Happy holiday weekend.
Please honor those who have sacrificed so that we can be free, which includes the families of the fallen.
****
Pro tip: Don’t plan a beach vacation in the rain.
Pro tip: Don’t watch any NBA playoff games until the last eight minutes.
Pro tip: Don’t trust anything you read about Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck (unless it is in the New York Post).
Pro tip: The pandemic has not changed the propensity of Americans to be rude to other patrons in movie theaters; act accordingly.
Pro tip: Ask ice cream truck vendors the cost per cone before you hand a vanilla soft serve to a child.
****
Wide World of News typically costs $50 per month or $500 per year to become a voluntary paid subscriber.
But for a very limited time, you can join the ranks of the contributing for just $8 per month – or $80 for the year.
(For comparison, $8 is less than the cost of a vanilla soft serve cone in Manhattan.)
Why don’t you support this independent daily journalism by acting now?
All new voluntary paying subscribers who join this weekend will be eligible to hear a 25-minute exclusive Zoom session with me to talk about whatever you would like — one-on-one or to the civic, professional, or personal group of your choice (an opportunity of indeterminate value, but, according to some estimates, one that is worth more than $80 — but not enough to make this a legal contest!).
These temporary prices — and the Zoom opportunity — are real.
So grab your credit card or Apple Pay device and join the ranks of the supportive and voluntary paying today.
Thank you for your consideration.
****
Here’s is something I tweeted:
Here are some things I could have tweeted, but instead I am sharing only with Wide World of News readers (many of whom are not on Twitter!!):
1. Regarding 1/6 and Senate Republicans: Mitch McConnell doesn’t want Donald Trump to be on the minds of voters and reporters as the midterms approach. MM cares abt winning the majority & believes the less Trump talk, the more likely that is. Pretty simple.
2. All of DC’s bipartisan talks/deals (China competition, policing reform, min wage, immigration, etc) have been set back by the 1/6 political conflict and are on effective hold until POTUS & Sen. Capito convene next week.
3. It is impossible to understand what all these liberal and semi-liberal Democratic Senators are talking abt when they say the time for bipartisan talks is near over or over, when they don’t have the votes of Sinema or Manchin to nuke the filibuster or even use reconciliation.
4. There are many economists and pols in both parties who agree w/ the Obama-Biden notion that we can’t get GDP to 3% or 4%. They might have advanced degrees & credentials but America can’t settle for that. The #s don’t work. Come up with some new ideas for growth, please.
5. Joe Biden’s spending aspirations are as breathtaking as the Dominant Media’s unquestioning acceptance of them.
6. Topics that Democratic politicians & donors are pushing hard on Team Biden about BTS: coronavirus origins, immigration, spending, taxes, Middle East, personnel.
7. Amid the journalistic debate (Should we give oxygen to MTG and Gaetz by writing about them?) is a more profound question: Aren’t they too boring to cover?
8. Serious observers of ’24 GOP Trump-less prez politics all see DeSantis as a player; after that, disagreement reigns, with Haley, Pompeo, T. Scott most discussed, as Cruz and Cotton circle undervalued.
9. Team Biden is doing more to position VP Harris as the (’24 or ’28) heir than any administration has done in our lifetimes. Many reasons why, but don’t underestimate Dr. Jill Biden – Douglas Emhoff ties.
10. Here’s a little perspective on the traditional American complaint abt high gas prices (See the USA about 40 places in, nestled between Panama and Botswana.):
****
ESSENTIAL READING
None.
****
MOST IMPORTANT QUOTE OF THE DAY
A Democratic Senate aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters, said there is a misconception that Manchin and Sinema are mainly responsible for holding on to the filibuster. In reality, the aide said, there are at least 10 Democratic senators who disagree with key parts of the bills that Republicans are filibustering, but “they just don’t need to say anything crazy because Joe Manchin III is out there taking all the arrows for them.” (Washington Post story #459 on Democrats’ determination to nix the filibuster)
****
Here are five interesting tweets:
For all the latest news all the time, check out our 24/7 website the Walking Duck.