The Zooms Sustain
Hey, millionaires, billionaires, oligarchs, and other well-off, regular consumers of Wide World of News!
Please consider joining your fellow readers who chose this week to become voluntary financial supporters of my daily work.
You can subscribe here:
Want to leave a tip in the amount of your choice instead of subscribing?
Here are the many ways to do that:
* PayPal. markhalperinnyc@gmail.com
* Venmo. Mark-Halperin-4 (telephone number ends in x3226)
* Zelle. markhalperinnyc@gmail.com
* Buy me a cocktail (at Gotham City prices….), tax and server tip included, by clicking here.
* Buy me a cup of coffee (or a week’s worth) by clicking here.
Or become a voluntary contributor to support this same independent journalism by sending an email to markhalperintalk@gmail.com and arranging to give any amount of your choice.
Wide World of News has no ads, researchers, corporate or institutional backing, or safety net.
It’s just me here.
Mark
****
PLEADING
Item:
What that loudmouth will say on your morning Zoom: I can’t figure out why Biden won’t just give the guy what he wants.
What you should say on your morning Zoom: We are at a different (and potentially dangerous) time in the West’s relationship with the conflict, as some news organizations look at the metrics, see declining news consumer interest, and start to raise the bar for leading with coverage from Ukraine.
****
RELEASING
Item:
President Joe Biden is preparing to order the release of up to 1 million barrels of oil per day from the nation’s strategic petroleum reserve, according to two people familiar with the decision, in a bid to control energy prices that have spiked as the U.S. and allies have imposed steep sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. (Associated Press)
What that (correct) loudmouth will say on your morning Zoom: Release from the SPR is always the final-ish desperate refuge of an American president trying to come up with something – anything – that makes it look like bold action is being taken on gas prices.
What you should say on your morning Zoom: Incremental moves on energy costs are unlikley to do the trick politically or substantively, as the paralysis of analysis continues in the White House over the various, interrelated inflation crises.
****
POLLING
Items:
At the end of October, Republicans held an 11-percentage-point advantage in voter enthusiasm. By January, that margin had ticked up to 14 points. Now, according to the most recent NBC News poll, it has swelled to 17 — a massive advantage that has foreshadowed devastating losses in Congress in prior years.
The latest poll would be bad enough for Democrats. But it’s the trend line that is especially grim, seemingly impervious to a series of events — including President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address and the nomination of a judge to the Supreme Court — that Democrats had predicted might improve their candidates’ prospects in the fall.
It’s beginning to look like nothing is going to bail the party out this year. The last time the enthusiasm gap was this wide, in 2010, Democrats lost more than 60 seats in the House. (Politico)
Quinnipiac poll:
What that (apparently correct) loudmouth will say on your morning Zoom: I guess the State of the Union and being a wartime commander in chief did not do the trick for the White House’ political theory of the case.
What you should say on your morning Zoom: The time between now and Election Day represents multiple political eternities and/but Labor Day is a lot closer.
****
INVESTIGATING
Item: The Washington Post’s long look at Hunter Biden’s lucrative China deal comes with an also-long sidebar on the authentication of material on the laptop.
What that loudmouth will say on your morning Zoom: Big deal — lots of relatives of lots of politicians get rich by trading on the family name.
What you should say on your morning Zoom: Two things to keep your eye on, it would seem – (1) the role of the president’s brother James and (2) the New York Post’s ongoing coverage, which today includes two stories, one of which involved sending reportorial assets to Arkansas (hmmmmmm….) and one of which pokes holes in the Dominant Media’s sudden interest in the fact that the president’s son is under federal criminal investigation.
****
(NOT) LAUGHING
Item:
“Whoa, OK!” [Chris Rock] exclaimed upon entering the stage at the Wilbur Theater in an all-white ensemble. Audience members in the 1,000-seat venue greeted the 57-year-old with a rock star’s welcome. Rock basked in the standing ovation, which thundered on for nearly two minutes, before he made another effort to get the ball rolling for the evening: “Yo, let me do the show!” (Variety)
What that loudmouth will say on your morning Zoom: This story will be over by the weekend.
What you should say on your morning Zoom: No, it will not.