The news is kind of a wild ride this week, which is better than being a trash fire I suppose. Still, traffic would be much smoother if everybody would stay in their lane. Just sayin’.
Standard standing reminders still apply: I am no journalist, though I play one in your inbox or browser, so I’m mostly summarizing the news within my area of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not a Twitter!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!
Cleanup in Aisle 45:
This was Quite a Week on the Election Rejection front. Here’s what I have for you:
- Insurrection Updates. There were quite a few updates from the Jan 6 House panel. On the testimony side of things, Trump Junior is expected to meet with the panel soon to interview, and former chief of staff Mark Meadows’s aide has offered some highly interesting information as well. Speaking of Meadows, we also learned that he was registered to vote in three different states at once in 2021, because of course he was. Meanwhile, Meadows’s cache of a zillion texts between November 2020 and February 2021 had some fascinating and disturbing stuff from a lot of different Republican players; particular focus is being given to Marjorie Taylor Greene. This is likely because, in addition to her scary bananas texts, she’s also being sued as an insurrectionist to be disqualified from running in the upcoming 2022 House election.
In contrast, it was much quieter week on the Biden Rebuilding front. Here’s what has happened:
- Recent Biden Resilience. Since I already covered the possibility of further student loan forgiveness last Tuesday, the biggest news out of the Biden administration this week involves some pretty significant new green initiatives timed to coincide with Earth Day. (There were also some more pieces on inflation, but honestly, that barely feels like news anymore.)
Your New Normal:
- Miscellaneous State Law Misery (again). Florida was in the news for bigoted policy yet another week. This time they voted to dissolve Disney’s self-governing status on account of the company not disavowing gay people hard enough. The Florida legislature also just straight-up eliminated a Black district from its maps while erasing three Democrat seats and adding four Republican ones, so that’s fun. Meanwhile, the incredibly gross ‘groomer’ rhetoric used by GOP in Florida to push the Don’t Say Gay bill–literally by arguing that anyone who supports gay rights is a child molester–is now being used against Democrat opponents in other states. If reading that makes you feel ill, rest assured that you are not alone; drafting this paragraph made my lunch petition to see the world.
The Bad:
- State of the COVID-19. In the wake of the travel mask mandate reversal on Tuesday, several private transit companies are dropping their mask policies and the Biden administration is already appealing the decision. That said, we also got some positive news about pediatric vaccination and treatment. Moderna plans to file for a vaccine for very young children in the very near future; the FDA also recently approved remdesivir use for treating children under the age of 12.
The Good:
- Recent French Resilience. This isn’t even American news, but it is good news, so here we are: President Emmanuel Macron beat alt right trash fire Marine Le Pen in the 2022 French Presidential election this week. Le Pen had been amassing an uncomfortable amount of support, so this victory was definitely not a given even though it was expected. At any rate, France will be spared their own Orange Cheeto reign for another election cycle, and good for them.
So that’s what I have for this week, and I’m sorry, there are no news refunds. For making it through, you deserve otter barrel rolls as well as a more consistently improved government. I’ll be back next week with more restructured and improved news, and I hope you will be back as well–but in the meantime, feel free to ping the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me more hours in the day!
National News Roundup 