Morning Belz, July 2

Calm down.

Spent two days this week in Atlanta, asking people about critical race theory on Tuesday and infiltrating the Optimist International Convention yesterday. Once again, speaking to regular people on the street reminded me that most of my fellow citizens are not involved in or interested in esoteric debates about the philosophy of history. Generally they want accurate history to be taught in this country, they’re not overly consumed with grievance, and they’re nice. The guy in the picture above goes by the stage name King Diamond, by the way, and I put his picture here just because he looked like a million dollars.

We did get kicked out of the optimist convention eventually, but not until after we’d interviewed a lot of people. The organization is mostly focused on college scholarships and other forms of support for young people. It was more racially diverse than I figured it for, and has a big presence, apparently, in the Caribbean. The most interesting interview was with an old white guy who said he was the son of missionaries in Sudan and Ethiopia, and didn’t really experience the United States until he was 18. When he did, he was appalled at the waste and the lack of appreciation for its abundance. He looked like he was in his 70s, and he said he’s still wrestling with that.

I have a lot of video to edit in the next 10 days or so. Hope everyone has a good Fourth of July weekend.

——
U.S. forces quit main base in Afghanistan — Reuters
Background, opinion and dissent on Arizona voting law — SCOTUS*
Cue fireworks: good jobs report out this morning — Forbes
Former Grassley aide starts new whistleblower group — Empower
Cali sets date for Newsom recall election — AP
A New York Times profile of Joe Rogan — NYT

*Scroll down for Alito’s majority opinion (page 7) and Kagan’s dissent (page 45).

Quote
“Our ignorance of history makes us libel our own times. People have always been like this.” — Gustave Flaubert, 1871

About: I send this email most weekdays in an effort to stay informed and in touch. I was a newspaper reporter for 14 years, most recently at the Minneapolis Star Tribune. I explained why my family left Minneapolis here. Now we live just outside Chattanooga and I work on Scuffed News. Please share this newsletter with anyone you think might enjoy it. And please consider supporting this work with your money on Patreon.