New Biden Ad - "War Zone," Biden's Age, Rs Doing Putin's Bidding Again, A Splendid Torch

Remarkable How Often Rs Find Themselves On The Same Side As Putin And Autocrats and Not on America's Side

Friends, a few things for you today:

New Biden Ad, “War Zone” - Very good stuff here. Please share widely.

On Biden’s Age - From a new Niall Stanage column in the Hill:

Democratic strategist Simon Rosenberg told this column: “What we’ve learned with President Biden is that age is both an asset and a liability. The liability is obvious, but with age comes wisdom and experience. It has allowed Biden to be a very successful president in a very rancorous and challenging time.”

Rosenberg further asserted that Biden’s experience was partly responsible for him “being able to pass ten years’ worth of legislation in just two years” before Republicans took control of the House this January.

Those of us who are formerly young understand that with age comes experience, wisdom, and capability. The country has benefited greatly from having had a President who is the most experienced we’ve ever had, as he has ably led us through COVID, insurrection, global inflation and conflict brought by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, extreme weather events, gun violence and so much more. His age and experience is what has made Joe Biden a good President, and has left this great nation far better off.

We should not shy from this debate but should lean in, and make our case. We have a strong case to make. We need to make it, forcefully, and without apology.

House Rs On Verge Of Abandoning Ukraine, Doing Putin’s Bidding Again - From Punchbowl News this morning:

News: Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the House GOP leadership are considering attaching billions of dollars in disaster relief to a short-term stopgap spending bill, leaving out Ukraine aid at a critical moment in the war with Russia. Such a move would set up a showdown with the Senate and President Joe Biden over U.S. support for its embattled ally.

Senate leaders in both parties want to pass Biden’s full $40 billion supplemental spending request — which would go to disaster relief, border security and Ukraine — by the end of the month. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell urged senators to pass it expeditiously Wednesday, as we detailed in our Midday edition.

Acknowledging a “difference of opinion in my party on this,” McConnell said maintaining U.S. support for Ukraine is a national security priority. He added that Ukraine isn’t just fighting for its own independence but also “degrading the military of one of our biggest rivals.” McConnell has been making this case against Russia since it invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Yet McCarthy and his leadership team don’t seem to care about this argument. They’re planning to leave the Ukraine funding out of the supplemental package in order to consider it separately. Instead, House Republicans want to include disaster relief on a continuing resolution designed to keep federal agencies open until some point in November. Congress needs to pass a CR by Sept. 30 to avoid a government shutdown.

…………

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), a member of GOP leadership and the co-chair of the NATO Observer Group, was even more pointed when we asked him about McCarthy’s plan to leave Ukraine aid out of the CR.

“It’d be disappointing,” Tillis told us. “I think we should get them both done [disaster relief and Ukraine aid] because we’re talking about a timeline where we have to send a signal that we’re going to sustain Ukraine.”

Tillis said it was important to make sure that Biden’s presidential drawdown authority doesn’t lapse, which he said could create “an opening for Russia.”

And Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told us he’s been trying to impress on House Republicans that pulling the plug on Ukraine would amount to “creating chaos in the world” and rewarding Vladimir Putin.

A Splendid Torch - I joined Reed Galen for the Lincoln Project podcast this week, and during the show, Reed read a passage from the great Irish writer George Bernard Shaw I felt compelled to share with you:

This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one, the being a force of nature, instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch, which I've got held up for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.

Had a great discussion with Reed. It should drop today or tomorrow, and I will send along a link when it’s out.

Keep working hard all - Simon