One Woman's Viewpoint

On Aug. 29, the U.S. Army took an unprecedented step in issuing a statement in support of one of its civilian employees. The statement was unprecedented in that in supporting its employee, who works at Arlington National Cemetery (ANC), the Army rebuked a presidential campaign and a former president.

Because of the high drama surrounding All Things Trump, sides have been taken. As is so often the case, there is much more to the story, than a simple, "Trump bad, Army good," or the other side of the coin, "Trump was abused, media is biased."

Despite having more watchable programming and better ratings, the Democratic national convention hasn't delivered a notable boost to the Harris-Walz campaign. The lead the Democratic ticket has gained in the national polls following President Joe Biden's departure from the campaign remains steady but has not surged post-convention.

Democrats are excited, and we get it – joyful. Swing voters seem to remain unmoved.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s "suspension" of his campaign and endorsement of Donald Trump on Aug. 23 has had a similar non-effect on polls. The only drama the announcement brings is some mild speculation that Trump might prefer Kennedy over J.D. Vance as a running mate.

The Democratic National Committee released its 2024 platform August 18 in conjunction with this week's national convention hosted in Chicago. There are some stark differences from the Republican platform.

First there's length: the Democrats' platform is more than three times as long as the Republicans'— 92 pages compared to 28. And then there is style. The DNC platform is written in a clear style that would hold up well against Strunk & White or the AP Style Guide; the RNC platform is written in Trump-Tweet-Caps-For-Emphasis style.

The targeted assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas' political leader, and his bodyguard in Tehran on July 31 has set Southwest Asia on edge again.

According to The New York Times, the assassination was accomplished with a bomb smuggled into a guesthouse run by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards and remotely detonated once it was confirmed that Haniyeh was inside. Iranian officials and Hamas said Israel was responsible for the assassination, and U.S. officials have concurred with that assessment.

From purely a viewer's standpoint, this has been a fun Olympic Games. After having the U.S. broadcasting rights for years, NBC seems to finally have hit on the right formula for covering the Games (although I could stand fewer celebrity cameos in the stands). I'm getting to see just enough of the only-every-four-years events like fencing and handball, and not missing the important swimming and track and field preliminaries and finals.

Everything is just dandy until I log into social media. Uncredited social media posts have spread manufactured Olympic controversy like a plague that has resulted in global arguments with exactly zero facts.

There are many tough tasks ahead for the 47th President of the United States. Military readiness will be at the top of the list. The report of the Commission on the National Defense Strategy, ordered by Congress, was released this week, and the news isn't good. The analysis is that the last time the United States was prepared for a global military conflict was during the Cold War, 35 years ago.

According to the Commission the Department of Defense's business practices are "archaic" and "risk-averse." Its research and development and procurement process is "byzantine." The industrial base is insufficient with regard to supply chain, workforce, and production capacity. Weapons systems are decades old. Military personnel are "stretched to the breaking point."

This week, presidential polls are moving again, in the opposite direction. After the Biden campaign made the determination there was no path to victory, the President announced on July 21 that he would not accept the Democratic nomination and he endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris.

The negligible momentum gained by the Trump/Vance campaign after the Republican convention vanished nearly overnight as voters contemplated a candidate not eligible for Social Security (whether Social Security is still solvent when Harris reaches 65 is another matter entirely).

The second half of July has had no shortage of blockbuster political news stories. In less than 48 hours: Federal judge (and Trump appointee) Aileen Cannon dismissed all charges in the classified documents case against President Trump; Trump announced his running mate, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, a former critic reborn as a MAGA zealot exactly half his age; and of course, the failed assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania Trump rally over the weekend that killed one attendee and critically wounded two others.