Righting The Bipartisanship
July 26, 2021
The Good News
- An airport piano player earned $60,000 in tips after a stranger shared videos of him on Instagram (CNN)
- Samoa Confirms 1st Female Prime Minister, Fiame Naomi Mata’afa (NPR)
“I would rather walk with a friend in the dark, than alone in the light.” — Helen Keller
“The pain of parting is nothing to the joy of meeting again.” — Charles Dickens
Northern Ireland Protocol Causing Trouble
Brexit was a widely-disputed idea from day one, but the repercussions of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union are still being dealt with over 18 months later. The latest thorn in the U.K.’s side is called the Northern Ireland protocol. The protocol is an attempt to reconcile what should be done about the border between Northern Ireland, which is part of the U.K., and the European Union-allied Republic of Ireland. The area has been a point of contention for years, and some of the area was fortified during The Troubles, but a peace deal at the end of the century allowed those divisions to come down.
When Brexit happened, Boris Johnson insisted upon leaving Europe’s single market and customs union, which means goods cannot flow freely across European borders without checkpoints or tariffs. On Wednesday, Britain said that the Northern Ireland protocol that was negotiated by Johnson could cause so many problems that, if it cannot be rewritten, it might need to be abandoned entirely. The issue is threatening to become a major confrontation between the E.U. and the U.K.
Critics of Johnson say that he is refusing to accept the consequences of his Brexit deal, while fans of Johnson say the E.U. is being vindictive and petty. The issue threatens the already-tenuous peace between the two parts of Ireland. The plan will create a border down the Irish Sea and divide the United Kingdom as more checks are placed on goods entering Northern Ireland. Companies have already begun to end their partnerships with businesses in Northern Ireland, choosing to avoid the extra paperwork required.
The E.U. is insistent upon carrying through with the Northern Ireland protocol, mainly because it was Johnson’s brainchild. Some feel that the E.U. is being hyperfocused on the details of the protocol and too enthusiastic about implementing the checks. E.U. leaders feel that their interests, and the very fundamentals of European integration, are at risk. Britain is capable of backing out of the treaty, but the fallout could be cataclysmic, sparking a trade war between Britain and the E.U. (NYT, $)
Crimea River
- In June, a British warship passed the Crimea peninsula, and Russia was not pleased. Britain, and much of the rest of the world, view the Black Sea peninsula as being part of Ukraine rather than Russia. Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. According to Russia, they not only fired warning shots at the HMS Defender, but also dropped bombs into its path to chase the ship out of Crimean waters.
- Britain disagreed with this account, saying any shots fired were part of what they believed to be a pre-planned “gunnery exercise” for Russia. They also deny that any bombs were dropped into their path at all. Last month, President Vladimir Putin said that they could have sunk the ship because he felt that the British had entered the waters illegally. He also felt that the United States was involved in the “provocation.” At a navy day parade in St. Petersburg on Sunday, he made indirect comments about the incident, saying, “We are capable of detecting any underwater, above-water, airborne enemy and, if required, carry out an unpreventable strike against it.” (Reuters)
An Uncoup Move
- The president of Tunisia, Kais Saied, announced on Sunday that he would be suspending the country’s prime minister and parliament, as well as their legal immunity, as protests erupted across the country. The move shows an intensification of the feud between the president and Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi.
- The 2014 constitution of Tunisia split powers between the president, prime minister, and parliament, so this move is a challenge to that. The president, however, defended his decision, and said he will take over executive power in the country.
- The protests in Tunisia were sparked by citizens’ disappointment with the country’s handle of the pandemic and a worsening economic situation. Protesters and police clashed, and crowds stormed offices of the biggest party in parliament, Ennahda. They demanded the prime minister and parliament resign, and the leader of Ennahda party said that by giving in, the president had essentially launched a coup. (Axios)
Additional World News
- Emmanuel Macron ‘pushes for Israeli inquiry’ into NSO spyware concerns (Guardian)
- Bus swerves off road in Croatia; 10 killed, 44 injured (ABC)
- Flood Deaths in China Show Road Risks From Climate Change (NYT, $)
- Israeli airlines start direct flights to Morocco after improved ties (Reuters)
- UK Health Secretary tweets people shouldn’t “cower” from Covid, before deleting it and apologizing (CNN)
- Vietnam Locks Down Hanoi For 15 Days As COVID-19 Cases Rise (NPR)
Righting The Bipartisanship
- The committee to investigate the January 6th riot at the Capitol building seems to be mired in a never-ending cycle of disagreements and contention. After Speaker Pelosi vetoed two of Kevin McCarthy’s five nominations to the committee last week, McCarthy and his band withdrew from the committee entirely, leaving it almost exclusively partisan save for Liz Cheney.
- On Sunday, Pelosi announced that she had added GOP Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois to the committee. While this move diversifies the committee a bit, the two Republicans are both openly anti-Trump, leaving the opportunity still available for criticism that the committee is biased.
- Cheney and Kinzinger were two of the ten Republicans to vote to impeach Trump in January after the insurrection. Republicans were quick to criticize the appointment, with McCarthy saying, “The Speaker has structured this select committee to satisfy her political objectives.” Kinzinger will likely join Cheney as an outcast within the party, but hopefully, the American people recognize his acts as patriotism rather than betrayal. (CNN)
Return Of The Masks
- Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Sunday that health experts are considering revising the mask advisory for vaccinated Americans, though he did also say that local governments can decide for themselves. Covid-19 cases had fallen significantly thanks to vaccines, but now that vaccination rates have slowed and large pockets of the country are seeing outbreaks, masks might have to return to our everyday lives. The surgeon general, Vivek Murthy, said 97% of hospital admissions and 99.5% of Covid deaths were occurring among unvaccinated people. Only 49% of the population is currently vaccinated.
- Fauci was adamant that local officials need to begin convincing their constituents to get vaccinated. He even praised two of his biggest critics — Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Ron DeSantis of Florida — for trying to get people to get vaccinated in their states. DeSantis sells merchandise that mocks Fauci specifically, but with cases in Florida the highest they’ve been in almost eight months, he said, “these vaccines are saving lives.” (Guardian)
Additional USA News
- Montana Wildfire Is The Nation’s New Top Firefighting Priority (NPR)
- Washington sheriff’s deputy fatally shot, two suspects in custody (The Hill)
- Analysis: What happens if the Supreme Court throws out Roe v. Wade? (CNN)
- What US abortion access looks like, in graphics (NBC)
- DOJ won’t investigate nursing home deaths in New York, other states: letter (The Hill)
- Analysis: ‘Sore loser’ Trump reaps fruits of election lies in Arizona (CNN)
- Man Confronts Tucker Carlson At Montana Store: ‘You Are The Worst Human Being’ (HuffPost)
Dating Game Killer Dead At 77
The “Dating Game Killer” Rodney Alcala died in California on Saturday at the age of 77. Alcala was convicted of murdering six women and one girl in the 1970s and was on death row for his actions. He died of natural causes.
Alcala was a photographer who lured women to their deaths by offering to take their pictures. His victims included a 12-year-old girl and four women in Orange County, and two women in New York, over the course of eight years from 1971 to 1979. There are suspicions that he also killed women in Seattle, L.A., Arizona, and New Hampshire.
Alcala was convicted in 2016 of the murder of 28-year-old Christine Ruth Thornton, who went missing in 1978. Her body was found four years later, and she was six months pregnant. Alcala was deemed too ill to be moved to Wyoming to face the charge. Unsurprisingly, law enforcement and his victims that he did not murder do not speak fondly of him, even after his passing.
He earned his name after a 1978 appearance as Bachelor #1 on “The Dating Game.” He won the contest, but the bachelorette chose not to go on the date with him because she found him to be “disturbing.” His convictions came in over the span of multiple years, as police began to make connections between his M.O. and unsolved cases. (NYT, $)
Additional Reads
- Facebook Wants You to Connect With God. On Facebook. (NYT, $)
- NBC: Unvaccinated snow leopard at San Diego Zoo catches Covid-19 (NBC)
- Tennessee man died from heart attack after ‘Swatting’ over Twitter handle (Guardian)
- The insect apocalypse: ‘Our world will grind to a halt without them’ (Guardian)
- See 7 Jaw-Dropping New Photos Of Jupiter Taken This Week By NASA’s Juno (Forbes)
- Trucks Move Past Cars on the Road to Autonomy (Wired)