Hey there,
The first Democrat entered the 2020 presidential race on New Years Eve 2018 (Elizabeth Warren).
625 days later, we are in the final 48 days till Election Day. The forecast shows four debates, bazillions in TV and online ads, incessant phone calls from eager volunteers, with a high likelihood of an October surprise (or two).
Perhaps just as importantly, we are only 44 days to Mandalorian Season 2.
First up comes from out West where Mormons have become a surprisingly key bloc of swing voters in Arizona and Nevada after decades of being the most reliably Republican religion in America. Trump changed all that as many Mormons rejected him as blasphemous. Now, he is working hard to win them back. READ MORE HERE.
As some of you may know, I grew up Mormon and ultimately ended up writing my undergraduate thesis on how the Church membership became politically conservative. So this story was sort of back on my old beat—the first news story I ever wrote was on how the Mormon Church had been quietly telling some of their best athletes that they could skip the traditional mission and evangelize through their sport (read here).
If you are interested in the topic of Mormons, politics, etc., Rick Perlstein’s excellent (and hefty) new book Reaganland discusses how Mormons got drawn into the Equal Rights Amendment battle in the 1970’s. The ERA for Mormons was a bigger political mobilizer than abortion at the time (which was more significant among Catholics and evangelicals).
I also love this 2012 essay from the novelist Walter Kirn, “Confessions of an ex-Mormon” which you can READ HERE.
In other streaming news, Aaron Sorkin’s next movie comes to Netflix in October about the trial of the Chicago 7. He gets a lot of shit, and much of it well-deserved, but there are few people better at writing courtroom dramas (see: A Few Good Men).
In the final stretch, one of the most consequential differences in campaign strategy between Biden and Trump could be door-knocking. Trump’s campaign restarted in June, even as COVID was surging in some spots, and claims they’ve knock 14 million doors since. Biden’s campaign hasn’t knocked a single door during the general election, betting they can make up the difference online and via the phone and will get credit from voters for being responsible amid the pandemic.
But some Democrats aren’t willing to make the same bet. High profile senate candidates in Maine and Montana are sending volunteers back on the doors with masks and sanitizer. Same with some down ballot state legislature candidates in Pennsylvania. Some state Democrats argue that if the party supports protesting then why not door-knocking and fear they are giving Trump and edge. Others counter they are putting lives at risk.
READ MORE HERE on the debate inside the party.
If you are interested in campaign field stuff and wondering how important it really is, I’d recommend the book “Groundbreakers” about the Obama 2012 team (which is required reading at the RNC). Dylan Matthews over at Vox also has a great dive into how much it all really matters. READ HERE.
Some other reads:
Trump campaign sees YouTube in 2020 what Facebook was to them in 2016 by me. READ HERE.
Marc Caputo knows Florida inside and out. If you want to read about how the election if going in the crucial swing state, his latest two stories are must-reads. HERE and HERE.
Trump spent years courting Indian Americans. He had a blockbuster joint appearance with Indian Prime Minister Modi in Houston, for example. But Biden picking Kamala has scrambled some of those plans. Great look from Anita Kumar HERE.
And Ben White with a must-read on the Biden econ team and how they think about the mistakes of the Obama years. READ HERE.
And a fun classic read for you: Truman Capote on Marlon Brando, “The Duke in his Domain.” READ HERE.
I leave you with some tunes—this one I’ve been listening to on my Mom’s old vinyl records.
Next...
The Thirtieth Word
FIRST MATTER:
In every facet of the motion of all PARTICLES the light of Divine unity shines like the sun. If every particle is not an official of God acting with His permission and under His authority, and if it is not undergoing change within His knowledge and power, then every particle must have infinite knowledge and limitless power; it must have eyes that see everything, a face that looks to all things, and authority over all things. For every particle of the elements acts, or can act, in an orderly fashion in all animate beings. But the order within things and laws according to which they are formed differ from one thing to the next. If their order was not known to the particles, the particles could not act, or even if they could act, they could not act without error. In which case, the particles which are performing their duties in beings are either acting with the permission and at the command, and within the knowledge and at the will, of the owner of an all-encompassing knowledge, or they themselves must have such an all-encompassing knowledge and power.
Yes, all particles of air can enter the bodies of all animate beings, the fruits of all flowers, and the structures of all leaves. They can act within them, although the way the beings are formed is all different and their order and systems quite distinct. As though the factory of a fig were a loom for weaving cloth and the factory of a pomegranate, a machine for producing sugar, and so on; the programmes of their structures and bodies all differ from each other. A particle of air, then, enters or can enter all of them. It takes up its position and acts in a wise and masterly fashion without error. And on completion of its duty it departs. A mobile particle of mobile air, therefore, either must know the forms, shapes, measures, and formations with which plants and animals, and even fruits and flowers, are clothed, or else it must be an official acting under the command and will of one who does know.
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SECOND POINT
In every particle there are two truthful evidences to the existence and unity of the Necessarily Existent One. Indeed, by carrying out its important duties consciously and by raising mighty loads despite being powerless and lifeless, a particle bear decisive witness to the existence of the Necessarily Existent One. And by conforming to the universal order peculiar to each place it enters, and by settling anywhere as though it was its homeland, it testifies to the unity of the Necessarily Existent One and to the oneness of that Being Who is the Owner of all things, with their apparent faces and their inner aspects which look to Him. That is to say, whoever owns the particles must also own all the places it enters.
Thus, since its loads are extremely heavy and its duties endless, the particle demonstrates that it is mobile and acting at the command of One Possessing Absolute Power, and in His name. And, the fact that it conforms as though knowingly to the universal order of the cosmos and enters each place without obstacle shows that it acts through the power and wisdom of a single Being Possessing Absolute Knowledge.
A private soldier has relations with his squad, his company, his battalion, his regiment, and his division, and so on, and has duties in connection with each. Since he knows all those relations and duties, he will act in conformity with them. For, having received training and instruction under military discipline, he complies with the rules and regulations of a single supreme commander who commands all those sections.
In the same way, all particles are suitably placed within compounds, and with every facet of the compounds have different beneficial relations and different well-regulated duties that yield wise results that are all different. It is therefore surely only One in the grasp of whose power is the whole universe who can place the particles in such a way as to preserve all their relations with and duties in all the facets of the compounds, and not spoil the wise results.
For example, a particle located in the eye is suitably placed with regard to the
blood-vessels like the arteries and veins, and the motor and sensory nerves, and has a wise and purposeful relationship with the face, and then with the head, the trunk, and with the entire human body, and has beneficial duties in relation to each. This demonstrates that only one who creates all the members of the body will be able to place the particle in that position.
Particles entering the body as sustenance in the caravan of food in particular make their journey with astonishing order and wisdom. On their way, they pass through modes and stages in an orderly manner, and progressing consciously without confusion carry on till they are strained through the four filters in the bodies of animate beings. They are then loaded onto the red blood-corpuscles in order to come to the assistance of the members and cells which are in need of sustenance, rendering this assistance according to a law of generosity. It may be clearly understood from this that the One Who drives these particles and causes them to pass through thousands of different states must of necessity be a Generous Sustainer, a Compassionate Creator, in relation to Whose power particles and stars are equal.
Moreover, all particles act within embroideries of the greatest art and have relations with all the other particles therein. Since each is in a position of both dominance and subjection to all the rest, both to each individually and to all of them generally, it either knows and creates that wonderfully skilful embroidery and wisdom-displaying ornamented art, which is a thousand times impossible, or each of them is a point assigned to that motion, which proceeds from the law of Divine Determining and pen of power of the All-Wise Maker.
For example, if the stones of the dome are not dependent on the command and skill of its architect, all the stones must have skill in the art of building like an architect, and must be either subject to, or dominant over, the rest of the stones. That is, they must have the power to say: “Come, we shall stand shoulder to shoulder in order not to fall and collapse.”
In the same way, if the particles in creatures, which are thousands of times more skilfully fashioned, wonderful, and full of wisdom than the dome , are not dependent on the command of the master builder of the universe, to each of them must the ascribed as many attributes of perfection as those of the universe’s Maker.
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The Tenth Word
FIRST POINT
We shall indicate, as a measure, only four out of hundreds of proofs that belief in the hereafter is fundamental to the life of society and to man’s personal life, and is the basis of his happiness, prosperity, and achievement.
T h e F i r s t : It is only with the thought of Paradise that children, who form almost a half of mankind, can endure all the deaths around them, which appear to them to be grievous and frightening, and strengthen the morale of their weak and delicate beings. Through Paradise they find hope in their vulnerable spirits, prone to weeping, and may live happily. For example, with the thought of Paradise, one may say: “My little brother or friend has died and become a bird in Paradise. He is flying around Paradise and living more happily than us.” The frequent deaths before their unhappy eyes of other children like themselves or of grown-ups will otherwise destroy all their resistance and morale, making their subtle faculties like their spirits, hearts, and minds weep in addition to their eyes; they will either decline utterly or become crazy, wretched animals.
S e c o n d P r o o f : It is only through the life of the hereafter that the elderly, who form half of mankind, can endure the proximity of the grave, and be consoled at the thought that their lives, to which they are firmly attached, will soon be extinguished and their fine worlds come to an end. It is only at the hope of eternal life that they can respond to the grievous despair they feel in their emotional child-like spirits at the thought of death. Those worthy, anxious fathers and mothers, so deserving of compassion and in need of tranquillity and peace of mind, will otherwise feel a terrible spiritual turmoil and distress in their hearts, and this world will become a dark prison for them, and life even, grievous torment.
F o u r t h P r o o f : The most comprehensive centre of man’s worldly life, and its mainspring, and a paradise, refuge, and fortress of worldly happiness, is the life of the family. Everyone’s home is a small world for him. And the life and happiness of his home and family are possible through genuine, earnest, and loyal respect and true, tender, and self-sacrificing compassion. This true respect and genuine kindness may be achieved with the idea of the members of the family having an everlasting companionship and friendship and togetherness, and their parental, filial, brotherly, and friendly relations continuing for all eternity in a limitless life, and their believing this. One says, for example: “My wife will be my constant companion in an everlasting world and eternal life. It does not matter if she is now old and ugly, for she will have an immortal beauty.” He will tell himself that he will be as kind and devoted as he can for the sake of that permanent companionship, and treat his elderly wife lovingly and kindly. A companionship that was to end in eternal separation after an hour or two of brief, apparent friendship would otherwise afford only superficial, temporary, feigned, animal-like feelings, and false compassion and artificial respect. As with animals, self-interest and other overpowering emotions would prevail over the respect and compassion, transforming that worldly paradise into Hell.
The sociologists, politicians, and moralists, who govern mankind and are concerned with its social and moral questions should be aware of this! How do they propose to fill this vacuum? With what can they cure these deep wounds?
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