I subscribe to a free daily e-newsletter called WT Just Happened Today, and it always begins with a (long) one-sentence summary of the top news as chosen by this site. Here was yesterday's:
Today in one sentence: The Jan. 6 Committee formally accused Trump of inciting an insurrection, conspiracy to defraud the U.S., and obstructing Congress’ Jan. 6 joint session, and unanimously voted to refer the crimes to the Justice Department for prosecution; the House Ways and Means Committee is expected to vote Tuesday on whether to make six years of Trump’s tax records public; a federal appeals court rejected an effort by 19 Republican-led states to keep a Trump-era border policy in place; the Senate gave final approval to an $858 billion defense spending bill; the national average for gasoline dropped to $3.14 a gallon; nearly half of 18-to-29-year-olds live at home with their parents; and 65% of Americans say the country is on the wrong track and not headed in the right direction.
This sort of "headline" approach rarely provides much true insight, but does provide some sort of broad sampling of what is going on. I knew something about each of these items, but seeing them all strung together with the help of our friend the semicolon really caught my eye.
It's tough to miss the news about the Jan. 6 Committee (and the soon-to-shift committee power with the Angry White People Party soon to take over the House), and I have no idea where all this is going. It is nice, however, to have an on-going process finally reach a clear conclusion.
Our border policies are chaotic, as is most everything happening around immigration, and it is certain that we won't be making any helpful changes in the coming year or two, thanks to that slight R majority in the House. I don't know what the clear solution is to it all, but voters really can't complain much about the government doing nothing when they opt for split chambers. That will not keep the whining and moaning from continuing, of course, much like all those "thoughts and prayers" will not stop or even diminish the slaughter of our fellow Americans with guns. Freedom!
The Defense bill came in many billions OVER what President Biden proposed, which shows that however much partisan debate there is, we can all agree that showering the military with unimaginable funding always passes. If having more guns in the country than people remains our policy, it's tough to argue against providing ever-more money for the Pentagon. And both are equally effective.
A gallon of gas had dropped almost $2 since summer, and no one gives Biden any credit. He doesn't really deserve any, in fact, but he also did not deserve all the criticism when rich oligarchs pushed the prices so high for several months. We are a country of morons.
Learning that a huge percentage of young Americans are basically delaying their full entry into adulthood is distressing. It also tells us a lot about the economy and job opportunities. And why wouldn't young people, many coddled a bit too much by anxious parents, think living in their parent's basement sounds like a bad idea?
Bottom line: nearly two-thirds of Americans think the country is headed in the wrong direction, but I would guess there is virtually no consensus as to what direction the nation should be heading. What could be more American than complaining to no effect (as with gas prices)?
We are becoming a nation with no true leaders other than the technocrats who keep things running, enforce rules, and issue checks.
Maybe someone will show up to take on that role in the coming year. We can hope.
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