☕️ THE SECOND ACT ☙ Sunday, August 11, 2024 ☙ C&C NEWS 🦠

Special edition subscriber bonus post: why you should ignore all the recent bad Trump Campaign news, and instead should be encouraged. We are watching an incredibly strategic story play out.

Good morning, loyal C&C supporters, it’s Sunday! Today’s roundup is intended to give you hope. It’s a special in-depth analysis, for supporters only, of whether, as media claims, the Trump Campaign is melting down or maybe despondently mired in the slough of Kamala. Things look rocky, but should you be worried? No. Hang on. We’re only in the Second Act.

🗞💬 WORLD NEWS AND COMMENTARY 💬🗞

🔥🔥 Yesterday, I started getting text messages as a curious pile of bad news for the Trump campaign mounted up. Our first example is from Politico, which ran a long-form story headlined, “We received internal Trump documents from ‘Robert.’ Then the campaign confirmed it was hacked.” A mysterious, unidentified ‘hacker’ contacted Politico with internal Trump campaign documents, which Politico has not (yet) published, but which were described as being both authentic and embarrassing to Trump.

An unidentified person with the Trump Campaign confirmed the hack and suggested Iran was the culprit. As evidence, the campaign cited a very timely, eight-page Microsoft report publicly published on Friday, that described current Iranian, Chinese, and Russian efforts to influence the U.S. election. In its cover article, Microsoft reported catching an unsuccessful ‘phishing’ attack on a former president’s personal account:

Conservatives online have seized on the phishing attack as the explanation for the leaks, even though that is far from clear. Microsoft described it as ‘unsuccessful.’ But the rumors swirl around the Iranian issue; you’ll recall that the Biden Administration this week unsealed its indictment of a hitman-hiring Iranian. So Iran is in the crosshairs.

Politico’s sub-headline uncontroversially noted that the attack “represents a major security breach for former President Donald Trump’s campaign.” Whatever else it is, or isn’t, the news that embarrassing documents leaked out of the secure inner compartments of the Trump campaign was itself bad news.

It was very bad optics. It made Trump’s Campaign look leaky and disorganized. And then, the Grey Lady picked up the thematic football and raced toward the end zone.

📉 Yesterday, the New York Times ran a long-form, magazine-style story with this disastrous headline:

The story painted the Trump Campaign as disjointed, off its game, losing control of the narrative, pushed around by events, unable to make news, and most of all, impotent to counter Kamala’s relentlessly favorable media coverage, which the Times was polite enough to admit:

Most cuttingly, the Times described the Campaign’s flailing struggle to find any anti-Kamala message that can stick, mocking Trump’s various nicknames for VP Cackle, diagnosing it as an utter inability to find any moniker that resonates with voters. She’s that good. The Times’ article was sourced almost entirely from anonymous Republicans ‘close’ to the former President:

You already know what I think about articles based on anonymous sources. I smell a journalistic rat. But what kind?

It must be admitted that it is odd that Trump seems helpless in the face of Kamala’s fawning media coverage, given her obvious weaknesses. It is also true he has —totally uncharacteristically— failed to mint a successful sobriquet for the cackling candidate. What gives?

📉 Another plot twist made things worse. Yesterday, Kamala —who until ten seconds ago always advocated for more aggressive enforcement of tip taxes— unapologetically ripped-off one of Trump’s most popular platform proposals. Media immediately celebrated the Democrat candidate’s stolen about-face, instead of calling it out for the cynical counterfeit that it was. The headline, also from yesterday’s Times:

Trump immediately responded on Truth Social, arguing Kamala stole his idea and pointing out she’s unlikely to follow through (“she won’t do it”). But like the proverbial lie, Kamala’s popular new policy was already halfway around the media world before the Trump Campaign could get its sneakers on.

So … yesterday we watched the Trump Campaign flailing while Kamala stole its best ideas. It wasn’t pretty.

📉 Not accidentally, in concert with its “three worst weeks” article, the Times simultaneously deployed an op-ed page packed with anti-Trump headlines. Here are just a few. Former Vox chief editor and far-left commenter Ezra Klein found Trump shrinking:

Fake Republican David French Fry, who always selflessly endorses Democrats to “save the Republican party from itself,” deployed his usual undermining editorial:

Race-baiting UNC-Chapel Hill professor and regular commenter Tressie McMillian Cottom found Kamala’s blathery sense of humor hilarious, genuine, and of course, presidential:

Professor Cottom was not wrong, in the sense it didn’t take much to change the shrunken-apple face of President Cabbage, who’d been mainly hiding down in a campaign burrow until the Democrats couped him.

Now that I think of it, maybe there’s a new nickname in Professor’s Cottom’s headline: “Two-Face” Kamala, which works on a whole bunch of levels.

So what are we conservatives to make of all this depressing campaign news? We are watching Act II, that’s what.

🔥🔥 The three-act story structure has been a staple of human storytelling going back to Ancient Greece. It is common and ubiquitious. Nearly every movie made today follows this narrative structure.

The First Act, the “Setup,” introduces the characters and the main conflict. Act Two, the “Confrontation,” is the longest part of the story, and includes the protagonist’s escalating problems, culminating in the tale’s low point or crisis, the “dark night of the soul.” The Third Act, called the “Resolution,” includes the climax, featuring the final battle and its aftermath, where all the loose ends are (hopefully) tied up.

Let’s consider a couple examples. We begin, for obvious reasons, with Groundhog Day. In Act 1, self-centered weatherman Phil Connors arrives in Punxsutawney and gets trapped in a time loop. In Act 2, Phil selfishly exploits the loop, initially having a great time, but ultimately reaches a crisis. Phil finds his life of hedonistic self-gratification empty and unsatisfying, gets depressed, and repeatedly kills himself (and the poor groundhog, for that matter), but it won’t stick. Then, in the film’s final third act, Phil decides to become a better, more selfless person, gets the girl, breaks out of the time loop, and finally enjoys a hot shower (off screen).

How about a personal favorite, My Cousin Vinnie? In Act I, Bill and Stan get wrongly arrested for murder and call Bill’s lawyer cousin Vinnie for help. In Act II, Vinny struggles with an insurmountably long list of obstacles: a skeptical judge, a demanding girlfriend, inexperience, culture shock, wardrobe malfunctions, rookie mistakes, a licensing problem, aggressive locals, and various forms of insomnia, leading him to consider giving up. But in Act III, aided by spunky Mona Lisa Vito, a restful night in jail, and gritty cross-examination, Vinnie crushes the trial, wins his first ‘real’ case, and finally proposes.

Taking the Three Act narrative structure in hand, we can drop this remarkable election season neatly into that well-known plot formula. In Act I, President Trump miraculously dodged an assassin’s* eight bullets, triumphantly entered the Republican Convention to wild acclaim, nominated a youthful, populist VP, soared in the polls, and in one week procured the political destruction of the Democrats’ aging, vegetable-like patriarch.  (* or, assassins’, plural.)

But then, in Act II, our plucky protagonist is shocked by the sudden evaporation of the Nation’s gratitude over his superhuman survival, and stunned by the inexplicable success of the Democrats’ replacement selection, who until ten minutes ago was the most disliked politician in America, and who picked the most awful, least known, and most awkward vice-presidential candidate conceivable.

Now, Trump faces an insurmountably long list of obstacles: a leaky campaign, Iranian assassins, porous security, dishonest corporate media, illegal voters, sagging polling, nicknamer’s block, and a two-faced, proposal-stealing opponent.

It looks bad for our hero! It looks like All is Lost! The suspense is killing us!

If I’m right, and if this carefully scripted election follows the oldest narrative form in human history, things could continue worsening for President Trump, until his chances scrape the bottom, culminating in things looking so bad media mockingbirds could debate whether he should drop out of the race like Biden did.

At which point, the table will be prepared for Act III: the unexpected comeback! Trump triumphant. The traditional narrative would have Trump decide to stop reacting to events and taking action. Also, who knows, 2024 might deliver (another) major plot twist, an “October Surprise,” providing the chance to turn things around. Like what? It’s hard to say; by definition, plot twists are unpredictable.

You might think I’m being overly optimistic, seeing things that aren’t there, or just projecting things I hope for onto current events. Maybe. But many of this week’s Trumpian setbacks could be under the Campaign’s control. As examples, the mysterious hack, the ‘anonymous’ Republican informants, and the Campaign’s apparent indecision; all these could be fully or partially strategic choices, intended to rope the Democrats into sticking with Kamala until the clock expires on their option to change candidates, again.

That clock runs out right after the DNC, which begins just over a week from now.

We all long to see Harris get the full treatment she deserves, and we hate watching the Trump Campaign flounder, which is as much fun as watching a musical about buzzards eating roadkill.

But think about it. Even if he can, why should Trump beat Kamala now? We’ve been told Kamala must poll well for her political survival. She must show the one quality uber alles that President Kumquat couldn’t: the ability to win.

If ‘Plan B’ Harris can’t show her capacity to win, then eight days from now, the Democrats could select a different, stronger candidate.

So, until the Democrats are well and truly stuck with Two-Face Kamala, we must endure another painful week of watching Ms. Cackle’s prospects soar and watching Trump’s prospects sink. After she’s locked in, when there can be no more last-minute switcheroos, then Trump can begin to fight.

Never forget Trump’s superpower: marketing and salesmanship. He is a genius at this; he literally defines the Art of the Deal. You cannot ever count him out. Trump sees possibilities for deals that no one else can. He’s been mocked for buying properties everyone else wanted to condemn, but then transformed them into incalculably valuable prime real estate. He turned the dilapidated Commodore Hotel into the Grand Hyatt New York. He turned the dusty Bonwit Teller Department Store into Trump Tower.

Maybe most relevant, literally on the brink of disaster, Trump turned a bankruptcy-making judgment and a vanity social media platform into a vastly valuable public offering.

Trump —who is also an entertainment expert— surely understands the Three-Act Narrative structure. But even if you don’t buy that he’s deliberately deploying a comeback story for the ages, you should strongly consider whether Trump is deliberately letting Kamala and Walz succeed, for now, so that he can run against them later.

So stay hopeful. Do not worry about how things go over the next couple weeks. We are only in Act II.

Act III is coming.

Have a blessed Sunday! I hope today’s post was encouraging and informative, and blessed you as much as your loyal support has blessed C&C and helped save the country. Meet me back here tomorrow morning, to kick the week off right with an always amusing roundup of essential news and commentary. Finally, you can see why I limited these thoughts to the subscriber bonus post, but feel free to share today’s edition with whoever you think needs to hear it.

We cannot do it alone. Consider joining up with C&C to help move the nation’s needle and change minds.  I could sure use your help getting the truth out and spreading optimism and hope, if you can:  ☕ Learn How to Get Involved 🦠

How to Donate to Coffee & Covid
Twitter: jchilders98.
Truth Social: jchilders98.
MeWe: mewe.com/i/coffee_and_covid.
Telegram: t.me/coffeecovidnews
C&C Swag! www.shopcoffeeandcovid.com