Our Best Stuff From a Week in the New Normal

Joe Biden considers his options for VP and makes a big gaffe.

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The weirdness of what I call the pandemic time-space continuum really hits home on a holiday weekend. Weeks drag by and time moves slowly, but then you look up and a whole month has passed. We should be in the middle of the NBA playoffs, but we aren’t. We should be a couple of months into the major-league baseball season, but our memories are stuck on spring training. 

And now we have a weekend that should be full of parades and picnics and the first dip in the swimming pool. It’s the unofficial start of summer. Sure, some people can go to the beach. But it really doesn’t feel like summer, even if it is sunny and 80. (It is here, and I’m thankful for that.) In fact, even as things open up, sometimes it feels like “normal” is farther away than ever. Except for the yard work, that hasn’t changed. (And that’s where you’ll find me this weekend.)

Hey, but at least politics are getting back to something like normal. Joe Biden committed his first big gaffe of the campaign, telling the host of the syndicated radio show The Breakfast Club that, “If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black.” And President Trump’s press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, appeared to reveal his private bank account information when she held up a check at a press briefing to show that he was donating his salary for the quarter to the Department of Health and Human Services. 

Since Joe Biden became the presumptive nominee, it has almost felt like the presidential campaign was on hold. No rallies, no handshakes, no kissing babies. But Joe Biden is conducting his search for a running mate, and news came out this week that Amy Klobuchar agreed to be vetted. And while we’re months away from a debate between candidates, the biggest debate at the moment is whether we should all be voting by mail in the fall. Republicans are resisting statewide efforts to make such voting easier, and Trump has tweeted his displeasure with the idea. We actually covered this topic last month, and Rachel Kleinfeld put a lot of fears about fraud and partisanship to rest. At times it feels like a silly thing to fight about, but it’s safe to say that it won’t be the silliest issue of this campaign.

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  1. Avatar photo
    Jonathan Mondejar

    I have yet to receive the password for the Zoom chat that happened last Thursday. Has this been sent out? Is there any way that someone can reach out to me with that information?

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    Ray Salemi

    Wait, we’re paying attention to gaffes now?

    Would this be like the time Trump said this to a Jewish audience?

    ‘A lot of you are in the real estate business, because I know you very well. You’re brutal killers. Not nice people at all, but you have to vote for me you have no choice.’

    I don’t remember that derailing his campaign.

    The age of gaffes is over.

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    Scarlette Tarte

    I would not worry about Joe Biden's "gaffe". Black people are savvy enough to know the difference between an awkward ally and a virulent racist. Biden tried to make a stupid joke...that is all it was. Trump is a virulent racist.

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  4. Butch Kamena

    Small criticism of the headline. I hate the phrase "New Normal" in this context. Unemployment in the high teens, many schools and businesses closed, being told not to hug relatives outside our households, being encouraged to wear masks, etc. We can go round-and-round on the need for all these things, but even if necessary, they are not "normal," and we shouldn't view them as such in any context, new, old or otherwise. This is utterly abnormal, and should be labelled as such.

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      Rachael Larimore vertical-nib Author

      That's fair! I have to admit, it's getting hard to right new headlines every week. And I do worry this abnormal is going to be with us for a while, alas.

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        Aylene Wright

        Maybe next week you can write about the "new abnormal"?

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    Monte

    Here's a thought, don't do "debates" . . .

    Very few important things lend themselves to 60-second answers. So why spend time listening to who has the best soundbites (pre-planned) or the best comebacks (indicates only a bit about mental ability).

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    1. Jaybrown

      Excellent idea, especially with this campaign. With both candidates so gaffe-prone and truth-challenged, each debate will be followed by hours-long "gotcha" parades by commenters from both sides. Who needs that? And at this point, who doesn't already know everything they need to know about either candidate?

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        merseyyank

        Call me crazy, but that's exactly why I'd want to see debates this election season. They would be the most bizarrely entertaining train wrecks in the history of our nation. There is no reason to hide who will be the most powerful man in the world for the next four years.

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      2. linda

        If they do have a "debate" it will just be an hour of namecalling and playground talk.

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  6. Avatar photo
    Pastorfbt

    Not seeing the email with password?

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    1. Avatar photocircle-angle-nib
      Rachael Larimore vertical-nib Author

      Can you email members@thedispatch.com? Someone will get back to you!

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      1. Avatar photo
        Pastorfbt

        Got it! Should have guessed the password!

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