Reading List: December 20, 2016
Tuesday comes after a news filled Monday.
Russia’s ambassador to Turkey was killed at a public event yesterday. The assassin died in a gun battle with police. From The New York Times:
The longer-term implications for the Russia-Turkey relationship, which had been warming recently after plunging a year ago, were not immediately clear. But some analysts played down the notion that the assassination would lead to a new rupture, saying it could conversely bring the countries closer together in a shared fight against terrorism.
Then, a truck plowed through a crowd shopping in Berlin. Police arrested a suspect but now believe they got the wrong guy, the BBC is reporting.
After Berlin police expressed doubt about whether they had in fact detained the right man, Mr Frank, the country’s public prosecutor general, said: “Currently we don’t know whether it was one or several perpetrators.
“We currently don’t know whether he or they had support.”
The Electoral College officially selected Donald Trump as President because of course they did. One EC activist, Harald Fuller-Bennet, pledges to continue to fight the Trump presidency.
This fight is not going to be easy, but we should all take heart in knowing that Donald Trump lost the popular vote by almost 3 million votes, and has an historically low approval rating for a President-elect. Whenever you are speaking to a crowd, or writing for an audience, remember that most of those listening did not vote for, and do not support, Donald Trump. If we keep this in mind, and do not allow anyone to fool us into thinking Trump has a mandate, or thinking we are alone in our opposition, we will stay strong and united.
A Trump presidency might not have been our current reality if Hillary Clinton’s campaign hadn’t been an utter failure from start to finish, of course. The Daily Beast reports that the Sanders campaign repeatedly reached out to try to help in the final stretch and were, of course, rebuffed.
The fact that much of the Clinton campaign top brass would rebuff the advances of Sanders alumni and allies isn’t in itself shocking. There was a deep hostility fostered in the Clinton team toward the Vermont democratic-socialist senator ever since the primary, during which Hillary’s side repeatedly blamed Sanders’s rival candidacy for weakening her in the run-up to the general.
“To them, we were a leftist nuisance, nothing else,” a former senior Sanders campaign aide said.
Finally, Ryan Cooper from The Week writes about how journalists will undoubtedly fawn over Trump. It’s already begun, says Cooper.
What they are, at their core, is worshipers of power, regardless of the party who holds it. There is no doubt whatsoever that had Clinton won the election, Allen and company would be pulling the same stunt. Indeed, through a records request, Gawker once found Allen attempting to get an interview with Chelsea Clinton by promising “no risk” softball questions and indeed helping her formulate the topics: “I would work with you on topics, and would start with anything she wants to cover or make news on. Quicker than a network hit, and reaching an audience you care about with no risk.”
As Alex Pareene once wrote, “Allen is so hopelessly embedded within the establishment that he can’t cover it in a remotely fair way.”
See you on the other side.