Stuff You Should Consume - Sept 1, 2021
Stuff You Should Consume - Sept 1, 2021
Welcome to this week’s edition of “Stuff You Should Consume” — a weekly email from Message Box subscribers with important and interesting political content.
“Dear Dems: Please Just Run Against Mitch” by McKenzie Wilson, Data for Progress
“Dr. Oz Says Abortion Is ‘Still Murder’ at Any Stage of Pregnancy” by Roger Sollenberger and Jake Lahut, Daily Beast
The Daily Beast has obtained audio from a campaign event this May where Oz staked out his most extreme position yet, telling voters he believes abortion at any stage of development is “still murder,” including from the moment of conception.
Documents at Mar-a-Lago Were Moved and Hidden as U.S. Sought Them, Filing Suggests
Investigators developed evidence that “government records were likely concealed and removed” from the storage room at Mar-a-Lago after the Justice Department sent Mr. Trump’s office a subpoena for any remaining documents with classified markings. That led prosecutors to conclude that “efforts were likely taken to obstruct the government’s investigation,” the government filing said.
Political Experts React to Viral Abortion Ads with Melissa Murray, Crooked Media
“How Did Fighting Climate Change Become a Partisan Issue?” by Elizabeth Kolbert, New Yorker
How did caring about a drowned or desiccated future come to be a partisan issue? Perhaps the simplest answer is money. A report put out two years ago by the Senate Democrats’ Special Committee on the Climate Crisis noted, “In the 2000s, several bipartisan climate bills were circulating in the Senate.” Then, in 2010, the Supreme Court, in the Citizens United decision, ruled that corporations and wealthy donors could, effectively, pour unlimited amounts of cash into electioneering. Fossil-fuel companies quickly figured out how to funnel money through front groups, which used it to reward the industry’s friends and to punish its enemies. After Citizens United, according to the report, “bipartisan activity on comprehensive climate legislation collapsed.
I am pretty happy with the way Dems are shaping up for the mid-terms (I can hear all the professional political people saying, "well, whoop-de-doo. Mr. Nobody is happy"). Patrick (no relation to Paul) Ryan was aggressive in a fashion acceptable to his voters. Extremely aggressive on some topics. He may be more typical of our candidates than we think. He won the special in N.Y.
The issues are shaping up our way, thus far. And I think there is something about the mix of issues, and the Banana Republicans' response to them that is opening the eyes of left-and-moderate Independents and moderate dems and pushing them to get out and vote. Seeing the harsh pattern the GOP wants to weave into the fabric of our country.
We must keep up our head of steam, but Dobbs (and the threat to Griswold and Obergfell) are compelling issues that get voters to the polls. Climate has broken through. Tuition debt cancellation will get the under 35 crowd out. Trump's latest looming presence as a traitorous grifter is background motivation. The IRA, Chips and Pact are great. I finally saw a news story on a project paid forby the Infrastructure bill.
Okay, we have motivation: a lot of recent and unexpected wins, stupid and clumsy responses and reactions from the GOP, continued threats of what a chaotic and unhinged GOP Congress would do, a villain for those few who need one (Mitch). and promises of more improvement from the Dems.
Now we have two months of sustained effort to get every voter we can reach out to vote. Join someone's effort -- crooked Media or local organizations. Even if you can commit only a few hours a week, it will give you a feeling of enormous satisfaction. We are positioned to win, we have great candidates in every state, so the difference will be us.
Re: the Mackenzie Wilson piece, why have Dems been so hesitant to go into battle? Is it that they still dwell in the memory of the time when politics at least had the public veneer of civility? And why, when the GOP has its own network, do I also keep seeing only GOP guests on shows like Face the Nation? Who isn’t doing their job of getting the Dems booked on these shows to at least produce a few sound bites to counter the unending vomit coming out of Fox and their ilk? Is it because GOP guests make better/more exciting viewing? And if yes, could it be because Dems still haven’t put up a fight and so are conciliatory, timid, apologetic, or defensive guests? Which goes back to the first point that Dems should maybe make it sound like they have strong beliefs in their messages instead of tepid agreement? Which is maybe another reason why Fetterman (or at least his team) is effective and why Warnock is struggling?