1. 'More than a place, a promise'

If you heard speakers talk about a "country-over-party moment," and the importance of being "ambassadors for truth," putting "duty ahead of political expediency," and "serving a higher calling than partisanship—citizenship," you likely chose the Convention on Founding Principles over the Republican National Convention, which both kicked off last night. Last night's program, hosted by Evan McMullin, Mindy Finn, Heath Mayo, and Shermichael Singleton, featured a wealth of notable speakers addressing the pertinent issues the nation faces in the quest to form an ever more perfect union.

• — Vision and ideals vs. no platform. Former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele and former FBI Director James Comey endorsed Democratic candidate Joe Biden, along with 87% of the convention's delegates. They cited his decency and commitment to higher principles as opposed to the GOP's lack of a platform and acquiescence to the failed leadership of President Trump.
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• — E Pluribus Unum. A key speech of the evening was delivered by Ohio native Clarence Mingo, who used personal recollections and called for a commitment to understand and find cause for fellowship with those who are different than us in order to overcome the racial tensions currently inflaming the nation.
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• — Other highlights. The first evening featured an inclusive ecumenical prayer, a striking rendition of the National Anthem by Alex Boye, an official gaveling-in by former North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Robert Orr, and speeches by Gen. Michael Hayden, columnist Mona Charen, religious writers Vicki Courtney and Mark Galli, antiracist activist Derek Black, and Republican strategist Amanda Carpenter. —The Columbus Dispatch

2. McMullin: Principles are revolutionary again

"Honoring and celebrating the American legacy...must also mean recognizing our faults, and committing ourselves to do and be better. Especially as we prepare to exercise our constitutional rights to choose our leaders in November, we must take a hard look at who we are as a people, and who we should be. Republicans and right-leaning independents, we have a duty to look at the state of this party, and ask if that institution and the people leading it are living up to our principles. The unavoidable answer is 'no.'" —USA Today

Ed. Note: Evan McMullin, a former CIA officer, chief policy director for House Republicans, and independent presidential candidate, is co-executive director of Stand Up Republic.

MORE: 'He's going to be unleashed': Republican DOJ appointees urge against Trump second term —Politico

3. Kenosha flickers in wake of police shooting

Fires engulfed areas of Kenosha, Wisc., last night, as protests against police brutality continued for a second night in the city. The unrest was sparked by the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, by police officers on Sunday. Blake was reportedly unarmed and shot in front of his children.

• — Protesters ignored the mobilization of the Wisconsin National Guard and an emergency curfew to take to the streets, where officers attempted to keep order with barricades and tear gas.
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• — Several structures, including a Wisconsin Department of Corrections building, were set on fire. A local furniture store was also completely engulfed in flames.
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• — In solidarity with Kenosha protesters, demonstrators also marched in New York City, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and Wisconsin’s capital city, Madison. —USA Today

4. Jumping the gun again?

President Trump's announcement on Sunday of an emergency use authorization for convalescent plasma has left some medical researchers scratching their heads. Critical questions remain about the COVID-19 treatment, which hasn't been fully tested and studied. Scientists also say the data cited on Sunday was "grossly misrepresented," which is especially worrisome, given the concerns in the medical community over how Trump has appeared to politicize the process of approving treatments and vaccines for the coronavirus. —The New York Times

• — No, we're not the "deep state." Dr. Stephen Hahn, the head of the Food and Drug Administration, was forced to refute accusations by Trump that his agency is part of the so-called "deep state." On Saturday, Trump said the FDA is purposely complicating efforts to test COVID-19 vaccines in order to delay results until after the presidential election. Hahn flatly rejected the criticism and added that FDA workers are focused solely on the interests of the American people. —Reuters
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• — Florida schools are off the hook. A judge yesterday ruled against the state's order requiring schools to open for in-person instruction by the end of August. He called parts of the order "unconstitutional," and put the power to decide whether to reopen back in the hands of individual districts. The July order had mandated that all districts open "brick and mortar schools" at least five days a week or risk losing already-allocated funding. —NPR
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• — A secondary health hazard. Thousands of oil and gas operations, government facilities, and other sites won permission from the president in March to stop monitoring for hazardous emissions or enforcing environmental rules because of the coronavirus outbreak. The result? Additional health risks to communities as governments eased enforcement over smokestacks, medical waste shipments, sewage plants, oilfields, and chemical plants. —Associated Press

5. Owermohle: A win-at-all-costs vaccine strategy could backfire

"President Trump's blunt demands that the Food and Drug Administration speed the approval of coronavirus vaccines—before it's clear whether any now in development are effective—threaten to undermine the country's best hope for ending the pandemic. Rushing out a vaccine without solid proof it works could lead many people to refuse to take it, public health experts warn. Worse still would be cutting corners to distribute a shot that then turns out not to work, leaving people unknowingly vulnerable to the deadly virus." —Politico

MORE: Fauci says rushing out a vaccine could jeopardize testing of others —Reuters

6. Global roundup

What's the story with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un? Recent reports suggested he was in a coma and had ceded at least some power to his sister, Kim Yo Jong. But now South Korean officials say that's an "exaggeration." Seoul's Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo said today during a hearing at the National Assembly that he cannot confirm the earlier statements from South Korea's National Intelligence Service. —United Press International

• — AMLO in a jam. As a populist president who's used an anti-corruption probe into past administrations to boost his party ahead of legislative and state elections, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was on a roll. Now he's fighting to regain his own integrity after multiple videos have surfaced implicating his brother and other political allies in illegal financing antics. —Bloomberg
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• — "The Freedom Way." More than 50,000 Lithuanians joined hands on Sunday in a human chain stretching 20 miles, from the capital of Vilnius to the Belarus border, to express solidarity with their neighbor's dramatic struggle for democracy. Belarus has experienced sustained protests since a widely contested election earlier this month. —U.S. News

7. Tisdall: Democracy's greatest challenge

"Perhaps there will be a reckoning with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin one day. But not yet. Europe fears him, Donald Trump shields him, and China befriends him. His sense of impunity is powerful. Last week's non-coincidental poisoning of Russia's leading opposition figure, Alexei Navalny, who was touring disaffected Siberia, is a horribly familiar crime. Who can doubt where ultimate responsibility lies? The Kremlin's message—for domestic and foreign consumption—is deadly and uncompromising." —The Guardian

8. QAnon has a friend in the Kremlin

Russian government-supported organizations are playing an increasing role amplifying conspiracy theories promoted by QAnon, raising concerns of interference in the November election. Academics who study QAnon said there are no signs that Russia had a hand in its 2017 origins on social media, but as per usual, Russia has quickly jumped into the fray.

• — As QAnon has gained adherents and taken on new topics, with President Trump representing the conspiracy's central hero waging a misunderstood battle, social media accounts controlled by key Kremlin allies have joined in.
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• — In 2019, the Internet Research Agency, a Russian "troll factory" indicted by former Special Counsel Robert Mueller in his election interference prosecution, sent a high volume of tweets tagged with #QAnon and the movement slogan #WWG1WGA, short for Where We Go One, We Go All, says Melanie Smith from the social media analysis firm Graphika.
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• — More recently, Russian government-backed media RT.com and Sputnik have stepped up coverage of QAnon, fitting it into their broader narrative of "The U.S. is falling apart, look how much division there is." —Al Jazeera

9. Rubin: Where was the optimism?

"In the spin before the Republican National Convention began, President Trump's team insisted we would get optimism, hope, and uplift. Instead, the first night has brought a parade of angry and aggrieved—and mostly White—speakers who sound as paranoid as Trump. ... In contrast to the upbeat videos and testimonies of the Democratic nominee's good character, Republicans have largely relied on a parade of angry individuals standing on a podium. The setting had the feel of a local tea party confab, with many people speaking VERY LOUDLY to people already fully in their club." —The Washington Post

MORE: Republicans warn of chaos if Biden wins: Key moments from the convention's first night —Politico

10. An American Story: Austin Harvest

The Austin Harvest food mart pop-up in Chicago was brought to life by neighborhood teens who recognized the food scarcity in the area and decided to take matters into their own hands. The project was funded by former Chicago Bears linebacker Sam Acho and other Chicago athletes, as well as By the Hand Kids Club.

• — The teens started working on the pop-up after the protests for George Floyd in June. By the Hand hosted a series of listening circles to give young people a platform to voice their frustrations around the systemic racism they see in their neighborhood, and to talk about how the civil unrest had impacted them.
   
• — There, they discussed how the food scarcity in the neighborhood was part of a legacy of city neglect and racism on the West Side that worsened when some of the few grocery stores in the area had to shut their doors temporarily after being looted.
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• — Azariah Baker, one of the teens who created Austin Harvest, said the market is giving the teens meaningful jobs where they learn about marketing, customer service, and management. Their work has resulted in internship offers. "The amount of opportunities that we are creating for ourselves is incredible," she said. —Block Club Chicago (via Karunavirus)

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