It’s over.

It was feisty, opinionated, cluttered. There were moments we just shook our heads, and we learned pretty much nothing from it. So it perfectly lived up to the hype and, undoubtedly, Fox’s ratings expectations.

The real stars were the Fox moderators, Megyn Kelly in particular, who came out swinging and set a combative tone.

Frank Bruni at the New York Times says it wasn’t a debate, it was “an inquisition.”

They [the moderators] took each of the 10 Republicans onstage to task. They held each of them to account. They made each address the most prominent blemishes on his record, the most profound apprehensions that voters feel about him, the greatest vulnerability that he has.

It was riveting. It was admirable. It compels me to write a cluster of words I never imagined writing: hooray for Fox News.

Did Fox take this combative approach because it was theatrical? Because it promised tension, promoted unease and was a certain route to reddened faces and raised voices?

Of course. Nothing scares a network more than the prospect of a political snooze-fest, and candidates left to their own devices are candidates who drone on and on.

We’ll do it all again at the Reagan Library in California on September 16, where hosts CNN will use a slightly different selection format. In the meantime, before you switch over to watch the final Daily Show, here’s some Twitter highlights of the evening.

***

10.40 – A ‘special guest’…

Megyn Kelly just said God would be a special guest on the next session of the debate. I guess they had to one-up Springsteen on The Daily Show.

The Ohio Governor, who just scraped into the top tier ranking for tonight’s debate, has been getting plenty of favorable buzz each time he speaks, but that could be because he has got out the troops in the hall.

(I must say, I’m very impressed by that Bish guy..)

10.20 – Social issues

Cleverly, Fox manages to get footage in of Carly Fiorina in from the earlier debate  – and Rick Perry too – and the crowd cheered broadly at the clip.

10pm – Here come the ‘mini-rounds’

Until now, no two candidates seem to have been asked the same question. Even if their answers sound like it.

http://twitter.com/PzFeed/status/629468313899429888

Angry exchange between Chris Christie and Rand Paul over surveillance, Christie invokes 9/11, Paul uses Christie’s hugging of President Obama.

9.30 – ‘Our leaders are stupid’

Phew.. a commercial.

http://twitter.com/feministabulous/status/629462959551586304

To cheers, Trump punches back, saying he’s not bound by “political correctness.”

Marco Rubio gives the HRC campaign an ad soundbite – “If this is a resume contest, Hillary Clinton is going to be our next President.”

Donald Trump declines to pledge not to run as an independent. First question. In the real world, everything from here is just talk. Rand Paul tries to push back, linking Trump to the Clintons, Trump brushes him off.

***

9PM – ‘Positioned on the stage by their standing in the polls…’

Here’s live updates from the Washington Post.

http://twitter.com/GusRamsey/status/629457792261312512

http://twitter.com/MildlyAmused/status/629458207560343552

***

8PM – The Big Ten in the Big Tent

We’re ready to rock and roll, as long as the performers can find their way to the stage.

And already it’s something of a circus.

Here are some of your requisite bingo cards/drinking games. I mean really, does everyone still do this?

***

7PM – Tales from the Kids Table

Carly Fiorina was widely thought to have clearly come out on top of the early kick-off “happy hour” debate – despite every other candidate saying they had – in part by aggressively targeting Hillary Clinton’s trustworthiness.

By the end of the night, though, and apart from a Twitter and search bump for Fiorina, it’s not really going to matter. And talking of happy hours, apparently some of the undercard participants are heading out to dinner together to watch the main event.

Sigh…

***

6PM – Eyes on the Prize

Fifty years ago today, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law.

Ann Simmons at the Los Angeles Times writes:

The 1965 legislation is a point of contention in many red states after the Supreme Court decided two years ago to do away with a key part: the requirement that states with a history of racial discrimination clear any changes to their voting laws with the federal government.

On Wednesday, a panel of federal appeals judges rendered an important interpretation of that decision, ruling that Texas’ voter identification law violates the Voting Rights Act by discriminating against black and Latino voters.

The issue is shaping up to be a flashpoint in the current presidential race.

And so, tonight in Cleveland, the latest iteration of the ‘best our democracy has to offer’ take their cases to the American public.

Later, Jon Stewart bids farewell.

Buckle up.

In case you were somehow unaware, Thursday night is the final episode of Jon Stewart’s Daily Show on Comedy Central. He leaves after 16 years of pushing the comedy envelope, and walks away at a moment in political theater that could almost be written just for him.

As Amy Davidson writes at the New Yorker:

Is it because Mitt isn’t running that Stewart had enough? Is it because a Bush and a Clinton are? (“The Daily Show” chyron for the 2012 Republican National Convention was “The Road to Jeb Bush 2016.”) Front-runner implosions are still possible, of the sort that would unleash the sort of ego-driven political free-for-all that Stewart seems uniquely capable of making sense of. He made it clear that he has some brittle feelings about the treatment of Brian Williams. Fine—but none of of those things, one must concede, are of the sort that have flustered Stewart before. Maybe he really does need a break—couldn’t he squeeze one in the form of some long naps before the election starts, then come back?

And New Yorker editor David Remnick writes that “..Stewart’s vaudeville reactions can be ten times as deflating to the self-regard of the powerful as any solemn editorial—and twice as illuminating as the purportedly non-fake news that provides his fuel.”

Mary McNamara at the Los Angeles Times writes that the show “redefined TV success as a natural fit for social media.”

Endlessly excerptable, “The Daily Show” with its short pointed rants and quick satiric sets was built for social media. Enjoyable in its entirety, it was even more powerful sliced and diced into fun-sized bits, held together by Stewart’s impressive palette of exquisitely precise outrage. Amused, bemused, irate, horrified, he lived to point out all the dangerous, infuriating and occasionally hilarious absurdities that too often pass for politics and culture in America.

From “Indecision 2000,” to his famous takedown of CNN‘s later-cancelled Crossfire in 2004 for “hurting the country,” to his and henchman Stephen Colbert’s 2010 “Rally to Restore Sanity And/Or Fear,” to his relentless exposure of the calculated hypocrisy of Fox News, Stewart has perfected, even outdone contemporary political journalism.

James Poniewozik writes at Time magazine that Stewart’s “real driving ideology was reasonableness, the idea that not every disagreement had to be Armageddon”

There are no term limits on voices of reason, but with another presidency ending—and Colbert retiring his eagle and decamping to CBS—it feels time. The Daily Show’s political-comedy successors will owe a lot to Stewart, not least because so many of them worked on his show. But the cultural momentum is with the likes of former understudy John Oliver, whose polymath essay-rants on HBO’s Last Week Tonight take sides fervently and often end with calls to action, not moments of Zen. Stewart’s replacement, Trevor Noah, is known for lacerating stand-up on racism and has already promised a show that will respond less to cable news than the immense, endless outrage cycle online.

Touché, marketing person at Arby’s..

And it looks like there will be a special guest for the final show:

Oh, and over at the aforementioned Fox there’s a small matter of the first televised Republican debate of the cycle, Thursday night in Cleveland. It could be the network’s highest-ever rated broadcast, but regardless of how much of a trainwreck it turns out to be, something will be missing, since Jon Stewart won’t be around to skewer it.

Finally, Thursday is the 70th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, a day which forever changed modern warfare. My former colleague Anna Fifield writes at The Washington Post how, “as their numbers dwindle, survivors have a plan to keep memories alive.”

Japanese children do not spend much time learning about World War II at school, with the official curriculum guidelines saying students should understand that the war “caused sufferings to all humanity at large.” A recent poll by the public broadcaster NHK found that only 30 percent of adults could correctly give the date of the Hiroshima attack and even fewer knew when the Nagasaki attack happened.

Fox News announced its line-up for the opening GOP debate on Thursday in Cleveland and the big news is at the bottom of the list.

The network said:

The roster of 10 candidates was determined based on an average of the five most recent national polls. Trump as expected made the cut, securing the top slot. Right behind him were Bush and Walker, who each have posted strong numbers in recent surveys.

The drama, rather, was at the edge of the top 10. Christie and Kasich, who were hovering by that edge in recent polling, were able to qualify.

So the Governor of the state in which the debate will actually be held, as well as where the GOP convention will be next year, squeaks into the senior squad. Which means that Messrs Perry, Jindal, Santorum, Fiorina, Pataki, Graham and Gilmore will be taking part in the “preliminary” debate earlier in the evening.

Santorum, for one, was outraged.

Seriously, though…

http://twitter.com/BecketAdams/status/628779294785990656

But despair not. Byron York writes at the Washington Examiner that “no Trump could make for a better debate.”

The winner of the kids’ table debate won’t stay at the kids’ table. “At least one or two of the [second-tier] debate candidates will be strong by the Iowa caucus, and one or two of the primetime participants will have collapsed,” says Newt Gingrich, whose commanding debate performances led him to the top of the Republican pack in 2011-2012.

Breitbart News, meanwhile, says the front-runner is “ready to rumble.”

“I hope we can keep it on a high level,” Trump said in an exclusive interview with Breitbart News on Tuesday afternoon. “If that doesn’t happen, I’m willing to go to the other route. But I will say the two people who hit me really hard both went down in the polls.”

As the debate lineup was announced, Trump’s dominance in Republican polls continues unabated.

http://twitter.com/richardhine/status/628306576210821121

On the Democratic side, the latest WMUR poll showed Bernie Sanders within the margin of error behind Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire.

And he has a new ad.

Or, speed-dating, really. (And because I used the “mass debate” headline last week.)

The polling metrics that will make up the selection for Thursday’s first nationally-televised Republican debate are set to be revealed on Tuesday.

In a pre-emptive response – or a trial run – 14 would-be GOP nominees gathered – in person and by video – in New Hampshire for a candidate forum the Boston Globe reports was “an effort by Granite State media to refocus the presidential race on the early nominating states instead of an increasingly nationalized race.”

Because it wasn’t an “officially-sanctioned” GOP event, the candidates didn’t actually talk to each other, but rather appeared individually to answer questions from a host. Each candidate got about 6 or 7 minutes, while the audience was instructed to remain quiet.

* Watch a recording of the proceedings here, via C-Span.

Ohio Gov John Kasich – who might yet miss out on Thursday’s debate in his own state – picked up an endorsement.

Donald Trump decided to keep his powder dry for Thursday. Meanwhile polls showed two sides of the man whose insanely broad name recognition is keeping him ahead of the pack.

but, er..

http://twitter.com/jonathanhsinger/status/628335593416568832

***

* POLITICS * Talking of Planned Parenthood, and the St Anselm Forum, the three video call-ins for the latter were absent because they were in Washington trying to defund the former.

***

* BUSINESS * The first person to face jail time over the Libor-fixing market manipulation scandal was sentenced to 14 years.

***

* MEDIA * Will Hobson writes at The Washington Post that sports channel ESPN “isn’t in the kind of trouble dire talk would indicate – at least until next decade.”

The biggest threat to ESPN, and its competitors, is a scenario develops in which sports leagues can make more money televising their games themselves than they do now selling their television rights to the highest bidder. That day could come, analysts think, but not this decade.

“I think the NFL’s people are the smartest people in the room. If it made more sense for them to go direct to consumer, they would do it tomorrow,” said Rich Greenfield, media and tech analyst at BTIG. “They are laying the groundwork to go direct to consumer over time, but that is a 2020-plus event.”

***

* SPORTS * What’s next for women’s UFC champion Ronda Rousey, who has apparently run out of people to fight? Well.. probably what you’d expect:

With a week to go before the start of the new Premier League season, transfer spending by England’s top division clubs has reached a total of £500m, with a new pre-season record possible, the BBC reports.

And then, of course, there’s this…

* CULTURE * Finally, the story of the day is undoubtedly this…

Aiming to jolt the rest of the world into action, President Obama will on Monday turn his attention to climate change, announcing plans for unprecedented pollution controls on American power plants. The President calls it “the biggest, most important step we’ve ever taken to combat climate change.”

Here’s the details:

Eric Holthaus writes at Slate that the President “wants you to think his climate plan is bold. It’s not.”

Republicans are already calling the plan a “war on coal” or worse. The Los Angeles Times reports:

By a coincidence of the calendar, as the administration began publicly outlining its plans, many of the leading candidates for the Republican nomination were at a gathering of wealthy donors assembled by Charles and David Koch, the billionaire brothers who have heavily funded efforts to oppose government regulation of the economy, particularly the energy industry.

Speaking to that gathering, at a resort hotel in Dana Point, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), one of the presidential aspirants, said the new plan “will make the cost of electricity higher for millions of Americans” and will achieve nothing because any U.S. reductions will quickly be overwhelmed by increased emissions from other countries.

http://twitter.com/drvox/status/627902369762705408

It’s not as if climate change warnings are a new story, but the President’s stance will certainly have an influence in shaping the 2016 Presidential race.

But, if nothing else makes people take notice, perhaps this will..

***

* POLITICS * At the aforementioned Koch Brothers summit in California at the weekend, five GOP candidates showed up to connect with powerful potential donors. The nominal front-runner, was having none of it, as Ashley Parker writes in the New York Times:

“I wish good luck to all of the Republican candidates that traveled to California to beg for money etc. from the Koch Brothers,” Mr. Trump, who leads in many national polls, wrote in a Sunday morning Twitter post. “Puppets?”

The answer to his question, of course, is a matter of perspective.

http://twitter.com/Trillburne/status/628047432169828352

On the Democratic side, Vide-President Joe Biden may or may not actually decide to jump in the race, but that doesn’t mean plenty of folks aren’t thinking about it.

http://twitter.com/AndyKroll/status/628027374798544896

Including, apparently, the current Democratic favorite, Hillary Clinton, who has moved up an ad buy originally scheduled for November.

***

* WORLD * Stock markets in Greece are set to reopen on Monday after five weeks, with warnings of an immediate hit for share prices.

A 16-year-old girl stabbed at a gay pride parade in Jerusalem at the weekend died of her wounds. The suspect, who was arrested, was released from prison just weeks ago after serving 10 years for stabbing marchers at the 2005 parade.

http://twitter.com/ILNewsFlash/status/627905355293552640

Meanwhile there was also a demonstration in Jerusalem, as well as widespread outrage across the world, over the murder of a toddler in an arson attack in the West Bank on Friday.

Fifty years after the Selma march, a protest in favor of restoring the Voting Rights Act is paying tribute to the original marchers by walking 860 miles to Washington DC.

***

* SPORTS * The Athletic world was rocked by what could be a huge new doping scandal after The Sunday Times and German broadcaster ARD revealed details of data covering more than 5,000 athletes’ blood tests, leading to allegations that many Olympic medals had been won “by cheaters.”

***

* CULTURE * Hitchbot just wanted to be friendly. But as Dante D’Orazio writes at The Verge, expecting to be treated “humanely” in Philly was maybe a reach.

All the Hitchbot wanted to do was see the United States. But just two weeks after starting its cross-country journey in Boston, Hitchbot’s trip has come to an unfortunate end. Last night, the cute little robot was vandalized and apparently decapitated in the city of brotherly love.

http://twitter.com/SheenaGoodyear/status/627947009165643776

Finally, Priscilla White, who as Cilla Black was one of Britain’s most popular TV entertainers in the 1980s, died aged 72.