| | | | | Welcome to The Point with Chris Cillizza – a brand new nightly politics newsletter! This new addition to your evenings will cut through the day's news and get right to The Point with analysis from Chris Cillizza and co-author Saba Hamedy. See something you like -- or don't? Or something that we can do better? Let us know. Send your thoughts to cillizza@cnn.com. Enjoy! | | | Donald Trump gave one of the best speeches of his presidency in Poland | | Before most normal Americans got up on Thursday morning, Donald Trump delivered one of the best speeches of his presidency to date.
Trump was in Poland for the day, a brief stop on his way to Germany for the G20 gathering. (More on that below.) And, in a speech that began just after 7 a.m. ET, Trump outlined a convincing vision for the future of Western democracy in its fights against autocrats and terrorists.
It was an eloquent speech, well-written and, by Trump's standards, well-delivered. (Trump is a terrific extemporaneous speaker at campaign rallies but has been far less impressive when giving formal speeches as President.)
If you missed it, you shouldn't. You can watch the whole thing here. But in the event you can't (or don't want to), here are a few of the best lines. - "The triumph of the Polish spirit over centuries of hardship gives us all hope for a future in which good conquers evil, and peace achieves victory over war."
- "Americans, Poles, and the nations of Europe value individual freedom and sovereignty. We must work together to confront forces, whether they come from inside or out, from the South or the East, that threaten over time to undermine these values and to erase the bonds of culture, faith and tradition that make us who we are."
- "There is nothing like our community of nations. The world has never known anything like our community of nations. We write symphonies. We pursue innovation. We celebrate our ancient heroes, embrace our timeless traditions and customs, and always seek to explore and discover brand-new frontiers."
- "Just as Poland could not be broken, I declare today for the world to hear that the West will never, ever be broken. Our values will prevail. Our people will thrive. And our civilization will triumph."
| | BINDER FULL OF WORLD LEADERS | | Speaking of the G20... As CNN's Kevin Liptak reported earlier, "over the past several days, Trump has been presented with a large binder of preparation materials for his trip to Europe -- but the section on his meeting with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin amounts to only a 'few pages' of paper, according to one White House official. A second official said each talking point is only a sentence or two long to keep Trump focused during his meeting."
But alas, no binder of information can prepare POTUS for the endless awkward handshakes and subsequent photos/GIFs that come.
Behold: The Merkel-Trump handshake heard 'round the world:
 | | THE DEMOCRATS' BREWING 2020 FIGHT | | The focus of the political world has been nonstop on Trump and the Republican Party he leads since January 20, 2017.
But over the last 36 hours, two things have happened that show Democrats are preparing for a civil war of their own that is beginning to ramp up as the 2020 election draws ever closer.
First came this piece in The Washington Post by Ron Klain, a longtime Democratic operative with close ties to the Obama administration. In it, Klain calls for "a new social and economic contract for the working class" built around four years of free post-high school education and a redoubling of efforts to make Obamacare work for everyone.
That was followed by this column by one-time Clinton (Hillary and Bill) strategist Mark Penn in The New York Times headlined "Back to the Center, Democrats." It begins: "The path back to power for the Democratic Party today, as it was in the 1990s, is unquestionably to move to the center and reject the siren calls of the left, whose policies and ideas have weakened the party."
Fight! Fight! Fight!
There's no question Klain's more-liberal blueprint is the one championed by most Democratic grass-roots activists at the moment. But with Democrats decimated over the last eight years in every elected office below the White House, it's hard to see Penn-ism going down without throwing a few haymakers.
Whatever the party decides, it's not going to be an easy or quick process. And, with every day we get closer to the 2020 election, the need for Democrats to decide who they are and what they are going to stand for becomes more urgent. | | | Check out Bon Iver's "For Emma, Forever Ago," the Take Away Show on the La Blogothèque YouTube channel. It's from 2008 but it will never get old. | | TIME's Chris Wilson created a very fun quiz this week testing how well you can draw all 50 states.
Spoiler: It's not as easy as it looks.
We tried for ourselves. Here's a look at how we did.
Saba:
Chris:
(A note from Chris: What the heck is wrong with my Texas? And my Maine? Horrible. Apologies to both states.)
BONUS: Here's a 2009 video of Sen. Al Franken drawing the US map during an appearance on Minnesota Public Radio's "Midday" at the Minnesota State Fair. Turns out he's way better than we are at it. | | "She just got here."
That's California Sen. Dianne Feinstein on chatter that fellow Golden State Sen. Kamala Harris might run for president down the line.
"What she should do is concentrate on being a good, and possibly a great, United States senator," Feinstein told The New York Times. "The rest will either happen or not happen."
What an endorsement! | | | President George W. Bush turned 71 today. Fun fact about the W: He loves birthdays -- so much that CNN Politics did a whole roundup of photos of him celebrating for a #TBT. | | On the front page of the Los Angeles Times today, a quirky tale (by reporter Hailey Branson-Potts) of how an abused pug made the trip from Iran to America.
Izabella St. James, a former live-in girlfriend of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner -- she's known on social media as "The Pug Queen" -- enlisted help from Katy Kargosha, a duel citizen of the United States and Iran, to bring the dog overseas safely.
As Branson-Potts pointed out, however, "The dog's rescue, amid uncertainty about the (travel) ban, illustrated the anxiety that accompanies traveling to Iran in the Trump era."
Trita Parsi, president of the National Iranian American Council, told LAT: "It's astonishing that you have a greater chance of coming to the United States if you are a dog than if you are a relative of an American citizen." | | | Baby + Biden = the most adorable GIF. Anyway, thanks for reading. Is it Friday yet? Remember to tell your friends -- and your enemies -- to subscribe. And make sure to check out the audio version of The Point on Amazon Echo, Google Home and iTunes. | | | Get the Nightcap, a comprehensive summary of the most important political news, delivered to your inbox daily. | | | | | |
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