Next Draft - The Grinch Who Stole Democracy

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Monday, December 7, 2020

1

THE GRINCH WHO STOLE DEMOCRACY

There are a couple of reasons why it's difficult to properly cover, and properly consume, the post-election news. First, we're all sick of Trump news and we looked at Biden's win (and subsequent win after win after win) as hope for an end to the daily deluge. Second, even after being prepared for this evil madness for four years, it's still hard to get our heads around what's happening, and that it's happening in America. Whether you want to call it a coup, coup-like, coup-adjacent, or coup-curious, it's bad. The fact that it is failing because it's obviously connected to Trumpian grift (he's raised hundreds of millions so far), it's all based on lies, and those carrying it out seem like they're auditioning for Saturday Night Live's cold open, doesn't mean it's not happening. Tens of millions of Americans are buying the claims of a rigged election, and some of those will inevitably act on those beliefs. Case in point: Armed pro-Trump protesters gather outside Michigan elections chief's home. From Jocelyn Benson: "As my four-year-old son and I were finishing up decorating the house for Christmas on Saturday night, and he was about to sit down to watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas, dozens of armed individuals stood outside my home shouting obscenities and chanting into bullhorns in the dark of night."

+ WaPo: "On Sunday night, Gov. Brian Kemp (R) and Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan (R) issued a joint statement in response to a call for a special session of the legislature to overturn President-elect Joe Biden's victory in the state, saying that 'doing this in order to select a separate slate of presidential electors is not an option that is allowed under state or federal law.'" (Again, the attempt to overthrow the election is not working. But it sure as hell is happening.)

+ And don't kid yourself, it's a team effort. WaPo: Just 27 congressional Republicans acknowledge Biden's win.

+ Zeynep Tufekci in The Atlantic: "The U.S. president is trying to steal the election, and, crucially, his party either tacitly approves or is pretending not to see it. This is a particularly dangerous combination, and makes it much more than just typical Trumpian bluster or norm shattering ... in English, only one widely understood word captures what Donald Trump is trying to do, even though his acts do not meet its technical definition. Trump is attempting to stage some kind of coup, one that is embedded in a broader and ongoing power grab. And if that's hard to recognize, this might be your first." (And sadly for all of us, you never forget your first.)

2

NEED RACER

"Vaccine development typically takes years, even decades. The progress of the last 11 months shifts the paradigm for what's possible, creating a new model for vaccine development and a toolset for a world that will have to fight more never-before-seen viruses in years to come. But the pandemic wasn't a sudden eureka moment — it was a catalyst that helped ignite lines of research that had been moving forward for years, far outside the spotlight of a global crisis." Carolyn Y. Johnson in WaPo: How the leading coronavirus vaccines made it to the finish line.

+ The New Yorker: Countdown to a Coronavirus Vaccine.

3

STOMACH LINING UP

"Feeding America estimates those facing hunger will swell to 1 in 6 people, from 35 million in 2019 to more than 50 million by this year's end. The consequences are even more dire for children — 1 in 4, according to the group." AP: Millions of hungry Americans turn to food banks for 1st time. (The despondency and rage of those hit hard by shutdowns is 100% justified. Not because of the shutdowns themselves, which are vital, but because of the Congressional failure to help them out.)

+ "With an unemployment rate of 26 percent in September, West Farms has become an epicenter of New York's economic crisis, one of the hardest hit urban communities in the country and emblematic of the pandemic's uneven toll. Though no corner of the city has escaped the fallout, the mass job losses have been concentrated in mostly Black and Latino pockets outside Manhattan that have long lagged economically behind the rest of the city. Communities like West Farms have also suffered disproportionately from the coronavirus itself, with higher rates of people becoming ill." NYT: 'It Makes Me Angry': These Are the Jobless in a City Filled With Wealth.

+ Guy Fieri raised more than $21.5 million in seven weeks to assist unemployed restaurant workers. (That's awesome, but he shouldn't have to do it. Congress knows exactly where the pain is.)

4

DACA CON

"The Supreme Court had ruled in June that the Trump administration's 2017 decision to wind down DACA was legally flawed. The decision was expected to restore the program to its full scope, but a couple of weeks later, Wolf issued his order allowing renewals for a year at a time but refusing to allow new applications." Judge orders Trump administration to restore DACA. Joe Biden will restore DACA, but the legal challenges will continue.

5

POINT BLANK

"The pandemic nightmare scenario—the buckling of hospital and health-care systems nationwide—has arrived. Several lines of evidence are now sending us the same message: Hospitals are becoming overwhelmed, causing them to restrict whom they admit and leading more Americans to die needlessly." The U.S. Has Passed the Hospital Breaking Point.

+ In California, the most extreme lockdown yet is set to begin. Some of the rules don't make a ton of sense (like banning outdoor, masked gatherings outdoors between two families). But better too strict than too loose.

+ "The truth is that the Dakotas are as emblematic as they are exceptional, the American story — or at least a strain of it — in miniature. In resisting the lockdowns, slowdowns and sacrifices that many other states committed to, they indulged and encouraged a selective (and often warped) reading of scientific evidence, a rebellion against experts and a twisted concept of individual liberty that was obvious all over the country and contributed mightily to our suffering." Frank Bruni in the NYT: Death Came for the Dakotas. (It came for all of us. It's just that some leaders opened their arms and welcomed it.)

+ Who's got next? Biden Names Health Secretary, COVID Czar, Other Key Members To Health Team.

6

RUDE AWAKENING

If you have grease leaking from your temples, pass gas uncontrollably in public, and feel detached from reality, you could have Covid-19. Trump lawyer Giuliani in hospital after positive virus test. (Rudy is gonna leapfrog about 100,000 hospitalized patients to get the antibody cocktail to cure his Covid-19. Let that be a lesson to you next time someone tries to talk you out of unhinged, near-treasonous lying.)

+ Giuliani COVID-19 diagnosis closes Arizona Legislature. (49 to go, Rudy.)

7

BALLAD OF A THIN MAN WITH A FAT WALLET

"Nearly 60 years after writing such counterculture classics as Blowin' in the Wind and Like a Rolling Stone, Bob Dylan has sold his entire songwriting catalog — more than 600 songs — to Universal Music Publishing Group in a deal announced Monday morning by Universal. The agreement was first reported by The New York Times, which said it is worth more than $300 million." (Mark Cuban sold Broadcast dot com to Yahoo for $5 billion. The most celebrated songwriter in America made $300 million for his life's work. Humanities majors don't get no respect!)

8

MUM'S THE WORD

"Kasey let her mum talk about her theories and occasionally asked probing questions, but otherwise didn't engage. She didn't know it at the time, but the flat Earth poster was the first sign her mother was drifting away from her friends and family. 'My mum said that she felt for the first time in her life that she'd found her tribe of people where she really belonged. It was her coming out moment.'" It can be hard to hear your mum thinks the Earth is flat. But saving a loved one from conspiracy theories is possible. "Confronting people too directly runs the risk of expecting them to admit their entire worldview is wrong and having them shut down the conversation ... We've seen this year how some COVID-deniers in the US go so far as to angrily maintain their belief that the virus is fake right up to their dying breath."

9

JAMES WASN'T SUCH A PEACH

"The Dahl family and the Roald Dahl Story Company deeply apologize for the lasting and understandable hurt caused by some of Roald Dahl's statements." Roald Dahl Family Apologizes For Children's Author's Anti-Semitism. "In one example, in 1983 Dahl reportedly told Britain's New Statesman magazine that 'there is a trait in the Jewish character that does provoke animosity. ... Even a stinker like Hitler didn't just pick on them for no reason.'" (This is a very kind gesture. But if everyone apologized for their dead relatives' antisemitism, it would fill up the internet three times over.)

10

BOTTOM OF THE NEWS

With an extra twist added by home broadcasts, here are some excellent news bloopers from 2020.

+ Little pygmy possum found on Kangaroo Island after fears of decimation in bushfire. (You could bring a few of these anywhere as your comfort animals, and no one would ever know. Sidenote to the person holding one in the photo ... Don't snap.)

+ SNL: Santa Claus receives a series of Christmas letters from Stan (with some help from Eminem).

Thanks,

Dave Pell
Managing Editor, Internet

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Next Draft - The Grinch Who Stole Democracy

Monday, December 7, 2020

THE GRINCH WHO STOLE DEMOCRACY

NEED RACER

STOMACH LINING UP

DACA CON

POINT BLANK

RUDE AWAKENING

BALLAD OF A THIN MAN WITH A FAT WALLET

MUM'S THE WORD

JAMES WASN'T SUCH A PEACH

BOTTOM OF THE NEWS

NextDraft
600 Harrison Street, San Francisco, CA 94107

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Next Draft - The Grinch Who Stole Democracy

Monday, December 7, 2020

THE GRINCH WHO STOLE DEMOCRACY

NEED RACER

STOMACH LINING UP

DACA CON

POINT BLANK

RUDE AWAKENING

BALLAD OF A THIN MAN WITH A FAT WALLET

MUM'S THE WORD

JAMES WASN'T SUCH A PEACH

BOTTOM OF THE NEWS

NextDraft 600 Harrison Street, San Francisco, CA 94107

Older messages

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NextDraft
600 Harrison Street, San Francisco, CA 94107