June 2024 cover of the once venerable and now conspiracy theory-laden New Republic.
Taking the heat 🔥 down
We were just about to push the button to send this edition of the CWR when we and the rest of the world got the news about the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, where a 20-year-old gunman grazed the former President’s ear, killed retired fire chief and ‘hero’ Corey Comperatore and critically wounded two other men. Many experts believe that if President Trump had not turned his head to speak to the people on his right as the gunman fired, he would have been killed.
🎤 ‘Many men wish death upon me. Blood in my eye, dawg, and I can't see. I'm tryin' to be what I'm destined to be. And niggas tryin' to take my life away.’ —50 Cent, Many Men (Wish Death).
“I found it odd because with all of the heated rhetoric— after he was hit, the former President Trump got up and said, ‘Fight, fight, fight.’ I think that’s not the message that we want to be sending right now. We want to tamp it down.”
—Jamie Gangel, CNN special correspondent
Yes, maybe we should tamp it down.
“I have one job, and that’s to beat Donald Trump. I’m absolutely certain I’m the best person to be able to do that. So, we’re done talking about the debate; it’s time to put Trump in a bullseye.”
Many, many very good and even saintly people would have killed Hitler if they had a chance and would have been just to do so. So maybe we should let that settle in a little bit before we go around calling anyone Hitler because who we are accusing might end up in someone’s bullseye.
"When I watched that violent bullet strike my husband, Donald, I realized my life and Barron's life was on the brink of devastating change…A monster who recognized my husband as an inhuman political machine attempted to ring out Donald's passion. The core facets of my husband's life - his human side - were buried below the political machine. Thank you for remembering that every single politician is a man or a woman with a loving family.
This morning, ascend above the hate, the vitriol, and the simple-minded ideas that ignite violence. We all want a world where respect is paramount, family is first, and love transcends. We can realize this world again. Each of us must demand to get it back. We must insist that respect fills the cornerstone of our relationships, again.”
—Melania Trump, the morning after.
Mr. Trump's oldest daughter, Ivanka, stayed with her dad at the Bedminster estate after the assassination attempt and attributed her father's survival to her mom, the late Ivana Trump, whom the former first daughter said was watching over Dad. 'Two years ago today, my mom passed away. I believe she was watching over Dad last night during the attempt on his life," Ivanka wrote on X.
Ivanka attended her mother's funeral in July 2022 with her husband, brother Eric, and his wife Lara, who was named co-chair of the Republican National Committee in March.
The former President was also feeling the higher power, 'It was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening,' he said of the attempt on his life. 'I'm not supposed to be here; I'm supposed to be dead,' Trump told reporters flying with him to Milwaukee today on his jet.
He also described how his secret agents were like 'linebackers,' who took him down so fast and hard his shoes fell off. 'And they were on tight,' he said. 'I wanted to keep speaking to my supporters, but I just got shot,' Trump says. 'The agents told me it wasn't safe, and they had to get me to a hospital.'
Trump got further surprise good news today. Florida District Judge Aileen Cannon ruled that the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith, who was prosecuting Trump on 37 felony charges surrounding his possession of classified materials at his Mar-a-Lago residence, was unconstitutional, and therefore dismissed.
"Upon careful study of the foundational challenges raised in the motion, the Court is convinced that Special Counsel Smith's prosecution of this action breaches two structural cornerstones of our constitutional scheme – the role of Congress in the appointment of constitutional officers and the role of Congress in authorizing expenditures by law."
—Excerpt from Judge Aileen Cannon's 93 page decision.
'This was a seismic decision. Trump's greatest legal threat by far is now gone,' says Jonathan Turley, a defense attorney and law professor at George Washington University.
As noted above, the rest of this edition was written before the news of the Trump assassination attempt, although our thoughts almost eerily foreshadowed yesterday’s events.
A military aide carries then-president Barack Obama's 'nuclear football' upon his return to the White House in May 2016.
Great-grandpa Joe and the Holy Grail
It's like watching a reality TV version of a Monty Python skit—a fantastical tale of a US presidency melting down in front of our eyes, with a propped-up King and a swashbuckling antihero battling each other at center stage. We predicted it, and watching it play out would be hilarious if the cognitively impaired and politically bleeding main character didn't have his hands on the nuclear football.
The Biden Cabinet should invoke the 25th Amendment, send Great-grandpa Joe to his beach house, and hand over the nuclear football to Ms. Kamala Harris. How they handle who is nominated to replace President Biden as the Democratic candidate is for US Constitutional scholars to debate, but Ms. Kamala's rightful stake in the delegates that voted, in part, for her should be honored one way or another to help maintain faith in a political system Americans already profoundly mistrust.
Key nuclear football features
The ‘Black Book’ is accessed by codes authenticating the President's identity and contains nuclear launch options and target information, a list of secure locations for the President during a nuclear conflict, and procedures for using the Emergency Alert System. The football provides options and communication tools, but does not directly launch weapons.
The President of the United States has primary access, but the Vice President also has a backup nuclear football. Only the President can authorize the use of nuclear weapons. A military aide carries the football and remains close to the President at all times.
And yes, world, we are as embarrassed (and nervous) as you are appalled (and nervous). A whopping 63 percent of US voters see Biden and Trump as 'embarrassing,' most would replace them, and a mere 24% think Biden is mentally sharp according to a new Pew Research Center poll.
Who the Democratic presidential nominee will be in 2024 is no longer in the hands of the voters; it is in the hands of a tiny cabal of unelected power brokers fueled by the Donor Class and led by Barack Obama. It is what it is, but unfortunately for them, their attempt to hold onto power ain’t going to work because the Bogeyman is going to win.
From one cabal member to another
Craft Ventures cofounder David Sacks, a well-known Silicon Valley insider and a key member of the Trump Donor Class, is accusing a cabal of shadowy Democratic party operatives of staging a ‘coup’ against President Biden. He is right, of course.
Last month, Mr. Sachs and Chamath Palihapitiya, who made millions as an early exec at Facebook, co-hosted a Silicon Valley insider fundraiser for Donald Trump that raised $12 million in the stereotypically progressive San Francisco neighborhood of Pacific Heights blocks from Rep. Nancy Pelosi's mansion. VCs Shervin Pishevar and Joe Voboril attended, as did C3.ai CEO Tom Siebel.
There is clearly a shift in support for Trump within the SV power ranks, who have traditionally felt morally obligated to vote Democrat. Even Elon Musk, who previously posted on X that he wasn't going to donate to any presidential candidate, reportedly just donated a 'sizable' amount to a Trump-related PAC. The shift to Trump is driven by dissatisfaction with the Biden Admin's policies on business regulations and its policies hostile to cryptocurrencies.
What does matter is that as long as our current campaign funding laws are in place—that allow rich people, corporations, and political action committees to buy off cash-hungry candidates—corruption will continue to be the rule, not the exception. It's a system that breeds shameless, mediocre, finger-in-the-air politicians who primarily serve a small constituency of donors, such as George Clooney, David Sacks, Reid Hoffman, and Elon Musk, that keep them in power.
The answer to this problem is very simple—and Web3 entrepreneurs can help make it happen. As a starting idea, we propose creating a non-government traceable USA crypto wallet and corresponding government ID that automatically gives citizens access to vote at all levels of government according to their validated residence. Second, on the Federal campaign level, issue every citizen a $50 token to contribute to each primary candidate they vote for and a $100 token for each candidate in the general election they wish to bet on. Other than what candidates can raise from US citizens, the rest comes out of their pocket. State and local governments could have their version of this more democratic candidate campaign funding mechanism that would give every voter a greater stake in the election and certainly increase overall voter participation. And best of all—No more PACs, and no more Donor Class.🤑
LinkedIn founder and Democratic Party Super Donor Class member Reid Hoffman got himself in a heap of trouble for a pre-Trump assassination attempt quip he made at the annual Allen & Company Billionaires’ Summer Camp in Sun Valley hosted by the courtly and debonair Herb Allen III (a.k.a. Three Sticks).
Naughty camper Reid Hoffman.
Apparently, fellow PayPal Mafia billionaire Peter Theil, known for leaning libertarian, was in the crowd and spoke up and sarcastically thanked Reid for funding the slew of Trump lawsuits, saying the legal action had turned the 45th president into a 'martyr.' To which Reid retorted, 'Yeah, I wish I had made him an actual martyr.' 😳
After the shooting, a third member of the PayPal Mafia and newly minted Trump Super Donor Class member, Elon Musk, who skipped camp this year, was quick to post on X: 'The Reid Hoffman's of the world got their dearest wish … but then the martyr lived.'
Meanwhile, Reid attempted a backpedal in a follow-up X post: 'Peter Thiel said that my lawsuit work against Trump was 'turning a clown into a martyr.' In that context, I replied that I wished that Trump would martyr himself — meaning let himself be held accountable.' 🤔
That's not what you said, buddy—Let's turn down the heat.
When in doubt—political hacks blame it on Vlad!
Meanwhile, Reid's top Democratic strategist Dmitri Mehlhorn floated the possibility that the Trump team staged the assassination attempt to gain more voter empathy. Such a stunt 'feels horrific and alien and absurd in America, but is quite common globally,' Mr. Mehlhorn wrote in an email given to Semafor.
'This is a classic Russian tactic, such as when Putin killed 300 civilians in 1999 and blamed it on terrorists to ride the backlash to winning power. Others who have embraced this tactic of committing raw evil and then benefitting from the backlash include Hamas on October 7. If any Trump officials encouraged or knew of this attack, that is morally horrific, and Republicans of decency must demand that Trump step down as unfit.
This is a classic Putin play, and, given the facts, seems more plausible. Look at the actual shot. Look at the staging. Look at how ready Trump is to rally; this pampered baby shit his pants when an eagle lunged at his food. Look at how quickly Trump protects himself at the expense of others, but showed few of those lifelong instincts in this moment. And consider how often Putin and his allies run this play."
Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington and the OpenAI Startup Fund, under the direction of CEO Sam Altman, are backing Thrive AI Health, a new 'AI health coach' application company. The goal is to give users personalized advice on sleep, food, fitness, stress management, and connection building, a health data LLM platform trained by data partners, including Stanford Medicine. DeCarlos Love, who previously led fitness and health experiences at Google's Fitbit subsidiary, has been appointed Thrive AI’s CEO. Walmart co-founder Helen Walton's Alice L. Walton Foundation is also an investor in the startup
Former Google Fitbit boss DeCarlos Love is now Thrive AI’s CEO.
The VC market may shows signs of bottoming out, but it’s still thinning out. The total deal value is at an eight-quarter high, hitting $55.6 billion in Q2 of 2024, according to the PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor. However, VC funds are still shedding bodies and overhead. The venerable Index Ventures cut five out of nine of its investors in San Francisco this week after announcing they had impressively raised $2.3 billion for two new funds focused on artificial intelligence, which also include investments in Israeli AI startups.
A mcck-up of blockchain-based voting ballot coming to you soon.
OnHollywood
Shari Redstone of Paramount Global arriving at the Allen & Company Sun Valley conclave.
This week, media heiress Shari Redstone reached a preliminary agreement to sell her controlling stake in Paramount Global to Skydance Media, the entertainment company run by David Ellison, Oracle founder Larry Ellison's son. Ms. Redstone controls the entertainment giant through her 77% ownership stake in its family firm, National Amusements. Skydance will pay $1.75 billion for National Amusements as part of the deal. The deal came after Redstone abruptly ended talks with David Ellison in June, killing the potential sale of a controlling stake in Paramount Global to the independent studio.
We did our best to give the Democrats some bold new Web3 related initiatives to help reinvent itself in our last edition, but their remains very little crypto leadership on the blue team.
Meantime, Trump, who called Bitcoin a 'fraud' in the last election cycle, has now positioned himself as a pro-crypto candidate. He has pledged to 'end Democrats' unlawful and unAmerican Crypto crackdown' and defend the right to mine Bitcoin. Yet Trump is strongly against issuing Central Bank Digital Currencies, as they pose a 'threat to freedom.' 🤔 We have some further digging to do. Still, our guts say Trump's knowledge of the potential of Web3 innovation to help make government more private, secure, and efficient is extremely shallow and requires continued concern and attention.
Interestingly, the shooting on the weekend gave bitcoin, crypto, and the stocks of crypto exchange Coinbase Global (COIN), and bitcoin miners Riot Platforms (RIOT), and Marathon Digital (MARA) big price boosts.
Keep the eyes of over 500,000 global innovators on your brand here..
A new Pew Research Poll shows 47 percent of young people between 18 and 29 say they are Republican or lean Republican, versus 46 percent who identify as Democrat or lean Democrat—an incredible 20-point shift since 2020.
A Gallup poll last year, however, showed that while four in 10 American adults overall say they are extremely proud to be an American, just a paltry 18% of those between 18 and 34 say the same.
The Waaagh generation doesn’t think it’s fair.
A Democracy Fund survey found that three-quarters of Gen Z say that the nation requires ‘significant change.’ At the same time, two in three agree that ‘America is an unfair society.’ Four in 10 Zoomers say that America’s Founding Fathers are better described as villains than heroes. Four in ten Zoomers also agree with statements like ‘I can’t do anything right’ and ‘My life is not useful.’
Generational expert Dr. Jean Twenge says Gen Z’s lack of patriotism is part and parcel of their general pessimism and malaise. ‘They are markedly more pessimistic about everything than Millennials were at the same age,’ observes Dr. Twenge. ‘The rise in young people’s pessimism parallels their rise in depression, which makes sense.’
Pura Vida (pure life)
Scanning is believing. The 'pinch test' and calculating one's BMI (Body Mass Index) to get an idea of one's fat-to-muscle ratio worked okay in the '90s and '00s, but now high-tech, highly accurate measuring options are available previously reserved for elite athletes.
Take a 2-minute InBody scan to find that visceral fat.
Dr. Frank Lipman on body composition measuring tools
Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry (DEXA or DXA): This system provides highly accurate measurements using low-level X-rays to assess bone mass and density, lean muscle mass, and fat mass – but it’s not for everyone. It’s an expensive option, requiring specialized equipment, and it involves exposure to a small amount of radiation.
Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA):I like the InBody testing device and use it in my practice just about every day. It takes just a minute or two and works by sending a small electrical current through the body, measuring the ‘resistance’ to the current to estimate body fat percentage, muscle mass, and body water content.
With an accurate, 2-minute scan on the InBody machine, Dr. Lipman then shows his patients where the trouble spots are (he's looking for your visceral fat) and helps them create the exercise and strength training tweaks they need to start chipping away at those potentially life-shortening stores of visceral fat. Read Dr. Lipman's full article on body composition analysis here.
The Cryptonite Weekly Rap—Your timely insider view on the global Silicon Valley, delivered with panache. Become a paid member and get the best from us! Peace✌🏼
