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I don’t know if it is the cold and dangerous weather, the Monday holiday, or the disorienting end of the impeachment trial, but, oh goodness, this is a balky, slow, and stupefying news cycle.
How sluggish is it?
The Wall Street Journal tops its website with an exclusive interview with Mitch McConnell, the lead of which is that he “may or may” get involved in “trying to affect the outcome of the [2022 Senate] primaries.”
As Perry White would say, “Stop the presses.”
And the Journal’s lead op-ed piece is by the same Mr. McConnell, in which he largely rehashes his arguments for why he voted not to convict (although I can recommend his defense of not holding the trial until completion by inauguration day).
What does the famed newsletterist Heather Cox Richardson do at molasses moments such as this?
Here is her edition from the other night, in full (Don’t sue me, Professor):
I could analyze for you the implications of the coming 9/11-style commission on the capitol incursion; whether Republicans will pay a price for voting against the Biden-Harris-Pelosi-Schumer pandemic relief bill; the Nevada gambit to switch to a January primary (from caucuses) in a perhaps futile attempt to outwit New Hampshire Secretary-of-State-for-life Bill Gardner; whether Donald Trump is stronger than ever or fading away; David Perdue’s comeback exploration; or Andrew Cuomo’s chutzpah.
But all that seems premature, old hat, or way too tricky.
I could link to some weather maps so you can follow the cold and power outages, but that seems to not be a good use of anyone’s time, since all y’all mostly have smart phones.
Good morning.
As HCR would say, “Will pick it all up tomorrow.”
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ESSENTIAL READING
* The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on the city’s warm embrace of the Biden town hall (but will it really take place in this cold snap?).
* I know there are skeptics, but I currently make Florida Governor Ron DeSantis the frontrunner for the 2024 presidential nomination (if it isn’t Donald Trump…).
Don’t get me wrong: saying DeSantis is the frontrunner is like saying Season 2, Episode 4 is the best episode ever of “The Sopranos” – I could just have easily picked any of a dozen other options.
But the Florida topper’s place in the hierarchy is nicely summed up by – as things these days in our politics are often most nicely summed up by – a quote from a certain Mitch whisperer, in a Politico DeSantis profile:
“Ron DeSantis is having a moment with conservatives,” said Josh Holmes, a top adviser to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell. “Part of this is liberals tried to cast this in the yin-and-yang comparison with Cuomo ... It’s policy and it’s partly stylistic, the way he handles the news media and his blue-collar appeal.”
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Great note from a Wide World of News reader, with smart points and an unanswerable question:
Quick one re school reopenings and the CDC guidance -- and in DC it's often the question not asked that's more noteworthy than the question asked...
If the Biden Administration's CDC guidance is science based, and if it represents what needs to occur for schools to operate safely for students and staff.... shouldn't the schools that are currently operating but not by the CDC guidelines be ordered CLOSED by the Biden Administration? If a school is not following the Biden CDC guidelines, why should it be allowed to operate if they are operating in an unsafe environment?
What they are not being asked is how have public schools been able to operate safely these past months without outbreaks in the population and without this current CDC guidance (can someone please tell my how the distancing requirement is being met on a basketball team or wrestling squad?) The data (ie science) doesn't match the rhetoric
Fact is they moved the goalposts -- they folded into the CDC guidance things urban unions have demanded and have been on the negotiation table for decades -- lower class size, facilities improvements, etc.... Naked special interest politics at play. While kids are being harmed academically and mentally... Shameful but not surprising that they aren't being challenged.
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