@RVAT2020⁩ — Republican Voters Against Trump as a strategic advisor.

Here’s a TV spot we just whipped up. Releasing today. See you in MI, AZ, FL, PA, NC and more. pic.twitter.com/LPOnAm5Hsg

— Mike Murphy (@murphymike) June 5, 2020

A Message from Michael

This was released today by Michael Jordan and Jordan Brand...

Jordan Brand is us, the Black Community.

Jordan Brand is more than one man. It has always been a family. We represent a proud family that has overcome obstacles, fought against discrimination in communities worldwide and that works every day to erase the stain of racism and the damage of injustice. The will, the work, the excellence the world has come to know is the result of one generation after another, pouring their dreams into the next.

It’s 2020, and our family now includes anyone who aspires to our way of life. Yet as much as things have changed, the worst remains the same.

Black lives matter. This isn't a controversial statement. Until the ingrained racism that allows our country’s institutions to fail is completely eradicated, we will remain committed to protecting and improving the lives of Black people.

Today, we are announcing that Michael Jordan and Jordan Brand will be donating $100 million over the next 10 years to organizations dedicated to ensuring racial equality, social justice and greater access to education.

A message from Paul

RIP Steve Priest

Lost another one...

Very sad to hear that Steve Priest of (The) Sweet has passed away. Genuinely one of my all-time pop heroes. Embodied the essence of Glam: effeminate, but menacing. The original Stormtrooper In Drag.

And had possibly the best title of any autobiography ever: Are You Ready, Steve? pic.twitter.com/CfTxatSm5c

— Simon Price (@simon_price01) June 4, 2020

In case you don't understand the "Are you ready Steve?" portion of that tweet...

The Lincoln Project

Pretty strong stuff here. Cheering on the Lincoln Project...

📺 @realDonaldTrump is no longer hiding that he’s a brazen authoritarian, so desiring of control and power that he’s willing to turn our once peaceful cities into war zones.#AmericaOrTrump pic.twitter.com/8Kn5Zi14Qx

— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) June 3, 2020

Bush Statement

I'd take him back tomorrow compared to what he have now, and he started a war against the wrong country...

Three Boys, Three Haircuts, after Three Months

New ad

Republican Voters Against Trump is up with its first national TV commercial airing on Fox News this week. ⁦@RVAT2020⁩

Trump’s American Carnage pic.twitter.com/rmYVnOElXI

— Sarah Longwell (@SarahLongwell25) June 3, 2020

Arrested for Speech and nothing else

This leaves me speechless...

Another one. Arrested for speaking and nothing else. pic.twitter.com/h5n4sEcWU5

— Ben Taub (@bentaub91) June 2, 2020

Marc Silverman

This month's Illinois Entertainer is out and features my interview with ESPN Radio host Marc Silverman
@WaddleandSilvy. Thanks again to Silvy for doing the interview, and wishing him the best in his fight against cancer.

You can read it here.

Righteous Might

One of the most rewarding moments of being a publisher is when your author gets to hold the very first copy of his book. Congrats to Keith Conrad and his book Righteous Might. https://eckhartzpress.com/shop/righteous-might/

RIP Wes Unseld

Lost another one today. Wes Unseld always fascinated me. He was only 6'7" and he played center in an era that featured the likes of 7-footers Kareem Abdul Jabaar, Wilt Chamberlain, and Artis Gilmore. And he was a star. Amazing. Rest in peace, Wes.

These are the two Wes Unseld cards in my collection...

George Will on Senate Republicans

This is scalding...

The measures necessary for restoration of national equilibrium are many and will be protracted far beyond his removal. One such measure must be the removal of those in Congress who, unlike the sycophantic mediocrities who cosset him in the White House, will not disappear “magically,” as Eric Trump said the coronavirus would. Voters must dispatch his congressional enablers, especially the senators who still gambol around his ankles with a canine hunger for petting.

In life’s unforgiving arithmetic, we are the sum of our choices. Congressional Republicans have made theirs for more than 1,200 days. We cannot know all the measures necessary to restore the nation’s domestic health and international standing, but we know the first step: Senate Republicans must be routed, as condign punishment for their Vichyite collaboration, leaving the Republican remnant to wonder: Was it sensible to sacrifice dignity, such as it ever was, and to shed principles, if convictions so easily jettisoned could be dignified as principles, for . . . what? Praying people should pray, and all others should hope: May I never crave anything as much as these people crave membership in the world’s most risible deliberative body.

My man, George.

Lowest Moment Yet

Here’s how this scene was viewed live in Australia. One of America’s closest and most dependable allies. Rendered speechless. Just watch. pic.twitter.com/IjOzgs3WYo

— Brett McGurk (@brett_mcgurk) June 2, 2020

Sgt. Pepper

Cubs through history: On the day Sgt. Pepper was released by the Beatles (June 1, 1967), Billy Williams hit two homers against the Reds at Crosley Field, but Bill Hands blew a two-run lead in the 9th inning, and the Cubs lost 7-6.

I'm still on the board

Gotta promote my local soccer club...

Don't Let the President See This

Whoever is guarding him in his underground bunker today should make sure he doesn't check out Deadline.com today. They finally have the numbers for President Obama's nationwide commencement address, and they are HUGE. 20.8 million people watched it.

Calling Republican Senators

Fred Hiatt, publisher of the Washington Post, is pleading with his fellow Republicans (yes, that's right, Hiatt is a Republican) in this morning's newspaper, to do the right thing. Here's the money shot... 

But if he is reelected, restoring sanity may not be an option. The republic will be forever altered, as you know.

And you know this, too: Joe Biden would be a better choice for the country, at this moment. Of course, you disagree with many of his policies. You dislike some of the people he would bring into government. But he would respect the Constitution, the rule of law, simple human decency and the norms that have kept this experiment alive.

So why not hang together, announce you are voting for Biden, and help save your country? Explain that the president has left you no other honorable choice. You can still campaign for a Republican majority in the Senate to act as a check on a Democratic administration and its judicial picks. At best, you might help save your party and rescue your country.

At worst, you would meet the fate of Corker and Flake. That may seem unbearable to you. But if Trump is reelected, history will remember them far more kindly than those who, silently or actively, were complicit in the degradation of our democracy.