Like you, I spat a few curses when I woke up this morning to the news that Kyrsten Sinema had left the Democratic Party to become an independent. Had she just snatched defeat from the jaws of our victory and dumped it on our laps? Turns out the answer is no, not remotely. And it’s all a matter of basic math.
UPDATE: Friday, Dec 9, 2022 · 7:57:47 PM +00:00
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Mark Sumner
From the person of the year…
Thankful to @POTUS for another security aid package. And for unwavering leading support 🇺🇦 in our fight against Russian aggression.
It didn’t take long for Fox News and Republicans to try to erase President Joe Biden’s success in securing the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner. The right-wing machine has spent nearly every moment since the announcement trash-talking Griner—who they claim “hates America”—and Biden, who they blame for the continued Russian incarceration of former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan.
The flu virus can infect practically every species of mammal. It’s also capable of infecting birds. For a disease to readily infect two groups whose last common ancestor lived somewhere between 320 and 340 million years ago is pretty unusual, but far from unheard of. After all, there are good half a dozen bacterial diseases that you can get from handling a turtle. Even so, flu is extraordinary in how it has adapted to such a variety of hosts.
Republican Kevin McCarthy and others in his caucus have carried out campaign stunt after campaign stunt at the southern border, at times happening when the wannabe speaker is desperately attempting to distract from certain scandals that also pertain to him. What a coincidence.
But now Republicans have won slim control of the U.S.
This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here.It’s time for the takeover of the airwaves by Christmas TV specials and music. I have some nostalgic favorites—and some nominations for songs that should get a Scrooge-like burial after being boiled in a vat of Christmas pudding.But first, here are three new stories from The Atlantic.
Last night, Elon Musk celebrated the release of a new entry in the “Twitter Files” series, which aims to … Well, that’s complicated. It’s a supposed transparency project from Musk that, to date, has included giving two independent writers access to internal Twitter communications, as well as to the company’s Slack channels.
The Coronavirus Crisis committee lays out 30 recommendations for protecting the country during future pandemics.
When I called the epidemiologist Denis Nash this week to discuss the country’s worsening COVID numbers, he was about to take a rapid test. “I came in on the subway to work this morning, and I got a text from home,” Nash, a professor at the City University of New York, told me. “My daughter tested positive for COVID.”Here we go again: For the first time in several months, another wave seems to be on the horizon in the United States.
A fashionable critique of much political punditry is that it’s theater criticism, too focused on personality and superficial action, not focused enough on the real stuff of policy.But we’re talking about Kyrsten Sinema today, the senator from Arizona who loves to create drama. And that’s the best way to understand her announcement this morning that she has changed her affiliation from Democrat to independent.
We speak with Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of Democracy for the Arab World Now, or DAWN, about the campaign to hold Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman responsible for the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. This week a U.S.
Brittney Griner’s release from Russia has brought renewed attention to the notorious Russian arms dealer whom the U.S. exchanged for the basketball star in a prisoner swap. Viktor Bout, the former Soviet military officer who became known as the “Merchant of Death,” was serving a 25-year prison sentence in the United States for conspiracy to commit terrorism.
Basketball star Brittney Griner landed in the United States early Friday after nearly 10 months of detention in Russia. Griner was freed Thursday in a dramatic prisoner swap between the United States and Russia, with the Biden administration agreeing to free Viktor Bout, a convicted Russian arms dealer who was serving a 25-year sentence.
Public frustration with the restrictions appears to have finally swayed the opinion of officials.
The team overseeing licensed vaccines is overwhelmed by high turnover and a pandemic-induced backlog of inspections.
Many GOP lawmakers who sailed to victory in states with anti-abortion laws are planning to use their expanded power.
With new infections down, health officials will wind down emergency and let it expire by end of next month.
Inflation has cooled only slightly and job growth remains strong.
A new POLITICO-Morning Consult poll suggests voters’ views of the economy are baked in.
Housing investment, though, plunged at a 26 percent annual pace, hammered by surging mortgage rates.
According to an NBC News poll released Sunday, 70 percent of registered voters expressed interest in the upcoming election as a “9” or “10” on a 10-point scale.
In “Death by Policy,” the newly launched investigative unit of Pulitzer Prize-winning Futuro Media reveals how the U.S. Border Patrol’s policies push migrants attempting to cross from Mexico to the U.S. into dangerous areas, especially the Sonoran Desert in Arizona. The longstanding “prevention through deterrence” approach, which funnels people into unsafe migration routes, has contributed to thousands of deaths since the 1990s.
Newspaper has had it with Trump’s name on his Chicago tower after jury in tax trial found that the Trump Organization “was corrupt at the core.
He labeled Griner as “America hating” apparently for exercising her First Amendment right to protest by joining calls for racial justice in the U.S.
“He’s simply not a person who ought to have the reins of the government of the United States,” the Utah senator declared.
When Rep. Bennie Thompson first stated that the House select committee on Jan. 6 intended to send referrals for criminal charges to the Department of Justice, he said the committee was in general agreement, but hadn’t yet determined just how many charges it would forward.
“I wish I could tell you one, two, three, four,” said Thompson, “but that’s all still being discussed.
In the wake of the brutal stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students—21-year-old Kaylee Goncalves; 21-year-old Madison Mogen; 20-year-old Xana Kernodle; and 20-year-old Ethan Chapin—Moscow Police have worked seemingly day and night alongside the FBI to solve this particularly disturbing (and befuddling) crime.
On Thursday, a state court in Texas threw out a lawsuit brought against abortion provider Dr. Alan Braid. The San Antonio doctor had been sued under Texas’ near-total abortion ban law, Senate Bill 8. Dr. Braid admitted to defying the law just days after it took effect. Dr. Braid was not clandestine about his actions, penning an opinion piece that was promptly published in The Washington Post, titled “Why I violated Texas’s extreme abortion ban.
The Department of Justice has asked District Court Judge Beryl Howell to hold “Trump’s office” in contempt over refusals to comply with a May subpoena to produce classified documents. Details of just who this affects and what action is being requested are not yet available, as the filing has been made under seal.
The Washington Post reports that, according to their sources, Judge Howell has not yet responded to this request.
UPDATE: Thursday, Dec 8, 2022 · 6:55:45 PM +00:00
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Mark Sumner
In addition to the explosions at the airport outside Berdyansk, there are now reported explosions underway at the airport in occupied Melitopol. Again, it’s unclear if this is preparatory to other actions, or intended to reduce Russian drone / missile attacks on civilian locations.