1. 'Principles must guide us'

The third night of the Convention on Founding Principles featured a roundtable discussion by members of 43 Alumni for Biden—a group of officials who worked in the George W. Bush Administration and are supporting Joe Biden for president—and a tribute to public officials who have stood for principle—and against President Trump when those principles were violated. The program also included thoughtful speeches by former Commerce Sec. Carlos Gutierrez, former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci, Lincoln Project co-founder Mike Madrid, former Rep. Charlie Dent, and Dallas businessman Trammell Crow, as well as a video tribute to the late President George H.W. Bush.

• — "A man who has lost his humanity." Former Department of Homeland Security Chief of Staff Miles Taylor reflected on his time in the Trump Administration, laying out in stark terms the ways in which Trump has failed to protect the country. He urged Americans to restore the "bonds of affection" that tie us together.
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• — Don't forget what happens over there. Political columnist and host S.E. Cupp discussed the plight of refugees around the world, and how turning our backs on them hurts our international interests. She said conservatism must return to compassion for the U.S. to remain a beacon of hope for the world.
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• — "We owe it to them." Dr. Dan Barkhuff, president of Veterans for Responsible Leadership, talked about the sacrifices of our military—and how Trump’s failure to address the Russian bounties placed on the heads of our troops is an affront to them. "It's cowardice or willful neglect rooted in complicity," he said. —The Charlotte Observer

2. Wisconsin becomes new ground zero for racial unrest

Turmoil in Kenosha, Wisc., reached new heights yesterday as the Trump Administration authorized sending in National Guard troops; the Milwaukee Bucks refused to play in solidarity with protesters, leading other teams and sports leagues to follow suit; and police arrested an Illinois teen who allegedly gunned down two protesters and injured another. Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old charged in the shootings, considered himself a militia member trying to protect life and property. —Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

• — Armed militias organized on Facebook. Rittenhouse appears to be loosely associated with a self-proclaimed militia group called Kenosha Guard, which issued a "call to arms" on the social media platform in advance of the protest. When other users reported the posts, Facebook moderators responded that the event itself was not in violation of platform policy, but specific comments could be reported for inciting violence. The company is now investigating the matter. —The Verge
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• — Police chief equivocates. While state and county officials expressed consternation over the shootings, Kenosha Police Chief Dan Miskinis seemed to defend Rittenhouse. At a press conference yesterday, he said, "Everybody involved was out after the curfew. I'm not going to make a great deal of it, but the point is that the curfew is in place to protect. Had persons not been out in violation of that, perhaps the situation that unfolded would not have happened." —The Daily Beast
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• — "So are we really surprised...?" No, we're not surprised that Fox News host Tucker Carlson defended Rittenhouse's actions on air last night. Carlson has a long record of making racist and inflammatory statements, and they've only become more incendiary since racial justice protests began in the U.S. following the death of George Floyd in May. —The Guardian

3. Javits: Racial justice requires reimagining citizenship

"The problem below the surface is the corrosive impact of our failure to include everyone in full citizenship. It is eating away at our country's heart and soul. So perhaps in this most-bracing moment, we should look not only at structures but at ourselves. Perhaps we will only truly revive our country's spirit by renewing our citizenship and the liberties, rights, duties, and responsibilities that define it." —The Mercury News

Ed. Note: Carla Javits is president and CEO of the Roberts Enterprise Development Fund, a venture philanthropy that invests in social enterprises that overcome barriers to work.

4. Don't blame Fauci

As was widely reported yesterday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention instituted a major change to the nation's coronavirus testing guidelines earlier this week, suggesting that people who aren't showing symptoms of COVID-19 don't require a test—even if they've had contact with an infected person.

• — The new guidelines caused chagrin among scientists and healthcare workers, as it runs counter to existing understanding about how the disease spreads and how best to contain it.
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• — Turns out, the change was made only after the White House Coronavirus Task Force pressured officials at the CDC to adjust its guidelines.
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• — But the advice didn’t come from task force member Dr. Anthony Fauci. The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases was in surgery on Aug. 20, when the task force held a meeting to discuss the change in strategy. Interesting timing. —Business Insider

5. Kessler: The magic virus theory

"[I]t may turn out that SARS-CoV-2 is indeed a magic virus, in which transmission by children is exceedingly rare. If that happens, no one would be more delighted than I. But currently, there is no one alive who can declare that with any certainty. Not the experts at the Centers for Disease Control, nor the World Health Organization. Not even Dr. Anthony Fauci himself. And that is exactly the point. If you are going to argue that a novel respiratory virus is transmitted in a radical new way, the bar to making that claim should be formidable." —CNN

Ed. Note: Stephen Kessler, M.D., is a physician practicing in Phoenix, Ariz.

6. For once, no foreign interference

Officials at multiple federal agencies, including the FBI and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, said yesterday that there has been no evidence to suggest that foreign countries are working to undermine mail-in voting. There are also no signs of any coordinated effort to commit widespread fraud through vote-by-mail. This, of course, is great news, defying the numerous claims to the contrary made by President Trump in recent months. But unfortunately, it doesn't mean malign interests aren't trying to impact the vote in other ways. —Associated Press

• — "I've been a Democrat my whole life..." Did you see a tweet start out that way this week? Again, and again, and again? That's because Russian-style disinformation tactics have been adopted by numerous nations—including from within the U.S. itself—to exacerbate racial divisions and suppress Black voters. Twitter has since deleted the phony account responsible for this particular tweet, which featured a profile photo of a young Black man claiming to be a former Black Lives Matter protester who switched his allegiance to the Republican Party. —The Washington Post
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• — Some Dems are leery of vote-by-mail. Specifically, polling and focus group findings reveal that Black and Latino voters voice more discomfort and uncertainty about mail-in voting. "Culturally, it's being there physically. It's easy to write something down from the comfort of home,” said a Black woman who participated in a Philadelphia focus group. "But it's about getting up and being present. That wasn't always something that was afforded to us." —Politico

7. Ghitis: The method behind the madness

"Maybe [Russian President Vladimir] Putin wanted to finally silence [dissident Alexei] Navalny. Why now? There's a restlessness in the region. Belarus is convulsing with calls for democracy. In Russia's far east, giant anti-Putin protests have erupted, while across Russia, Putin's seemingly bulletproof support may be faltering. A recent poll by the respected Levada Center in Moscow asked respondents to name which politician they trust the most. Only 23% chose Putin. That figure was 59% in late 2017." —World Politics Review

MORE: Facing the biggest challenge ever to his power, Lukashenko looks to Russia for help —NPR

8. This week in Trump

The House Intelligence Committee said yesterday that it is narrowing the scope of its subpoena of Deutsche Bank for financial records related to President Trump and his family members. The House Financial Services Committee, meanwhile, is dropping its subpoena of Capital One Bank and narrowing its subpoena of Deutsche Bank even further. The moves come as the 2nd Circuit Court suggested that the panels should negotiate with the president's legal team in light of the Supreme Court's June acknowledgment that standoffs between the executive branch and Congress have been resolved via such negotiations for 250 years. —CNN

• — What's good for Alexander... Lt. Col. Yevgeny Vindman, whose twin brother testified during Trump's impeachment trial, has filed a whistleblower complaint with the Defense Dept. inspector general, accusing the Trump Administration of retaliating against him after he reported "legal compliance and ethics violations" by the national security advisor and his chief of staff. —Defense One
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• — Was it worth it? According to a new book by New York Times reporter Michael Schmidt, former White House counsel Don McGahn endured screaming matches, badgering phone calls at home, and the president saying "some crazy sh*t" (McGahn's words) in his quest to pack the federal judiciary with conservative judges. —The Guardian

9. Patten: Saving liberal democracy from China

"[F]or for those of us outside China, [Chinese President] Xi Jinping listed...liberal democratic threats in the instructions he issued to party and government officials in 2013, soon after becoming president. They include 'Western constitutional democracy,' the promotion of universal rules of human rights, media independence, civic participation, and criticism of the Chinese Communist Party's past. Taken together, they amount to a pretty good description of the values that Hong Kong represented and which Xi's regime now wants to obliterate. Standing up to such assaults on liberal democratic values requires a robust response to hostile behavior. Above all, liberal democracy's defenders must show that they themselves still believe these values are worth fighting for." —Project Syndicate

Ed. Note: Chris Patten, the last British governor of Hong Kong and a former EU commissioner for external affairs, is Chancellor of the University of Oxford.

MORE: Hong Kong pro-democracy lawmakers arrested over 2019 Yuen Long protests —The Guardian

10. An American Story: A family at heart

Dee Gatewood of Los Angeles, Calif., and Bruce Walker of Cedar Fort, Utah, eight years ago, unknowingly, became family. Gatewood's son, Emmanuel, who went by the nickname "Mamo," was shot and killed in 2012. Mamo's heart was donated to Walker when he needed life-saving heart transplant surgery.

• — Walker had heart failure. He was put on the transplant list, but it's a list with no guarantees. The blood type has to match, the body type has to match, the proximity has to match, and he needed a big heart. A big heart that, after nine hours of surgery, not only saved his life but kept the hearts of his eight children and 22 grandchildren from breaking.
   
• — Donating Mamo's organs was not easy. It made his death final, but Gatewood also understood the decision was not hers to make. Mamo's kidneys saved two lives. His lungs saved another. And whoever was lucky enough to get his heart? That’s something his mother pleaded to know.
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• — The two families finally met in person in July 2019. "The love that we have for each other was just instant," said Gatewood. "It was just instantaneous." "Instant," said Walker, with a tear in his eye. "I mean, it was instant family." —KSLTV (via Karunavirus)

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