2016 Election – National News Roundup

Year 6, Week 21 (June 5-11)

June 14, 2022 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

The January 6 hearings have started, and so far the theme of both of them has been “You knew it was bad, but you probably didn’t know it was this bad.” Needless to say, that’s not the light reading I was hoping for last week. Nonetheless, it’s better to know this stuff than to be bitten by it later, so the NNR is here to ruin your Monday again. (You’re welcome.)

Standard standing reminders still apply: I guess after six years I’m conceding that I’m a journalist, but I summarize news within my areas of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not a hearing!–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:

Basically half the news this week is January 6 hearings on the Election Rejection front. Here’s what I have for you:

Insurrection Update: The Hearing Hoopla. Appropriately, there was indeed a lot of sturm und drang leading up to the first hearing. News outlets put out lots of materials on how to watch and what to expect (the short version: insurrection), except of course for Fox News and miscellaneous MAGA Internet, which opted to ignore the hearings and complain about them respectively. There were also a number of stories about Trump at the top of the week, particularly regarding 1) his children agreeing to testify in the NY investigation of the family business and 2) super shady emails regarding his big plan to use fake electors in Georgia.

Insurrection Update: The First Hearings. At the time that I type this, we’ve completed the first two publicly-televised hearings, and so far the main theme is “yeah, this was really bad.” There are a lot of pieces out there already summarizing the key takeaways from the first hearing, and a few from the second one that happened earlier today already as well, which I recommend reading. That said, descriptions of “carnage” aside, here’s what stands out to me most so far: 1) Basically all of the people testifying are either nonpartisan witnesses or are Trump’s own people; 2) Everyone seems pretty clear that Trump knew what was going to happen and also knew there was no voter fraud, but nonetheless actively encouraged the insurrection; and 3) Witness narratives increasingly depict Trump as unable or unwilling to accept the reality in front of him regarding his November 2020 loss. (I think that last one is a very important distinction, though with 45 it can be genuinely hard to tell which one has occurred.) The next hearing is on Wednesday, and we’ll have more updates by this time next week.

In light of his instructions on this issue last week, I’m going to go ahead and consider the current Congressional work on responsible gun legislation to be part of Biden Rebuilding. Here’s what has happened:

Responsible Gun Laws. This week saw actor Matthew McConaughey speaking in front of Congress about his hometown of Uvalde and responsible gun ownership, and thousands participated in the March for Our Lives on the National Mall this weekend as well. With all of that high-profile pressure, perhaps it’s not surprising that we’ve also seen incremental legislative movement in both the House and the Senate. At the time that I type this, the House has passed a package largely along party lines, and the Senate has brokered a bipartisan deal among 10 Republicans and 10 Democrats. The Senate deal is actually pretty substantive, and includes a lot of important provisions that would make it the most meaningful gun legislation in decades–it’s truly noteworthy that this deal even happened. I would be remiss if I did not note, however, that those ten Republicans still potentially do not constitute enough votes to move us past a filibuster in the Senate if even one or two Democrats defect.

Your New Normal:

State of the COVID-19. We did indeed stop making airlines test people before they fly to other countries this week, which we knew was coming but it still sucks. In slightly better COVID news, Moderna is seeking authorization for an omicron-specific booster that it says outperforms existing vaccines. Meanwhile, the FDA voted to authorize a more traditional vaccine based on proteins instead of messenger RNA technology, which will create more options for people who can’t take the current vaccines. We’re still waiting for a pediatric vaccine for children under 5, but the FDA has signaled that it may approve Moderna and Pfizer’s submissions in the near future. Finally, the White House is redirecting remaining COVID funds to vaccination and therapeutics rather than testing, a move which reflects the reduced funding available after Congress didn’t authorize more.

The Bad:

Insurrection Update: Primaries Edition. While all of the January 6 hearings are happening, we’re also still holding primary elections, which wouldn’t be bad news except that they’re more related to January 6 than we would prefer. First off, Michigan’s gubernatorial candidate was arrested for January 6 insurrection this week, but he’s still running–making him the first active candidate charged but probably not the last. And just to top that off, former Trump aide and notable governmental embezzler Ryan Zinke is now officially the GOP candidate for Montana House rep. I suppose there’s technically nothing that precludes either of these things from happening, so obviously they’re just going to go ahead and happen, but it would be cool if there were literally any consequences for candidates.

The Good:

Recent Medical Advancements. There was a cancer drug trial that was in the news this week because, incredibly, 100% of subjects went into remission after the drug was administered. Obviously this is still early, but I can’t overstate how amazing that is! I look forward to reading more about this drug as trials continue.

So that’s what I have for this week, and I’m sorry, there are no news refunds. For making it through, you deserve this judgy doggo and a more functional 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!

Year 6, Week 20 (May 29–June 4)

June 7, 2022 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

The overarching theme of the news this week is structural and physical violence–which, after the last few weeks, is the continued trend none of us needed. It’s likely we’ll have another media circus by this time next week, which hopefully will give us something lighter to review. In the meantime, take care of yourselves, y’all.

Cleanup in Aisle 45:

Though there are still primaries–and Dr. Oz is now the official GOP candidate in PA–mostly, we’re back to January 6 on the Election Rejection front. Here’s what I have for you:

Insurrection Updates. Just today, a grand jury returned a slew of sedition charges against five top Proud Boys, who join about a dozen Oath Keepers in Charged with Obvious Treason Land. Speaking of charging, there was also a whole inexplicable House panel saga this week about not charging various truculent Trump staffers with contempt of Congress when they refused to do things. (In the end, the House panel charged and indicted former Trump advisor Peter Navarro, but not sketchy former chief of staff Mark Meadows or fellow social media scumbag Dan Scavino.) And, of course, the House Panel is gearing up for televised hearings that begin on Thursday, which they’re hoping will capture the nation’s attention as prime time viewing.

We also saw a few odds and ends of Biden Rebuilding, though not as many as I might have hoped. Here’s what has happened:

Biden Student Loan Progress. Biden did show up on prime time and make an impassioned speech about responsible gun laws that none of his former Senate colleagues cared about, but most of the coverage this week was about his ongoing will-he-won’t-he with student loans. In fairness, this is in part because he did actually cancel debt for students defrauded by Corinthian Colleges, which caused everyone to pay renewed attention to the possibility of more cancellation. I’m a bit dubious that he’ll take any steps that apply to all debt holders, but I suppose we’ll see what happens.

Your New Normal:

State of the COVID-19. COVID news is also pretty bleak this week, though thankfully cases are starting to go down as I type this. The biggest piece of concrete news is a published study showing that inaccurate oximeter readings result in delayed or incomplete COVID treatment for Americans with darker skin. This has apparently been a known problem with the equipment since the 1990s, but that didn’t stop us from relying on said equipment during the pandemic. Also, airlines want us to stop stop making them test people before they get on airplanes and fly to other countries, so that’s fun.

The Bad:

Myriad Mass Shootings^. There are, of course, further updates on Uvalde, where police officials continue to change their story of events over and over. That said, it’s a bit overshadowed by the sheer number of additional shootings since I last sent this newsletter.The past week or so saw: 1) twelve mass shootings over Memorial Day weekend; 2) a mass shooting Wednesday at a medical building in Tulsa, OK which killed five people, including the assailant’s treating physician; 3) multiple mass shootings Saturday in an entertainment district in Philly, PA, which killed three people and wounded 12 more; and 4) multiple mass gun and vehicle attacks early Sunday outside a nightclub in Chattanooga, TN, which killed three people and injured 14 more. And though the House has advanced some new legislation that they’re calling the Protect Our Kids Act, it’s still dubious whether the Senate would consider any of said bills. As I mentioned above, the Senate has already rejected Biden’s laundry list of relatively targeted changes–many of which are also in the House legislation, such as renewing the assault weapon ban that expired in the early 2000s.

The Good:

Recent Labor Resilience. I do have a modicum of positive labor news to report this week, which is nice to be able to say. More specifically, the Alphabet Workers Union won a 90-day extension for Google Maps contract workers who did not want to return to unsafe office conditions. It’s particularly heartening to read that a deal was reached within only a few hours of threatening to strike; organizing seems to have made a huge difference in this negotiation.

So that’s what I have for this week, and I’m sorry, there are no news refunds. For making it through, you deserve these enterprising catfrens and a more functional 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 the lyrics to your favorite song!

Year 6, Week 19 (May 22-28)

May 31, 2022 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

There are quite a few odds and ends from the last week or so that didn’t quite make it into the draft on Wednesday, though thankfully we’ve seen a fairly quiet Memorial day weekend. You can think of today’s draft as the tail-end mop-up–the stories are still worth tracking, but they’re bits and bobs of larger pieces.

Standard standing reminders still apply: I guess after six years I’m conceding that I’m a journalist, but I summarize news within my areas of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not a panel!–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:

Beyond primary elections, we did see a few more developments on the Election Rejection front. Here’s what I have for you:

Insurrection Updates. Justice Clarence Thomas’s wife Ginni Thomas was in the news again for pressuring elected officials to ignore elections, this time in Arizona. Meanwhile, news also broke that a senior State Department official met with election deniers about overturning election results on January 6, and House Panel testimony suggests that Trump expressed support for hanging Pence, so that’s fun. Finally, the D.C. Circuit blocked the House panel from obtaining RNC records as part of its January 6 investigation.

We also saw a few odds and ends of Biden Rebuilding, though not as many as I might have hoped. Here’s what has happened:

Administrative (In)action. Biden was in the news regarding a plan to order minor police reform and some collaborative initiatives on the anniversary of George Floyd’s death. (Though it was overshadowed by Uvalde news for obvious reasons, this did indeed happen on Wednesday.) However, despite a Presidential trip to Uvalde on Sunday, we haven’t seen much follow-up on police misconduct during the shooting. That said, he did open a DOJ investigation, which we’ll talk more about below.

Your New Normal:

State of the COVID-19. We have already talked some about the fifth Covid wave, which doesn’t seem to be deterring Americans from traveling over Memorial Day weekend because Murrica. This past week also saw some more studies about the nature of long Covid, which hopefully heralds more research to come. More specifically, studies this week confirmed that Covid vaccines do not prevent long Covid, though they do provide a bit of protection. There is also research that suggests that long Covid might be more common from minor infection, because most diagnosed cases occur in people who weren’t hospitalized during their initial infection. Finally, and speaking of hospitalization, the White House is trying to figure out ways to get Paxlovid to more people to prevent death during the current wave.

The Bad:

Uvalde Updates^. The Uvalde story unquestionably saw the most movement, and the developments remain extremely upsetting. By Thursday, several outlets had picked up the thread about police inaction at the shooting site, noting the deleterious role that police play in shootings in general as well as the myriad ways the police messed up in Uvalde in particular. Eventually, after several narrative inconsistencies issued by police were clarified, we had a clearer timeline of events: The shooter was inside the school and unengaged by police for almost 90 minutes while students called 9-1-1 repeatedly and parents begged officers to go inside. As I mentioned above, the U.S. Department of Justice is opening an investigation into the police response. Depressingly, this is the only federal initiative moving forward right now, as the Senate adjourned on Friday without voting on either of the two background check bills that have already passed in the House. (Before leaving, the GOP also blocked voting on a domestic terrorism bill that was a response to the Buffalo shooting.) Nonetheless, Senate Democrats say that they’re working on bipartisan legislation. There were also a few stories about how many mass shootings have occurred in 2022, which in total average more than one per day–and the Washington Post reported that another fourteen have occurred in the past week. Finally, the NRA held its annual convention this weekend in Houston, which involved a lot of repeating disproven talking points while teachers protested outside.

The Good:

Recent Labor Resilience. We did see some positive labor news over the past week or so. The U.S. Women’s Soccer Team finalized a deal that closes their pay gap and creates equal pay with men’s soccer, which is really exciting. There were also several unionizing victories for Starbucks franchises. Finally, Vice reports that Raven software QA voted to form the first AAA video game union in the country.

So that’s what I have for this week, and I’m sorry, there are no news refunds. For making it through, you deserve this inquisitive octopus and a more functional 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 your opinions on word puzzle games!

Year 6, Week 18 (May 15-21)

May 26, 2022May 26, 2022 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

The NNR this week comes with a content warning–we have several stories that show a shocking cultural disregard for children’s wellbeing. I have marked the stories that involve child endangerment with a caret (^) symbol, so that you have the ability to skip them if you need to. Please take care while reading, and take care of yourself.

Standard standing reminders still apply: I guess after six years I’m conceding that I’m a journalist, but I summarize news within my areas of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not a campaign!–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:

The name of the game for Election Rejection is, ironically, primary elections, but they’re still unfortunately quite topical. Here’s what I have for you:

Primary Blues. Since we’re a bit off our normal schedule, I’m bringing you news from not one, but two primary election dates, and much of it is a hot and/or fraudulent mess. North Carolina chucked local orgy aficionado and sitting Congressperson Madison Cawthorne after an extensive smear campaign from his own party, and down in Georgia, former Senator and full-time racist David Perdue enjoyed a similar table-turning. In the PA Senate primary, Trump-backed gremlin Mehmet Oz heads to a recount with hedge fund flavored David McCormick, though election rejection guy Doug Mastriano definitely won the gubernatorial GOP bid. The setbacks of these Trump-backed candidates highlight the fight currently happening within the party, especially as sitting officials in Georgia who refused to overturn 2020 results such as Governor Brian Kemp and Secretary Brad Raffensperger remained in the race. Meanwhile, five GOP candidates in Michigan were punted from the gubernatorial race because they committed election fraud to get themselves on the ballot, forging the necessary signatures to qualify.

I also have a lot for you on the Biden Rebuilding front, because we’re doing a dive into the formula shortage. Here’s what has happened:

Infant Formula Shortage.^ A shortage of infant formula in this country has been coming to a head for several months, but we saw a particular amount of movement this week, which makes it a good time to unpack it all. Essentially, only four companies in the U.S. make modern infant formula, and we have major restrictions on importation as well. These facts started a cascading failure in February when the FDA shut down a plant that produced much of company Abbott’s formula supply. The shutdown absolutely needed to happen, because unsanitary conditions were basically poisoning the supply, which resulted in four documented cases of infection and two infant fatalities. But while Abbott jerked the FDA around, declining to acquiesce to governmental requests, there was no real backup plan in place for replacing the lack of production. This exacerbated an already-existing shortage. Eventually this week, Biden invoked the Defense Production Act and began ordering importation from Europe, but these are only very temporary stopgaps. Abbott’s plant in Sturgis has now reached an agreement with the FDA, but it will take two months for them to start producing formula again. It’s a very rough and harrowing time for families that is unlikely to be fixed in the next few weeks.

Your New Normal:

State of the COVID-19. We have more information about the next COVID wave, brought to you courtesy of yet another dominant subvariant, and it’s… not great. Federal officials say that in many places in the US, we should all be masking. However, their messaging makes it clear that they don’t think they can make us, likely because Murrika freedom lawsuits suggest that they in fact cannot. This, predictably, means more rising cases.

The Bad:

Elementary School Shooting^. For the second week in a row, I am forced to report horrific gun violence, this time involving a highly fatal elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. Though details are still settling, it appears that an eighteen-year-old man bought two AR-15 rifles on his birthday and a few days later shot his grandmother, fleeing that location by car when she called police. He drove his car to Robb Elementary School, crashing it in a ditch nearby and reportedly engaging police officers present, who declined to follow him into the building. Then he entered the school and barricaded himself in a room, opening fire with said AR-15, ultimately killing nineteen elementary students as well as two teachers and injuring several more people. Needless to say, this nauseating story highlights the massive amounts of preventable gun violence that plague America, which as I noted last week has become even worse during the pandemic. We’re also already seeing the by-now-familiar pattern of no Congressional corrective action occurring, which is very difficult to watch.

The Good:

Recent Pediatric Resilience. In light of the above stories, I thought it might be helpful to talk a bit more about progress on pediatric vaccination–there was a lot of it this week. Early data from Pfizer suggests that they may have created an 80% effective vaccine for children under 5 by adding a third dose. Meanwhile, both the FDA and the CDC have cleared booster shots for kids aged 5-11 for Pfizer as well. It’s important progress that hopefully heralds more movement soon.

So that’s what I have for this week, and I’m so sorry for the contents. For making it through, you deserve these porcine nommers, these suggestions for how to help Uvalde, and a country that is less heartbreaking. 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 articles on self-care because we all need them!

Year 6, Week 17 (May 8-14)

May 17, 2022 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

I’m running out of new ways to say that the news was actual garbage for another week, but nonetheless: The news was actual garbage for another week. Maybe I could just swap it up by typing it in a different language every roundup? Let’s be real, at this point you’d still know what I wrote. (Les nouveaux sont de vraies ordures, et le singe est sur la branch.)

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 an email!–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:

We had a fair number of updates on the Election Rejection front, but they pretty much all suck. Here’s what I have for you:

Insurrection Updates. Yet another batch of bonkers emails was released this week, this time showing conservative lawyer John Eastman’s attempts to get legislators to toss absentee ballots through some kind of convoluted New Math scheme. Meanwhile, a final court decision means Marjorie Taylor Greene‘s officially allowed to stay on the ballot in Georgia, which I think we can agree is a loss for Georgia. And speaking of court decisions, Trump’s civil contempt will be dropped, but only if he pays the $110K total he owes–so let’s be real, he’s gonna stay in contempt of court. Finally, the Jan 6 House panel has graduated to subpoenaing 5 GOP legislators, including current House minority leader Kevin McCarthy, so that should be interesting.

In contrast, I don’t have a huge amount for you on the Biden Rebuilding front. Here’s what has happened:

Recent Biden Economy Stuff.* For another week, the biggest Biden news is that inflation sucks. This time, there’s renewed focus on sky-high gas prices, and also Biden insisting that the inflation is all MAGA America’s fault (which, to be fair, is probably extremely true.) But he also expanded a discount Internet program, which is pretty cool. And also cryptocurrencies had a total meltdown, much like everybody else experiencing 2022.

Your New Normal:

Reproductive Justice News. As predicted by prophecy, the Senate voted on reproductive justice protections this week, but the vote went 49-51 with Joe Manchin literally voting to block voting on it. The Senate did, however, successfully pass a bill making it harder to protest outside of SCOTUS judge’s houses. Meanwhile, Senator Warren and Rep Jayapal proposed a bill creating accountability of any kind for Supreme Court justices, but my guess is that one probably went straight into the circular filing cabinet, because I’ve heard exactly nothing about it being advanced at all. Aren’t Congressional priorities fun?

The Bad:

State of the COVID-19. COVID news this week was a bit quiet, beyond the official confirmation of one million deaths in the U.S. The Biden administration is also mailing another round of free COVID tests, this time 8 tests per household. Finally, a few outlets ran stories this week about misappropriated COVID relief funds, covering things like identity theft and, in Texas’s case, diversion to immigrant detention programs. (The Texas thing is particularly galling when you consider that Title 42 is restricting immigration because of COVID.)
White Supremacist Shootings (again). This was a truly awful week for gun violence. On Saturday, a white supremacist shot up a grocery store in Buffalo, NY, livestreaming the entire thing on Twitch as he did so, and resulting in 10 deaths and 3 injuries. We know the shooter is a white supremacist because he published a 180-page manifesto telling us he is, repeating the batshit “great replacement” theory that the alt-right propagates in campaign ads about white people being replaced by other cultures. Though the Buffalo shooting has gotten the most attention, there were two other racially-motivated mass shootings this week as well–on Wednesday, three women were shot in a hair salon in Dallas and on Sunday, five people were shot at a church in California. These shootings come on the same week as a report from the CDC documenting heightened gun violence during the pandemic; the report notes that gun homicides in 2020 were the highest in 25 years.

The Good:

Recent Medical Resilience. For a second week in a row, I’m excited to announce a long-awaited piece of good news: Scientists have identified a risk marker for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. This is a huge breakthrough which opens up the long-term possibility of testing and treatment–and, of course, it’s also really valuable information for grieving parents. I’m gratified to be able to give you a bright spot in an otherwise dark news cycle.

So that’s what I have for this week, and I’m sorry, there are no news refunds. For making it through, you deserve this pouting Mastiff 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 your review of Our Flag Means Death!

Year 3, Week 31 (August 18–24)

August 27, 2019October 20, 2019 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

This week has basically been ten pounds of chaos in a five-pound can — it’s a rough ride featuring everything from rainforest arson to Trump deciding he’s The Chosen One. I’m sorry, this is in fact reality, but your ice cream is here for you and so am I.

Standard standing reminders apply: I am no journalist, though I play one in your inbox or browser, so I’m only summarizing the news within my area of expertise. This week’s news contains some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise — I’m a lawyer, not a Twitter tantrum! — but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Constitutional Crisis Corners:

With the Mueller investigation over and the Senate and House both on a break, the Russia Investigation has been pretty quiet. But here’s what I have right now:

Subpoenas Ahoy.* The House Judiciary Committee plans to subpoena former Trump aide Rob Porter, who was apparently present for several obstruction of justice exploits mentioned in the Mueller Report. Porter makes the third person to be subpoenaed to testify, after the same committee subpoenaed former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and former deputy chief of staff Rick Dearborn. All three are slated to appear on September 17, so that’s the date to watch here.

The name of the game this week was Disregard of Governing Norms, and oh, what a week it was. Here’s what I have for you:

Delusions of Grandeur.* Kicking off the chaos, we have all the news about Trump’s high opinion of himself. First he retweeted the esteemed opinion of a conspiracy theorist that Israeli Jews “love him like he is the second coming of God.” Then, riffing on that theme some more, he informed reporters that he is “the chosen one” to deal with looming trade wars. And for an encore, he told a room full of veterans that he thought about giving himself a medal of honor. (Apparently, nothing says “deserving of our highest award of valor” to him quite like “I dodged the draft and compare myself to Christ.”) These quotes are nauseating, but they also reflect an intentional disruption of our governing norms that shouldn’t be ignored.
Nukeicane Donald. Somehow, 45 literally calling himself the messiah isn’t the most bizarrely disturbing thing I’m writing about him this week, because Axios reports that he proposed flinging nuclear bombs into hurricanes as a means of dealing with them. (The writers really jumped the shark this week; it must be sweeps season.) Trump is calling this story fake news, which means odds are good that he actually did suggest it. Needless to say, this plan would cause radioactive tradewinds, so it’s not an awesome idea either way — although people have been suggesting it since Eisenhower’s day.
Recession Rodeo.* As a threat of recession continues to loom, 45’s behavior gets more and more extreme — and that, in turn, speaks to tossing more norms out the window. The nadir this week was calling the head of the Federal Reserve a “bigger enemy” than the President of China. But that said, we should probably be most concerned about him “hereby ordering” American companies to withdraw from China via Twitter amid rising tariffs. The market definitely reacted to that last one, dropping more than 600 points in one day, and though 45 doesn’t have the ability to legally enforce the order it sounds like he might try anyway.

Your “Normal” Weird:

Policy One-Eighty Patrol. There were some stunningly quick about-faces on some important issues this week which seem worth noting. The most extreme was 45’s amazing Appearing Disappearing Regret About Trade Wars with China — it’s not unheard of for politicians to change their stances on things, but a complete one-eighty in the span of a few hours is a bit much. He also reversed course on the subject of background checks for gun purchase, now seeming more reluctant to move forward on legislative changes. It’s been that kind of week, I guess.
Electoral College Dropouts.* New precedent out of the 10th Circuit this week found that the electoral college doesn’t have to listen to the popular vote it represents, or at least can’t be penalized for breaking faith in this case’s instance. Though I haven’t yet read all 125 pages of this case, I find the ruling baffling; the constitution is pretty silent on this topic but pledge laws have been protected by the Supreme Court for half a century. And no matter what the Supreme Court finds if they hear the appeal on this case, there’s a Washington Supreme Court case that compels electors — and they’re the ultimate authority on the Washington constitution, so that can’t be overturned by the federal case.
Joe Walsh What Now. Former Republican congressman and all-around tea partier Joe Walsh announced this week that he’ll be running for President as a Republican primary candidate, which I find baffling on a lot of levels. This isn’t so much the GOP rejecting Trumpism as a Trumpist rejecting Trump, so I’m not even certain his presence will split the GOP vote much. I guess it will be interesting, if nothing else?

The Bad:

Even More Hellish Immigration News. As has become the norm, there are a bunch more horrifying immigration updates this week. The administration announced that it wouldn’t provide flu shots to migrants in custody, which is a really serious problem given the appalling hygiene conditions in the camps. They then followed this up by moving to hold kids in camps indefinitely instead of placing them in sponsor homes as they’re required by law, and twenty states are suing over it. Meanwhile, Trump has started threatening to take away birthright citizenship yet again, which is just as flagrantly unconstitutional as it was the last seven times he brought it up. And news broke that the Justice Department sent white nationalist content to sitting immigration judges, and apparently has been doing this for months. (Relatedly, I learned a new antisemitic term from my government today, so that’s a thing that happened.)
Amazon is Burning. The Amazon rainforest is suffering massive wildfires as I type this, which have actually been going on for weeks but gained the world’s attention this week due to the mass circulation of photos of the damage. The problem has significantly worsened since the election of President Bolsonaro, who ran on a platform of allowing rampant deforestation (no, seriously), and the fires this year are the worst on record. This is likely to have devastating effects on our global ecosystem long-term, because the Amazon is an important player in delaying climate change.
G7 Summary.* Many of the topics of this weekend’s G7 summit have already been covered elsewhere in this roundup, but it was a veritable merry-go-round of messy topics and adult politicians behaving badly. Among the remaining lowlights: Trump trying to get Russia back in and insulting France again; UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson insisting that Britain shouldn’t have to pay for Brexit; and a sudden gate-crashing minister from Iran who turned out to be France’s party guest. There was also some apparent progress, such as a new trade deal with Japan, but those moments appeared few ad far between. And since the United States hosts the next G-7 summit, Trump’s already threatening to hold it at a property he owns in Florida, because of course he is.

The Good:

Recent Court Resilience. We did get some pretty awesome court news this week: The Ninth Circuit ruled that denying sexual reassignment surgery to prisoners with severe dysphoria violates the Eight Amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. This is a major win for trans rights, because it means courts are viewing trans healthcare as medically necessary. I’m really happy to get to write about it.

So that’s what I have for this week, and good gravy, what even is the news right now. For making it through, you deserve this monkey reunion video and an eventual better government. I’ll be back next week with more (and hopefully better) 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 ice cream, cause we’re gonna need it!

Year 3, Week 30 (August 11–17)

August 20, 2019October 20, 2019 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

Well, I got back from vacation and the nation was somehow even more on fire than I left it. (I swear I didn’t leave the stove on.) We’ll get through this and out the other side; it’s just going to take all of us pitching in to support each other.

Standard standing reminders apply: I am no journalist, though I play one in your inbox or browser, so I’m only summarizing the news within my area of expertise. This week’s news contains some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise — I’m a lawyer, not a trip to Israel! — but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Constitutional Crisis Corners:

With the Mueller investigation over and the Senate and House both on a break, the Russia Investigation has been pretty quiet. But here’s what I have right now:

Impeachment Investigation (Non-)Update.* Now that Democrats’ support for an impeachment investigation has reached a party majority, and chairman Jerry Nadler has clearly stated that he is conducting a formal inquiry into impeachment, the topic is again an open question. At the time that I type this, Nancy Pelosi is still reluctant to move in that direction. But that could change if pressure keeps up in the future, so it’s anybody’s guess what will happen when Congress comes back from the break.

This week’s Disregard of Governing Norms news, on the other hand, sure had attributes. Here’s what happened:

“Moscow Mitch” Meme Gains Steam. The Democratic Party is definitely running with the “Moscow Mitch” moniker that started surfacing in the past few weeks, at least if Nancy Pelosi’s use of the term is any indication. Unsurprisingly, McConnell hates the term, because it draws attention to his recent reindeer games regarding election protections. So let’s make it the new 30–50 feral hogs, y’all.
Israel Intervenes. Trump pushed on Twitter for Israel to ban two House representatives who planned to visit this week, arguing that it would “show great weakness” if they were allowed to visit because they “hate Israel and all Jewish people” — which, by the way, is news to this Jewish author. Showcasing the special, special bond that Trump has with Bibi, Israel went ahead and banned them, using boycotting as a cover. Eventually they walked back the ban on Representative Tlaib at her request, on the grounds that her grandmother is a life-long West Bank resident and thus she could probably sic the UN on them for this nonsense. But Omar remained banned, and ultimately Tlaib said “thanks but no thanks” to a visit under their required conditions. (Though Trump and others have tried to claim she set them up, it’s more likely that she received political pressure not to repudiate boycotting in this context.)
Social Media Executive Order. The Trump administration announced that it plans to draft an executive order that would give broad authority to the FTC and the FCC to monitor and police online speech on social media platforms. You know all those times that someone told you that Freedom of Speech doesn’t apply to something, and a private actor’s removal of speech isn’t censorship, because the First Amendment only applies to government actors? That’s exactly what this executive order is designed to mess up, and we should all have something to say about it — as proposed it would be very, very bad for freedom of speech. We absolutely need to keep an eye on it.

Your “Normal” Weird:

Epstein Death. Shortly after reams of discovery were made public on his criminal case, Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in his jail cell on Sunday. The death was originally declared a suicide, but Trump started accusing the Clintons of murdering Epstein to keep him silent (which would probably be a libel suit if we weren’t living in Bizarroland). Soon William Barr picked up the thread, and now there are ongoing DoJ and FBI investigations. And an early autopsy report revealed that his death is consistent with murder by strangulation, though the final report ruled that his death was a suicide by hanging.
Greedy for Greenland. This week’s “why am I typing this” award definitely goes to a news story that Trump asked aides about buying Greenland, apparently because he wants to mine it for materials. Greenland, quite understandably, has made it clear that it’s not for sale — although they did leave the door open to sell him resources. In all seriousness, folks, this story is super weird but I also think it’s very telling that Trump is asking about buying and selling entire autonomous territories like it’s a real estate deal; he clearly views people’s lives as commodities in a way that we definitely don’t want a President to view them.
Reproductive Rights Weirdness. Steve King was in the news this week for claiming that humanity might not exist without rape and incest, which was a terrifying view into his worldview that absolutely nobody asked for. (He also claimed the media owed him an apology because… reasons?) And King’s comment is a timely reminder of the nightmarescape currently looming over reproductive rights, between Planned Parenthood’s likely withdrawal from Title X funding as a result of the gag rule and Trump proposing more rules that let businesses discriminate on anything from reproductive rights to existing while trans.

The Bad:

Even More Hellish Immigration News. Immigration news has been truly awful over the past couple of weeks, and somehow it just keeps getting worse. The long-awaited new rules on public charge were officially published this week, and as expected they disproportionately punish indigent immigrants for existing. In the process, they also force many lawfully present immigrants to choose between necessities such as health care and food and permanent immigration status. (The administration defended this practice by saying Emma Lazarus’s famous poem on the Statue of Liberty should only include those tired and poor who “can stand on their own two feet” and were “people coming from Europe.”) Additionally, the shooter in El Paso disclosed that his attack was motivated by anti-immigration sentiment, not that this was really in doubt, and an ICE employee drove his truck into a crowd of protesters in Rhode Island. There were also massive immigration raids at a food plant in Mississippi, apparently in response to a successful lawsuit about work conditions, which resulted in 680 arrests on the first day of school. The Ninth Circuit partially reinstated the (illegal) proposed restrictions on asylum entry, which came down around the same time the Washington Post reported on unsafe conditions for asylum seekers forced to wait in Mexico. And for an encore, the administration is trying to decertify an immigration judges’ union, because of course they freaking are.
Mass Shooting Aftermath. In the aftermath of mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, we have no closure but lots of mess. Trump visited both sites for photo ops, of course making the trips all about him. Then he expressed half-hearted support for gun control while Congress considered five different bills on the subject and several Democratic candidates released comprehensive plans. Meanwhile, there were further arrests in both El Paso and Ohio due to concern about copycat crimes.
Recession Threat.* A threat of recession looms large in the news cycle this week, with reports of sluggish growth early in the week forecasting a massive market drop on Wednesday. Though this wasn’t the first bad day the Dow has had in the past few years, it is the first time since 2007 we’ve seen an inverted yield curve, which many people view as a serious warning sign — apparently including Trump, if his Twitter tirade is any indication. It’s a predictable outcome of irresponsible economic policy, but it can be hard to predict when it will hit or how bad it will be, which is making a lot of people nervous. Needless to say, the Trump administration is insisting it won’t happen, but we should all be keeping an eye on this.
Endangered Species Further Endangered.* The Trump administration weakened foundational wildlife protection rules this week, presumably just in case anybody’s wife really needed that grizzly skin coat. (I’m lying, it’s about oil, because of course it is.) The changes are particularly frustrating because they come shortly after a UN global assessment report stresses the importance of preserving biodiversity. Some days, it really does feel like we’re being governed by Captain Planet villains.

The Good:

Cyntoia Brown Released. After spending literally half her life behind bars, Cyntoia Brown was released from custody this past week when her sentence was commuted. Brown was originally sentenced at age 16 for killing a man who paid to have sex with her; she maintained the act was self-defense and prosecutors claimed it was a robbery gone south. Brown’s case had become a symbol for better protections for sex-trafficked minors in general, and her commuted sentence is a major win on that front.
Recent Court Resilience. There were several promising court cases in the past week or so, which is only a partial balm to everything else but it’s at least a start. In DC, a judge awarded $700,000 to a college student heavily doxxed by neo-Nazis, creating valuable new precedent about the actual harm created by serious Internet harassment. And in lawsuit news, 13 states are suing the Trump administration over their rollback of the Clean Air Act while another 18 other states and several advocacy groups are suing over the new public charge rules.
2020 Primary Colors. Presidential hopeful John Hickenlooper announced he is officially dropping out of the 2020 race, though apparently he may run for the Senate instead (and more power to him, we need people to do that anyway). Between that and five candidates emerging as fundraising frontrunners for the September debates, we may be finally seeing an actual primary begin to take shape. We should continue to watch this, obviously, but it’s exciting to see order start to form from chaos.

So that’s what I have for this week, and good gravy, what even is the news right now. For making it through, you deserve this primer on zero-proof beverages and an eventual better government. I’ll be back next week with more (and hopefully better) 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 a kudos for surviving a nine-hour Ikea trip!

National News Roundup: Year 3, Week 27 (July 21–27)

July 30, 2019June 7, 2020 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

This week has a lot happening, and much of it can feel like a shell game designed to hide the ball from view — because it is. I’ll try to keep folks posted on everything going on, though some days it’s hard for me to keep my eye on the ball as well — those cups move really fast! (But we all do our best.)

Standard standing reminders apply: I am no journalist, though I play one in your inbox or browser, so I’m only summarizing the news within my area of expertise. This week’s news contains some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise — I’m a lawyer, not a policy change! — but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Constitutional Crisis Corners:

It’s another week of heavy movement on the Russia Investigation front, and some of the news has major implications. Here’s what’s going on right now:

Mueller Testifies. Robert Mueller testified before Congress for seven straight hours on Wednesday, in back-to-back hearings with the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees. Though his testimony largely stuck to the bounds of the report, he made it clear that Trump was not exonerated by said report — even going so far as to confirm that he believed he could not charge a sitting president, but that Trump potentially could be charged upon leaving office. He also made it very clear that he was deeply concerned about foreign meddling in the 2020 election cycle, and had many things to say about Wikileaks. And it’s clear that at least one committee was listening, if the news below is any indication.
Impeachment Investigation.* The House Judiciary Committee opened an impeachment investigation on Friday, and despite Nancy Pelosi’s continual reticence, committee head Jerry Nadler has suggested that he wants this to be the opening act to impeachment itself. The investigation includes a petition requesting information from Mueller’s grand jury proceedings, suggesting that the move relates in part to Mueller’s testimony. And it’s not really that surprising, because more and more House Democrats started to seriously consider impeachment after Mueller testified — at the time that I type this, we’re nearing a party majority.
Election Protection Escapades.* Despite Mueller’s testimony on Wednesday, and the movement on impeachment, we have not seen the same success with attempts to protect our 2020 election cycle from Russian influence — mostly because Mitch McConnell keeps blocking his colleagues’ attempts to do something proactive. And that’s bad news bears, because even without Mueller’s testimony we would probably want to respond to news that Russia targeted election systems in all 50 states during the 2016 election. (Trump is technically responding to this news, in that he’s replacing the head of intelligence, but that’s not even the same postal code as what I meant.)

This week’s Disregard of Governing Norms news is just repeated installments of the Trump Is Horrible Show, but we have to pay attention to it anyway because it has implications. Here’s what happened:

Executive Hacks. Trump made a lot of scary statements about his own executive powers this week. First he said he could wipe Afghanistan off the face of the earth as a proposed end to the ongoing war, which left Afghanistan quite reasonably asking “excuse me, you could what now?” Then he followed that one up by announcing that Article II of the Constitution gives him “the right to do whatever I want,” presumably because somebody told him that actually, no, he can’t just bomb Afghanistan cause it’s Tuesday. And to punctuate that point, he vetoed a resolution intended to stop him from selling arms to Saudi Arabia and then sued Congress about his taxes.
Executive Attacks. There was also a lot of Twitter sleight-of-hand this week, which seems like it should get its own section. The most obvious example is his extended fight with Elijah Cummings, who got permission to subpoena White House officials this week and also got repeated rounds of 45 racism in response. Then Al Sharpton spoke up and got a face full of racism also, which Mick Mulvaney defended by saying Trump was just “fighting back” against “lies.” But Trump also threatened to ‘declare antifa a terrorist organization,’ which is confusing on at least three different levels; the antifa movement isn’t a specific organization and also it only exists as a counter to fascism, which means no antifa action is targeting a general civilian population. This is a particularly concerning move for its implications under the Patriot Act — which permits forfeiture and life imprisonment of designated terrorists, and probably was designed to detract from Barr’s decision about capital punishment — but more on that below.

Your “Normal” Weird:

Seal of Disapproval. The other other weird Trump news of the week is that he spent 80 seconds in front of a doctored Presidential seal designed to mock him — specifically containing the double-headed Russian imperial eagle and a set of golf clubs as well as the Spanish phrase “Trump is a puppet.” The guy who created the seal apparently has no idea how Trump ended up in front of it, because he has no official affiliation with the campaign at all (and is a former Republican himself). I… got nothin’, y’all.

The Bad:

Even More Hellish Immigration News. Immigration news remained really awful for yet another week. The latest is a new regulation that dramatically expands the practice of fast-tracked deportations that skip immigration court entirely — a particularly concerning development given the growing number of horror stories about ICE detaining U.S. citizens, because the practice makes it much, much harder to observe and correct agency abuses. Meanwhile, Trump threatened another travel ban and more tariffs to force Guatamala to agree to an asylum deal that will be a bad scene for everybody involved, including the United States. And the Supreme Court cleared the path for this administration to divert military funds for the border wall, though only while the appeal is pending.
SNAP Cold Snap. The Trump administration proposed several cuts to SNAP benefits, commonly known as “food stamps,” in the past week — most of which are cruel or unnecessary, though they will apparently save the administration about $2.5 billion by increasing food insecurity. The proposed changes including lowering income eligibility to 130% of the federal poverty level and ending automatic eligibility through means-testing, and suffice to say my professional opinion of these changes as a person who works towards health equity is that they are butts.
Barr Reinstating Capital Punishment. Attorney General William Barr reinstated federal capital punishment this week, ordering dates set for the first federal executions in almost two decades. All five of the inmates scheduled for execution have been convicted of heinous crimes, and one of them is a white supremacist, but the move is very concerning for its racial implications nonetheless — there are a lot of studies that show that wrongful conviction is a serious concern. Frankly, I wouldn’t trust this administration to apply a stamp, let alone apply rules of law to the correct people. And that’s before we throw in Trump threatening to classify the antifa movement as terrorists.

The Good:

Recent Court Resilience. A judge in California has already blocked the severe restrictions on asylum put in place by the Trump administration last week, stating that it is Congress’s job to decide who is categorically eligible for asylum under our existing law and the proposal didn’t honor current law. And that kid from Covington Catholic who was suing the Washington Post hit a brick wall this week when his case was dismissed because it completely lacked merit and also because he lied in his complaint.
Protest Progress in Puerto Rico. After many days of protest to force the corrupt governor to resign, Puerto Rico saw victory on Wednesday night, when the governor announced that he is resigning effective August 2. This is a big deal, because it shows the real change that organized protest can bring.

So that’s what I have for this week, and it’s more than enough. For making it through, you deserve this excellent cover of Old Town Road and an eventual better government. I’ll be back next week with more (and hopefully better) 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 a full night’s sleep so I can feel all fancy!

National News Roundup: Year 3, Week 26 (July 14–20)

July 23, 2019June 7, 2020 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

You know, occasionally people will remark on how I’m able to stare into the news void so much without getting jaded, and I don’t know what they mean — but then I look at a dog and pony show like this past week’s media circus and I’m somehow still amazed by how Extra it is. So I guess y’all have a point. (That said, I’m not sure if that’s a comment on my resilience, on 45’s smoke and mirrors, or both. It’s probably both.)

Constitutional Crisis Corners:

After a few weeks of quiet, we saw some significant movement on the Russia Investigation this week. Here’s what I have for you:

Investigation News Redux.* The House decided this week to hold William Barr and Wilbur Ross in criminal contempt of Congress. It’s a move full of sound and fury but likely signifying nothing, since there likely won’t be any real-world consequences for it. Meanwhile, Roger Stone was banned from social media entirely because his judge was so annoyed that he kept refusing to comply with his gag rule. And more evidence surfaced that Trump was directly involved in all stages of the Stormy Daniels payments, suggesting that Hope Hicks lied to Congress on the subject — but no new charges will apparently be forthcoming.
Al Green Goes Rogue. Rep. Al Green filed articles of impeachment this week due to Trump’s recent racist statements about the House Squad (which I’ll cover in more depth below). Given Pelosi’s objection, it’s not surprising that the House ended up tabling the articles — but some congress critters who support impeachment took Pelosi’s side because they want to hear Mueller’s testimony on Wednesday first and fold that information in. So we may see a return to this topic after that happens.

There was mostly just one gigantic story on the Disregard of Governing Norms front, but it’s quite a saga. Here’s what happened:

Trump Racism Rodeo Continues. After last week’s aggressively racist twitter rant against ‘The Squad,’ Trump and some of his fellow Republicans doubled down multiple times in an ongoing ball-and-shell game where, as far as I can tell, the ball was either his ties to Epstein or the Squad’s actual point about the camps. First Kellyanne Conway asked a journalist to define his ethnicity before she would answer his question. Then the House eventually censured Trump over his statements by a party line vote, but not before holding a vote about whether Pelosi was allowed to call Trump’s racist comments ‘racist’ on the House floor. Trump responded by making (planned) further racist statements about Omar at a rally, which led to a crowd chanting, “Send her back!” for a full thirteen seconds. Trump defended the crowd’s chanting while a whole bunch of Republicans decried Democrats as antisemitic or launched into overtly racist and violent remarks. Meanwhile, Mike Pence and Mitch McConnell refused to directly answer questions about racism (in McConnell’s case, regarding his own wife, who is an immigrant of color). Then Trump put a bunch more antisemitic words in the Squad’s collective mouths and we all got Racism Bingo.

Your “Normal” Weird:

Epstein Horrorshow Continues. Jeffrey Epstein continued to be in the news this week, despite Trump’s best efforts otherwise, for everything from his relationship with Trump to the weirdly permissive (and sometimes gross) practices of jail staff the last time he was held. By the end of the week, he was asking for bail to be set, presumably on the assumption that his judge hadn’t yet heard the seven different ways the man’s an obvious flight risk. (It turned out the judge had, though, because his request for bail was denied.)
Rand Paul Refuses. Rand Paul was in the news this week because he more-or-less single-handedly blocked a bill to fund workers’ compensation for 9/11 first responders — which, disturbingly enough, is not the most abjectly callous thing I’m gonna type this week. The block is temporary, but the latest in a long line of delays for survivors of the 9/11 attacks, some of whom passed away from hazard-induced cancer before the first vote. It’s a sad low from a government full of sad lows, even though it’s only a temporary setback, and I hope the remaining survivors are given compensation soon.

The Bad:

Even More Hellish Immigration News. Just like literally every other week, immigration news this week has established new lows. The latest is that Trump is considering refusing all refugee applications for FY20; is changing questions on the U.S. citizenship exam; and plans to dramatically expand the practice of fast-tracked deportations that skip immigration court entirely. Meanwhile, CBP was in the news for literally telling a three-year-old girl with a heart condition to pick which parent gets to stay in the U.S. while her family’s asylum claim is pending. But in more positive news, the ACLU has already filed a lawsuit on the proposed rule that would effectively end asylum at the Southern border and has announced they’ll sue over the expedited removal proposal as well. And organized protests have been occurring all over the country, both outside ICE detention facilities and otherwise.
Title X Gag Rule Goes Into Effect. The Trump administration announced abruptly on Monday that starting now, clinics receiving federal dollars cannot refer women for abortions at all — a proposed rule that is the subject of still-ongoing litigation, but which has been permitted to proceed by a recent appeals court decision. Several states have decided to just stop receiving federal dollars instead of enforcing the gag rule, which means reproductive care will continue as normal in many places. But it’s still frustrating to see this rule go into effect.
DOJ Fails Eric Gardner. The DOJ was in the news this week for refusing to prosecute the New York officer who negligently killed Eric Gardner in 2014. This news would be frustrating enough on its own, but reporting makes it clear that Attorney General William Barr made the call against the recommendation of his own civil rights division. Needless to say, black lives matter regardless of what Barr has decided about it, but this is a blow to the movement nonetheless.

The Good:

Recent Court Resilience. In the wake of national attention after a judge concluded that a defendant in an alleged rape case was “from a good family” and therefore shouldn’t be sentenced, the New Jersey Supreme Court has ordered mandatory training for every judge on the bench. The judge in question has also resigned, and the court similarly recommended the removal of a judge who inappropriately asked a complaining witness in a rape case if she ‘could have closed her legs.’ It’s definitely not the end of the conversation, but it’s promising to see judicial authorities acknowledge that official action is needed to change judicial culture.
Protests in Puerto Rico. Protests have been going strong in Puerto Rico for multiple days now, as people take to the streets by the thousands to push for their corrupt governor’s resignation after his extremely damning chat messages were leaked last week. Denizens also organized an impeachment committee on Saturday, and yesterday he announced that he won’t run in 2020. But Puerto Ricans want him to resign, and frankly I don’t blame them.

So that’s what I have for this week, and it’s more than enough. For making it through, you deserve these videos of Broadway performers singing in the streets during last week’s blackout and an eventual better government. I’ll be back next week with more (and hopefully better) 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 your completed bingo card to win a prize!

National News Roundup: Year 3, Week 25 (July 7–13)

July 16, 2019January 12, 2021 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

My sense this week is that much like my car, we’re all out of gas right now. It’s okay to rest and refuel, folks — in fact, it’s important, because this dystopia is an ultra-marathon and we all get tired sometimes. Take the time you need and come back ready to fight. (In the meantime, sloth party at my place!)

Constitutional Crisis Corners:

It was actually a pretty quiet week for the Russia Investigation, all things considered, but we did see a couple of things. Here’s what happened:

Criminal Contempt News.* The House will vote this week on whether to hold William Barr and Wilbur Ross in criminal contempt of Congress. It’s a move full of sound and fury but likely signifying nothing, since there aren’t any real-world consequences for it. Still, I’ll keep you posted.
Waiting for Mueller. We’ve all spent a lot of time waiting for Muellertime like we live in a Beckett play, and the House Democrats have apparently decided to lean into it. After subpoenaing him for an emoluments case, the House announced an additional week delay to allow for a longer and more thorough information-gathering process. So we’ll see where we are in a week, I guess. (We always find something, eh Didi?)

We did see a couple of bizarre actions on the Disregard of Governing Norms front, in contrast. Here’s what happened:

Racist Trump Tantrums. Sunday morning, the president went on an aggressively racist twitter rant against ‘The Squad’ of congressional freshmen, who just so happen to all be women of color. The first rant suggested they “go back” to the “crime-infested” countries they were “originally from” (and never mind that three out of four were born here in the U.S.). This prompted a rare moment of solidarity in the Democratic party, along with another round of Twitter refusing to enforce their own policies. Trump, meanwhile, ratcheted up the stochastic terrorism by insisting that the House freshmen “hate our country,” the mainstream media struggled with using the word ‘racist,’ and the GOP shuffled their collective feet and mumbled excuses.
Census Fight Continues. We’re in a second week of weird census news. After two judges rejected the administration’s attempt to sub in new attorneys on the case, Trump looked like he was conceding the point a second time, saying he’ll just get the data from existing records. But some experts (including me) think he’ll try for a Round 3, especially because he’s considering throwing over his buddy Wilbur Ross — so I’ll keep folks posted.

Your “Normal” Weird:

Epstein/Acosta Mess. After Jeffrey Epstein was arrested for his involvement in sex trafficking of minors, people began to question the sweetheart deal that was put in place for him a decade prior under Alexander Acosta — who went on to become our Secretary of Labor. Continuing the sketch parade, Trump had publicly supported Epstein’s behavior in the past, was accused of raping a teen at one of his parties, and publicly praised Acosta in response to growing calls for the secretary to resign. Nancy Pelosi refused to consider impeaching Acosta (big shock there), saying that Trump will handle it if he wants to, and Attorney General Barr also refused to recuse from the inevitable investigation. Around the same time that allegations of witness tampering started coming out in the Epstein case, Acosta finally just resigned. (Personally, I think he was probably scapegoated to keep everyone from looking too closely at Trump’s role in the whole thing.)
Weird Health Law News. This was a weird, bad week for healthcare news, I tell you what. First a federal judge blocked a Trump order that would have required pharmaceutical companies to disclose how much their drugs cost in their advertisements — no, I don’t know what the catch was, either, so I regretfully report that we may have to be sad about the administration’s loss here. Meanwhile, a federal appeals court also heard arguments on the court case challenging the Affordable Care Act, which would potentially create all kinds of chaos if the lower court decision is affirmed. So there’s a lot of uncertainty and I’ll keep an eye on this.
2020 Candidate Exchange Program. Only a day after Eric Swalwell dropped out of the Democratic primary and pledged to run for Congressional re-election, random billionaire Tom Steyer announced his own candidacy on a climate action platform. Thank goodness he was here — otherwise, we might have had a primary field with fewer than two dozen candidates…

The Bad:

Even More Hellish Immigration News. After threatening that more ICE raids would occur this weekend, the administration left everybody to stew in their own anxiety, arresting a few people in a handful of cities but mostly just using a culture of fear to keep people on edge. Meanwhile, the camps remained in the news, as Mike Pence visited and said how great CBP staff were while more reports of officers sexually assaulting kids trickled in. Then to cap off the week, Trump announced he wants to effectively end asylum at the southern border, which is definitely very illegal and likely to be successfully challenged in our court systems. That said, the back-and-forth created by decrees followed by legal challenges can create a lot of difficulties for asylum seekers, who need to apply within one year of arriving and will be stuck in limbo until it’s overturned — this is likely to mess up a lot of people’s claims in the short term, which is probably the point.
Emoluments Loss. An appeals court blocked one of the emoluments cases from going forward this week, claiming that Maryland and DC had no standing to sue on this issue. (Incredibly, one of the three judges on the panel was appointed by Trump, which explains why I can’t follow the legal logic here at all.) Thankfully, there’s still at least one emoluments case that has been allowed to proceed, so this isn’t the last we’ll see of this issue.

The Good:

Recent Court Resilience. A federal appeals court ruled this week that Trump cannot legally block people he disagrees with on Twitter, because it violates the First Amendment. (Of course, two dudes immediately turned around and sued AOC under the same legal theory, but that’s a cost of doing business in 2019.)
Champion Celebrants. When the US Women’s soccer team won the World Cup, beating the Dutch team 2–0 to secure America’s second consecutive World Cup and the team’s fourth win ever. Members of the team used their platform to raise awareness of the class-action lawsuit they filed in March against the U.S. Soccer Federation, citing gender discrimination in pay and support. The parties allegedly reached an agreement last month, but the USWNT players brought the lawsuit back to the spotlight by using copies of the suit as victory confetti. Because they are soccer baller.

So that’s what I have for this week, and it’s more than enough. For making it through, you deserve these calves with knitted earmuffs and an eventual better government. I’ll be back next week with more (and hopefully better) 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 better news from our interior!