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It is a truth universally acknowledged that every story in the Wide World of News can be categorized as either Ignatiusian or Maddity (or both).
Ignatiusian: From the once-upon-a-normally-time era, where we all hung on David Gergen’s every word; where slots on bipartisan, blue-ribbon panels were highly sought; where the most moderate House Republican was way more to the left than the most moderate House Democrat; and where presidents were people who had been CIA director, envoy to China, a U.S. senator and committee chair for decades, a national party chair, and a two-term vice president of the United States. Named for rigorously centrist and establishmentarian Washington Post columnist and Gang of 500 national co-chair David Ignatius.
Maddity: From the here and now, where all the incentives are for tribalism, negativity, and myth making; where common ground is burnt to the ground in order to destroy it; where The Presumption of Grace is only discussed with a full-on The Presumption of Hate; where Tim Penny and John Kasich are simply remembered long enough to curse; where presidents can be anybody; and where the only things that are both purple and popular are Prince, plums, and pasque. Named for cable news presenters and comrades-in-telly-escapades Rachel Maddow and Sean Hannity.
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1. The Washington Post editorial board semi-joins the Wall Street Journal editorial board in a strange-yet-Ignatiusian bedfellows alliance suggesting Joe Biden should trim his $1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill sails:
The first trim should be to Mr. Biden’s proposed $1,400 direct payments, the current House version of which would cost $422 billion. The “checks” would phase out between $75,000 and $100,000 of individual income, and $150,000 and $200,000 for couples — meaning all but the top-earning 10 percent of U.S. households would get at least some cash. That’s a lot of money to shower on the non-poor….
Second, it is increasingly clear that the pandemic reduced states and local governments’ revenue far less than initially feared, especially considering federal aid they have already received….
“What would they have me cut?” Mr. Biden asks. Given the essential investments he hopes to begin making later this year in infrastructure, climate research and other high-priority needs, he should listen with an open mind to good-faith answers to that question.
HALPERIN SAYS: Probably a good idea but the Biden-Pelosi-Schumer train has already sailed out of the station.
2. New York Post:
The White House is declining to condemn President Biden’s pick for budget chief over her divisive comments about lawmakers, despite withering criticism from both sides of the aisle — and says the commander in chief thinks she is the “right person” for the job.
HALPERIN SAYS: Barring a Murkowski Miracle, the White House will be left with a Neera Tanden choice: recess appointment, a job that doesn’t require Senate confirmation, or full retreat. Hint: They will choose the one that does the least damage to the full Biden agenda.
3.
Senior House lawmakers are battling over the contours of a panel inspired by the 9/11 Commission to investigate the deadly Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, with Republicans demanding equal representation.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her Republican counterparts have already traded one offer each but still remain at odds over several issues including membership on the proposed commission, according to multiple sources familiar with the talks. Pelosi, who's vowed to quickly take up legislation creating the commission, proposed tilting the panel in favor of Democrats, with her party getting to pick seven of the members while Republican leaders choose four additional appointees. (Politico)
HALPERIN SAYS: The very reasons this process should be bipartisan are the very reasons this process won’t be bipartisan.
4.
As House leaders haggle over the formation of a 9/11-style commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, a bipartisan group of senators is pressing ahead with a series of investigative hearings to scrutinize the security breakdowns that failed to prevent the deadly pro-Trump rampage. (New York Times)
HALPERIN SAYS: The very reasons this process should be bipartisan are the very reasons this process is starting out bipartisan – and let’s hope it stays that way.
5.
[I]nterviews with nearly a dozen Senate Republicans on Monday night make clear that it will take more than a war of words with Trump to knock McConnell off his perch. Both Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas), the two most likely successors to McConnell at the moment, back him vocally. (Politico)
HALPERIN SAYS: McConnell swung at Trump and didn’t kill him; Trump swung at McConnell and didn’t kill him. Look in the short term for a little more hot war, then cold war, then détente.
6. Mike Gerson writes:
In this sense, Trump’s Jan. 6 speech was the most important and revealing of his presidency. He did not try to persuade his opponents with arguments. And he did not merely engage in political trash talk — the genre of presidential rhetoric he pioneered. He defined a lawless, scheming enemy on the verge of destroying the United States, who his followers must defeat by any means necessary, including intimidation and force. The speech was either the summary of a mercifully short political career — or the inaugural address for a Weimar America.
This reduction of politics to the contest of incited mobs has an undeniable appeal to the activist base of the Republican Party. Even worse, it has not seriously alienated the mainstream of Republican voters. There seems to be little demand for a principled conservatism, offering policy arguments and policy alternatives in the real world.
HALPERIN SAYS: Don’t look now (meaning: look now): there are green shoots coming from the Gerson-Pete Wehner wing of the conservative movement, creating the political and rhetorical space to begin to make the Jeb Bush wing of the party great again.
7. Two Washington Post reporters working on a story about how Team Biden is assiduously ignoring Donald Trump and insisting they are not letting press coverage of him distract them from their focus get on-the-record quotes from Ron Klain, Kate Bedingfield, Anita Dunn, and John Anzalone on the matter.
HALPERIN SAYS: I HEART irony.
8.
HALPERIN SAYS: The thing speaks for itself.
9.
HALPERIN SAYS: For years, Andrew Cuomo did the same thing over and over and liked the consistent results he got. Now, as he tries to do the same thing over and over, he is getting a different result, one that he doesn’t like. After using up not even a full life in his career, this Albany cat has now used up 6 of 9 – and the 7th is on the line this week.
10.
Barack Obama is getting into the podcast game. Today, Spotify announced that the former president and rockstar Bruce Springsteen — yes, you read that right — will host a show called Renegades: Born in the USA exclusively for the audio platform. They’ll discuss “race, fatherhood, marriage, and the state of America,” per a press release, and the first two episodes premiere today for both free and premium Spotify users. The first season will contain eight episodes total. (The Verge)
HALPERIN SAYS: The One re The Boss: Take your Jeep and shove it.
11.
Seattle Mariners CEO and team president Kevin Mather announced Monday that he has resigned his position as president and CEO of the team following comments made during a recent online event where he expressed opinions about organizational strategy, personnel moves and club finances. (KOMO)
HALPERIN SAYS: You will not believe all that Mr. Mather said, testing the outer bounds of The Presumption of Grace.
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