David Remnick/New Yorker:
NY Times:
Yesterday I highlighted a similar theme from Georgia, embodied in a single individual. But he is not alone.
Annie Lowrey/Atlantic:
A great quote from the above piece:
I’m a convert seeker. Life is too short for chasing heretics all the time.
James Risen/The Intercept:
Okay, we need a palate cleanser.
This tweet was found by our readers, and I thank you.
Molly Jong-Fast/Vanity Fair:
Jonathan Capehart/WaPo:
Charles Lipson/The Spectator:
The above is a conservative U.K. view, making our “conservatives” even weirder.
And just for fun, you can use Google translate (depending on how good your Finnish is) on this piece.
The Devastating New History of the January 6th Insurrection
The House report describes both a catastrophe and a way forward.
In his career as a New York real-estate shyster and tabloid denizen, then as the forty-fifth President of the United States, Trump has been the most transparent of public figures. He does little to conceal his most distinctive characteristics: his racism, misogyny, dishonesty, narcissism, incompetence, cruelty, instability, and corruption. And yet what has kept Trump afloat for so long, what has helped him evade ruin and prosecution, is perhaps his most salient quality: he is shameless. That is the never-apologize-never-explain core of him. Trump is hardly the first dishonest President, the first incurious President, the first liar. But he is the most shameless. His contrition is impossible to conceive. He is insensible to disgrace.
...
In large measure, this report is the story of how Trump, humiliated by his loss to Joe Biden, conspired to obstruct Congress, defraud the country he was pledged to serve, and incite an insurrection to keep himself in power.
*Kevin McCarthy concludes a rambling 30 minute speech about the omnibus, Democrats, immigration, and congressional procedure* Rules Chairman Jim McGovern (D-Mass.): “After listening to that, it’s clear he doesn’t have the votes yet. I reserve my time.”
— Matt Fuller (@MEPFuller) December 23, 2022
NY Times:
How the Worst Fears for Democracy Were Averted in 2022
A precariously narrow but consequential slice of the electorate broke with its own voting history to reject openly extremist Republican candidates — at least partly out of concern for the health of the political system.
Last January, after county Republican leaders aligned with a group known for spreading misinformation about the 2020 election and Covid-19 vaccines, Mr. Mohler spoke out against them — a move that he said cost him his post as chairman of the township G.O.P. committee.
“I just realized how much of a sham the whole movement was,” he said. “The moment the veil is pulled from your face, you realize how ugly the face is that you are looking at.”
Yesterday I highlighted a similar theme from Georgia, embodied in a single individual. But he is not alone.
My cringiest opinion is I think Joe Biden is an excellent president. He's navigated multiple crises well. Our economy is outperforming our peer nations. The US is as powerful abroad as it has ever been. And he stays out of the spotlight and doesn't step on cultural landmines.
— Ian Millhiser (@imillhiser) December 22, 2022
Annie Lowrey/Atlantic:
Why Is Elon Musk Lighting Billions of Dollars on Fire?
Twitter isn’t heading toward a happy financial equilibrium.
Musk’s behavior raises many questions, such as Why?, Why?, and Why?! And Is he going to bankrupt this thing? He looks like he is trying to: On Tuesday evening, Musk vowed to resign as CEO of Twitter “as soon as I find someone foolish enough to take the job!” He and whoever is foolish enough to succeed him certainly face a challenging year ahead. The once–richest man on Earth took over a company losing $220 million a year and multiplied its losses by 10, if not more, according to one analyst’s estimate. Twitter looks likely to bleed users, advertisers, and money for the foreseeable future. But the social network is Musk’s to fund, not just run. And he’s one of the few people on the planet with essentially limitless amounts of money to lose.
The wise men who helped me understand Christmas. If Christians can’t make their case in this season, they should get out of Whoville. But to evangelise is to welcome, not exclude. We’re not good at this now. Two people who were left us in 2022. My column https://t.co/MSSgOVrJXy
— EJ Dionne (@EJDionne) December 23, 2022
A great quote from the above piece:
We also lost Mark Shields, the wise and wisecracking political commentator. He taught an essential lesson by asserting that religious and political people alike were divided between those who hunted for heretics and those who sought converts.
I’m a convert seeker. Life is too short for chasing heretics all the time.
James Risen/The Intercept:
Henry Ford, Elon Musk, and the Dark Path to Extremism
Twitter’s billionaire owner seems set to follow Ford into the abyss.
ELON MUSK IS on his way to becoming the next Henry Ford.
That is not a compliment.
Okay, we need a palate cleanser.
This is what you get when you ask the sports guy to come in to cover a blizzard in the morning show. pic.twitter.com/h0RL9tVQqg
— Mark Woodley (@MarkWoodleyTV) December 22, 2022
This tweet was found by our readers, and I thank you.
Molly Jong-Fast/Vanity Fair:
KAMALA HARRIS, A VERY TURBULENT YEAR IN AMERICA, AND THE CHALLENGE OF BEING FIRST
In an interview with Vanity Fair, the vice president discusses protecting abortion rights post-Roe and tackling immigration, along with how, as a woman of several firsts—from DA to AG to VP—she hopes to “create a path and widen the path for others.”
Jonathan Capehart/WaPo:
Kamala Harris had a most excellent year
To understand Harris’s 2022, I suggest looking at it as a tent held up by three poles. One is the Munich Security Conference in February…
Another tent pole in Harris’s year is the U.S. delegation she led to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in Thailand in November…
To me, the third tent pole is the most important. After the leaked draft in May of what would later become the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision to end the constitutional right to abortion, the former California attorney general saw plainly the implications for other rights, such as marriage equality. She was eager to speak out, Harris told me, and instructed her staff: “I’m getting the bleep out of D.C.”
1. This is an accurate description of oppo research and describes why oppo research did not discover the deceptions of Congressman-elect George Santos But it skips over a larger problem: the Democratic Party's failure to invest and prioritize researchhttps://t.co/kshv7oPfNp
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) December 22, 2022
Charles Lipson/The Spectator:
Zelensky’s Congress address was a triumph
Zelensky was wise, too, in repeatedly thanking both parties and both the House and Senate. The only sour note was hidden in the audience, where four right-wing Republicans refused to clap. The rest of America’s elected representatives stood to cheer Zelensky time after time, showing there really is bipartisan, bicameral support for Ukraine’s fight. The hard question is how long that will last and how many advanced weapons America is willing to send. That’s why Zelensky needed to be so persuasive.
The above is a conservative U.K. view, making our “conservatives” even weirder.
the most alarming information comes in Chapters 6 and 8 and Appendix 1. Those sections cover the right-wing extremists who jointly planned and executed the violent uprising — and the degree to which Trump enabled their attack.https://t.co/fWjLOdCMWC
— Jennifer "Pro-privacy" Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) December 23, 2022
And just for fun, you can use Google translate (depending on how good your Finnish is) on this piece.
HS calculated: How much electricity would we save if we stopped taking saunas?
Statistics show that reducing sauna use is an effective way to save electricity. Stopping the use of private saunas completely can be compared to lowering the temperature of rooms in Finnish homes by two degrees.
For those who want a quick recap on #epidemiology: It was plumbing that ended the cholera epidemic, not drinking sewage to strengthen everyone's immune system. Thanks for coming to my #tedtalk. #CovidIsNotOver
— Epi-Yeti ? Bring Back Masks ? (@TheMemeticist) December 21, 2022