Tendown, July 10 2016

Tendown 233 is here. This is Tendown 234

1. Durant.

They aren’t here just to change the way the game will look, they’re here to take everything. We had a few weeks to laugh at Joe Lacob’s “light-years ahead” proclamation after the team’s postseason collapse. With one move, the discourse has shifted once again. The myth has become the monolith.

2. Durant

Curry told Durant in a text message that he could care less about who is the face of the franchise, who gets the most recognition or who sells the most shoes (Curry is with Under Armor, Durant with Nike). The two-time NBA MVP also told Durant that if Durant won the MVP award again he would be in the front row of the press conference clapping for him. In closing, Curry’s message to Durant was that all he truly cared about was winning championships and he’d like to do that as his teammate.

3. Durant

That link's behind the paywall, but here's the bottom line:

Golden State projects to have a net rating of plus-12.8 points per 100 possessions -- far better than last year's mark (plus-11.6).

4. Durant

The collective shooting on this team is outrageous -- including perhaps the two greatest shooters ever, with a seven-foot gunslinger about to enjoy the cleanest catch-and-shoot looks he has ever had. Only three guys had a larger gap than Kevin Durantbetween their actual field-goal percentage and the mark we would have expected based on the difficulty of those shots, per SportVU data provided to ESPN.com. One of the three was reigning two-time MVPStephen Curry. Things are about to get much easier for Durant and Curry.

5. Let's talk some more about Alexander Hamilton

For Hamilton, personal and military force, unrestrained by the slightest consideration of law, were joined ineluctably to American wealth, American unity, and America modernity.

6. And let's talk about the musical itself

despite the proliferation of black and brown bodies onstage, not a single enslaved or free person of color exists as a character in this play. For the space of only a couple of bars, a chorus member assumes the role of Sally Hemings, but is recognizable as such only by those who catch Jefferson’s reference to the enslaved woman with whom he had an ongoing sexual relationship. Unless one listens carefully to the lyrics—which do mention slavery a handful of times—one could easily assume that slavery did not exist in this world, and certainly that it was not an important part of the lives and livelihoods of the men who created the nation.

7. The 4th of July

8. The Shootings.

9. Kansas.

The nation’s eyes should be trained on Kansas. This is what happens when you put Republicans in charge with the freedom to pursue their economic ideology. It’s not just a moral train wreck in terms of inequality and shared prosperity. It doesn’t even work to keep the lights on and make the trains run on time. Conservative economic orthodoxy is completely dysfunctional for running governments and society because it’s built on assumptions that aren’t true: rich people don’t create jobs, cutting their taxes doesn’t stimulate growth, cutting government services doesn’t “free up” capital to be spent on private sector growth, etc. What actually happens is that the rich simply hoard more money, corporations build up savings in their balance sheets, government cuts damage public confidence and infrastructure, and regular people don’t have as much money to spend, which dries up the consumer confidence and spending that is the real driver of job and economic growth.


10. Every Week, Except For Next Week, When Tendown Goes Dark, Back the 24th.

And one more...

Really strong new line from @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/I3I0rQ8mX8

— Tommy Vietor (@TVietor08) July 6, 2016

That's all for this time.  I'll be back next time....if there is a next time....

Your pal,

Jim