You say it's your birthday
It's my birthday too, yeah
They say it's your birthday
We're gonna have a good time
I'm glad it's your birthday
Happy birthday to you
My birthday present to me: Asking for a few minutes of your time, esteemed readers.
Although I sometimes joke in these pages, all the following is true.
Truly true – not faux true to set up another joke.
The safe/secret word is “grace.”
I am very grateful to have this community made up of Wide World of News readers, spanning from Sandernistas to MAGA Foreverers to the politically uninterested and disinterested.
You honor me daily with your readership and frequent two-way communication.
The greatest gift you give me is your coming along for our daily ride, challenging me, questioning me, both egging and cheering me on.
For those who would like to give me a bit more on this day, you can buy me my dream scooter; add to my Manhattan sustenance kitty (via Seamless); read the WWoN Frequently Asked Questions at the bottom of this newsletter; or, yes, help compensate me for my work by becoming a paying subscriber or a regular or one-time contributor.
Among the FAQ addressed at the end of the newsletter:
WHY DO I CHARGE OR ASK FOR DONATIONS IF THE NEWSLETTER IS FREE?
WHY WOULD SOMEONE PAY TO SUBSCRIBE OR TO CONTRIBUTE IF THE NEWSLETTER IS FREE?
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE IN CONTENT RECEIVED BY SUBSCRIBERS, CONTRIBUTORS, AND THOSE WHO READ WITHOUT GIVING?
WHY DO I CHARGE SO MUCH FOR SUBSCRIPTIONS?
HOW CAN A READER WHO DOESN’T WANT TO BECOME A PAYING SUBSCRIBER MAKE A ONE-TIME OR REPEATING CONTRIBUTION TO SUPPORT MY WORK?
I get asked some combination of these questions daily. As a present to me, if you are curious about the answers, again, please read all the way to the bottom of this edition.
And, as always, please consider becoming a paying subscriber to Wide World of News:
Or you can also make a contribution in ANY lower amount than the formal subscription rates.
Reply to this email and ask how you can support my work on Wide World of News.
****
Our nation faces five central interconnected challenges now:
1. Battling the pandemic.
2. Stabilizing and reviving the economy.
3. Avoiding/preventing any more politically motivated violence.
4. Coming to terms with the Blue and Red tribal members irreconcilable, mirror-imaged beliefs that we are in the midst of a shattering constitutional crisis.
5. Figuring out how to address the tens of millions of Americans who still wish Donald Trump was going to be president for another four years.
As the work week begins, there is a more fundamental, super-umbrella challenge facing America: there is a huge mismatch between the story line that will dominant the national conversation for the week (What should Congress do about Donald Trump’s actions?) and those five real-world problems we confront.
In fact, more than a mismatch, the process of seeking a remedy for the president (and the coverage of that process) work at cross purposes with the need to address our vital quintet, the Real 5.
****
The chances continue to appear vanishingly small that the president will depart early by resignation, being 25A’ed, or impeachment by the House and conviction by the Senate.
Barring some huge surprise, none of these things is going to happen, and yet these are the process matters that will crowd out meaningful discussion, in part or in whole, of the Real 5.
There’s no doubt that there is division in the Redlands unlike we have seen in four years over how to think about and feel about Donald Trump. An unknowable but not insignificant number of citizens have gone from MAGA to Never Trump in less than a week.
But there’s equally no doubt that the usual rallying cries on the right (Impeachment is an overreaction! Big Tech is out to get us! The media is biased against us!) are both an effect and a cause of the Trumpian muscle memory kicking back into gear, spurred on in part by the very processes and rhetoric from the left, center-left, and center intended to hold the president accountable.
Joe Biden is somewhat passive, Nancy Pelosi is somewhat torn, and the media is cheerleading as a well-meaning runaway train is headed down the tracks, an irresistible spectacle and search for justice and security that, in the end, will likely achieve neither.
Between now and January 20, the United States is not going to wrestle the pandemic to the ground, revive the economy, make either side feel less urgent about the fear of a constitutional crisis, or change the minds of significantly more MAGA denizens about the truth.
That leaves preventing more violence, even as there is word of mass protests (and more) gearing up.
Federal and state law enforcement and people of good cheer, reasonable temperament, and omnipresent grace must rise to the occasion and get us all through to the other side with no more blood being spilled.
Then we can start seriously addressing the other four elements of the Real 5.
****
Here is what we are up against:
* Democratic House member Jason Crow of Colorado put it brilliantly to the Washington Post:
“We are witnessing the birth of a domestic terrorist movement in the United States, and it’s really important that we get Biden inaugurated, that he gets his Cabinet into place . . . as quickly as possible so we can address that threat….And let’s not forget that we have foreign adversaries that are looking to take advantage of moments of weakness and distraction like we have right now.”
* Nevada (but it isn’t just in Nevada):
PAHRUMP, Nev. (KOLO) - A letter on the Nye County Republican Central Committee website says that Joe Biden will not become president on Jan. 20 and that Donald Trump will remain in office for another four years.
The website does not identify who wrote the letter, but it is headlined “A Letter from the Nye County Chairman.” The group’s Facebook page has a post that calls it authentic.
“It was written to our membership to give them hope as we are seeing much despair,” the Facebook post says.
* It’s also in California (and all 50 states and DC):
San Francisco police were preparing for a possible pro-Trump demonstration at Twitter’s headquarters on Monday, days after the social media company banned President Trump, citing the risk that he might incite further violence following last week’s riot at the U.S. Capitol. (San Francisco Chronicle)
****
House Democrats and Republicans are supposed to have separate conference calls today to discuss their respective paths forward on dealing with the president and the fallout from Wednesday.
Yes, they should of course be having a joint, bipartisan meeting – and the fact that that is both unthinkable and unrealistic tells you much of what you need to know about our current capacity to address reality.
There are no reliable whip or media accounts of how many House Republicans would vote for impeachment (or censure) or how many Senate Republicans would vote for conviction (or censure).
Here’s more from the Washington Post on the Hill state of play and state of mind:
“The train has left the station. I think many are worried about how it gets done, how it’s going to be handled, and how do we make sure it’s not going to divide the country further,” one Democrat said of impeachment. “It’s on a track that, while people have reservations, nobody knows how to stop it….”
In a sign of the Democrats’ struggles with the issue, Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.), a Biden ally and House leader, proposed Sunday that the House vote this week to impeach but wait a few months to submit the articles of impeachment to the Senate for a trial.
Those comments provoked widespread frustration among Democrats, according to multiple aides and lawmakers, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to air internal discussions, and they worried that Clyburn’s remarks would undermine the party’s case for Trump’s quick removal: that he is an immediate danger to the nation.
At the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, matters are no more linear or tidy, per the New York Times:
[T]he basic work of the final days of a presidential term had essentially been halted. A slew of pardons that were under discussion were put on hold after the riot, according to people informed about the deliberations. And around the White House, the president’s advisers hoped he would let go of giving himself a pardon, saying it would look terrible given what had taken place.
Among those said to be furious with the president was Melania Trump, the first lady. While she has stayed quiet publicly, people close to the situation said she was upset with her husband for what had taken place, as well as his decision not to attend Mr. Biden’s inauguration….
More details emerged on Sunday about Mr. Trump’s role, which could shape the debate about impeachment. The president was deeply involved in the planning of the rally on Wednesday where he exhorted thousands of followers to march to the Capitol and demonstrate strength. He personally helped select who would speak and what music would play, according to people briefed on how the event came together.
The silence of Donald Trump, Mike Pence, and most of the executive branch is chilling.
We all imagine what is going on in the minds of the president and vice president, but we don’t really know.
And into that vacuum floods the dangerous plotting of the angry.
****
ESSENTIAL READING
* “The AP found that many of the rioters had taken to social media after the November election to retweet and parrot false claims by Trump that the vote had been stolen in a vast international conspiracy. Several had openly threatened violence against Democrats and Republicans they considered insufficiently loyal to the president.”
* The Washington Post’s exclusive interview with Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund presents one participant’s point of view and/but suggests just how messed up the planning for security on Wednesday was.
* Ron Brownstein in the Atlantic, concluding thusly:
Trump’s redefinition of the GOP as a vehicle for the white Americans most uneasy about racial and cultural change has alienated many previously Republican-leaning white suburban voters, even in previously Republican-leaning states—as this week’s Georgia losses painfully demonstrated to the party again. That means, to win elections, virtually all Republicans now need superheated turnout from the Trump base: white, non-college-educated, nonurban, and evangelical Christian voters. And that means Republicans of all stripes will feel pressure to continue portraying Democrats not merely as misguided or wrong, but as an existential threat to GOP voters’ lives—even as Wednesday’s riot captures how those alarms are exacerbating the greatest strains on the nation’s cohesion since the Civil War.
****
THE MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT WIDE WORLD OF NEWS
WHY DO I CHARGE OR ASK FOR DONATIONS IF THE NEWSLETTER IS FREE?
In originally setting my subscription rates ($50/month, $500/year, or Founding Member at any amount over $500), I evaluated my readership and tried to guestimate what would maximize my revenue. I wasn’t sure at the time I was doing the right thing, but as of now those rates were clearly the right way to go.
WHY WOULD SOMEONE PAY TO SUBSCRIBE OR TO CONTRIBUTE IF THE NEWSLETTER IS FREE – WHAT DO THEY GET FOR THEIR MONEY?
I sometimes hear concern that I am charging too much for the newsletter, that my prices are “elitist” or aimed at Beltway lobbyists. Trust me, I know the listed prices are well beyond the means or interest of most readers.
It bears repeating: There is no “bonus” or additional content of any sort that is only available to paying subscribers or contributors. Thus, I don’t see how my high prices could be seen as elitist or exclusionary. Becoming a paying subscriber is fully voluntary.
So, why do people pay to subscribe or to support my work? Generosity and a belief that both the newsletter and I are worthy of financial support, especially and including under the circumstances.
I have at least three readers who are billionaires who have never given me a quarter for their daily habit (and many such millionaire readers), and many retirees on fixed incomes who generously support me on a regular basis.
I am grateful to both types of readers (although maybe a little more grateful to the generous retirees…).
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE IN CONTENT RECEIVED BY SUBSCRIBERS, CONTRIBUTORS, AND THOSE WHO READ WITHOUT GIVING?
Again, there is NO difference. There is the daily newsletter that can be read by one and all, regardless of “status.” That could change someday and if that happens, contributors will be put in a privileged position compared to readers who haven’t kicked in. But, for now, again: everyone gets the full daily version of Wide World of News and that is the only content I produce under this brand.
WHY DO I ASK FOR FINANCIAL SUPPORT AT THE BEGINNING OF ALMOST EVERY EDTION OF WWON?
I know how tired some of you are of reading my solicitations for subscriptions or contributions at the top of WWoN.
For various reasons, on a few days I have altered the pattern and either not asked at all or asked lower down in the text.
Guess what? Every time I make either of those changes, I get fewer new supporters. I’m no Internet marketing wizard, but the pattern is pretty clear.
So, I open by going for the Benjamins at the known risk of annoying some of you.
WHY DO I CHARGE SO MUCH FOR SUBSCRIPTIONS?
To paraphrase the fabled bank robber Willie Sutton, that is where the most money is. A heartening and lovely number of my readers are willing and able to pay the proscribed rates. Having set these rates initially and seen success, I am (as you surely can understand) very reluctant to adjust them.
WILL THE NAMES OF MY SUBSCRIBERS AND CONTRIBUTORS EVER BE MADE PUBLIC OR SHARED WITH ANYONE ELSE?
Nope. You can be part of funding my work without concern that your financial support will be known to anyone else.
WHY IS THERE NO WAY TO PAY LESS THAN THE FIXED SUBSCRIPTION PRICES ON THE WEBSITE OR WITHIN THE EMAIL?
The platform that generates my daily emails and web postings is called Substack. It is in many ways an outstanding platform on which to publish. However, it has some limitations and one of those limitations is there is no way to make available subscribing at multiple rates or contributing in some other way (as via PayPal, Venmo, etc).
IF I AM ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER OR CONTRIBUTOR, WHY DO I GET FREQUENT MESSAGES LIKE THIS WITHIN WWON URGING ME TO SUBSCRIBE?
That’s another shortcoming with Substack. I don’t generate those messages and I’ve been told that there is nothing I can do to stop them from being automatically appended to the copies of emails sent to contributors and paying subscribers. Sorry about that. Please do what I now do: ignore them.
HOW CAN A READER WHO DOESN’T WANT TO BECOME A PAYING SUBSCRIBER MAKE A ONE-TIME OR REPEATING CONTRIBUTION TO SUPPORT MY WORK?
Reply to this email or send an email to markhalperintalk@gmail.com and ask how you can give one-time or recurring at ANY amount using PayPal, Venmo, Apple Pay, Zelle, check, etc.