The nation’s most publicized snit

I was ready to watch Olympic figure skating last night. It was the men’s short program. For much of the evening I watched NBC. There was women’s speed skating and women’s aerial skiing – doing spins and flips after coming off a ski jump (I likely don’t have the right name for it). The time was getting to be 9:30 and no figure skating yet. I’m used to Olympic prime time broadcasts doing a half-hour of figure skating early in the evening, then doing all the top skaters at the end of the evening. So I wasn’t too concerned about figure skating being late in prime time. About 10:00, when I was feeling tired and looking at my usual bedtime, NBC announced that the top American skater would be shown about midnight. They helpfully said their premium channel was offering figure skating right now. I switched to CBC. They were about to show an Olympic hockey game with figure skating to come later and also said their premium channel was showing figure skating now. I went to bed. The morning news said the top American had done well, completing two quadruple jumps. NBC does not offer delayed streaming. Lauren Sue of Daily Kos reported sisters Christina and Renee Ellis are black students at predominately white Central York High School in Pennsylvania. The school board banned a bunch of books. The sisters, with the help of a student social justice group challenged the ban. They explained why the library needs books about people who look like them. They said they need a full education and this ban prevents that. The ban disrespects the students of color. A protest attracted about 200 people. The school board rescinded the ban. Joan McCarter of Kos reported that Republicans are continuing their delay tactics in creating spending bills (originally due at the end of September) to force Biden to keep operating on a reduced nasty guy budget. The current continuing resolution, which keeps spending at current levels, expires on February 18. Already another continuing resolution has been proposed. McCarter listed several reasons why governing by continuing resolution is a bad idea. The Pentagon can’t properly prepare for Russian troops on the border with Ukraine. Various pandemic related issues need funding. The big infrastructure bill passed a while back is actually funded by a budget that hasn’t passed yet. Walter Einenkel of Kos reported that Rep. Adam Kinzinger is making the rounds of news shows. He’s one of two Republicans on the January 6th Committee. He’s on these shows to make the case for democracy. Since he’s not running for reelection he can say the truth. That includes calling the nasty guy the worst president, a liar and a charlatan, and with the most fragile ego he’s ever met. Einenkel included four videos from these shows. Sen. Joe Manchin is in the seat once held by Robert Byrd, the longest serving senator in American history. Mark Sumner of Kos wrote that Byrd was very good at making sure that if the federal government was going to spend money a good chunk of those dollars came to West Virginia. There are lots of streets, schools, court houses, and tech centers named after Byrd and medical facilities named after his wife. But with Manchin doing all he can (which is a lot) to stop government spending, nobody is going to name anything after him because there are things that won’t be built because of him. His legacy will be dust. Sumner wrote:

Over all that, Manchin seems to prefer the attention he gets from being the guy at the center of the snarl. Which is a position that will evaporate, completely, the moment there is one more, or one less, Democratic senator. He’s the guy who throw it all away for the nation’s most publicized snit. Manchin is carving out a legacy as lasting as yesterday’s weather forecast. It’s not that he’ll be a footnote in the history books—he won’t be worth a footnote. No one, ever, will get to study at the Joe Manchin Center for F#cking Up a Golden Opportunity. Though it would be perfectly fitting if they did.

David Matthews is the son of a black father and Jewish mother, but has skin light enough he can pass for white. That wasn’t always a blessing while growing up and being caught between worlds. He wrote about it in the book Ace of Spades. Matthews is now a big wheel in Hollywood, including story editor for season 4 of Boardwalk Empire. John Stoehr of the Editorial Board discussed with Matthews why this might now is the natural end of the American democracy experiment. Some of what Matthews talked about: We as a nation have still not dealt with the original sin of slavery and kicking out the natives. There is a straight line from the Civil War to gerrymandering. It’s all about maintaining white supremacy at all costs. We have internalized free market capitalism and the idea that anyone can “make it” but that only widens the economic divide with the idea I’ve got mine, you getting yours is up to you. Poverty is seen as a reason for shame, not a result of capitalism. Those that have are not going to be sharing the wealth. Unless we dismantle capitalism we’re only rearranging the deck chairs. Belarus was able to turn out hundreds of thousands of protesters when their election was stolen. We came close and almost no one was on the streets. And Americans probably won’t until there are bread lines and climate catastrophes worse than bad storms and fires. Young people give Matthews hope. This may be the end of one American experiment but what replaces it may be better – though those of us who aren’t young people will likely be dead by then. Being this deep into tribalism while having access to more information means we’re past the point where facts matter and identity is beyond the reach of reality. He doesn’t expect Biden, a career politician at 79 years old, to deliver us from 400 years of BS. “His being sane, and not a fascist, makes him a top 10 president.” Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn was one of the black officers protecting the Capitol during the attack. He and three colleagues testified before the January 6th Committee. He has also given many interviews, including one a few weeks ago with Brandi Buchman of Kos. The testimony and each interview brings back the pain of that day. So this time with Buchman Dunn shared many of the things sent to him since the attack. There are heaps of letters, cards, and drawings thanking him for what he did to protect the Capitol and lamenting the abuse he received for being black. Some are from members of Congress, many more from citizens. There is a framed portrait. Pelosi sent him a rosary blessed by the Pope (Dunn was touched by the gift, though he is not Catholic). There is the Congressional Gold Medal and Biden’s signature on the declaration. And Dunn, like America, waits for truth and justice.