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ESSENTIAL READING
* The Philadelphia Inquirer on the abject chaos in Pennsylvania politics caused by the inability of either the establishment or MAGAville to halt the rise of Kathy Barnette
Newton says: “A body in motion tends to stay in motion, unless acted on by a net external force.”
Vegas says: Barnette is now a 4-1 favorite.
* Rich Lowry unpacks the desperation and doom embedded in the White House’s efforts to make Rick Scott’s tax plan the centerpiece of their effort to salvage the midterms.
McConnell says: "Let me tell you what would not be a part of our agenda. We will not have as part of our agenda a bill that raises taxes on half the American people, and sunsets Social Security and Medicare within five years."
Vegas says: Longer odds than Rich Strike that this works for the White House.
* The essay by fired Thomson Reuters data guy Zac Kriegman (guesting for Bari Weiss) has been consumed by most everyone you know already, so you need to make time to read this, not as part of stoking the Blue-Red divide, but in order to (first) understand what is happening to our society and (second) help save us from ourselves.
Weiss says:
Now comes the story of Zac Kriegman, who, until not so long ago, was a director of data science at Thomson Reuters. Kriegman’s crime? Questioning the Black Lives Matter narrative.
Kriegman is a person who loves numbers and statistics. As you’ll read below, he didn’t just voice an opinion to his colleagues. He made an argument after having done extensive research. He thought logic would win out. He was wrong.
This story is most obviously about the assault on difference. The assault on the notion, previously taken for granted, that you shouldn’t punish employees for having heterodox opinions or for voicing disagreement with the political consensus in an organization. But it is also about the assault on reason itself.
Vegas says: Odds are (unfortunately) Thomson Reuters will get away with pretending this didn’t happen, do no soul searching, and hope the parade passes and the story dies over the weekend. (Don’t let that happen, America.)
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Could there be anything more tragic than parents being worried that they won’t be able to feed their infants?
This is scary and heartbreaking.
From a political point of view, it is hard to imagine any shortage being more dangerous to a governing party than this.
The Wall Street Journal news story framing of this is frightening – both to parents and the White House:
Baby-formula manufacturers and retailers say they are working to address a long-running shortage in products on store shelves, but the hardships facing U.S. families may take months to abate.
Abbott Laboratories, producer of Similac baby formula, said it is bringing products from its factory in Ireland to the U.S. as it continues talks with the Food and Drug Administration to restart production at its factory in Michigan. However, the company has said it would take weeks before products from the plant are available on store shelves.
Rivals have been trying to accelerate production, but challenges remain in getting supply to the right places. Many retail chains are continuing to ration supplies by placing strict limits on orders, while others are trying to find substitutes with little success.
Meanwhile, everyone from frustrated parents to lawmakers on Capitol Hill have called for inquiries into why shortages that initially emerged earlier in the Covid-19 pandemic have been difficult to resolve. A House committee has scheduled a hearing on May 25 about the formula shortage.
Beyond the use of the word “It’ll” there is a lot in this New York Times headline that will also cause shudders at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue:
“Says It’ll”?
“minor steps”?
“try”?
“might not see quick relief”?
All true and all sort of unbelievable and all the last thing America and the Biden White House need right now.
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Will the political fortunes of Donald J. Trump, a millionaire who has owned a mansion a yacht, be hurt by congressional subpoenas to Kevin McCarthy and other allies, a Justice Department probe into the handling of classified information at Mar-a-Lago, looming potential losses by Trump-endorsed candidates in Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Washington state, or the semi-rise of Ron DeSantis?
In the minds of Adam Schiff and Heather Cox Richardson – definitely yes.
In the minds of those whose actions (and inactions) are the manifestations and bases for Trump’s hold on the party – much less likely.
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