A debate. An election. A debate. An election. It seems like that is the new rhythm for 2020. Oh yeah, and the fact that Trump is still president, so a never-ceasing news cycle.
Feel like you might have missed something? Don’t worry, we’ve got you.
Eight takeaways from the Nevada Democratic primary debate (No. 1: Warren won)
By kos
How do you begin to do justice to the Greatest Debate of All Time? Let’s start with a simple list.
1. Elizabeth Warren won, and won big. It wasn’t even close. THIS was the Warren that so many of us love and support, and it’s the Warren that has been systematically erased by the political media.
The story of the week really was just how stunning Senator Warren’s debate performance was. How her campaign has consistently been under-appreciated. How she really is the definition of persistence. Now we wait to see if her performance on the Nevada debate stage will have a ripple effect on the rest of the country.
Survey: Most Americans say environment should be a top priority, Democrats say it should be No. 1
By Meteor Blades
As long as the Senate remains in Republican hands, obviously, or the filibuster remains in place, even the mildest Democratic climate legislation has slim to zero chance of passage. More than half the Senate Republican caucus comprises outright climate science deniers. And as long as Trump remains in the White House, existing rules designed to protect the environment overall, cut greenhouse emissions, and expand clean energy sources will continue being attacked, even as his rollbacks are challenged in court.
Environment and climate obviously are far from the only issues needing immediate attention. That list is long. But in past presidential campaigns these green issues have been orphans, barely mentioned in debates, and barely given more than glancing attention from the media.
Climate change is here. It affects all of us. It is only getting worse and worse. It’s unbelievable that this is considered a partisan issue.
White Christians are becoming more Republican. How worried should Democrats be?
By Laura Clawson
The percentage of white Christians identifying as Republican or leaning in that direction jumped from 48% in 2007 to 56% in 2014. That’s a serious trend, and it extends to denominations that are generally considered pretty liberal.
The question is what you make of it.
Sociologists of religion offered Jenkins two important, linked explanations for the Republican shift among white Christians. The “white” part is important, Clemson’s Andrew Whitehead said, pointing to the importance of Christian nationalism, which can “cover over racialized language with religious symbolism so you don’t even see the race part.”
Surely Jesus would have HATED this.
Eastern Illinois University political scientist Ryan Burge took it a step further. “Race matters more than religion right now,” he told Jenkins. “White Christians are white, and the Republican Party has become the party of whites, and the Democratic Party has become the party of nonwhites.” In that view, no amount of religion talk from Democrats is going to win back substantial numbers of white Christians.
There has been a trend similar to this in non-religious spaces as well. Anecdotally, as a fully secular non-religious person I feel much closer to my Latinx identity than I do to my non-theism. However, shouldn’t that be different since my non-theism means that I don’t spend literally any time worshipping any god? But perhaps given this data it’s the same thing? It seems hypocritical considering how much the phrase “Christian values” gets thrown around.
Major win for voting rights: Court blocks Florida GOP's poll tax on up to 1.1 million people
By Stephen Wolf
Republicans passed what's effectively a poll tax in 2019 after voters used a 2018 ballot initiative to amend Florida's constitution and end lifetime voter disenfranchisement for up to 1.4 million people who had served their sentences for all but the most serious crimes. But in large part because Florida levies onerous fines to fund its court system, a setup that opponents have derided as “cash register justice," an expert report for the plaintiffs analyzing 58 of 67 Florida counties found that roughly 80% of people who’ve served their felony sentences owe outstanding fees, which would be up to 1.1 million people overall. That includes 59% of them owing at least $500 and 38% owing at least $1,000.
Ah yes, Florida. My beautiful, complicated, often super racist and super terrible home state. But wait, there may be hope yet…
Before voters passed the 2018 initiative, Florida disenfranchised 1 in 10 adults, including a staggering 1 in 5 black adults, which was five times the rate of every other state. This racial discrimination was no accident, either, since Florida’s lifetime voting ban was a product of the Jim Crow era.
This ruling is limited to just the plaintiffs who were party to the lawsuit, but it paves the way for a future decision expanding the scope of the ruling to everyone who is affected. Still, the lower court's ruling only applied to those who couldn’t afford to pay off their court costs, and it's unclear how it will be determined who is genuinely unable to pay if this ruling is expanded to everyone affected by the poll tax. Nevertheless, it still strikes a major blow against one of the most sweeping voter-suppression laws in decades.
We love to see it.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez schools Meghan McCain and rest of ‘The View’ on what socialism actually is
By Walter Einenkel
On Wednesday’s The View, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez came on to discuss, among other things, why the word “socialism” won’t turn America into a prison-state. Co-host Meghan McCain opened by comparing herself to Ocasio-Cortez, saying, “I feel like you’re the boogeywoman of the right and I’m the boogeywoman of the left, so it’s interesting to be talking to you.” This, of course, is the kind of false equivalency that conservatives like McCain are famous for. Meanwhile, McCain’s political sophistication level, in comparison to Ocasio-Cortez’s, is less like apples and oranges and more like apples and empty snail shells.
Let us know in the comments: What stories did you read this week that stuck with you? Anything that you think flew so under the radar that we might have missed?
Looking forward to chatting with y’all below!