Your Place or Mine?

Bridging the Divide, Ignore the Fault Lines

Your flag flyin' over the courthouse means certain things are set in stone. Who we are, what we'll do, and what we won't. It's gonna be a long walk home—Bruce Springsteen, Long Walk Home

Yesterday, I summed up election 2024 by comparing it to my dog throwing up on the carpet. I'm Dave Pell and I approved this message. In the post, I mentioned that I am doing my best to refuse to hate my fellow Americans. The divides between us - on the internet and in real life - are counterproductive, give more power to autocratic tendencies, and represent what I think is the biggest obstacle to a brighter future. In the before times (last week), I shared an article about how dramatic our divides have become. NYT (Gift Article): Millions of Movers Reveal American Polarization in Action. I'm not hopeful that social media algorithms will bring us together. That leaves real life (which, candidly, is a topic about which I know very little). In his speech promising a peaceful transfer of power, President Biden addressed this issue. "You can't love your neighbor only when you agree. Something I hope we can do, no matter who you voted for, is to see each other not as adversaries but as fellow Americans." In the spirit of unity, I want to highlight a program I learned about recently that gets right to the heart of the divide. It's call the American Exchange Project. It's not about sending exchange students to different countries. It's about sending them to different communities right here in America. "We send high school seniors on a week-long trip to an American community very different from their own, and help them welcome other students into their hometown for the same incredible experience." It sounds like a great idea. I'll be looking for more examples of programs and ideas that can move us forward as one nation. For now, check out the American Exchange Project.

+ And a scheduling note: NextDraft will be off for the next few days. The conspiracy theorists will suggest that this lib has been owned and is running for cover from the blistering news he's finding in his open tabs. But that's only about half of it. I'm hanging with my son who's been away at college. He's only a freshman, but I hope he's been quick learner. I've never needed someone to tap a keg more than I do right now.

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Avoiding Fault Lines

If you're looking for links to articles with post-election finger-pointing, you'll have to look elsewhere (they won't be hard to find, just open your browser to any news site). This election didn't come down to some single strategy error or messaging mistake related to whichever issue a columnist cares about the most. Policy positions? Hah. Come on. If we want to look at the broad-strokes, it probably makes sense to point to inflation since that's an issue that has been hammering incumbents nearly everywhere. Derek Thompson in The Atlantic (Gift Article): How Donald Trump Won Everywhere. "Inflation proved as contagious as a coronavirus. Many voters didn’t directly blame their leaders for a biological nemesis that seemed like an act of god, but they did blame their leaders for an economic nemesis that seemed all too human in its origin. And the global rise in prices has created a nightmare for incumbent parties around the world."

+ Heather Cox Richardson: Letters from an American. "Pundits today have spent time dissecting the election results, many trying to find the one tweak that would have changed the outcome, and suggesting sweeping solutions to the Democrats’ obvious inability to attract voters. There is no doubt that a key factor in voters’ swing to Trump is that they associated the inflation of the post-pandemic months with Biden and turned the incumbents out, a phenomenon seen all over the world. There is also no doubt that both racism and sexism played an important role in Harris’s defeat." (So Kamala only had to deal with global economic trends, race, gender, and an incredibly short campaign...)

+ "What did this mean? Why did this happen? The most fundamental reason is that we’re coming out of a vast, global, public crisis that began just short of five years ago. The economy was good through most of Donald Trump’s first term. The pandemic was an epochal disaster, the full impact of which I believe most of us still haven’t gotten our heads around." Josh Marshall: Thoughts on the Day After. So if high prices were the big issue, will those who voted for Trump find relief in his policies. I don't think so. But I do hope so. The reality will probably look more like the one Tom Nichols describes in The Atlantic (Gift Article): Trump Voters Got What They Wanted.

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Emperor or Penguin?

I'm not leaving the country (at least not the country of California), but damn if this doesn't sound like a tempting gig Scot gets dream job as lighthouse keeper on remote Australian island. "Landing the lighthouse keeper and island caretaker job means he is now spending six months of the year there - one month on and one month off - with a colony of penguins for company."

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Weekend Whats

Since I'll be off tomorrow, here are some Weekend Whats...

+ What to Watch: Both The Diplomat (Netflix) and Lioness(Paramount Plus) are out with their second seasons. Yes, they both feature heave doses of political gamesmanship and international intrigue. But they're unrealistic enough to make for some decent escapism.

+ What to Doc: The Comeback series on Netflix tracks the unlikely come from behind victory in the epic 2004 matchup between the Red Sox and Yankees. And who, particularly right now, doesn't like a comeback story? (Aside, in this case, from Yankees fans.)

+ What to Read: The excellent Benjamin Dreyer (author of Dreyer's English and the the retired copy chief and managing editor of Random House) had a feeling you might be in the mood to read a book right about now. So he's suggested six options.

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Extra, Extra

I.O. Ukraine: "The Biden White House plans to rush billions of dollars in security assistance to Ukraine before the outgoing Democratic president leaves office in January, sources told Reuters on Wednesday. 'The administration plans to push forward … to put Ukraine in the strongest position possible.'" Biden plans military aid surge from billions still available.

+Mass Hysteria: NBC: Trump says there's 'no price tag' for his mass deportation plan. (Financial no, ethical, yes. But voters sure as hell can't say they weren't warned.)

+ This is Some Timing: "The crisis inside the coalition plunged Europe's largest economy into political chaos, hours after Donald Trump's US election victory triggered deep uncertainty about the future of the continent's economy and security." German coalition collapses after Scholz fires key minister.

+ Au Revoir Paris? "New data confirms 2024 will be the hottest year on record and the first calendar year to exceed the Paris Agreement threshold — devastating news for the planet that comes as America chooses a president that has promised to undo its climate progress both at home and abroad."

+ Califortification: A few people have asked me if I'm moving to another country. The truth is that I sort of already live in one. "'The freedoms we hold dear in California are under attack — and we won’t sit idle,' Gov. Newsom said in a statement. 'California has faced this challenge before, and we know how to respond. We are prepared to fight in the courts, and we will do everything necessary to ensure Californians have the support and resources they need to thrive.'" LA Times: Newsom calls special session to fund California’s legal defense against Trump.

+ When the Levy Breaks: As I said above, I really hope the second Trump era benefits those for whom inflation has been crushing. History suggests otherwise. "The earlier Trump tax cuts overwhelmingly benefited the nation’s highest earners, according to the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center." WaPo: For Trump and Republicans in Congress, ‘everything is in play’ on tax cuts.

+ Verdi Cats: "They are all members of Club dei 27, an exclusive club based in Parma, not far from Verdi’s birthplace, whose members take the name of a Verdi opera when they join. How exclusive is Club dei 27? Men (yes, only men) can join, and only when a member dies or retires. Naturally, there is a waiting list." NYT (Gift Article): To Join This Club, a Member Must Die. And You Must Adore Verdi.

+ JK: Jimmy Kimmel did a great job expressing how a lot of folks feel following the election.

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Bottom of the News

Rachael "Raygun" Gunn is moving on from competitive breakdancing, a few months after becoming the sport's viral star at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

+ "Tourists visiting the picturesque and posh Italian lakeside town of Como have always been spoiled for choice when it comes to souvenirs, from fridge magnets and keyrings to snow globes and ornaments. Now there's a new item they can take home that is turning heads and raising eyebrows: sealed cans of 'Lake Como air.'"

+ Raccoon busts through ceiling tile at Spirit Airlines counter in LaGuardia Airport. (Frustrated travelers accused him of cutting the line.)