| This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a lookalike competition of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. Sign up here. I went to the craziest event in New York City on Sunday. The crowd was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. News crews were everywhere — the Associated Press covered it with a livestream and people came out of the woodwork to witness history. Some were from Staten Island. Others trekked all the way from Wisconsin and Arkansas. Everyone participating went all-out with their outfits. And the hair?? I’ve never seen so much gel in my life. There was a heavy police presence on site, and one guy even got arrested, which seemed kinda unfair. Crowd members yelled, “Let him go!” and “This is fascism!” But when the man himself graced the crowd with his presence, the world went quiet. People claimed it was like “Jesus showing up to a Christmas party,” while others said it was “the biggest day of their life.” I am, of course, talking about the Timothée Chalamet lookalike contest in Washington Square Park: What else would I be describing? The Trump rally at Madison Square Garden?? Haha, real funny. But actually, now that you mention it, I do see a few similarities between the two: Bloomberg Opinion’s very own Timmy — Timothy L. O’Brien, that is — did cover the rally at MSG, and it lasted way longer than the lookalike contest. During the six-hour slog, Tim said Hulk Hogan ripped off his shirt (again), Elon Dark Gothic MAGA Musk unleashed guttural screams and Trump himself was a mess of contradictions who weirdly compared himself to “the late, great Al Capone.” Tim called him “somnambulant” and “unfocused,” as he “dunked on politicians who need teleprompters but was reading from a teleprompter on and off all evening.” “From a strategic sense, it made no sense for Trump to be there rather than in one of the seven swing states that will decide the election’s outcome,” Tim writes (free read). But “strategy didn’t inform his visit. Neediness and media exposure certainly did, however. Trump still wants New York to love and accept him … He thrives on the eyeballs.” But New Yorkers will never be bullied into giving their love — which apparently comes along with a 5-foot trophy and a giant check — to Trump, no matter how hard he tries. Bonus Election Reading: - Six states are putting election reform on the ballot. It’s a sliver of hope in an era of political extremism. — Bloomberg’s editorial board
- Kamala Harris’ fate in North Carolina rests with young voters. How can she convince them to show up? — Nia-Malika Henderson
- Never in recent history have so many Americans had their rights on the line in one race. — Francis Wilkinson
It might be spooky season, but some Californians think they’re starring in a horror movie 365 days a year. Imagine “living in constant anxiety of someone shattering your car window and snatching your stuff — commonly known as ‘bipping.’ Or thieves stealing your car, maybe to be used in a traffic-blocking sideshow on the Bay Bridge,” writes Erika D. Smith. Picture walking your kid to school to protect them from aggressive homeless people with mental illness. Or “stumbling upon the bodies of overdose victims or, worse, watching them die in broad daylight on crowded sidewalks.” The situation is so bad that an alarming percentage of residents plan to support to a controversial ballot measure called Proposition 36, or the “Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act.” Given the robust support for the measure, a bunch of lawmakers have jumped on the “tough-on-crime bandwagon,” including San Francisco Mayor London Breed and, to a lesser extent, Governor Gavin Newsom. But the proposal is no white knight: Instead of bringing about meaningful change, Erika believes the backwards-looking legislation — which all but mandates mass incarceration for people with prior felonies — will disproportionately harm the lives of Black and Latino men. “Voters who buy into the overly simplistic solutions that Republicans are selling are bound to be disappointed,” Erika writes. “That’s because criminal justice reforms didn’t cause most of the complex problems plaguing California cities, so replacing progressive policies with draconian ones won’t make those problems disappear.” Read the whole thing. Today, Boeing tried to raise a lot of money by launching a $19 billion share sale, one of the largest ever by a public company. But is it going to save the troubled plane maker from the junk bin? Chris Hughes says “the origins of this dire situation go back decades, long predating the fatal crashes of 2018 and 2019 involving the 737 Max.” To aid the recovery, Thomas Black thinks the airplane manufacturer should “cleave off an operation” that’s long been a drag on profits: Boeing’s space business.  I guess we should all move to Pennsylvania now: Matthew A. Winkler says Weis customers can buy a “choice” Porterhouse steak for $7.99 a pound these days. “That would have been a bargain even during the Great Recession 15 years ago,” he writes. “Although Americans say they don’t like paying the current level of prices for goods and services that resulted from the worst bout of inflation in 40 years, they can take comfort from the fact that those prices, while admittedly not coming down in most cases, are actually becoming more affordable.” Japan’s new prime minister is already on such shaky ground that his days may be numbered. — Gearoid Reidy Republican efforts to crush groups studying disinformation are bad news for democracy. — Parmy Olson Israel’s strike on Iranian military targets was proportionate and smart. It should take the win. — Marc Champion Wall Street is struggling to justify Palantir’s lofty valuation. What makes it such a puzzle? — Jonathan Levin The quieter, https://x.com/emilynussbaum/status/1850955465603080518longer-term economic effects of climate disasters are too big to ignore. — Mark Gongloff About 40,000 people in the US rely on IV nutrition. Shortages have left them starving. — Lisa Jarvis Russia, North Korea and China aren’t just bluffing with their nuclear weapons. — Andreas Kluth Asylum-seekers are being jammed into jails. The Washington Post is bleeding subscribers. TGI Fridays is nearing bankruptcy. Hundreds of ballots were burned in a fire. A fountain of sewage erupted in Moscow. Dwyane Wade’s statue looks nothing like him. Scammers stole $400,000 worth of cheddar cheese. Blueberry smell-o-vision won’t save the cinema. A pizza joint accidentally spiked its dough with THC. Notes: Please send non-hijacked clothbound cheddar and feedback to Jessica Karl at jkarl9@bloomberg.net. Sign up here and follow us on Threads, TikTok, | 
