Stuff You Should Consume- Dec. 5, 2022
Welcome to this week’s edition of “Stuff You Should Consume”— a weekly compilation of interesting political content for Message Box readers
“2022 Voters Rejected Republican Priorities” by Tenneth Fairclough II, Data for Progress
“Just Wait Until You Get to Know Ron DeSantis” by Mark Leibovich, The Atlantic
The pure nerve that allowed DeSantis to so debase himself before Trump and then promptly turn against his former kingmaker could serve him well. DeSantis understands intuitively that loyalty in politics can be a loser’s proposition. “Ron’s strength as a politician is that he doesn’t give a fuck,” a Republican consultant told The New Yorker. “Ron’s weakness as a politician is that he doesn’t give a fuck.”
“The VIRAL Ads of Herschel Walker & Raphael Warnock,” Crooked Media
“Republicans Hate Everything About Trump’s Dinner With Ye and Fuentes Except Trump” by Jamelle Bouie, New York Times
You’ll notice, in all of this, that while Republicans are willing to condemn Fuentes and Ye and Trump’s decision to eat dinner with them, they are not willing to go so far as to draw any conclusions about Trump himself. Even Pence — who had, in this group, the strongest words for Trump — took care not to impute any malice to his former boss. “I don’t believe Donald Trump is an antisemite. I don’t believe he’s a racist or a bigot,” he said. “I think the president demonstrated profoundly poor judgment in giving those individuals a seat at the table.”
“A Right-Wing Zionist Digests Trump’s Anti-Semite Dinner Party” by Isaac Chotiner, New Yorker
Three weeks ago, the Zionist Organization of America gave what it called its highest honor to former President Donald Trump. According to Morton Klein, who runs the Z.O.A., the award commemorated Trump as the “best friend Israel ever had in the White House.” Last week, at Mar-a-Lago, Trump had dinner with Ye—formerly known as Kanye West—and the white supremacist Nick Fuentes, setting off the biggest firestorm over Trump’s bigotry since his response to the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville (which Fuentes attended) … I recently spoke by phone with Klein. During our conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity, we discussed his confusion over Trump’s dinner, why Trump has got close to bigots in recent weeks, and Klein’s questions about Barack Obama’s birthplace.
“Black Turnout in Midterms Was One of the Low Points for Democrats” by Nate Cohn, New York Times
In Philadelphia, Milwaukee and Detroit, turnout fell 10 percent to 12 percent beneath 2018 levels. At the same time, turnout increased in the rest of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan. Obviously, there are plenty of voters of other races and ethnicities in Philadelphia, Milwaukee and Detroit, but the relatively lower Black turnout in these places is part of a broader nationwide pattern: In areas where Black voters represented a larger share of the population, the turnout sank by more.
Shiny object of desperation... Trump's nonsensical threats to suspend the constitution... ye, Fuentes... it's all the same. In his desperation he is pointing to the squirrel and getting everyone to look. He knows that the Republicans will be asked about it and it fuels him and them. And he knows that both outcomes work for him. If the decry his actions... it works. If they don't.. it works. He wins both ways. And we, the public are robbed of attention to the real stuff that needs our attention... again. And no one in the press should expect a Republican to denounce him. And anyway... what would that even mean? It would not make them any less radical in their policies and goals of keeping power for power's sake. Just look at Kemp. He distanced himself from Trump and is seen as 'moderate'.... he is not moderate. And can we please stop calling these people conservatives??? Its a total misnomer. Thanks for what you do.
Well, there is so much of this I am not going to consume, as I consume it all constantly. I cannot read another word about "Ye" On the other hand, if you want to listen to a new potential star, who will do the work and has a real sense of humor, listen to today's pod "Oregon Rainmakers." She is just amazing.