If there are essential reads today, they are about the efforts to understand the conduct of law enforcement both before and after the Texas shooter entered the school, most written without any Presumption of Grace.
I’ve read everything else and nothing seems too interesting or important.
And even the journalism about Texas doesn’t interest me enough to care to read them – or at least to overcome my sense of horror and sadness at what has happened.
I’ve been so touched this week by the many emails I’ve received from readers about my coverage, including my discussion with Michael Smerconish on Wednesday.
There is no discounting the alternative missives I got from some of you that ask why I can’t simultaneously mourn the deaths of those dear children and still cover and analyze the rest of the news.
I’m really trying.
I promise you there truly are no essential reads today, a view I would have even if the massacre had never taken place.
Here’s the best I can do.
FIVE STORIES
1. This Wall Street Journal story will tell you more about the midterms than any covey of polling data:
Many of the companies whose mission is to know the U.S. consumer are bracing for a shift in spending as inflation rises and stocks wobble. They are bringing back more bargains, cheaper store brands and rewards programs for shoppers who want to save where they can even as some continue to spend robustly on everything from apparel to pet food.
“There is a tug of war between the consumer’s desire to buy what they want and the need to make concessions based on the higher prices hitting their wallets,” said Marshal Cohen, chief retail industry adviser for market research firm NPD Group. Over 80% of American consumers plan to cut back spending by buying cheaper or fewer products, according to a May survey of 1,014 people by NPD.
The new product selections, prices and marketing from some of the country’s biggest consumer brands and retailers are the latest signs of how the pace of inflation and the Federal Reserve’s recent decision to raise interest rates are upending daily life for many Americans.
2. The New York Times has its seventh version of “See, Donald Trump’s power within the Republican Party is waning, despite our four ‘to be sure’ paragraphs,” and the most important “nugget” is another reference to the notion that Mr. Trump is toying with announcing his third presidential campaign before November.
3. In related news, the AJC:
The Fulton County District Attorney’s wide-ranging criminal investigation into efforts to overturn Georgia’s 2020 presidential election is heating up, weeks after the seating of a special purpose grand jury with subpoena power.
Jurors are slated to hear closed-door testimony from Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Thursday, according to his subpoena, which was obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution through an open records request.
4. A Politico piece that is something something something about Elise Stefanik, Tucker Carlson, Tucker Carlson’s son, Jim Banks, Donald Trump Jr, and an alleged whisper campaign – a narrative so complex and shadowy that it likely won’t be deciphered until the next Lauriol Plaza Gang of 500 brunch.
5. The New York Post on the latest effort to turn every Putin video into the Zapruder film.
I’ve resolved to mix smiling with crying this weekend:
I got into a fight this morning with 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9. The odds were really against me.
My friend claims that he "accidently" glued himself to his autobiography. I don't believe him, but that’s his story, and he's sticking to it.
I have two unwritten rules.
1.
2.
See you tomorrow.
****
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