The Slatest for Aug. 30: Already Sick of the Horse Race

A recent column in the Philadelphia Inquirer captured how disappointing it is that we are already fully into the horse race coverage of next year’s presidential race. Dahlia Lithwick takes a close look at why we’ve never been able to leave the horse race behind—particularly when it comes to other branches of government.

Plus: Following the first GOP primary debate—which he did not make—Miami Mayor Francis Suarez announced he would suspend his presidential campaign. Jim Newell goes through the highlights of Suarez’s 10-week candidacy.

After the World Cup Final, it was almost hard to believe our eyes: Luis Rubiales, the president of Spain’s football federation, grabbed star player Jennifer Hermoso by the head and kissed her on the mouth. Christina Cauterucci was watching live, and was as aghast as anyone. Even more shocking were Rubiales and the Spanish federation’s steadfast attacks on Hermoso in the aftermath and their obstinacy that he had done nothing wrong, going so far as to call Hermoso a liar. In the wake of a national outcry, a team boycott, a legal investigation, and calls for Rubiales’ resignation, Cauterucci recounts how the men leading Spanish soccer grossly miscalculated who really holds power in international women’s soccer now.

On Tuesday, we got word that the North Carolina Judicial Standards Commission, recently packed to the brim with Republican appointees, has targeted progressive North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls for an alleged ethics violation. Was Earls’ alleged misconduct in line with any of the recent scandals that have gone unpunished from conservative Supreme Court justices, living high on the hog thanks to billionaire benefactors? No. As Billy Corriher explains, Justice Earls—the only Black woman on the North Carolina Supreme Court—is charged with the crime of talking openly about racial bias in the court system, for which she could ultimately be removed from office by the hyperpartisan state judicial commission.

A professor secretly had ChatGPT take his final exam. How did it fare, compared to his students? Dan Arena found the results surprising.

But U.S. paper mills are closing anyway. Rebecca Heilweil gets into the complicated economics forcing the paper industry to shift gears.

Everybody procrastinates. But, Franklin Schneider argues, there’s a fatal flaw at the heart of our popular understanding of it.

In Maria Bamford’s new book, the actress writes about her desire for belonging and relationship with her charismatic mom.

… much like Dan Kois when he dropped off his kid at college.

Thanks so much for reading! See you tomorrow.