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Normally, I write Wide World of News alone, with just a 12 oz. Diet Coke and a Chocolate Sea Salt RXBAR to power me through.
I am delighted to announce that this special edition of WWoN was produced by committee, with an early-morning weekend Zoom call made up of both leading experts and the voices of citizens from all over the country.
We even had some international participation!
I did my best Patrick Kiernan imitation, reading through the day’s headlines with both brisk efficiency and a slightly arched eyebrow, after which the panel weighed in.
I jotted down their replies as fast as I could, but I’m not sure my transcription is accurate in every case.
Enjoy.
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ITEM: “Then shut it down.”
(Trust me: Watch this clip.)
BLUE: “OMG, I love ‘The West Wing.’”
RED: “OMG, I love deficit reduction.”
PURPLE: “OMG, I love ‘The West Wing,” deficit reduction, and helping people in need.”
POPULIST: “OMG, update your TV viewing habits.”
****
ITEM:
RED: “This is all Nancy Pelosi’s fault.”
BLUE: “This is all Mitch McConnell’s and Pat Toomey’s fault.”
PURPLE: “This is all the fault of so-called ‘leaders’ in both parties who should learn to compromise.”
POPULIST: “Read the darn bill!”
****
ITEM: From an essential reading Washington Post story on Joe Biden’s personnel and general decision making process:
“He’ll be the first to tell you, ‘I have better political instincts than all of you,’ ” said one adviser. “He wants the recommendations. He will hear varied perspectives, and he wants people to present their case. But at the end of the day he listens to his gut. If everybody is like, ‘Sir, we have to go right,’ and he says, ‘My gut says we have to go left,’ he’s going to give his gut a lot of weight.”
BLUE: “So long and good riddance, Donald Trump.”
RED: “All made up – Biden is a puppet and doesn’t decide a thing.”
PURPLE: “Why hasn’t he named a Republican to a top job yet?”
POPULIST: “This inside baseball stuff is a bunch of real malarkey.”
****
ITEM: This New York Times story filled with a bevy of Trump tittle tattle:
Those who have spoken with Mr. Trump say he appears shrunken, and over his job…
Mr. Trump has talked about running again in 2024 — but he also may not. He has created this new PAC, but a different political entity could still be in the works, people involved in the discussions said. Talk of counterprogramming Mr. Biden’s inauguration with a splashy event or an announcement of his own is currently on hold.
Mr. Trump had been tentatively planning to go to Georgia on Saturday, according to a senior Republican official, to support the two Republicans in Senate runoff races there. But he is still angry at the state’s Republican governor and secretary of state for accepting the election result, and simply doesn’t want to make the trip. There is some discussion about him going after the Christmas holiday….
He has even asked aides how he can retain control of the party if he isn’t a candidate.
One person close to Mr. Trump said that he has sounded less certain about declaring he’s running in 2024 than he had just two weeks ago. That uncertainty is causing anxiety for a number of advisers and aides to the president, some of whom might join other campaigns but are stuck in limbo until Mr. Trump makes up his mind. Announcing for president would trigger tighter rules on Mr. Trump’s political spending and added financial disclosures, including of Mr. Trump’s personal finances, that simply operating a PAC would not.
Mr. Trump’s future ambitions have also created a cloud over who exactly will control some of the most valuable assets from the 2020 campaign, including Mr. Trump’s lengthy list of supporters from whom he has raised hundreds of millions of dollars. Both the R.N.C. and Mr. Trump are entitled to some of this valuable voter data, and efforts at “decoupling” the data are underway but expected to last months.
RED: “Four more years!”
BLUE: “Four years in prison is more like it!”
PURPLE: “There really should be laws against this kind of campaign committee.”
POPULIST: “Blah, blah, blah.”
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ITEM:
BLUE: “What a disaster Trump is.”
RED: “This whole COVID thing is overblown.”
PURPLE: “Drudge represents everything that is wrong with our country.”
POPULIST: “Government scientists are all lying liars who lie.”
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ITEM: Ruth Marcus’ almost essential reading column expressing great pessimism that Joe Biden will find a way to get Republicans in Congress to work with him.
BLUE: “Honestly, ‘F*ckers’ Is Too Kind A Word for Republicans Right Now.” (Actual headline…)
RED: “Who cares what a writer for the Bezos Gazette thinks— and you go, Mitch!”
PURPLE: “Can’t we all just get along now that Trump is going away?”
POPULIST: “It’s all an inside game con to make the rich richer.”
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ITEM: Kim Strassel’s exclusive, unusual, essential reading interview with Bill Barr, with all sorts of comments about the big moments and decisions of his DOJ tenure.
RED: “What a disappointment.”
BLUE: “What a disappointment.”
PURPLE: “What a disappointment.”
POPULIST: “What a disappointment.”
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GEORGIA SENATE RUNOFF NEWS
ITEM: From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Almost as many Georgians have voted in the U.S. Senate runoffs as at the same point before the presidential election, a huge turnout that reflects the high stakes of the race.
Over 1.1 million people had voted through Thursday, most of them at early voting locations that opened across the state this week, according to state election data….
BLUE:
Black voters and voters over 65 years old are showing up in large numbers.
About 32% of early and absentee voters whose race is known are Black, compared to 27% in the general election. Black voters overwhelmingly support Democratic candidates.
RED:
Older voters who tend to back Republican candidates are also casting many early ballots. About 44% of early runoff voters are over 65, a group that made up 25% of overall general election voters.
PURPLE: “Bravo on high turnout and participatory democracy!”
POPULIST: “The whole system is rigged.”
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ITEM: Also from the AJC:
A federal judge Friday rejected a request by Georgia’s two U.S. senators to segregate ballots cast by newly registered voters in the Jan. 5 runoff election.
BLUE: “Thank goodness for all these federal judges who are holding the line.”
RED: “Darn these activist judges who won’t be more activist.”
PURPLE: “I love the smell of good government in the morning.”
POPULIST: “The fix is in.”
****
ITEM:
RED: “Offspring McDreamy!”
BLUE: “Words cannot convey my disgust.”
PURPLE: “No comment at this time.”
POPULIST: “Rich kids always get their way.”
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