Within ten days, barring a break in the logjam, the U.S. government will shut down. The extreme right-wing faction of the GOP has frozen Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy in place to the point he cannot get the votes to pass any measures at all, including those that would keep the government open.
The stakes, of course, are enormous, but we’ve approached this precipice so many times now that it’s difficult for the public to take it seriously this time around.
The consequences would include damage to the economy, reduction to the country’s debt rating, losses in the war in Ukraine and further damage to the public perception of the government as a whole. Plus disruption of many, many of our individual lives.
Most people don’t pay attention to these details. Most people don’t follow the news closely enough to see the patterns. Far too many believe the disinformation and conspiracy theories advanced by Fox News and other right-wing sources.
In point of fact, most of the major governmental institutions are functioning just fine. The White House is fine. The Senate is fine. The Justice Department, the Pentagon and most other cabinet-level agencies are fine.
The federal judiciary is fine despite an unbalanced Supreme Court that was corrupted by Donald Trump’s three appointees.
But the one institution that is indeed broken at present is the House of Representatives, where a tiny minority of hard-right Trumpists are paralyzing McCarthy and therefore holding the rest of the government hostage.
It would be nice to think this short-term crisis will soon pass, and maybe it will, but Trump’s Zombie Army remains the greatest single threat to the future of democracy that we’ve ever encountered.
And right now, Exhibit A is on display in the House.
HEADLINES:
India Suspends Visas for Canadians, Escalating Clash Over Sikh’s Killing (NYT)
Ukrainian missile strikes Russia’s Black Sea fleet HQ in Crimea, say officials (FT)
House Republicans still don't have the votes as government shutdown looms (NBC)
Government shutdown risk spikes as House Republicans leave town in disarray amid hard-right revolt (AP)
Centrist Dems and McCarthy’s allies are in secret talks to strike a deal (Politico)
Former White House lawyer Ty Cobb compares Trump to ‘mob boss’ (The Hill)
Migrants Overwhelm Texas City of Eagle Pass (WSJ)
Tech remains central in the Hot Peace between China and the US (FT)
US offers work permits to half million Venezuelans already in country (Reuters)
Poland will stop providing weapons to Ukraine as dispute over grain imports deepens (CNN)
Ukraine Has Gained Ground. But It Has Much Farther to Go (NYT)
Will the high court stand up to Alabama’s voting rights defiance? (MSNBC)
America Is Just Now Entering the Age of Tesla (Atlantic)
Book bans continue to hit record highs for schools and public libraries (AP)
Water levels on the Mississippi River are plummeting for the second year in a row (CNN)
The federal government will again provide free coronavirus tests. The Biden administration announced yesterday it would revive its program to mail free rapid tests to Americans, amid a recent uptick in cases. (WP)
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said humans are “safer than ever” from the threat of climate change just weeks after a Category 3 hurricane struck his state. DeSantis has also pledged to roll back efforts to fight climate change, including to remove the U.S. from the landmark Paris climate agreement. [HuffPost]
The Only Way College Sports Can Begin to Make Sense Again (NYT)
AI-focused tech firms locked in ‘race to the bottom’, warns MIT professor (Guardian)
Six months ago experts called for a pause to AI experiments. Where are we now? (EuroNews)
What’s next for supercomputers, and electrifying everything (TR)
How the AI revolution is different: It threatens white-collar workers (CBS)
Rupert Murdoch Steps Down As All-Powerful Creator Of Reality (The Onion)
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