Yes, you read that right–we’re now entering our tenth year of this song and dance. Things nobody tells you about your thirties, partial list: That you’ll run a weekly accessible news digest for literally all of them. Adulting, amirite?
Several nouveau and some classic reminders still apply: we may be beginning my tenth year of journalism, but I focus on national news within my areas of expertise–which, at this point, includes (1) health news, (2) queer news, (3) news about law and government, (4) news about descent into authoritarianism, and (5) connections between news stories. At this point, NNR summaries will merely toe-dip into other topics, if that–we are committed to a focused and sustainable format. And, of course, for the law things you read here, 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
Chinga La Migra
Image unnamed and licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
- Nightmare in Minneapolis Continues. Though Trump announced that 700 ICE officers were leaving Minneapolis during this cycle, there are still thousands of officers there, and stories out of the city continue. A few outlets picked up a story about a man in ICE custody who presented to a local hospital with eight skull fractures on the front, back, and sides of his skull; the ICU staff were understandably extremely dubious when ICE officials claimed he ran into a wall. Public teachers in the city are also suing ICE to keep them out of schools, as their presence is resulting in student disappearances and forced truancy. And, of course, there was that U.S. Attorney who told a judge her job sucks and wanted to be held in contempt so that she could sleep. (Needless to say, she’s not working in Minneapolis anymore.)
- Spotlight on ICE. There were a lot of ICE-related stories I wasn’t able to fit into the last cycle’s roundup, and several of them have since grown extra heads. There has rightfully been a lot of attention paid to children in detention this cycle, as Liam Conejo Ramos puts the issue firmly in the public eye. ProPublica ran a heartbreaking feature on children in Dilley Detention Center, many of whom are being illegally held for months on end; the piece details unsafe food and water, insufficient medical care, and gatekept education that only lasts an hour per day even when children do get in. Another ICE facility in Texas was in the news because of allegations that its officers are physically and sexually assaulting underage detainees. Yet another ICE facility in Texas was in the news for deporting witnesses who saw officers murdering a fellow detainee. And in Portland, Oregon–where ICE allegedly withdrew but locals report they are still there–a judge has restrained them from using tear gas for 14 days, because they keep assaulting tenants in nearby buildings and children at memorial services. Unsurprisingly, there are a lot of Congressional pushes for accountability right now, and no long-term DHS funding bill has been passed despite another deadline coming up on Friday.
From the Department of Health and Human Sacrifice
Image unnamed and in the public domain
There’s still a lot going on at DHHS, and all of it sucks. In the wake of his special, very smart “health plan,” Trump released a drug discount website, which literally just gives people coupons and tells them to go buy medications directly from drug companies. (Fun fact: Most of the drugs involved are also available as generics at a rate lower than the website can provide.) Meanwhile, in a truly unforeseeable turn of events, telling people not to vaccinate their kids has led to a massive measles outbreak in South Carolina–in fact, it has become the biggest outbreak we’ve seen since measles were eliminated in 2000. There is concern that a March for Life rally in DC at the end of January may have been a superspreader event, which has prompted head of CMS Mehmet Oz (God I hate typing that phrase) to tell people to vaccinate. This, however, has still not stopped the administration from going after COVID vaccines.
Spills in Aisle 47
‘Toddler Supermarket Tantrum,’ taken with permission from Stockcake.com
- Establishment vs Press. Former CNN anchor and investigative journalist Don Lemon was arrested for covering a protest at a church in Minnesota earlier this month–even though a magistrate threw out the administration’s attempt to issue misdemeanor charges, Bondi got a grand jury to indict him on nebulous felony charges. For context it’s very rare for a magistrate judge to refuse to issue a misdemeanor charge. In this case, it likely happened due to overwhelming evidence that this famous news person was exercising his First Amendment right to do news things about a developing story. (It turns out, when you’re an investigative journalist covering something, you often film the whole thing, and also tell the camera that you’re there covering something.) Folks, I’m sure many of you reading already know this, but I seriously cannot overstress just how unusual and disturbing this story is.
- A Gabbard in Georgia. In other unusual and probably illegal news, the FBI conducted a search and seized records from election headquarters in Fulton, Georgia this week, claiming for the zillionth time that there was somehow election fraud even though literally nothing substantiates this claim. That would be bad enough, but Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was also there during the search because… reasons? Even (perhaps especially) if it’s true that Trump told her to, as she claims, it is both far beyond the Chief of Intelligence’s purview and an egregious abuse of power to have her participate in a domestic investigation like this–which is probably why Democrats Democrats demanded she explain her involvement. Meanwhile, Trump is demanding that Republicans “nationalize” voting and “the federal government should get involved.” Nobody’s really fully sure what that means, but we do know that federal involvement of any type is flagrantly unconstitutional. The running theory is that he’s referring to the SAVE Act, which both doesn’t do that and also is a terrible plan.
Ways to Weather This
Image unnamed and licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
Bad Bunny’s Superbowl Halftime Show. I am genuinely not kidding when I say that Bad Bunny’s Superbowl halftime show will help you push back the abyss for a little while–it was an incredible piece of activism. Yes, his set was entirely in Spanish, but I promise that it’s accessible and moving even if you don’t speak una palabra of the language. (Also, Lady Gaga pops up in the middle to sing some English at you.) It has compassion, it has joy, it even has a couple getting married (for real!) in the middle of it. Seriously, just go watch it. And then look up all of the cultural references that he and his consulting historian managed to squeeze in.
So that’s what I have for you this cycle, and I’m sorry, there are still no news refunds. For making it through, you deserve this daring dear rescue and a less corrupt government. I’m still figuring out sustainability, and I would love feedback in 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 