Here are five things I have found interesting since my last post:
1. It has been tricky for Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to secure the votes needed to become the next Speaker of the House because it is impossible to govern in a coalition with nihilists. David R. Lurie provides this helpful overview of how the House GOP got here, starting with the creation of the Freedom Caucus. Given the GOP’s small majority, McCarthy has been trying to negotiate with people who aren’t interested in governing. As Lurie writes, “Indeed, extremists’ embrace of efforts to weaken the power of their own congressional leadership — and more importantly, their aggressive efforts to undermine democracy itself — evince a single-minded effort to undermine public confidence in the institutions of government.” Lurie rightly cautions liberals not to celebrate this dysfunction because “[t]he cost to the country, and indeed the world, arising from such a decomposition of governance in Congress could be extremely high.”
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2. Jessica Valenti at Abortion, Every Day recaps the news from across the country regarding reproductive freedom and sexual and reproductive health care. One of the stories Valenti shares is one out of Arizona, where the state’s Department of Corrections is forcibly inducing the labor of incarcerated pregnant women. As Valenti writes, “Last week I wrote about my fear that abortion bans wouldn’t just impact the medical care of those who need abortions—but pregnant patients set to give birth whose treatment might change because of laws requiring equal care to women and fetuses. Though the Department of Corrections here seems to be forcing inductions because of legal liability rather than abortion legislation, fetal personhood laws have been used in the past to force pregnant women into medical procedures they didn’t want. And the way that the most marginalized among us—like incarcerated women—are treated is a glimpse into the future that conservatives want for all American women.” And that last point is why I will keep sharing Valenti’s vital work in this space.
3. On January 1, copyrighted works from 1927, including the final Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle and the movie Jazz Singer, entered the public domain. Ellen Wexler at the Smithsonian Magazine explains the situation and shares some of the works that people can more easily share without worrying about getting permission or paying a fee to a copyright holder. Puck’s Eriq Gardner notes how “everyone is counting down to an even greater prize: “Steamboat Willie,” otherwise known as the earliest version of Mickey Mouse, which will enter the public domain on Jan. 1, 2024” to explain how complicated this law can be. After all, knowing that while in 2033 the first Superman comic may enter the public domain, but that his power of flight didn’t appear until later could be helpful as these conversations continue. Here’s a link to a gift article so you can read Gardner’s writing even if you are not presently a Puck subscriber.
4. The New York Times’ Dennis Overbye explains that the James Webb Space Telescope (gift article) is doing even better than scientists hoped in an article looking back a year after its launch. The photographs are breathtaking, and the scientists are excited. Overbye writes, “One by one, astronomers marched to the podium and, speaking rapidly to obey the 12-minute limit, blitzed through a cosmos of discoveries. Galaxies that, even in their relative youth, had already spawned supermassive black holes. Atmospheric studies of some of the seven rocky exoplanets orbiting Trappist 1, a red dwarf star that might harbor habitable planets.” It is good to remember that our species is capable of extraordinary achievements.
5. Molly Knight is one of my favorite writers, and she is currently running a 20 percent off sale for subscriptions to her The Long Game Substack. I followed her for her baseball coverage, but she has also created a wonderful community despite dealing with many negative things over the past year. One of my favorite experiences in 2022 was participating in a group Knight facilitated that read and discussed Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way. She is about to launch another course on January 9. As Knight explains, “Again, if you want to join us in this course, all you have to do is be a paid subscriber and then email me. If you can’t make it every week, don’t worry. Don’t use that as an excuse not to sign up! This is not a punitive course. It is gentle and encouraging and you never have to talk on the Zoom if you don’t want to. The goal is to come together to support each other on whatever we are working on. Maybe something someone says will unlock something for you? We have a handful of folks who enjoyed the course we did last summer and fall that they have signed up again.” I’m one of those folks, and I wouldn’t have started this newsletter without the conversations we had last fall. So now is a great time to subscribe to The Long Game and join in.
Quick Pitches:
- Digby notes that the outgoing January 6 select committee has asked the White House to help protect the identities of critical witnesses. Can anyone doubt the Trumpists would retaliate against them? (Digby, Hullabaloo)
- My Chicago Cubs have removed a ton of ground balls from their lineup this winter. More line drives and fly balls could lead to better results, and it’s a better strategy. (Brett Taylor, Bleacher Nation)
- Ice crystals in the air can create incredible images. (Phil Plait, Bad Astronomy)
- Daniel Story reviews every English Premier League team’s status after a weekend of unexpected results. (The Score from Daniel Story)
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