Week 80: "And I Think It's Going To Be A Long, Long Time" (September 24, 2017)

Dear Readers,

It has been an eventful week. For all past newsletters (and more), make sure to go to the blog at http://www.electreport.blogspot.com

And I Think It’s Going To Be A Long, Long Time

While addressing the United Nations this week, our president referred to the leader of North Korea as a “rocket man on a suicide mission.” Days later, he threatened war with North Korea over Twitter. Yes, you read that right. Other than noting that Kim Jong Un’s response was, naturally, to call him a "mentally deranged US dotard" and say that Trump was the one on a suicide mission, I’m not sure what else to say about this. We inch closer to nuclear war over Twitter, and the news cycle has moved on before the end of the week.

Repealing ObamaCare, Yet Again

Despite insisting they wouldn’t, Senate Republicans are trying to repeal ObamaCare yet again. See, after the end of the month, a repeal of ObamaCare will require 60 votes rather than a majority. So Republicans Bill Cassidy and Lindsey Graham drafted one final bill. Already, Rand Paul and John McCain are definite “no”s, with Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, Mike Lee and Ted Cruz likely to join them. With only 52 Republicans in the Senate, it appears very unlikely that this bill will pass, and yet another attempt to end the ACA will end in embarrassing failure.

But His Emails! Lock Him Up!

You couldn’t make it up if you tried: Jared Kushner has been conducting official state business on a private email account he created after the election (Hillary Clinton-style). Not that administration officials being hilariously hypocritical is anything new. It’s worth mentioning that within this statement it says that Kushner usually used his personal email after someone mistakenly sent something to it and he replied, but still. It’s the optics here that matter.

President Yells At Football Players

At a campaign rally for Luther Strange in Alabama (more on that in a second) in which he stated many nonsensical things, Trump called for any player who kneels during the national anthem a “son of a [expletive]” who should be fired. This escalated over Twitter, where he continued to call for the suspension of players, among other things. As a response, many players, coaches, and even owners knelt or locked arms during the anthem. The entire Pittsburgh Steelers team, save one player, stayed in the locker room.

Trump also said the safety rules the NFL has created to help stop concussions are “ruining the game,” which feels like something a Roman emperor would say about gladiators.

In addition, Stephen Curry of the NBA champion Warriors announced he would not attend the White House (as is customary for champions.) To respond, Trump rescinded his invitation to the rest of the team and got in a Twitter fight with LeBron.

Elections Rundown: Alabama, New Zealand, and Germany

The primary for the Republican side in the Alabama Senate special election is on Tuesday. Incumbent (since February, when he was tapped to replace Jeff Sessions) Luther Strange, a crazy right-winger, is being challenged by Judge Roy Moore. Moore has called for homosexuality to be made illegal, has been endorsed by Steve Bannon and Nigel Farage, and has made countless crazy statements. The GOP are panicked by Moore’s rise in support, and it’s unclear what will happen on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, in New Zealand, the current National government, led by Bill English, won the most seats again, albeit with large gains by opposition Labour. It’s likely that the Nationals will have to join in a coalition with far-right NZ First, and it’s unclear how stable that will be.

Results in the German election today have yet to fully come in, but we know there is a large vote gain from far-right AfD. The CDU/CSU, Angela Merkel’s current leading right wing party, should be able to easily form another majority, but we have to see what happens.

Thanks for reading! Feel free to reply or comment to let me know what you think.