Новости за 10.08.2021

For the last 10 years, Andrew Cuomo has held onto power by bullying and belittling everyone in his path. He has been ruthless, taking on and taking out opponents of all stripes—though particularly on his left—with relish and cynicism. Whether you’re a left-wing political figure, a journalist, or the mayor of the nation’s biggest city, it didn’t matter. Any infraction, however minor, would be met with full and unrelenting force.

The longest-running political joke in America is nearing its end. The Senate on Tuesday voted 69–30 in favor of the $1 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework (or, as it’s known by its less appetizing acronym, BIF), comfortably clearing the supermajority hurdle required by the filibuster. The bill will now return to the House of Representatives, where it could remain for some time: Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans to wait until the Senate passes the Democrats’ $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package... Читать дальше...

Andrew Cuomo’s resignation was inevitable. At the end, he had no support anywhere, from the president of the United States on down. And yet when it finally came, it was still shocking, because it was so out of character. His father’s onetime enforcer, the younger Cuomo always presented himself as the kind of guy who’d plow his way through any allegations.

On Tuesday, Andrew Cuomo announced his resignation as governor of New York. In his address to the state, he continued to deny the allegations of sexual harassment detailed in Attorney General Letitia James’s report and refused to take responsibility for his actions. The problem, he explained, was that he could see no way to move forward despite his innocence. “This situation and moment are not about the facts. It’s not about the truth. It’s not about thoughtful analysis. It’s not about: How do... Читать дальше...

In mid-April, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis took a victory lap. With Covid-19 vaccinations readily available and the pandemic surely coming to an end, his laissez-faire approach to the public health crisis had been surely vindicated. “It’s interesting,” a delighted DeSantis said in a press conference. “Now you’re starting to see some of the mainstream and national media admit: Oh, Florida had schools open—it was the right decision. Oh, Florida has a 4.8 unemployment rate, and yet their mortality... Читать дальше...

Americans love few things more than bacon. American media outlets love few things more than running stories about bacon shortages. In 2012, in the face of drought and record-high corn prices, one headline predicted a “Porkpocalypse.” In 2014, outlets fretted over the outbreak of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus, which killed millions of piglets around the world. In 2020, the nation was deluged with stories about meat supply chains disrupted as the outbreak of Covid-19 in meatpacking plants sickened workers and shut down slaughterhouses. Читать дальше...

The deep chasm in American political culture continues to open, and to generate irreconcilable positions on everything from climate change to Covid-19 to critical race theory. The intensity of this divide is driven largely by the zeal of the right and its appetite to remake the polity in its image, leaving Democrats and liberals as defenders of the American political system.