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Sobering data from the last few weeks show Americans report feeling record low happiness levels and pride in America. It’s no wonder, amid a disorienting pandemic and brutal incidents of racially motivated violence that have deepened distrust in authority figures. While electing and promoting better leaders is an important part of the solution, our collective discontent permeates throughout society, and it will take solutions that transcend the limited role of politics. We need a societal reset grounded in core principles: connection, family, community, health, meaningful work. We can’t control all that threatens us, but we do have the power to renew our focus on service to others and affect change that reflects our values. —Mindy Finn
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5. Russia and China up to no good
German prosecutors charged a Russian national yesterday who they say was acting on the Kremlin's orders in the murder of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a former Chechen rebel leader, in Berlin last August. "State agencies of the central government of the Russian Federation commissioned the defendant to liquidate the Georgian citizen of Chechen origin," Germany's federal prosecutor said. The U.S. concluded last year that the killing was commissioned by Russia and not the work of criminal organizations, as German investigators initially suspected. —The Wall Street Journal
- — A "sophisticated state-based actor" has spent months trying to hack all levels of the government, political bodies, essential service providers, and operators of critical infrastructure in Australia, according to Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Not surprisingly, "there is a high degree of confidence that China is behind the attacks," an Australian government source said. —Reuters
— A Chinese court has secretly convicted and sentenced Yu Wensheng, one of China's most outspoken human rights lawyers, to four years in prison on the charge of "inciting subversion of state power." One of the staunchest government critics in the country, Yu had repeatedly weighed in on politically sensitive issues, despite efforts to stifle dissent under Chinese President Xi Jinping. He has been in state custody since January 2018. —The Guardian-
- — A group of 86 human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Freedom House, have urged Chinese legislators to abandon a national security law for Hong Kong, calling the proposed legislation "a devastating assault on human rights." The legislators are discussing the law at their current meeting, paving the way for it to come into force as early as this month. —Al Jazeera
6. SCOTUS ruling yields new election battlecry
Rattled by yesterday's Supreme Court ruling regarding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, President Trump turned the setback into a 2020 election pitch. In a pair of tweets, he said he will release a new list of potential Supreme Court nominees by Sept. 1. "If given the opportunity, I will only choose from this list, as in the past, a conservative Supreme Court justice," he said. "Based on decisions being rendered now, this list is more important than ever before (Second Amendment, Right to Life, Religious Liberty, etc.) – VOTE 2020!" —CBS News
More: Fox News poll sees Trump's popularity drop to new low as Biden increases lead (The Independent)
Will the Fox News crowd put their bloodstreams where their mouths are and attend the Tulsa rally for Trump?
Will Steve Doucy and his sideshow kick off the morning from Tulsa?
Will "The Five" do a remote from Tulsa?
Will Sean Hannity bounce onto the stage to introduce him?
And will Jerry Falwell, Jr., deliver an invocation? —Jim V., New York
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