🇺🇸 Risihi’s Reign

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Good morning, and happy Tuesday! Normally getting stuck in the middle seat on a plane stinks: but it’s also a sweet lottery ticket on this airline…

Plus, New Jersey is the only state in the US that doesn't allow customers to pump their own gas — anywhere. Here's why…

Also, this Flag Find displays pumpkins in a fun, spooky way – no carving required!

FLAG POLLS

🐎 Michigan Governor - Dixon vs. Whitmer: Whitmer 52, Dixon 46 (CNN)

🐎 Michigan Governor - Dixon vs. Whitmer: Whitmer 50, Dixon 44 (Cygnal)

🐘 Texas Governor - Abbott vs. O'Rourke: Abbott 52, O'Rourke 43 (Spectrum News/Siena)

🐘 Texas Governor - Abbott vs. O'Rourke: Abbott 53, O'Rourke 44 (The Hill/Emerson)

TRENDING

Right: Kari Lake torches Democrat opponent for refusing to debate (Fox News)

Right: Clarence Thomas sides with Lindsey Graham, temporarily halts testimony in Georgia inquiry (Washington Examiner)

Right: Liz Cheney’s Plan To Divide The Republican Party Has Failed (Daily Wire)

Left: Liz Cheney’s doomsday prediction on a third Trump presidential bid (CNN)

Left: Trump Tapes Reveal He's 'Dangerous' And 'A Threat To Democracy,' Bob Woodward Warns (Huffington Post)

Left: The Oath Keepers are using the "we were just kidding" white privilege defense (Salon)

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QUICK CLICKS

Middle Eastern Mocking, Anderson Ambushed, DOJ Double Agents

US: Adult and teen killed in St. Louis school shooting, police say (CNN)

World: Saudi crown prince reportedly mocks president behind his back — including questioning mental state (Fox News)

US: Russia's 'dirty bomb' claims fuel fears Putin is planning his own escalation (NBC News)

US: Trump Organization ready to call ex-CFO a liar as tax fraud trial begins (Reuters)

US: Anderson Cooper gets ambushed in CNN lobby: 'Get the f--k away from me!' (NY Post)

World: DOJ reveals double agent sting operation against Chinese intelligence officers (Axios)

Sports: Brittney Griner will appeal her prison sentence in Russia on Tuesday (NPR)

Foreign Affairs

Risihi’s Reign

Yesterday the UK Conservative party (also known as the Tories) elected Rishi Sunak as their leader, paving the way for him to become the nation’s next prime minister. He was the runner-up to Liz Truss prior to her election this summer, and is now slated to become the first Hindu PM in British history.

Reporting from the Right: Rishi Sunak set to be next UK prime minister after Penny Mordaunt drops out of race (Fox News)

Reporting from the Left: Rishi Sunak, UK's next PM, faces major economic problems (Associated Press)

From The Flag: We just covered Truss’ resignation, which came at a time of financial turmoil, after her economic agenda proved unpopular. Sunak will become the third PM in less than two months. Here’s more from both sides.

LEFT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Sunak’s Wealth Poses a Challenge, and Weakened Tories Lack Punch

• Sunak has an interesting background, in that he was educated in the US and holds the American entrepreneurial spirit in high regard.

• The new PM is potentially too rich to connect to everyday Britons, especially given the way he clumsily flouts his wealth.

• The Conservative party can choose to remain in power and hide from the voters until 2025, but they should call a general election instead.

“Rishi Sunak Is a New and Old-Fashioned Tory” Adrian Wooldridge, Bloomberg Opinion: “It is a nice coincidence that Rishi Sunak has won the leadership of the Conservative Party… on the most important day of Diwali, the ‘festival of light’ celebrated by Hindus… He will now be the first Hindu to become UK prime minister. His time in office will hinge on his ability to deliver a reasonable measure of prosperity to a country that is in dire economic straits. … Perfectly turned out in a suit and narrow tie, Sunak cuts a commanding presence compared to (Boris) Johnson. … Sunak is more of a global citizen than most of his fellow Tories. He completed his education at Stanford Business School… where he met his Indian-American wife, Akshata Murthy. He laid the foundations of his personal fortune working for Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in New York before joining a US hedge fund. He loves the American, particularly the Californian, entrepreneurial spirit, and has a house in Santa Monica, Los Angeles.”

“Does Rishi Sunak’s £730m fortune make him too rich to be PM?” Rupert Neate, The Guardian: “Sunak, his wife and two daughters, Krishna and Anoushka, spend most of the week at their five-bedroom mews house in Kensington, west London, which is estimated by estate agents to be worth more than £7m. At the weekends they retreat to a Grade II-listed Georgian manor house in the picturesque village of Kirby Sigston in his Richmond constituency in North Yorkshire. The house, which the couple bought for £1.5m before he was elected as an MP in 2015, is now worth more than £2m and has been transformed into something of a wellness retreat with a £400,000 indoor swimming pool, gym, yoga studio, hot tub and tennis court. … That fortune – and Sunak’s clumsiness in flaunting it – has some people asking if he is too rich to understand the day-to-day struggles of voters.”

One more opinion piece from the Left: Britain has a new prime minister – that no one in Britain voted for Laura Beers, CNN Opinion

RIGHT-LEANING SENTIMENT

The Left Celebrates as the Conservative Party Wrecks Itself

• It was sickening to watch the British elites and media launch “Operation Stop Boris” over the weekend.

• The Left is happy to see Liz Truss go, and they’re celebrating the Tories’ downfall, but letting the markets rule government is dangerous.

• Amid a seemingly unending list of controversies, the UK’s Conservative party needs to stop attacking each other and get tough.

“Why they couldn’t let Boris win” Brendan O’Neill, Spiked: “From the political class to the influencer set to the BBC, the cry went up: it cannot be Boris. He’s too disruptive. Too oafish. Too much of a liability. We need a grown-up in charge now. Someone who is sensible and slick and capable of placating the markets. The uniformity of the message was remarkable, and more than a little chilling. I’m struggling to recall the last time that elite opinion, the determination of the professional managerial classes to get what they want, was expressed as nakedly as it was this weekend. … What the elites want is for politics to be boring again. They’re openly saying it. … There really are people out there who would rather politics was dull than overly democratic. Pallid rather than populist. ‘Boring’ is really a euphemism for re-insulating political life from the excitable desires of the public.”

“Why the Left shouldn’t be celebrating” Thomas Fazi, Unherd Opinion: “In the days following her resignation, the British media appeared to be united in its verdict on Liz Truss: the 44-day premiership was the shortest and most catastrophic in British history. … attempts to push through a ‘fiscally irresponsible’ tax-cutting free-market agenda spooked financial markets, ‘crashed the economy’, and ultimately forced them to admit defeat and back down. … Ultimately, the government wasn’t taken down by ‘the markets’, but by its own weakness, since neither Truss nor Kwarteng possessed the intellectual and political tools, nor the popular support, to ignore the hysteria and stick to their guns. … The consequences will be felt for a long time to come, in the form of an established wisdom that democracy ultimately has to conform to what the markets say — or else. … This line of thinking is the death of democracy.”

One more opinion piece from the Right: British Conservatives Need to Get a Grip Nicholas L. Waddy, American Greatness

FLAG THIS

Perusing the Parliamentary System, and Calling for a General

Under the British system of government, voters select their Members of Parliament or MPs. Then, the leader of whichever party holds a majority in the House of Commons is effectively chosen as PM by the monarch – in this case, King Charles III.

Party control over the House of Commons lies with the Conservatives. This can’t change until the next general election, which is presently scheduled for January 2025.

But polling conducted the day Liz Truss resigned showed 63% of respondents want the new PM to call an early general election. Just under a quarter (23%) felt the opposite, while 15% said they weren’t sure (YouGov).

FLAG FINDS

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WATERCOOLER

John Weds Abigail, AI Art, Earwax is Essential

On October 25, 1764, future President John Adams married Abigail Smith. This devoted couple’s prolific correspondence during their married life has provided entertainment and a glimpse of early American life for generations of history buffs. Above are 1766 portraits of Smith (left) and Adams (right) by Benjamin Blyth.

MIT Technology Review: This artist is dominating AI-generated art. And he’s not happy about it.

The Hill: The single-family housing shortage is worst in these cities

NPR: The 5-minute daily playtime ritual that can get your kids to listen better

Today I Learned earwax is produced by the ear to clean and protect itself. It's secreted by glands in the skin that line the outer half of your ear canals. The wax and tiny hairs in these passages trap dust and other foreign particles that could damage deeper structures, such as your eardrum.