Next Draft - Let There Be Light

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Saturday, November 7, 2020

1

LET THERE BE LIGHT

See, I told you 2020 would be a great year! They counted and they counted and they counted. In PA they reached the end of Pi, and still they counted; as well they should have because this election was about the largest ever American voting block across every race, gender, and creed coming together to set the country's course back towards its hopeful future as a nation made great once, and now again, by diversity. They counted and they counted, and at long last, they reached 46. CNN called it. NYT called it. AP called it. NBC unplugged the Kornacki. And it was over. Not that it was easy. We got too authoritarian-curious for comfort. Joe Biden's Secret Service name should be Phew. But in the end, out goes the birtherism president, and in comes Joe Biden and the first Black woman Vice President. That's a hell of a turn around. Four years ago at this moment, in an edition titled, He Alone, I wrote: I'm the progressive son of Holocaust-surviving, immigrant parents, and the father of a couple of brown kids, and this is without any doubt the hardest sentence I've ever had to type: Donald John Trump will be the 45th president of the United States. For four years, I've listened to my mom ask why there's still so much hate in the country. For four years, I've listened to my dad, who as a teen, escaped on his hands and knees through the snow and mud to the Polish forest, where he fought the Nazis, ask me: "Why aren't the people out in the streets?" Well, dad, they are finally out in the streets today: cheering, dancing, and celebrating the end to a four year detour from decency and decorum, a u-turn from Donald Trump's "I Alone" to Joe Biden's "We together." And when I say we, I mean it in the most literal sense. Trump is terrible. His enablers far worse. They should be held to account. But when it comes to the broader population, the citizens who exist beyond the images carried on the news and or in the diatribes shouted back and forth on social media, this is one America—and if this pandemic has shown us anything, it's that we need unity to thrive. Consider that your perception of the other side could be as distorted as theirs is of you, and look for common ground. Only then will we be able to flatten this four year curve of lies and rage into in a speedbump on the road to a better America. We owe it to my parents. We owe it my kids. We owe it to John Lewis and RBG. We owe it the 230,000 taken by Covid and the millions on the front lines fighting it. And we owe it to ourselves. Later, when Biden addresses the nation, he will describe the same one America I have, neither red nor blue. No network will have to cut away during his speech, your kids will not have to leave the room, and there won't be a divisive word or a single lie. Hallelujah. Let boredom ring. Let boredom ring.

2

IT'S JOE TIME

"Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was elected the 46th president of the United States on Saturday, promising to restore political normalcy and a spirit of national unity to confront raging health and economic crises, and making Donald J. Trump a one-term president after four years of tumult in the White House. Mr. Biden's victory amounted to a repudiation of Mr. Trump by millions of voters exhausted with his divisive conduct and chaotic administration, and was delivered by an unlikely alliance of women, people of color, old and young voters and a sliver of disaffected Republicans. Mr. Trump is only the third elected president since World War II to lose re-election, and the first in more than a quarter-century." NYT: Biden Wins Presidency, Ending Four Tumultuous Years Under Trump.

+ NYT: A Traditionalist Who Ran as Himself. Traditions and norms sound pretty good right about now, eh?

3

KAMALA MODE

"Unlike the others, though, Harris managed to win. And she did it while being unapologetically Black and Indian. No woman has been elected to as high an office before in the United States. That few people were dwelling on the breakthrough until it happened reflects on the broader political context—a history in which women who exist on the margins have been chipping away for centuries at the obstacles keeping them out of power." Kamala Harris, a Senator of Black and Asian Descent, Is Elected the First Woman Vice President. (I'm lucky enough to know Kamala Harris a little. She's a good person, and the right person for this moment.)

+ Kamala calls Biden to celebrate the victory.

4

DON(E)

And for the worst leader in American history, a presidency comes to an end where it began, and basically ran, on one of his golf courses. There are no mulligans in golf. And Joe Biden is about to try to replace the world's biggest divot.

+ WaPo: How Trump's erratic behavior and failure on coronavirus doomed his reelection. A few other reasons to note for those worried that Trump's indecency had no effect? Consider the Pocahontas joke: Apache, Navajo and Coconino counties cast 74,000 votes for Biden to 2,000 for Trump in AZ. Add that to the McCain attacks, and it's bye Arizona. Bye Nevada. And the John Lewis attacks. Bye Georgia. Being a jerk was the margin of defeat.

+ Five reasons why the election wasn't a Biden landslide.

+ Twitter has applied warning labels to 37% of Trump's tweets since final polls closed. He'll keep lying. Let's put it in terms Trump can understand. Your campaign earned 70 million. But it lost 75 million. So Deutsche Bank is president.

5

BONESPURS IN DEFEAT

"But even if Trump's Hail Mary pass quickly fizzles, even if his attempt to stay in the White House is drowned out by the reality of the vote count and a tsunami of "Biden won" headlines, that doesn't mean Trump will admit that the election was fair—ever. Even if Trump is forced to make a grudging concession speech, even if Biden is sworn in as president on January 20, even if the Trump family is forced to pack its Louis Vuitton suitcases and flee to Mar-a-Lago, it is in Trump's interest, and a part of the Republican Party's interest, to maintain the fiction that the election was stolen. That's because the same base, the base that distrusts American democracy, could still be extremely useful to Trump, as well as to the Republican Party, in years to come." Anne Applebaum nails it: Trump Won't Accept Defeat. Ever.

+ "This is Donald Trump's party — at least, for another 76 days — and no Republican who hopes to remain relevant after he's gone was going to deny him the bloody farewell he's been building toward." The election that broke the Republican party.

+Remnick in The New Yorker: "American democracy was on the ballot on Election Day, and although American democracy won, an occasion of immense relief, the margin of victory should not be exaggerated."

6

THE DIVIDE

How divided are we? Take a look at these electoral maps divided up according to different demographic groups. It's quite shocking.

7

THE CHIEF OF STAFF INFECTION

A reminder that we're still in the midst of a generational challenge that's only getting worse. White House Chief Of Staff Mark Meadows Tests Positive For The Coronavirus. And it's spreading among staff members, many of whom got the news of Meadows' diagnosis via the media.

8

THE CELEBRATION

The most perfect of them all is the gathering outside the DC Church where Trump held up a bible after teargassing Americans. More reactions from Buzzfeed and Slate. It's a huge win for evangelicals as liberals across America scream "Thank God" over and over.

9

THE RACE

Georgia's twin January runoffs are set to determine control of Senate. For political junkies, this is like thinking you ran out of cocaine and then suddenly walking into Studio 54.

10

THE JOB

"A shortlist of our broken institutions can seem painful and overwhelming: the presidency; the Senate; the Supreme Court; government agencies that run everything from law enforcement to criminal justice to the environment to public health; the election system, including the Electoral College; the news media; our global partnerships like NATO; and finally, our public schools and universities — places that are supposed to reimagine lives. Fueling this decline and distrust are not only warring ideologies about the purpose of government, but also hostility to the very idea that facts and truth, as well as respect for scientific and humanistic knowledge, are the basis of a functioning democracy." David W. Blight in the NYT: For Biden and Harris, Defeating Trump Is Just the Beginning.

+ Indeed, the victory is great. But this is no time to celebrate. We need to roll up our sleeves and get to work. But first, it's time for a Covfefe break.

Thanks,

Dave Pell
Managing Editor, Internet

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Next Draft - Let There Be Light

Saturday, November 7, 2020

LET THERE BE LIGHT

IT'S JOE TIME

KAMALA MODE

DON(E)

BONESPURS IN DEFEAT

THE DIVIDE

THE CHIEF OF STAFF INFECTION

THE CELEBRATION

THE RACE

THE JOB

NextDraft
600 Harrison Street, San Francisco, CA 94107

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Next Draft - Let There Be Light

Saturday, November 7, 2020

LET THERE BE LIGHT

IT'S JOE TIME

KAMALA MODE

DON(E)

BONESPURS IN DEFEAT

THE DIVIDE

THE CHIEF OF STAFF INFECTION

THE CELEBRATION

THE RACE

THE JOB

NextDraft 600 Harrison Street, San Francisco, CA 94107

Older messages

You Might Also Like

NextDraft
600 Harrison Street, San Francisco, CA 94107