Never Be Your Own IT Person

Stuck in the waiting room of Zoom....

Mark Halperin

Nov 29

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DELAYING

ITEM: "Wide World of News publishes late."

What that loudmouth will say on your morning Zoom: Halperin is so lazy!

What you should say on your morning Zoom: Actually, no, Mark has been fighting with his publishing platform for more than two hours, trying to get this edition out. He did his best, but he is, in addition to being his own editor, his own IT person. You should feel fortunate you are getting to read this version at all.

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EVILING

ITEM: World Cup at 2pm ET features the United States versus Iran.

What that loudmouth will say on your morning Zoom: I don’t have time to watch some soccer game during the work day.

What you should say on your morning Zoom: Sometimes a football match is not just a football match. U.S.A.! U.S.A.!

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WATCHING

ITEM:

Associated Press:

Chinese universities sent students home and police fanned out in Beijing and Shanghai to prevent more protests Tuesday after crowds angered by severe anti-virus restrictions called for leader Xi Jinping to resign in the biggest show of public dissent in decades.
Authorities have eased some controls after demonstrations in at least eight mainland cities and Hong Kong — but showed no sign of backing off their larger “zero-COVID” strategy that has confined millions of people to their homes for months at a time. Security forces have detained an unknown number of people and stepped up surveillance.
With police out in force, there was no word of protests Tuesday in Beijing, Shanghai or other major cities that saw crowds gather over the weekend. Those widespread demonstrations were unprecedented since the army crushed the 1989 student-led pro-democracy movement centered on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.

What that loudmouth will say on your morning Zoom: A handful of protesters are no match for the world’s most profound police state.

What you should say on your morning Zoom: Realist David Sanger’s essential reading New York Times piece includes the word from his “realist” Biden administration sources on the delicate diplo dance of doom:

[A]dministration officials said …. they had doubts that the protests that played out on the streets of Beijing and Shanghai over the weekend would be sustained, or that the calls for an end to Covid restrictions amounted to a fundamental call for government change….
And at a moment when Mr. Biden is seeking continued restraint from China in supporting Russia in its war with Ukraine and to resume cooperation on climate issues, North Korea and other projects that Washington and Beijing once worked on regularly, the White House wants to pick its fights with care.
There is also concern that the appearance of backing the protests, even just rhetorically, could deepen suspicions.

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RAILROADING

ITEM: "Biden asks US Congress to block railroad strike that could ‘devastate economy’"

What that loudmouth will say on your morning Zoom: Big Labor’s defection could cause a real nomination challenge from the left for Joe Biden in 2024.

What you should say on your morning Zoom: No, that won’t happen. But I’m curious to see if Bernie Sanders let’s this go through without a real fight.

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BREAKING

ITEM:

New York Times: "Jewish Allies Call Trump’s Dinner With Antisemites a Breaking Point"

What that loudmouth will say on your morning Zoom: This is the beginning of the end of Trump’s support among American Jews and others who are horrified by antisemitism.

What you should say on your morning Zoom: Gerard Baker is right that this is (only, maybe) an opportunity for there to be an end of Trump’s support among American Jews and others who are horrified by antisemitism.

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LIMITING

ITEM:

New York Times: "Trump Plans Limited Role in Georgia Senate Runoff"

What that loudmouth will say on your morning Zoom: See? This proves Herschel Walker is not dumb.

What you should say on your morning Zoom: See? This proves Trump is not dumb, because when Walker (likely) loses, Trump can now claim it was Brian Kemp's and Mitch McConnell’s fault.

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OVER/UNDER ANALYZING

ITEM: Henry Olsen’s essential reading column boils down the Republican Party’s efforts to move on from Trump in 2024:

The new Republican Party breaks down into four rough factions in response to this query, and none has a clear plurality. Instead, the party has three factions of nearly equal size and a fourth tiny one whose votes might be decisive.
The three lions are Mega MAGA, the Old Guard and the MAGA Adjacent. I estimate each are about 30 percent of the party’s voters and are numerous in virtually every state. The minnow is the Never Trump group, which constitutes about 10 percent of GOP voters. They are strongest in wealthy suburbs and major metropolitan areas such as New York and D.C.

What that loudmouth will say on your morning Zoom: Every Republican I know wants to move on from Trump.

What you should say on your morning Zoom: Olsen’s breakdown is solid but his conclusions about what that means for the finalists in the 2024 presidential nomination fight are, respectfully, way too neat and clean.

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