America is overheating, literally and figuratively

Trump has Republicans feeling heavenly but many US cities feel hellish. [Bloomberg]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a frankly amusing atmosphere of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - It’s [too hot]( outside. - [Christmas]( in July?! I cried. - [Trump’s divinity]( isn’t bona fide. - [Divorce]( could soon be denied. Welcome to [Hell](, Part 666 Tell me it’s [summer]( in Manhattan without telling me it’s summer in Manhattan: Via [@BaharOstadan](, [@2007warpedtour]( and [@evanrosskatz]( on X Although [most]( corporate overlords are willing to shell out the big bucks for [air conditioning]( — she types at her desk, freezing cold in a blazer and pants — state prisons [are not](. Nor are all [landlords](. Even more depressing? Mark Gongloff [says]( “this will probably be one of the coolest summers we’ll ever enjoy again,” because climate change is increasing the frequency, strength and [longevity]( of heat waves: What’s worse, climate scientists predict we’ll see more “[compound events](,” or what Mark calls “disaster combo meals,” in which one emergency (tornado, blizzard earthquake) collides with another (dry spell, power outage, storm surge) and overwhelms hospitals and first-responders even more. Texas is familiar with this domino effect, having just experienced a dual hurricane-heat wave. A week after Houston was rocked by [Beryl](, more than 200,000 households were still in the dark. “Hundreds of thousands of Texans had gone several days [without air conditioning]( during a heat wave that relentlessly pushed heat indexes above 100 degrees Fahrenheit,” Mark writes. As Houston emergency physician Owais Durrani [told CNN](: “I worked through Covid, and I’ll be honest: The last few days have been some of the worst and kind of up there with as bad as Covid was.” Comparing a spate of days with triple-digit temperatures to a pandemic that killed millions may seem insensitive, but heat is [deadly]( — it kills more humans than hurricanes, tornadoes or floods. And the mortality numbers [wildly underestimate]( the true impact of hot weather. “Though it can kill people in obvious ways, it more often takes lives without leaving fingerprints,” Mark warns. Read [the whole thing](. Christmas in [July]( Dear reader, I regret to inform you that Hallmark is already [selling]( holiday ornaments: Honestly, this is kinda par for the course for that company. If you’re one of the few remaining souls with a cable TV subscription, I dare you to turn on the Hallmark channel right now. What do you see? CHRISTMAS IN JULY. Forget about the heat wave! It’s time cozy up with a fuzzy blanket and a mug of gingerbread hot cocoa. I wish I was kidding: Under no circumstances should ski-slope Santa Claus rom-coms be broadcast on [July 17th](. Yet that’s not the only bizarro thing happening at Hallmark. The media company recently unveiled plans to [launch Hallmark+](, a subscription streaming service that will allow people to tee up Christmas movies 24/7/365. “The question at hand is simple: Is this really necessary?” Jason Bailey [asks](. “There are only so many subscriber dollars to go around, and the streaming service overload has resulted in a frankly amusing atmosphere of media regression,” he writes. Nobody’s buying ornaments for their tree when it’s 100 degrees outside. They probably won’t sign up for a streaming service that gives them candy-cane kisses all year long, either. RNC Roundup Where to begin? With Rudy Giuliani’s [terrible tumble](? Or Governor Jim Justice of West Virginia, who brought his [bulldog]( “Babydog” on stage? Maybe we just jump ahead to Donald Trump himself, who — in between [Coke breaks]( — inspired a new [fashion craze]( for Republicans. Never did I imagine grown men would be sticking [maxi pads]( to their ears, but [here we are](. The least surprising aspect of the RNC thus far has been the [Bible-thumpers]( who [came out to play](. Lara Trump [compared]( her father to the lion in the Book of Proverbs. Sarah Huckabee Sanders [said]( “God is not finished with him yet.” And Eric Trump [told]( Fox & Friends that his dad was saved through a “divine intervention.” Yet all of that religious showboating might just be a talking point: Tim O’Brien [has his doubts](about whether the twice-impeached former president truly had a come-to-Jesus moment after the bullet whizzed through his ear. I suppose only the bouncer at the pearly gates of heaven knows the truth. Appetizer quote: “Project 2025, the authoritarian [playbook]( compiled by the right-wing Heritage Foundation, is not the slapdash Trumpism of 2016, which mixed [fakery](, jingoism, [racism]( and old-school Republican nostrums. There is more [substance]( now beneath the Trumpist blather.” — Francis Wilkinson via [Republicans Have Broken Free of Barack Obama]( Entrée chart: When Trump was in office in 2016, he managed to do a number on the entire judicial system. His appointees continue to tear down decades of legal precedent, Noah Feldman [notes](. One such precedent they’d like to eliminate? The right to a no-fault divorce, Patricia Lopez [says](, which is currently legal in all 50 states, but maybe not for long. “Several GOP-led states, including Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana, are moving to [end or restrict]( the ability of a spouse to exit a marriage without establishing fault,” she writes. “This effort is part of a larger strategy by extreme conservatives to return the US to traditional patriarchy, where their religious views become laws that govern us all.” And you wonder why Biden wants [to change]( the Supreme Court! Dessert video: Last night, a user on X shared [a video]( of someone swiping on a gay dating app at a [Troye Sivan concert](, captioning it: “Opening Grindr at the RNC.” More than 14 million people have now seen the tweet, and a good number of them probably think “[Grindr’s Super Bowl](” is real. It’s not!! But [this]( is real, unfortunately: “Trump Trump Baby,” [a music video]( featuring “Forgiato Blow” and Amber Rose, was played in front of the convention’s audience and got crickets in return. Alas, the YouTube video has since been [removed]( for copyright reasons. Further Reading HSBC’s [next CEO]( is taking on two jobs. — Paul J. Davies Should Trump Media [sell stock](? Obviously. — Matt Levine Biden’s plan for [rent control]( will worsen the housing crisis. — Allison Schrager Shoppers are [still buying]( — just not what you’re selling. — Andrea Felsted A [healthy company]( shouldn’t need to seek external investors. — Tim Culpan Modi must be wary of [relaxing]( India’s disciplined fiscal approach. — Mihir Sharma Tony Blair is making [unhelpful claims]( about what AI can actually do. — Parmy Olson ICYMI Sen. Bob Menendez [is resigning](. The Emmy gods [were kind]( to FX. MyPillow’s Mike Lindell is [doubling down](. An NYC councilwoman may have [bitten a cop](. Sam Altman’s got [sewage]( in his backyard. Kickers We need more [weird food](. We don’t need [death pods](. [Grocery store tourism]( is cool. Statue [hanky-panky]( is not. Notes: Please send snail ice cream and feedback to Jessica Karl at jkarl9@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Threads](, [TikTok](, [Twitter](, [Instagram]( and [Facebook](. 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