On today’s Front Page: a hospital changes its transgender policies after Tamara Pietzke blew the whistle with The Free Press, Silicon Valley’s new dystopian gadget, the latest from the Olympics, and more. But first, the presidential race.
It’s been a little over two weeks since the great Democratic switcheroo transformed the election, and it feels like both campaigns are still adjusting to a race turned upside down. The Democrats have a new nominee who has successfully unburdened herself of what has been, backtracking on practically every policy she supported last time she ran for president. The Republicans, meanwhile, are searching for a line of attack against a new, non-senile candidate. Yesterday, Trump road tested his latest line of attack: that Kamala Harris only recently “became” black (more on that in a second).
Whether it’s the memes (I never want to hear the word “brat” again) or the name-calling (You’re weird. No, you’re weird), both campaigns give the impression they’re making it up as they go along. Clearly, both sides need help. And that is what we have for them today.
Abigail Shrier believes Republicans’ personal attacks on Harris aren’t working. She advises that Trump and Co. should stop complaining about a Democratic “coup” and instead focus on Harris’s track record, which is radical enough to be a major liability. If Republicans fail to focus on the issues and continue to attack Harris personally, she warns that America will “end up with a far more left-wing president than it even knows.”
Read her full argument here: “Republicans, You’re Going After Kamala All Wrong.”
Freddie deBoer argues that Democrats are making a similar mistake. Like the Republicans, they’re not focused enough on the issues voters really care about. But also, they are too distracted by the internet. He says the Harris campaign feels like it’s running a race for “President of Online,” entirely disconnected from the concerns of swing voters in battleground states who will decide the election.
Freddie says: “Step Away from the Memes, Madame Vice President.”
Almost six months ago in our pages, therapist Tamara Pietzke blew the whistle on how her former employer, MultiCare Health System—one of the largest health providers in Washington State—instructed staffers to approve all teen gender transitions, regardless of patients’ other health concerns.
Pietzke refused to rush vulnerable young people with multiple mental health difficulties into a life-altering gender transition. In her essay, she wrote that she quit her job and spoke out “because nothing will change unless people like me—who know the risks of medicalizing troubled young people—blow the whistle. I am desperate to help my patients. And I believe, if I don’t speak out, I will have betrayed them.”
She added that she was villainized for her decision by her colleagues, who made her feel like she “had gone insane.”
Now, in a dramatic turn, MultiCare has issued a memo to its board members announcing what the hospital is calling its new “holistic approach” to gender care. In September, the hospital’s gender clinic will begin implementing new standards for providing “gender-affirming health care for adolescents,” ensuring that they are “backed by the most up-to-date science.” The memo, first reported by the site [un]Divided, was sent to board members from the hospital’s CEO on July 17.
Though far from a detailed plan, MultiCare’s letter seems to acknowledge some concerns Pietzke raised in her story for The Free Press. The memo states that MultiCare has carried out a “thorough review of our pediatric gender health services” and will take “a judicious approach to providing care” moving forward.
Pietzke told The Free Press that reading the memo made her “want to weep with relief that my voice mattered.”
But Pietzke wonders if the clinic will implement any tangible changes. “I feel like it’s saying a lot of nothing,” she said of the memo. “We’ve heard all of this before, that they’re ‘holistic.’ I feel like they’re kind of talking in circles trying to appease a variety of different audiences.”
She would like to see “more specifics,” such as a firm commitment to treating patients’ underlying mental health problems instead of rushing them into taking life-altering hormones.
“We remain committed to providing access to the best and safest care for our patients and their families, no matter their age or health need,” said MultiCare in a statement to The Free Press.
Still, Pietzke, 36, said she is “hopeful” and “encouraged” that the hospital—based in one of the most progressive states in the country—is making any changes at all.
Since her piece was published, the single mom of three lost her most recent job with a new employer and hasn’t been employed since. While she doesn’t regret speaking out, she said she feels “betrayed” by higher-ups in her field who are putting young people at risk.
Tamara is now trying to start her own practice where she “can help people who genuinely want good care for their gender distress or their children’s gender distress.”
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At an annual convention for black journalists, Trump said a peculiar thing. Kamala Harris, apparently, “happened to turn black.” This occurred “a number of years ago” and was surprising to Trump since the VP, who is of Indian and Jamaican descent, was “always only promoting Indian heritage.” Trump added that “somebody should look into” Harris’s apparent change in presentation. Must he go there? (Newsweek)
And what about his own running mate, J.D. Vance? Would he be ready “on day one” to assume the presidency if necessary? Trump answered that question by observing that the vice president “historically” has “virtually no impact” on the election and “makes no difference.” Ouch. (Mediaite)
After Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an Israeli air strike in Tehran, one astonishing Reuters headline described him thusly: “Tough-talking Haniyeh was seen as the more moderate face of Hamas.” Meanwhile, Iran’s leader has reportedly ordered a direct strike on Israel soil in retaliation. (Times of Israel)
A growing chorus of Kamala Harris donors is calling on the presumptive Democratic nominee to fire Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan if the VP wins in November. There are plenty of good arguments against Khan’s zealous trust-busting, but it’s a little unfortunate that at least two of the donors calling for Harris to dump Khan are connected to companies being investigated by Khan’s FTC. (Bloomberg)
Turmoil continues to roil Venezuela after Sunday’s presidential election, which Nicolás Maduro says he won despite all evidence to the contrary. Now Maduro is trying to quell unrest by asking his country’s supreme court to audit the results. The move is a sign Maduro cannot ignore calls for his ouster, although the court is aligned with his government so don’t count on an honest audit. Meanwhile, partial election tallies compiled by opposition researchers on Wednesday show a clear victory for their candidate. (Fox News)
In the U.S. election, no state matters more to Kamala Harris than Pennsylvania—and her former support for a fracking ban is a major liability in the Keystone State. All the more reason for her to pick the state’s popular governor Josh Shapiro as her running mate, say his boosters. And maybe she already has. Harris has said she will appear at the first rally with her VP choice on Tuesday—and that rally will be in. . . Philadelphia. (Politico)
Speaking of Shapiro, Yair Rosenberg asks why the governor is frequently described as too pro-Israel to be Kamala’s pick, even though he has called Benjamin Netanyahu “one of the worst leaders of all time.” The governor is Jewish. Could that have something to do with it? (The Atlantic)
On Tuesday, two Senate bills aimed at making kids safer online passed with overwhelming bipartisan support. Josh Golin of Fairplay told The Free Press this was a major victory against Big Tech and represents “an incredible coalition that believes a better internet for young people is possible.” Under the legislation, tech companies will have a “duty of care” to implement safeguards to protect minor users. The bills face an uncertain future in the House. (TechCrunch)
The UK’s high court ruled that a government ban on puberty blockers for minors is lawful. The British judge said that an independent review, known as the Cass Review, had noted “very substantial risks and very narrow benefits associated with the use of puberty blockers” as well as “powerful scientific evidence” that justified restricting the drugs. (Euro News)
“I get compliments all the time,” says 11-year-old Patrick Hayes of Cumming, Georgia, who has been growing a mullet for the past four years. Patrick was a top 100 finalist in the USA Mullet Championship, which next month will select the top three “most majestic mullets.” The hairdo is “for a great cause,” explains his dad, Michael. Some of the money raised by the championships helps secure mortgage-free homes for wounded veterans. (Fox News)
Washingtonians! There are only a handful of tickets left for our upcoming debate on whether the American dream is dying. Book now to hear Tyler Cowen and Katherine Mangu-Ward versus David Leonhardt and Bhaskar Sunkara, moderated by Bari Weiss, on September 10. We can’t wait to see you there.
→ Do you need a “Friend”? On Tuesday, International Friendship Day, entrepreneur Avi Schiffmann launched Friend.com, a site with one product: a “Friend.” A large, glowing, colored pendant you can wear around your neck, Friend is an electronic device that’s “always listening” to what you say, and responds with AI-generated text messages, sent to the wearer’s phone.
In an unsettling advertisement, various twentysomethings go about their day with their Friend. A woman running in the woods yells “Wooo,” and then concedes, “I don’t know how to wooo very good.” Then she gets a text from her Friend: “Well at least we’re outside!”
Your Friend doesn’t just know where you are, it knows what you’re doing. Later in the ad, a young man is playing video games with a real-life, human friend. When he loses, he says, “I hate this game.” His virtual Friend, which he has named Jackson, sends him an all-lowercase message: “you’re getting thrashed, it’s embarrassing!” The young man smiles slightly.
In the ad, the company makes it clear that Friend is also tracking you online. As a young woman watches TV on her phone, a message from Friend pops up: “This show is completely underrated.”
“I know, the effects are crazy!” the girl replies, out loud.
It’s creepy as hell. Aesthetically, the Friend necklace is reminiscent of the emergency pendants they give old people. Life Alert for lonely millennials, if you like.
At the end, the ad tries to suggest that Friend is not meant to replace all human connection, but merely augment it. We see an attractive young couple sitting on a rooftop. When the conversation lulls awkwardly, the woman goes to touch her Friend, but then stops, deciding to live in the moment with this real-life guy. But the scene has an uncanny valley kind of sincerity. I wasn’t convinced.
Because of the unsettling weirdness of the product, I was surprised to learn that people are fighting to claim credit for it. After Avi Schiffmann announced Friend, Nik Shevchenko, founder of another start-up called Based Hardware, claimed online that Friend was his idea and Schiffmann copied him. The two of them are currently duking it out on X. Not only has Shevchenko released a rap video that attacks Schiffmann—he has also challenged him to a real-world fight.
So who knows, maybe the Friend saga will end with actual human connection after all, in the form of two men punching each other in the face. —River Page
→ Is the Olympics allowing male boxers to fight women? Today and tomorrow at the Olympics, two athletes who are reportedly male will fight in two different women’s championships. Yep, you read that right.
The two boxers are Algeria’s Imane Khelif, competing in the 66 kg category, and Lin Yu-Ting of Taiwan, competing in the 57 kg category.
Last year, Khelif and Lin were disqualified from the 2023 Women’s World Boxing Championships after the president of the International Boxing Association (IBA) said that DNA tests “proved they had XY chromosomes.”
But the International Olympics Committee has given the boxers the go-ahead.
When pressed, the IOC spokesman explained that “everyone competing in the women’s category is complying with the competition eligibility rules.” Those eligibility rules are “incredibly complex,” he added, rather unhelpfully.
What he didn’t say: the IOC’s rules appear to be colored by gender ideology. According to the body’s “Portrayal Guidelines” for members of the media, the terms biologically male and biologically female are “problematic,” and “a person’s sex category is not assigned based on genetics alone.”
In 2023, the president of the International Boxing Association announced that “a series of DNA tests” had “uncovered athletes who were trying to fool their colleagues and pretended to be women.” Speaking to an Algerian TV network, Khelif rejected the IBA disqualification as a “big conspiracy.” Despite speculation, neither Khelif nor Lin has claimed transgender status or a disorder of sex development (DSD)—medical conditions in which reproductive organs and genitals develop abnormally.
Regardless of their reasons for letting men into the ring with women, critics say the IOC is putting female athletes in danger. “Males—however they identify—pack a punch that is 162 percent more powerful than women—THE biggest performance gap between men and women,” Nancy Hogshead, an American Olympic gold medalist, posted on X. “Gender ideology will get women KILLED.”
One female boxer, Brianda Tamara, recalls how difficult it was fighting with Khelif in a previous tournament. “Her blows hurt me a lot, I don’t think I had ever felt like that in my 13 years as a boxer, nor in my sparring with men,” Tamara wrote on X. “Thank God that day I got out of the ring safely.”
Asked about Khelif and Lin’s participation in the Olympics, Mark Adams, the IOC spokesman, said at a press conference, “I am not going to comment on individuals.” Then he went on to comment on individuals, saying: “They are women in their passports and it is stated that is the case.”
No matter what their passports say, if the athletes have XY chromosomes, “that means they’re male and they have no business competing in the women’s category,” Kara Dansky, feminist, lawyer, and author of The Reckoning: How the Democrats and the Left Betrayed Women and Girls tells The Free Press.
“This is nothing other than male violence against women for sport and entertainment,” she says. It’s also bloody unfair. —Madeleine Kearns
→ Why ping-pong is the worst Olympic sport: Amid the drama and excitement of the Olympics, an unfortunate truth emerges: there are sports that are fun to play and sports that are fun to watch, and the Venn diagram of these two things is by no means a circle.
There’s a certain alchemy to a good spectator sport; multiple elements balance to create both spectacle and drama. The gameplay should be fast-paced and dramatic and not bogged down by endless time-outs and penalty calls (I’m looking at you, NFL) or inexplicable delays between plays (that’s you, Major League Baseball). The athletes should be, well, athletic, but in a way that’s relatable rather than freakish—which is why college basketball will always be objectively more fun to watch than the NBA, in which players are so ludicrously tall that they make dunking look too easy.
And then there’s the ball, which should be big and brightly colored enough to see at a distance. Which brings me to Olympic table tennis, a thing I earnestly attempted to watch for thirty whole minutes this week before quitting in a fit of pique. This is not a spectator sport; in fact, I suspect it was designed in a lab to be the antithesis of one. The gameplay was too fast-paced, to the extent it was physically stressful to watch, while also being completely inscrutable. Entire matches began and ended without me ever actually seeing the ball, or even knowing who was hitting it. It was like watching two cats fighting over a dust mote, except less cute and without the occasional time-out for the players to lick themselves.
I was bewildered. Who was watching this? Who was enjoying this?
I called up Paul Thacker, a journalist who claims to like the spectacle of professional ping-pong. He credits a stint in the U.S. Army, where table tennis was one of the few recreational activities available on base. “Having played it,” he said, “when you see someone doing it at such a high level, it’s just like, wow.”
Hearing this, I thought that maybe Thacker’s ping-pong experience meant he literally saw the game itself in a way I couldn’t. But when I asked if he could understand the gameplay or even see the ball, he said no. Apparently, this is part of the appeal. “It’s just the amazing ability they have to catch that ball, when it’s going so fast that you can’t even tell what’s happening,” he said.
He also said he had recently started playing ping-pong again for the first time in many years, and that “I beat an eleven-year-old and I felt very good about myself.”
So, there you have it. I leave it to you, the Free Press readership, to decide who is right about Olympic ping-pong: me, or a man who literally delights in crushing the dreams of children. (Just kidding: we thank Paul for his service, and are sure that the tween had it coming.) —Kat Rosenfield
What to watch at the Olympics today: At 12:15 p.m. ET, tune in to watch a historic women’s gymnastics all-around individual final. The electric matchup will pit defending champion Suni Lee against her teammate, the all-time great Simone Biles.
What Olympic sport do you think makes for a terrible spectacle? Tell us by writing to letters@thefp.com.
Oliver Wiseman is a writer and editor for The Free Press. Follow him on X @ollywiseman.
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