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Year 7, Weeks 40-42 (October 22 – November 11)

November 14, 2023 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

Friends, I won’t lie to you – it was very, very hard for me to synthesize the news this cycle. This is a rough time for many Americans, between present horrors and the specter of next year’s election, and I don’t see that improving anytime soon. But I am here, and I will continue to try to make it bearable, and I will continue to call for us to exercise our humanity. As Elie Wiesel said, “I continue to cling to words because it is up to us to transform them into instruments of comprehension rather than contempt.”

Standard standing reminders still apply: I may be rounding out my seventh year of journalism, 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 continuance!–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 continue to run 45 stories on the Election Rejection front, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. Here’s what has happened since last time:

45 Court Cases. Trump’s court cases and 2024 campaign continue to co-exist, which is graduating from entertaining to terrifying. He may have managed to get the Mar-a-Lago document case delayed, though I don’t believe that has been finalized as I type this. (Of course, several colleagues have already taken deals in the Georgia election case, so I’m not sure how much time this will buy him.) We also saw the reappearance of his gag order in the January 6 case, and yet another violation of a different gag order in the New York civil case. But probably the most sensationalized 45 case story is the Trump family testimony in the New York fraud case, which went about as well as you might expect. Meanwhile, lawsuits to bar Trump from the 2024 ballots due to any of the above sank in Minnesota and are ongoing in Colorado, so we likely will still have to deal with his election campaign. Which is not great, because he is leading in the polls in several places and what passes for his platform is truly disturbing.

Meanwhile, the Biden Rebuilding front is really more the Why Is the House Like This front this cycle. Here’s what I have for you:

A House (and Senate) Divided. Though we do have a House speaker again (and he sure is a piece of work), things are still a mess over there. Perhaps due to his gladhandling the Freedom Caucus, there are still no tenable funding bills as we near the end of our 45-day stopgap, and it seems shutdown is a real possibility again. Meanwhile, the Senate spent this cycle stalling out military promotions (Republicans) and highlighting all of Clarence Thomas’s rampant corruption (Democrats), which led to SCOTUS issuing a hollow ethics code. Finally, Joe Manchin announced that he was retiring but possibly also running for President? (Your guess is as good as mine on that one.)

Your New Normal:

More Normal Election News. We did have a federal election this past Tuesday, which was something of a mixed bag. In Mississippi, several majority Black districts apparently ran out of ballots during the gubernatorial race, which may have contributed to the Republican incumbent’s victory. Meanwhile, several secretaries of state were sent sketchy substances via mail. In more positive news, abortion rights were preserved in several states, including through a ballot initiative in Ohio. We also saw an exonerated Central Park Five member win a seat on city council, the first Black RI federal Senator, and the first openly trans Southern state senator.

The Bad:

Watching the War Fallout. As Israel continues its assault on Gaza, with both the UN and WHO expressing concern about civilian casualties and the effect on hospitals, the U.S. sees ripple effects. in both foreign policy and domestic issues. Though Biden has called for humanitarian pauses several times, this has mostly been both ineffective and criticized by other world leaders. (That said, we did see four-hour pauses last week, which has allowed some refugees to get out.) Here in the U.S., in Chicago, a six-year-old was fatally stabbed because he was Palestinian, and in Indianapolis a woman drove her car into a building because she believed it was an Israeli school. Several college campuses have reported a rise in antisemitism, while several academics have also reported losing their jobs because they posted support for Palestine. And our nation’s only Palestinian-American elected official, Rashida Tlaib, was censured by the House this week after multiple calls to vote. The first call, incredibly, came because Marjorie Taylor Greene decided that Tlaib’s support of Jewish calls for a cease-fire constituted an antisemitic “insurrection.” The second and successful call was due to Tlaib sharing protest footage with the chant “from the river to the sea,” which Jewish Americans commonly regard as a call for a single Palestinian state. In her defense on the House floor, she noted, “The cries of the Palestinian and Israeli children sound no different to me. Why? What I don’t understand is why the cries of Palestinians sound different to you all.” Needless to say, this is an incredibly difficult and frightening time to be Palestinian or Jewish in America.

The Good:

Recent Labor Wins. We had several additional favorable strike settlements this cycle. The UAW reached a deal with GM, ending a six-week auto strike with record wage increases. And SAG-AFTRA reached a deal last Thursday, marking the end of an incredible 118-day strike with protections against AI and another significant wage increase. Progress!

So that’s what I have for you, and I think we can agree it was more than enough. For making it through, you deserve this porcupette guitar solo and a more functional government. I’ll be back next time 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 7, Week 38-39 (October 8-21)

October 24, 2023 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

Secret voting! Kenneth Chesebro! Agents of Egypt! The news has really outdone itself this cycle with its general… now-ness. I recommend the application of ice cream.

Standard standing reminders still apply: I may be well into my seventh year of journalism, 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 gag order!–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’re now back to 45 stories on the Election Rejection front, as the House nonsense gets its own section. Here’s what has happened since last time:

Gag Real and Plea Deals. Within only a few days of Trump appealing a gag order placed on him in the D.C. election interference case, he was fined $5,000 for violating said gag order. (The judge declined to hold him in contempt this time, but made it clear that prison was on the table when he inevitably does this again.) Meanwhile, former Trump attorneys Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro both pled guilty this cycle on the GA election case. This brings us to three flipped henchmen on that case, as Scott Hall pled guilty last cycle.

We also have a handful of odds and ends on the Biden Rebuilding front, though things were pretty upstaged by everything else going on. Here’s what I have for you:

Zero Tolerance, $105 Billion. Biden was in the news this week for reaching a settlement deal with the ACLU regarding the families separated during Trump’s illegal Zero Tolerance policy. However, he got considerably more attention for requesting $105 billion in aid to Ukraine and Israel for their respective wars, going so far as to give a rare Oval Office address on the topic. Of course, given the Congressional dysfunction on display at the moment, he can’t actually get the funding right now–but more on that below.

Your New Normal:

The Headless House Mess. Since the last news cycle, when I covered the hot Speaker mess created from McCarthy’s ouster, the House GOP has hit rock bottom and started to dig. First, charming fascist Steve Scalise got the nomination, but he withdrew from the running because he lacked the votes. Then nightmare man Jim Jordan had his fifteen minutes, but after he managed to lose votes by alienating his own allies and making several death threats, the GOP held a secret vote and pulled the plug on his nomination. So now we have a bunch of insurrectionists in the running, and the acting Speaker is threatening to quit because people keep trying to make him hold votes he can’t legally hold. And while all of this is going on, the House hasn’t functioned for nearly three weeks.

The Bad:

Social Media Sown Confusion. Social media has been flooded with gruesome and inaccurate posts about the Israel-Hamas war this cycle, exacerbating tensions and anxieties that were already sky-high. Particular attention is being paid to Elon Musk’s brave new twitter, which has been especially full of fetid falsehoods. This problem is exacerbated by Twitter’s formerly large role over the past fifteen or so years in spreading information from the ground–particularly in Iran and Egypt.

The Good:

Recent Labor Wins. The news is weird and dire this week, but we did see a few labor wins. The workers at Kaiser Permanente reached a deal, ending the largest health sector strike in history with favorable terms. The WGA strike ended recently on favorable terms as well, although the SAG-AFTRA strike is still going after talks fell through badly this week.

So that’s what I have for you, and I’m sorry, there are no news refunds. For making it through, you deserve this reluctant heffalump and a more functional government. I’ll be back next time 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 pumpkin spice flavored things!

Year 7, Week 36 to 37 (September 24 – October 7)

October 10, 2023 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

Well folks, I sure picked a time to restart the NNR. (Thank you for your patience over these last few weeks while I sorted out a very frenetic time, by the way.) We’re not going to do a deep dive into this week’s international stories, such as Israel’s declaration of war on Hamas or the massive earthquake in Afghanistan, because there’s so much news just on the national front. But suffice to say, there’s a lot happening on the global stage right now too.

Standard standing reminders still apply: I may be well into my seventh year of journalism, 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 motion to vacate!–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 have a change from our usual fare for Election Rejection stories this cycle, but it’s nonetheless a wild ride. Here’s what has happened since last time:

Votes and No Confidence. Despite serious concern from basically all of us over the last few weeks, Congress managed to pass a stopgap measure to keep the lights on for another month (just in time for Fat Bear Week!). However, this was partially achieved by Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy negotiating with Democrats, which made the Freedom From Reality Caucus big mad. And since Kevin McCarthy had given them a big metaphorical stick in exchange for getting to be Speaker, Matt Gaetz used it to call for McCarthy’s removal. Then those Democrats who worked with McCarthy to keep the government open didn’t actually like him enough to save him from his own party, and voted as a block to remove him. So for the first time ever, a Speaker of the House was removed by a motion from his own party in the middle of a session. Then Republicans spent a week posturing about how Trump should be the new Speaker and ceremoniously kicking Democrats out of offices because said Dems didn’t save them from themselves. Now, we finally have some candidates for new Speaker, which are alt-right nightmare men Jim Jordan and Steve Scalise and… possibly Kevin McCarthy again, as of today? Honestly, your guess is as good as mine about what is even happening over there.

We also have a handful of odds and ends on the Biden Rebuilding front, though I’m not loving most of them. Here’s what I have for you:

Bills and Building a Wall. As foretold by prophecy, by which I mean the Biden administration, federal student loan payments officially became due again this news cycle after over three years of pause. And in other administration and funding news, Biden was in the news this week for resuming construction on Trump’s asinine wall at the southern border. Biden is saying that he had no choice, but he was already facing increasing complaints from his own party about how he is handling asylum issues, and that seems like a relevant factor here.

Your New Normal:

COVID Redux. Though it has gotten much harder to track cases, it would appear that COVID cases are on the rise again with the start of fall, particularly for hospitalization and death rates. That said, this rise coincided with the release of new COVID vaccines, which are recommended for everyone over six months old. The Biden administration has also announced that they will resume sending test kits through the mail, though only four tests per household at this time. Hooray, everything new is old again. Good thing we ended that public health emergency, amirite?

The Bad:

Political Determinants of Death. On a somewhat related note, multiple outlets ran stories this week about political determinants of health. STAT released an article about conservative rhetoric causing a drop in American health outcomes because doctors can’t safely do their jobs. Meanwhile, the Washington Post wrote an entire series of articles on the the plummeting American life expectancy, which are some of the bluntest I’ve ever seen from such a mainstream outlet. One article directly linked Republican policy to early death. Another meticulously unpacks other death inequities within the U.S., noting how income gaps and politics are hurting subpopulations in our country. There’s also an interactive article which invites the reader to compare their life expectancy to that of residents in other countries–spoiler, the results aren’t awesome.

The Good:

Recent Biden Policy Wins. We did have a couple of bright spots from the Biden administration this cycle. Biden announced the launch of the American Climate Corps, which will be a new kind of job corps designed to train young people in clean energy. He also announced a new policy which will grant veterans’ benefits to people who were discharged under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell just for being gay. Finally, he visited the UAW strike to encourage workers to keep striking, something no President has ever done before. Credit where credit is due, these are all good things.

So that’s what I have for you, and I think we can agree it was more than enough. For making it through, you deserve this excited dove dance and a more functional government. I’ll be back next time 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 several extra hours of sleep!

Year 7, Week 31 to 33 (August 13–September 2)

September 5, 2023 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

Good gravy, does the news pile up if I let the cycle go an extra week. This cycle’s NNR will be extra jam-packed, though I did my best to keep the overall length the same. I can’t promise the content is fun to read. (That said, I personally find that reading about 45’s indictments never gets old.)

Standard standing reminders still apply: I may be well into my seventh year of journalism, 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 drug price!–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:

I think at this point, we can just assume that Election Rejection stories will involve 45 for the duration. Here’s what has happened since last time:

Indictment Season (again again). The Georgia case indictment, which came down just ahead of our last NNR, turned out to have 13 separate counts against Trump and 41 charges total in its 98 pages–many of which relate to racketeering. It’s a big, sprawling matter, with 19 different people charged in all. If you were hoping all of this maybe this would make 45 be less obnoxious for five seconds, I’m afraid I have to disappoint you, because Trump used his booking as a fundraising opportunity. At the time that I type this, all nineteen defendants have surrendered in GA, and most have already pleaded not guilty (though they have until Wednesday to do so). At the time that I type this, Trump has moved to sever his case from the others because he wants his trial to take a billion years. That said, the Georgia DA is requesting that all 19 defendants’ trials begin in October. Meanwhile, his January 6 federal case was scheduled to begin on March 4, 2024, which is both a totally normal timeline and two years earlier than his ridiculous request last cycle. For those of you playing the home game, that means it will fall directly over Super Tuesday. And speaking of January 6, several convicted Proud Boys were sentenced this cycle, all of whom got ten years or more in prison for their troubles.

We have a surprising glut of news this cycle on the Biden Rebuilding front, possibly because the House Republicans are kind of forcing the point. Here’s what I have for you:

Labor and Libel. The big positive news on the Biden front this week is that his administration proposed new overtime rules, which would dramatically expand the number of workers entitled to overtime pay. The shine of this news is dulled a bit, though, by the House nonsense that is happening at the same time. More specifically, we’re staring down the barrel of yet another government shutdown because McCarthy made mouth noises about impeaching Biden and now the Freedom Caucus is doing their thing in response. I really want to stress that as far as I can tell, Biden has done literally nothing that merits impeachment, and this is now just the GOP playbook for obstruction. It’s worth noting that the GOP is calling to impeach the Georgia DA prosecuting Trump as well.

Your New Normal:

Climate Change Catastrophes (again). This cycle saw yet another wave of alarming weather, some of which was definitely caused by climate change. In California, tropical storm Hilary was the first to hit the region in 80 years, causing massive flooding and mudslides. (The region was also hit by an earthquake while preparing.) Shortly after, Hurricane Idalia pummeled Florida, making landfall as a Cat 3 storm on the southern part of the eastern coast. There was also massive flooding in Black Rock City, NV, where the annual Burning Man festival had drawn more than 70,000 visitors. This left many of those people stranded in a muddy desert over the weekend, though some folks have been able to leave as I type this.

The Bad:

Political Determinants of Health (again). The health news this cycle is a gauntlet of political determinants and restricted access. In Texas, a total ban of gender-affirming care for minors went back into effect after the state’s supreme court ended the injunction pausing it. A similar ban in Alabama was put back into effect the same way. All things considered, that makes it difficult to feel optimistic about Georgia’s ban on gender-affirming care, which was blocked by a federal district court judge this cycle. Meanwhile, in abortion access news, South Carolina’s all-male supreme court just upheld a six-week ban. This coincides with a 5th Circuit decision to restrict mifepristone, which is now being teed up to go to the U.S. Supreme Court and I hate everything.

The Good:

Recent Health Resilience. We did get a touch of good health news this week, when the White House released its list of the first ten drugs that will be eligible for Medicare price negotiations. The list marks the first step forward under the new Inflation Reduction Act, which authorizes Medicare to negotiate directly with drug manufacturers for the first time since the program’s inception in 1965. These negotiations will likely be ongoing for some time, and the final prices will go into effect in 2026. Still, it’s a big deal!

So that’s what I have for you, and I think we can agree it was more than enough. For making it through, you deserve this canine betrayal and a more functional government. I’ll be back next time 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 energy for unpacking things!

Year 7, Week 29 and 30 (July 30–August 12)

August 15, 2023 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

I return triumphant from my one-week engagement in the woods, and good gravy, there’s a lot to report. I’ll do my best to cover all the highlights and lowlights; this is a news cycle that is quite a ride. As always, my inbox is here if you have any questions.

Standard standing reminders still apply: I may be well into my seventh year of journalism, 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 an indictment!–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 week is yet another drink from the gross firehose, as Election Rejection stories involve 45 yet again. Here’s what has happened:

Indictment Season (again again). Initially, the biggest news this cycle was the four new indictments against Trump regarding his actions on January 6, which dropped last Tuesday and bring us to 78 total indictments against him as I type this. That said, that number is very likely to change imminently–the Georgia election case, which was in grand jury proceedings and hearing testimony for most of the day, returned an indictment this evening. (Clear details are not yet known on that, which means we all get to enjoy unwrapping Indictmas criminal charges tomorrow unspoiled.) In more petty news, we also had an entire mini-saga about whether Trump can say whatever he wants about the Jan 6 proceedings (spoiler: an annoyed judge says no he can’t). Meanwhile, we also saw new charges in the Mar-a-Lago documents case for Trump and his valet, and Twitter got fined for refusing to cough up Trump data when the special counsel requested it.

There are a handful of odds and ends on the Biden Rebuilding front, largely involving courts unpausing policies. Here’s what I have for you:

Biden Court Cases. The Biden asylum plan that was barred last cycle is already back in place as I type this, resumed by the Ninth Circuit while the underlying court case about it plays out. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court did the same thing, deciding 5-4 to resume Biden’s restriction of ghost guns while that case plays out. So I guess it was a good week for the Biden administration getting to do things that courts said they couldn’t do.

Your New Normal:

Health Mini-Roundup. The big news in health this week, of course, is that we have a full-blown new COVID variant yet again, known as EG.5 or “Eris.” (Where can I return my ticket for the world’s worst showing of Groundhog Day?) Symptoms appear to be cold-like in most people, with runny noses and dry coughs being common. Experts currently believe bivalent vaccines should still be effective against it–we’ll see if that stays true. In more optimistic health news, the CDC approved an RSV antibody for infants this week, and the FDA approved its first postpartum depression pill in the U.S. as well.

The Bad:

Tragedy in Hawaii. Hawaii has been experiencing massive conflagration since Wednesday, destroying the historic city of Lahaina and killing at least 100 people. The fire is still burning as I type this. Experts say it is the deadliest wildfire in over a century, and believe that both mismanagement of the local alarm system and climate change played a role in its severity. Hundreds have been displaced while the fire is raging, and Lahaina’s destruction is a huge cultural blow to the people of Hawaii. Needless to say, Hawaiians will likely benefit from financial support as they grieve and rebuild, and Governor Green has recommended donating to the Maui Strong fund, run by the Hawai’i Community Foundation, if you want to help.

The Good:

Recent Legal Resilience. This cycle was a good one for civic and legal resilience. In Tennessee, the two Democrats who had been illegally ousted from the House due to peaceful protest several months ago regained their seats in a special election. In Ohio, voters rejected anti-abortion efforts to change their constitutional amendment process. (Fun fact: As some outlets noted, abortion rights have won literally every single time they have come onto a popular ballot since the Dobbs case was decided, in both blue and red states.) We had similar good news in recent court cases; in Mississippi, the Fifth Circuit concluded that Mississippi‘s practice of disenfranchising people for life post-conviction is unconstitutional. And just today in Montana, a judge concluded that state agencies were infringing on a constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment by permitting development of fossil fuels. Progress!

Year 4, Week 24 (June 28–July 4)

July 6, 2020July 7, 2020 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

We’re back to the combination COVID crisis/civil unrest this week, assuming we ever left, and I would way rather be at a Taco Bell. Parts of the country are starting to close back up, but racial tensions are still very much 45’s bread and butter, and let me tell you, I am not proud to be an American this week.

Standard standing reminders 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 rally–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!

Constitutional Crisis Corners:

Another week of different forms of constitutional crisis, this time mostly under the “COVID” and “Not COVID” categories. First up, we have more lingering stories from the Russia Investigation, though none of them are what I’d call a fun read. Here’s what has happened:

Bounties for Russia (continued).* News aboutRussian intelligence officers offering bounties to Taliban agents to kill U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan just keeps on trickling in, and none of it makes any of this better. Former national security adviser John Bolton apparently had information on this as early as March 2019, in addition to the written briefing Trump received this past February, but none of these facts are stopping Trump from calling the whole thing a hoax. Meanwhile, some of Congress has been briefed as of this week, but not all, even though the White House is still claiming it was unverified intelligence. And for Putin, all of this is probably better than Sweeps Week.

Minor Mueller Updates. Speaking of improbable news involving Russia, the Supreme Court decided this week to block the release of select Mueller investigation documents until a hearing in the fall–an unprecedented move when we’ve never even had this kind of fight about subpoenaed documents before. This means we will likely get a decision about the documents’ release, ultimately, but not until after the election, so that’s fun. Also, Pence was in the news this week for raising almost $500K from donors to pay his legal fees for defense during the Mueller investigation.

On the Disregard of Governing Norms front, we have another week of growing COVID crisis and shrinking leadership. Here are the stories to know:

Trump on Racial Relations. Whenever Trump isn’t sure what to do with a national crisis, he responds by spewing some racism loudly, and this week was no exception. At Mount Rushmore ahead of the holiday (which is itself a statement of white supremacy), Trump railed against “new far-left fascism” (spoiler: that’s not a thing), describing protesters as “bad, evil people” who were “terroriz[ing]” innocent Confederate statues. He also announced he would create a new set of statues to honor… no apparent point of commonality, honestly, beyond “Trump has heard of these people.” After the rally, he also decided he had a lot to say about COVID-19, but we’ll talk about that below.

Messed Up Trump Response: COVID Edition. Having said his piece about race relations, Trump moved on to messaging about COVID by Sunday, and it was about as inspiring as you might imagine. According to our current President, Americans “need to learn to live with” COVID because “99% of COVID cases are harmless.” This, of course, is not particularly effective camouflage for all of the crisis problems the administration has managed to exacerbate–namely, skyrocketing COVID-related drug overdoses, our highest single-day infection rate since March, a massively mismanaged COVID small business loan program, a worsening recession, an undercounted death toll, and increasing infection among White House staffers.

Your “Normal” Weird:

Epstein Associate Apprehended. This week, long-time Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested this week for several years of helping Epstein groom teenage girls. Since Epstein was arrested about a year ago, the charges are from the 1990s, and Maxwell doesn’t appear to have really gone anywhere, it’s not clear why she’s only being arrested now. But presumably we’ll know more soon.

Confounding Court Cases. It continues to be SCOTUS season, and it’s hard to find a rhyme or reason out of the cases coming down–and several of them aren’t exactly great news for Team Awesome. Among the head-scratching and concerning cases released: 1) a decision that Trump can fire the head of the Consumer Protection Bureau without cause; 2) multiple decisions to delay voting by mail authorizations in Alabama and Texas; 3) a decision authorizing speedy removal proceedings on asylum cases; and 4) a unanimous decision that faithless elector laws are constitutional.

The Bad:

State of the COVID-19.* As I alluded above, things are really not going swimmingly in the COVID department. We’re currently experiencing an unprecedented rate of infection in the United States, with over 2.5 million recorded cases and over 131,000 recorded deaths –about one fifth of the entire world’s total cases to date. Dr. Fauci estimates we may see rates of up to 100,000 new cases per day, and we’ve already scaled past 50,000 per day at the time that I type this; thirty-nine states are recording rising infection. Against this backdrop, it’s hardly surprising that some states are closing back down. The infection rate remains particularly concerning in Florida, Arizona, and Texas, where lax standards combined with high concentrations of people seem to be creating a perfect storm. Texas is now requiring masks in every county with more than 20 positive tests, while bar owners are suing the state because they were ordered closed again. Meanwhile, Arizona lines for testing are sometimes miles long, and the country is beginning to prepare for a massive surge in evictions as people stop being able to pay rent.

Black Lives Matter News. We’re still seeing a lot of news about race relations and protests, particularly over the Fourth of July weekend. In many locations, protests passed without major incidents. But in Seattle, a protester was killed when a car drove onto the protest site, and in Oregon tear gas was used on angry protesters. Meanwhile, Aurora police who killed autistic youth Elijah McCain last year were fired for taking photos mocking his death in response to his memorial this week.

The Good:

Recent Court Resilience. We had some solid court cases this week in addition to the less-solid cases above. A federal district court judge struck down a law that makes asylum harder to claim in the United States, saying that the rule forcing applicants to apply in unsafe other countries first was arbitrary and capricious. And just today, a federal court ruled that the Dakota Access Pipeline must be closed down by early August for further environmental review.

Recent Racial Renaming. Increasingly, institutions with names that glorify racial violence are being pressured to change said names, and we saw movement on several fronts related to this last week. The NFL’s Washington team is reviewing their name as a first step towards changing it, and the Cleveland franchise doing the same. Meanwhile, students and faculty at Washington and Lee University are making a similar request, objecting to the glorification of a Confederate general in the school name. None of these steps are sufficient on their own, but it is progress in the correct direction.

So that’s what I have for this week, and I think we can all agree that it’s more than enough. For making it through, you deserve this baby shark rescue and an eventual better government. I’ll be back next week with more (and hopefully more tolerable) 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 photos of your pets because I could frankly use the pick-me-up!