Childless Cat Ladies

Plus, a nonagenarian academic.

July 30, 2024

The Flag

Good morning and Happy Tuesday! Here are the Flag’s Top Five stories that should be on your radar to start the day:

  • US: 'No one is above the law': Biden calls for sweeping Supreme Court changes (USA Today)

  • World: Venezuela standoff as Maduro declared winner of presidential election but opposition claims landslide victory (CBS News)

  • Business: McDonald's sales decline for first time in years (Fox Business)

  • Technology: Apple Intelligence AI features will wait for iOS 18.1 (The Verge)

  • Sports: Novak Djokovic beats Rafael Nadal in possible ending to rivalry (ESPN)

And of course, some good news: A 98-Year-Old Physicist Finally Got Her Ph.D., 75 Years After Her Major Discovery.

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Can you feel it? The growing unrest in communities across America? There are strikes over basic needs and rising feelings of despair and confusion about money. The nation is facing significant challenges.

And it’s not just the everyday mom and pops that are facing challenges. Even wealthy Americans may be unprepared for sudden financial upheaval. 

Concern for the future is widespread, and proactive measures are essential to safeguard financial well-being. This is uncharted territory, and action is needed before it's too late.

Right: The Biden-Harris Mental Gymnastics, Matthew Continetti, Washington Free Beacon

Right: America's Lab Rats? Victor Davis Hanson, American Greatness

Left: Can Harris Cancel the Trump Show? Melanie McFarland, Salon

Left: The Democratic Party Is (Still) Broken, Lee Drutman, The New Republic

VANCE

Childless Cat Ladies

Today’s Top Story: Last week, a three-year-old clip of J.D. Vance giving an interview with Tucker Carlson resurfaced. In it, Vance claims the country is being run “by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made, and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too. It’s just a basic fact,” including Kamala Harris in those remarks.

Reporting from the Right: JD Vance says 'anti-family' Dems took 'childless cat lady' remark out of context: 'Lie of the left' (Fox News)

Reporting from the Left: Harris Calls Trump and Vance ‘Weird’ After Cat Lady Attack (Daily Beast)

RIGHT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Not a Good Look

The Top Argument From The Right: Republicans Shouldn’t Write Off Women — Childless, Unmarried, or Otherwise, Caroline Downey, National Review: “This hit a nerve with many women, especially online. TikTok ran wild with satirical videos of young women dancing with their felines over a voiceover of Vance. Understandably, some women found Vance’s view tone-deaf, given its omission of the issue of infertility. … I won’t dispute that Vance’s remarks were poorly phrased and politically unhelpful, given that suburban women have been the key to recent Democratic victories and that Republicans have been hoping to close that gap. But they raise deeper questions about why women have moved left in the first place and why they continue to stay there. … Some have speculated online that the Red Pill manosphere, with infamous personalities such as Andrew Tate, have repelled women from the Right. Tate’s content preys on the minds of young men who are disaffected because of dating circumstances. … Vance’s ill-put complaint underscored a real demographic trend in politics, one Republicans should work to understand and counter. This isn’t the way to do it, though. GOP politicians hoping to court women shouldn’t start by knocking them when they’re down.”

Honorable Mention #1: Baby Bust, Nick Catoggio The Dispatch.

Honorable Mention #2: Trump should ditch JD Vance, Christopher Tremoglie Washington Examiner.

LEFT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Buyer’s Remorse for Republicans?

The Top Argument From The Left: JD Vance is giving Republicans buyer’s remorse, Karen Tumulty, The Washington Post: “Vance insisted that the larger point of his cat-lady crack is that Democrats are “anti-family.” This is a dubious assertion. Led by President Biden, Democrats have been fighting, against some Republican opposition in the Senate, to bring back the expanded child tax credit put in place during the covid pandemic. Of course, Vance knows — we all know — that any backtracking would not sit well with his running mate, who says obnoxious things on practically an hourly basis and has never been known to apologize for any of them. But what has become clear in Vance’s rocky national rollout is that this sort of thing is going to keep happening. As he opportunistically reinvented himself from NeverTrumper to ultimate MAGA warrior, Vance created a rich vein for opposition researchers to mine. … These stumbles by Vance are deepening the doubts that many Republicans are feeling about the wisdom of Trump’s choosing such a polarizing and untested running mate, which he did before Biden dropped out of the race. …the prospect of Harris at the top of the Democratic ticket has changed the dynamic of the election.”

FLAG THIS

Vance Breaks Polling Record

According to some polling, Vance is the first non-incumbent vice president pick since 1980 to have a net-negative favorable rating after a convention, with a -6 point rating following the RNC. This is significantly lower than the average +19 points for VP nominees since 2000. Recent polls show mixed reactions, with a Marist poll indicating 31% favorable, 33% unfavorable, and 36% unsure or unaware of him (Newsweek)

Given these comments and other factors surrounding Vance, do you believe he was the right choice for Trump's running mate?

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WATERCOOLER

French Friend, Internet Savings, Popcorn Altitude

On This Day in 1777, a 19-year-old French aristocrat, Marie-Joseph Paul Roch Yves Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, accepts a commission as a major-general in the Continental Army—without pay. Lafayette played a key role in negotiating the 1778 Treaty of Alliance, securing one of America's earliest diplomatic and military ties and crucial international support in the Revolutionary War.

Today I learned popcorn can pop up to 3 feet into the air.

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Can you feel it? The growing unrest in communities across America? There are strikes over basic needs and rising feelings of despair and confusion about money. The nation is facing significant challenges.

And it’s not just the everyday mom and pops that are facing challenges. Even wealthy Americans may be unprepared for sudden financial upheaval. 

Concern for the future is widespread, and proactive measures are essential to safeguard financial well-being. This is uncharted territory, and action is needed before it's too late.

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