Thursday Morning Minute

Good morning, and welcome to RedState's "Morning Minute" — a brief glimpse at which stories are trending at the moment and a look ahead at what the day may bring. Consider this your one-stop shop for news to kickstart your day.

TOP O' THE MORNIN'

Debate Monitors Deliver Great News for Trump With Independents, Devastating News for Harris

What the independent voters wanted to hear was how Harris is different than Joe Biden, whose policies they have not liked, and what are her policies for the future?

Another Trump Debate Hoax Rages

Cable news is filled with over-credentialed mediocrities with the common sense of a lima bean.

Gov. Mike DeWine Deploys State Troopers to Springfield, OH, Despite ABC Claiming All Is Well There

While the influx of state troopers and state money might staunch the bleeding, ultimately, what needs to happen is a mass deportation campaign and a criminal investigation to find out how this situation came to be and who is responsible.

WHAT'S ON TAP?

Today on Capitol Hill...

It's a bit quieter today on the Hill. Only six meetings/hearings set for the day, all in the Senate:

Senate Armed Services — Hearings to examine the nominations of Lieutenant General Steven S. Nordhaus, USAF, to be general and Chief of the National Guard Bureau, and Vice Admiral Alvin Holsey, USN, to be admiral and Commander, United States Southern Command, both of the Department of Defense
Senate Energy and Natural Resources — Hearings to examine the Department of Energy's lead role in conducting advanced computing research, application, and security
Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions — Hearings to examine the bankruptcy of Steward Health Care, focusing on how management decisions have impacted patient care
Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs — Hearings to examine protecting Americans' money, focusing on combatting scams and frauds against seniors and savers
Senate Finance — Hearings to examine the 2025 tax policy debate and tax avoidance strategies
Senate Foreign Relations — Hearings to examine anti-NGO laws and other tools of democratic repression

Meanwhile, over in the House, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is working on herding the cats over the government funding bill.

White House What's Up

It's a quiet day for President Joe Biden, as well. Aside from his Daily Brief, the only thing on the president's schedule is delivering remarks regarding the 30th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act.

The Homestretch

Vice President Kamala Harris travels to Charlotte, North Carolina, on Thursday for an afternoon campaign event. Then, she heads to an evening campaign event in Greensboro before returning to Washington, D.C. Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff is hitting campaign events in Henderson, Nevada, and Tucson, Arizona, on Thursday. Harris' running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, will be attending an event in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Former President Donald Trump will also be in Tucson on Thursday for a campaign event.

Full Court Press...

Florida's Supreme Court will hear a redistricting case on Thursday. Also on Thursday, Trayon White, a D.C. Council member accused of bribery, is due in court.

Meanwhile, there are amicus briefs being filed in Trump's efforts before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals to have the appellate court issue a stay of further proceedings in the New York falsified business records case. Although the sentencing has been delayed until November by Judge Juan Merchan, Trump's legal team is asking the federal appellate court to revisit the issue of whether the case should be removed to federal court in light of the issues raised by the Supreme Court's presidential immunity ruling.

MORNING MUSING

I'm going to muse this morning on the tweet shared below. I fully recognize it's human nature to romanticize days gone by and perhaps gloss over the not-so-great parts. I also fully recognize that as a Gen-Xer who came of age in the 80s, I'm biased. But yes, things did seem better then. It's hard not to notice we've turned ourselves into unhappy, anxiety-ridden, suspicious creatures. Was it the Internet? Social media? Smartphones? Or was it just always destined to devolve? I don't know that there's any way to say for certain. What I do know is that we are capable of so much more and so much better.