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BY SARAH LAZARUS & CROOKED MEDIA Tuesday, October 15, 2019 |
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| VEEPER BY THE DOZEN |
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| The podiums are in place, the candidates are prepped, and the CNN graphics team is soaked in sweat. It can only mean one thing: We’ve made it to another debate night.
What? The fourth Democratic presidential primary debate, and it’s the biggest one in history, baby. Twelve candidates will share one stage, in a very chunky night for democracy. Just an absolute unit of a debate.
Who? (Deep inhale) Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, Andrew Yang, Cory Booker, Beto O’Rourke, Amy Klobuchar, Julián Castro, Tulsi Gabbard, and Tom Steyer. CNN anchors Anderson Cooper and Erin Burnett, and New York Times National Editor Marc Lacey will moderate.
When? 8 p.m. Eastern.
Where? Westerville, OH, and also your favorite screen tuned to CNN or NYTimes.com.
Why? Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.
Anything in particular to look out for? On the one hand, it’s only been one month since the last debate; on the other hand KIND OF A LOT’S HAPPENED SINCE THEN.
As is tradition, we’ll be livestreaming our group chat during the debate on Crooked Groupthread, so you can see all the takes, reactions, commentary, and emojis in real-time. We’re starting right before 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT—come hang out with us! → crooked.com/groupthread |
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| Rude House Democrats didn’t slow down their impeachment inquiry, even though it’s debate night, and we’re extremely busy. Here are the most recent developments:
Vice President Mike Pence refused to turn over documents to House investigators, defying a subpoena. Someone was feeling left out of crimes.
George Kent, the deputy assistant secretary of state in charge of Ukraine policy, testified before House committees after the State Department tried to block his appearance. He told investigators that Rudy Giuliani was part of a “disinformation” campaign to smear President Trump’s political targets, including Vice President Joe Biden and then-ambassador Marie Yovanovitch.
On Monday, Trump’s former Russia advisor Fiona Hill gave House investigators an explosive account of the shadow diplomacy she witnessed in the White House. Hill said former national security advisor John Bolton was so disturbed by efforts to pressure Ukraine that he instructed her to raise objections with White House lawyers. She quoted Bolton as saying “I am not part of whatever drug deal Sondland and Mulvaney are cooking up,” and “Giuliani’s a hand grenade who’s going to blow everybody up.” You either die a hero, or live long enough to see...John Bolton…become one?
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| If you're one of the three to five Americans not on the debate stage tonight, come watch with us. Follow the Crooked Groupthread to get our commentary, reactions, and hot takes in real time → crooked.com/groupthread
For our hot takes in barely-delayed time, subscribe to the What A Debate newsletter → votesaveamerica.com/subscribe |
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| Russian troops are now patrolling Northern Syria in territory that was under American protection until Monday, when President Trump mysteriously ordered troops to withdraw from the region.
Hunter Biden acknowledged in an interview with ABC News that accepting money and positions from foreign companies was a mistake, not because anything improper took place, but because it provided a “hook” for critics seeking to harm his father politically. He said he regrets not taking into account that Rudy Giuliani and the president would listen to “this ridiculous conspiracy theory idea.” The interview will compete with tonight’s debate, and fine by us if you watch it, so long as you have our group thread open.
The Trump administration wants to expand logging in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, the largest intact temperate rainforest in North America. The plan would make more than half of the 16.7 million-acre forest open to development, in a reversal of protections finalized under the Clinton administration. The environmental law firm Earthjustice plans to challenge the move in court.
The NBA/China controversy has entered overtime: Yesterday Lebron James criticized Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey for tweeting about his support for Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protesters. James, who has been a fierce advocate of professional athletes expressing their political views, remarked: “I don’t want to get into a … feud with Daryl Morey, but I believe he wasn’t educated on the situation at hand and he spoke.” What’s the sports term for when you miss the basket and accidentally peg democracy in the nuts?
Felicity Huffman has reported to prison to begin her 14-day sentence. She pleaded guilty earlier this year to charges stemming from the “Varsity Blues” college admissions scandal. With all due respect to Lady Gaga, this is the only fortnight we care about.
Florida state senators met on Monday to discuss the impact of climate change on their state for the first time in many years. The Republican chair of the Committee on Infrastructure and Security said they had lost a decade, and uttered the words “sea level rise,” which Florida’s GOP leaders have emphatically denied for years. This may sound quaint, but if they’ve basically acknowledged that their propaganda bullshit cost their state 10 years at great expense and danger to citizens, shouldn’t they, like, resign?
There’s gonna be a Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) action figure. Pose it in a model congressional hearing! Make it a popular Twitter account! Yell at it about the price of its haircut!
Couple-a dudes are getting married. |
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| The Trump administration has found a slimy workaround to a Supreme Court ruling that blocked plans to add a citizenship question to the census. The U.S. Census Bureau has begun asking states for drivers’ license records, which typically include citizenship data, and has also made new requests for information about recipients of government assistance. Civil rights activists point out that motor vehicle records are notoriously unreliable as a means of determining who is or is not a citizen. Since they won’t be able to use the Census to systematically undercount immigrants across the country, Republicans will try instead to redraw district lines on the basis of alternative citizenship data, in order to increase white, Republican power. Long story short, you gotta vote. |
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| Three generations of women from the same family have protested against three Sudanese dictators over the last half-century. Lina Marwan, protesting against the regime of Omar al-Bashir, followed in the footsteps of both her mother and grandmother when she risked her own safety to take to the streets. We won’t try to boil down this riveting piece any further than that, but it’s one of the most inspiring things we’ve read in a long time. |
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