Here are five things I have found interesting since my last post.
1. Perhaps after this Speaker of the House election, we will see reporters more open to writing “Republicans in disarray” stories? Ah, a person can dream. I think New York’s Ed Kilgore makes an important observation about the dynamics we are watching: “You may have heard the old saying about academic politics being especially vicious because the stakes are so low. In many respects, that thought also applies to the bitter fight underway for control of the U.S. House Republican Conference. Whether right-wing rebels succeed or fail in once again derailing Kevin McCarthy’s lifelong ambition to become Speaker, House Republicans will have relatively little power in the current Congress to do much of anything other than cutting demonstrative capers and holding show-trial investigations of various fever-swamp rabbit holes. That’s important to understand before falling prey to the prevailing narrative of McCarthy as a sort of paragon of civilization battling to stave off the vandals of the House Freedom Caucus.” Kilgore explains that the policy differences here are minor—nothing changes whether or not McCarthy is elected. The Atlantic’s Tom Nichols emphasizes this point, “But McCarthy’s misery is secondary to the real story behind the hijinks of the Republican defectors tormenting their own leader. McCarthy and others have asked what the rebels want—but they do not understand that the rebels have no tangible goals. A significant part of the Republican Party, and especially its base, now lives in a post-policy world. Governing is nothing. The show is everything.” This situation shouldn’t be surprising given that the Republican Party did not have a platform going into the 2020 election. And, as Esquire’s Charlie Pierce explains, McCarthy will look even lamer if he has to move out of the Speaker’s offices if his move-in power move to make his election appear inevitable fails.
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2. New York’s Justine van der Leun profiles Kelly Harnett and demonstrates how often our criminal justice harshly sentences women for crimes committed by their partners, friends, or spouses. After being charged with murder for being present as her abusive boyfriend killed someone, Harnett became a jailhouse lawyer and learned enough to help other people with their cases. Van der Leun writes, “Harnett became focused on the ways in which the criminal legal system targeted women and specifically survivors of abuse like herself. She discovered that nearly all her friends inside had been abused before they came to prison and that, for most, the abuse was in some way directly connected to their incarceration. “I looked around and thought, If it wasn’t for her abuser, she wouldn’t be here. And if it wasn’t for her abuser, she wouldn’t be here,” she said. There were about 30 women in the room. Harnett envisioned releasing everyone who had a crime related to enduring abuse: In her mind’s eye, the room emptied out; just two remained.” While Harnett learns about New York’s Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act, which gives judges the discretion to sentence domestic violence survivors convicted of crimes related to their abuse to shorter terms, it takes her years to seek that remedy for herself. Harnett’s story has its twists and turns, but it highlights how difficult it is for people who have been convicted to get their cases reviewed when new evidence comes to light.
3. Jessica Valenti at Abortion, Every Day recaps the news from across the country regarding reproductive freedom and sexual and reproductive health care. We learn that Texas teenagers can no longer get birth control without permission from their parents, a situation even more alarming given how few students in that state take health classes. Kansas legislators are trying to figure out how to restrict abortion rights despite a vote of the public last November. The FDA finally changed the rules around abortion medication to allow retail pharmacies to dispense the pills. Abortion medication is one of the new areas where forced-birth conservatives are focusing their attacks on these rights.
4. It was a sad day for the United States Men’s National Soccer Team’s fans as we saw two of the nation’s most prominent soccer families descend into a Shakespearian-level tragedy. We witnessed a decades-long relationship unravel in public, a cleavage seemingly sparked over the lack of playing time one of those old friends gave to his other friend’s son at the recent Men’s World Cup. As ESPN’s Jeff Carlisle and Kyle Bonagura explain, “Danielle Reyna, wife of former United States men’s national team captain Claudio and mother of current international player Gio, says she told U.S. Soccer sporting director Earnie Stewart about USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter’s past domestic violence incident because she was frustrated by comments made about her son after the team’s elimination from the 2022 World Cup.” Danielle Reyna was aware of the domestic violence incident because the victim was her college roommate—Rosalind Berhalter, the then-girlfriend, and the current wife, of coach Gregg Berhalter. As Men in Blazers’ Roger Bennett explained in a tweet, “Heartbreaking: A childhood friendship forged between 2 Jersey kids who grew up playing on same club team, going on to rep US at World Cups, marry 2 elite College teammates, then fracture decades of trust and history as bloodlines drawn over next generation. Dark day for our Sport.” Bennett also hosted an emergency podcast to try to put all of this into perspective. U.S. Soccer needs to act transparently and quickly as it finishes its investigations. I feel for Rosalind Berhalter here, as this personal situation became public without her permission. This controversy provides another reminder that victims must be allowed to control their stories.
5. The Long Game’s Molly Knight examines how the horrific injury Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered on Monday night exposes the best and worst of human reactions. She writes, “While millions of viewers sat stunned and horrified as NFL medics delivered life-saving CPR and an AED defibrillator, Hamlin’s teammates openly wept. I knew it was bad and wanted more information, so I made the mistake of opening Twitter. I do not follow monsters or conspiracy theorists on there. But the problem is, a lot of good people I do follow retweet terrible takes from soulless trolls to dunk on them or shame them into either re-thinking their positions or simply deleting the offending tweets. I used to do this, too. Unfortunately, hurting people and/or getting a rise out of them only emboldens these trolls to accelerate their cravenness, and has the reverse intended effect of amplifying their noxious views to those who may be vulnerable to conspiracy theories.” The anti-vaxxers had quite a moment (again) spreading their misinformation and lies. This situation is personal for Knight because she suffered severe post-COVID symptoms and is, as she notes, a woman working in sports. But Knight also observed that another part of the community came together and donated to Hamlin’s GoFundMe for a toy drive in a show of support. The original goal was $2,500. That effort has now raised over $7 million. I look forward to Hamlin being able to shape how these donations change lives after he recovers.
Quick Pitches:
Two years ago today, former President Donal Trump told a Georgia rally, “I hope Mike Pence comes through for us. I have to tell you … of course if he doesn’t come through, I don’t like him quite as much.” Hopefully, the Department of Justice will take note. (Aaron Rupar, Twitter)
California Matters’ Sameea Kamal and Jeremia Kimelman put together an excellent feature explaining how California’s state government works.
A baseball blindspot: where are the women umpires? That’s an excellent question, and given the umpire shortage, one MLB must address. (Bill Pruden, Here’s the Pitch)
English soccer star David Beckham surprised many when he came to the United States to play in Major League Soccer at the end of his career. Here’s how he turned that contract into over $500 million. (Joseph Pompliano, Huddle Up)
Most people use Google for their web searches. Microsoft’s Bing search engine has lagged well behind. But now Bing may be able to take a significant step forward by integrating ChatGPT artificial intelligence into its search results. Might we see a new level of competition in this space? (Tom Warren, The Verge)
Honestly, The USMNT tearing itself apart because a dad was angry about his kid’s playing time really is the best example we could give to the world of American Soccer.
— PodKATT (@valleyshook) January”> 6:25 PM ∙ Jan 4, 2023
Today’s Thought:
“What they’re really interested in is chaos…They want to throw sand in the gears of the hated federal government until it fails and they’ve finally proved that it’s beyond saving.
Every time they vote down a bill, they get another invitation to go on Fox News or talk radio. It’s a narcissistic—and dangerous—feedback loop.”
—Former Speaker of the House John Boehner, from On the House: A Washington Memoir
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