There are eight kinds of Wide World of News readers:
1. Those in the Gang of 500.
2. Those who want to be in the Gang of 500.
3. Pro-Biden/anti-MAGA.
4. Anti-Biden/anti-MAGA but so anti-Biden (and anti-Dominant Media) as to be pro-Trump if necessary.
5. Pro-MAGA.
6. Here for the YouTube clips, Beatles updates, comedy, and/or sports coverage.
7. Here to poach (or “pay silent homage to”) my reporting.
8. Here for the 20th-century ethos, 21st-century analysis, and 22nd-century edge.
Which kind of reader are you??
Take our SUNDAY WWoN QUIZ below and see where you match up.
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Now for this brief message….
There is a ninth kind of Wide World of News reader: Someone who can afford to support my daily work on this newsletter but has not yet made the time to kick in.
It’s Sunday morning and I’ve already baked this tasty newsletter for you!!
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Thank you for your support and encouragement.
Now, let’s get on with the quiz!!
Mark
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A. Read this paragraph from Joe Klein’s essential reading Substack missive:
The new Republican Party represents a fundamental diminution of American public life. And the current corroded state of the Democratic Party, the sheer interest group entropy of it—the very idea of locating their national convention next August in the violent Teachers’ Union Satrapy of Chicago—doesn’t offer a very exciting alternative. There is nothing exciting or interesting about the Democrats. (Which may, in the end, qualify them for support from some former corporate Republicans.) These new right-wing populists are more entertaining, in a society where entertainment has supplanted actual governance. The Dems could use some irony, a comedian-patriot candidate, a Zelensky.
1. Those in the Gang of 500 say: Sadly, Joe is right (and I will tell him so at brunch today).
2. Those who want to be in the Gang of 500 say: That seems a little harsh about one of the parties, but probably right.
3. Pro-Biden/anti-MAGA say: False equivalency much.
4. Anti-Biden/anti-MAGA but so anti-Biden (and anti-Dominant Media) as to be pro-Trump if necessary say: Spot on about Chicago, not that the press will cover it that way.
5. Pro-MAGA say: Guy is right – Trump, DeSantis, MTG are all more interesting than Kamala.
6. Here for the YouTube clips, Beatles updates, comedy, and/or sports coverage say: I have no idea what any of that means.
7. Here to poach (or “pay silent homage to”) my reporting say: I should sign up for that Substack and swipe stuff from Joe, also.
8. Here for the 20th-century ethos, 21st-century analysis, and 22nd-century edge say: Joe gets that pointing out that Trump can win is not the same as rooting for Trump – or even helping him win.
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B. Ross Douthat’s essential reading column on the low prospect that President Biden will face a credible nomination challenger (Ross can’t think of anyone who fits the bill….) says this:
Biden has…avoided the kind of gambits and defeats that might leave a large constituency ready to revolt. (Build Back Better diminished into the Inflation Reduction Act, but it eventually passed; our involvement in Ukraine has satisfied liberal hawks while stopping short of the direct conflict with Russia that might make the antiwar left bestir itself.) And he’s benefited from the way that polarization and anti-Trumpism has delivered a more unified liberalism, suffused by a trust-the-establishment spirit that makes the idea of a primary challenge seem not just dangerous but disreputable.
None of this eliminates the difficulty of imagining his campaign for four more years. But it’s outstripped by the difficulty of seeing how any serious and respectable force inside the Democratic Party could be organized to stop it.
1. Those in the Gang of 500 say: We want Gina Raimondo and Mitch Daniels in the White House.
2. Those who want to be in the Gang of 500 say: We want Amy Klobuchar and Tim Scott in the White House.
3. Pro-Biden/anti-MAGA say: Don’t be disreputable!
4. Anti-Biden/anti-MAGA but so anti-Biden (and anti-Dominant Media) as to be pro-Trump if necessary say: Biden is the worst president in American history.
5. Pro-MAGA: What’s the definition of a “liberal”? A conservative who gets a column in the New York Times.
6. Here for the YouTube clips, Beatles updates, comedy, and/or sports coverage say: Is no one else running against Biden? How could that be??
7. Here to poach (or “pay silent homage to”) my reporting say: Everyone has covered what Gavin is doing to prepare “just in case” – it would be smart to look at what Josh Shapiro is doing.
8.. Here for the 20th-century ethos, 21st-century analysis, and 22nd-century edge say: A Tuesday video does not end the ambivalence or aging process of Joe R. Biden.
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C. The Washington Post’s essential reading piece on how the Biden plan to announce for reelection this week includes this:
Biden’s announcement video, which is expected to run between 90 seconds and two minutes, is slated to be released Tuesday morning, on the four-year anniversary of his 2020 campaign launch.
…and the Wall Street Journal’s new conventional-wisdom-affirming article about the high odds of a Biden-Trump rematch includes this:
Mr. Trump is planning a response to the announcement, aides said
1. Those in the Gang of 500 say: The Trump video will be longer than the Biden one!
2. Those who want to be in the Gang of 500 say: A rematch??!! Really????
3. Pro-Biden/anti-MAGA say: How can anyone support Trump?
4. Anti-Biden/anti-MAGA but so anti-Biden (and anti-Dominant Media) as to be pro-Trump if necessary say: Of course Biden is doing a video – he can barely talk.
5. Pro-MAGA: Can’t wait to see the Trump video on Truth Social.
6. Here for the YouTube clips, Beatles updates, comedy, and/or sports coverage say: What’s up with Giannis and Monday’s game??
7. Here to poach (or “pay silent homage to”) my reporting say: Gotta find out when the Trump video is coming out and if DeSantis is responding in any way on Tuesday.
8.. Here for the 20th-century ethos, 21st-century analysis, and 22nd-century edge say: As much as the media is bored by a Biden-Trump rematch, they can’t help themselves from reinforcing the dynamic, which is fueled in part by Team Biden and Team Trump seeing it as in their mutual interest to egg on.
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D. The New York Times has an editorial urging Joe Biden to speak frankly about his health and mental condition is 3/5th as strong as a Wall Street Journal editorial on this topic would be.
1. Those in the Gang of 500 say: 3/5th is a lot!
2. Those who want to be in the Gang of 500 say: Does anyone read editorials any more?
3. Pro-Biden/anti-MAGA say: Trump lost his mind years ago!
4. Anti-Biden/anti-MAGA but so anti-Biden (and anti-Dominant Media) as to be pro-Trump if necessary say: Why doesn’t the Times news section listen to its own editorial board and cover Biden like this?
5. Pro-MAGA: Who cares what a bunch of Manhattan liberals think?
6. Here for the YouTube clips, Beatles updates, comedy, and/or sports coverage say: Sounds like the teacher’s voice in “Peanuts” to me.
7. Here to poach (or “pay silent homage to”) my reporting say: Pretty tough take from the Times; I need to double back and finally do that story about all the prominent voices on the left who think it is insane that Biden is running again.
8.. Here for the 20th-century ethos, 21st-century analysis, and 22nd-century edge say: I wonder what Vice President Harris and her team are doing to get ready, just in case – and what they plan to do with the time remaining to allay concerns that she might be seen as a drag on the ticket.
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E. Maureen Dowd says Ron DeSantis is running a “Puddin’ Head Campaign.”
Team DeSantis is pushing back (belatedly) against the noise:
1. Those in the Gang of 500 say: It is of course possible to come back from a premature obit in a presidential campaign, but it is quintuply hard after MoDo has wielded the shiv.
2. Those who want to be in the Gang of 500 say: I laughed out loud at parts of that column! And Scott Brown??!!! Really???!!
3. Pro-Biden/anti-MAGA say: DeSantis is just as bad as/worse than Trump.
4. Anti-Biden/anti-MAGA but so anti-Biden (and anti-Dominant Media) as to be pro-Trump if necessary say: So typical of a liberal who loved the Bushes.
5. Pro-MAGA: Whoever we nominate is going to have to win with the press supporting Biden – or Harris.
6. Here for the YouTube clips, Beatles updates, comedy, and/or sports coverage say: Where is the link to what Barbara Feldon said about the Beatles?
7. Here to poach (or “pay silent homage to”) my reporting say: I need to call Erin Perrine and see if she will help me on background with a tick tock piece on how Team DeSantis is finally orchestrating its surrogates behind the scenes to push back against the attacks orchestrated by Team Trump behind the scenes (and openly).
8.. Here for the 20th-century ethos, 21st-century analysis, and 22nd-century edge say: Until DeSantis gets some better poll numbers against Trump, he will be fighting through a tough prism every day.
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F. Read this tweet:
1. Those in the Gang of 500 say: Nice to see so many of us mentioned on social media!
2. Those who want to be in the Gang of 500 say: Is this the way things really work???
3. Pro-Biden/anti-MAGA say: What about Jared and the Saudis???? That is so much worse.
4. Anti-Biden/anti-MAGA but so anti-Biden (and anti-Dominant Media) as to be pro-Trump if necessary say: The press ignoring this story is so typical.
5. Pro-MAGA: This is about The Big Guy.
6. Here for the YouTube clips, Beatles updates, comedy, and/or sports coverage say: Is Rebecca on “Ted Lasso” pregnant???
7. Here to poach (or “pay silent homage to”) my reporting say: We really need to do another piece on that intel folks letter, but, oh, the peer pressure not to….
8.. Here for the 20th-century ethos, 21st-century analysis, and 22nd-century edge say: If House Republicans can’t run a successful investigative hearing on this matter, they should just fold up the strategy of using probes to make political hay for 2024.
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G. The Washington Post’s Paul Kane:
House Republicans, after months of pledging to devolve power to legislative committees conducting business out in the open, have reverted to the tradition of working behind closed doors.
For almost two months, Republicans of all stripes filed into House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s office to cobble together a sweeping 320-page bill that would touch many aspects of domestic policy while also allowing the Treasury to continue borrowing another $1.5 trillion to fund the federal government.
Not a single committee held a hearing on a bill that would slash trillions of dollars from federal agency budgets and revoke clean climate tax credits. Not one committee held the traditional legislative markup to consider amendments and further debate on the measure. Not one Democrat had input into the measure.
And a surprising thing happened along the way. The Republicans, even the most conservative antagonists who decried this type of legislating, learned to like backroom dealmaking despite their demands in early January for McCarthy (R-Calif.) to promise a more open legislative process in exchange for their votes for speaker.
1. Those in the Gang of 500 say: The way it has been and the way it shall always be!
2. Those who want to be in the Gang of 500 say: Does Paul Kane go to the Lauriol Plaza brunches???
3. Pro-Biden/anti-MAGA say: Kevin McCarthy is a corrupt, stupid, Trump toady.
4. Anti-Biden/anti-MAGA but so anti-Biden (and anti-Dominant Media) as to be pro-Trump if necessary say: Pelosi was never covered like this.
5. Pro-MAGA: Kevin McCarthy is a swamp creature, no better than McConnell.
6. Here for the YouTube clips, Beatles updates, comedy, and/or sports coverage say: I have no idea what any of that means.
7. Here to poach (or “pay silent homage to”) my reporting say: Do we have the resources to do a serious whip count?
8.. Here for the 20th-century ethos, 21st-century analysis, and 22nd-century edge say: As is the case with any Speaker on a vote so vital that the implications of failure are too grave to even contemplate, the best thing McCarthy has going for him is his whips will tell the balking Conference members that the debt ceiling vote is so vital that the implications of failure are too grave to even contemplate.
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So, which category of reader are you???
I will see some of you shortly at brunch!!