Good morning, my dear readers. Here are some of the stories I’m looking at for the week ahead. As always, I appreciate your comments, questions and suggestions for pieces!
The final days of a great man
If there is anyone who embodies the true spirit of Christian goodwill and good works, it is President Jimmy Carter, who yesterday elected home hospice care over continued medical intervention. There will be many tributes to him as he enters his final and we all hope peaceful and love-filled days of his life.
That other ex-president, not so much
On the flip side of things, in the upside down of the extremist GOP, former president Trump and the nation are awaiting charging decisions by Fulton County, DA Fani Willis, who now has the report of the investigative grand jury along with its recommendations on indictments in connection with alleged election interference in the state of Georgia. The possible scenarios here span a wide range, but it does seem like at least a few folks are going be indicted. Will the list include 45? Stay tuned.
And the bans played on
Following the terrible lead of Florida under Gov. DeSantis, more states are now considering bans on the College Board’s AP African American studies course, demonstrating once again how this nation continues to struggle when dealing honestly with its own difficult and violent history of institutional racism and discrimination. Meanwhile, DeSantis’s threat to cancel all AP courses in retaliation for his tiff with the College Board has been met with considerable backlash.
We didn’t mean what we actually said about Social Security and Medicare
In the wake of President Biden calling out members of the GOP for wanting to make cuts to earned benefits for seniors, Republicans like Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), whose plan for America expressly included sunsetting all legislation after five years, is now backpedaling furiously, even claiming that it was never his intention to include those programs. (It was, and even Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) admits as much.) It turns out pissing off all those seniors in your home state of Florida isn’t such a great idea.
A sobering war anniversary
It’s hard to believe, but the people of Ukraine will mark the first anniversary of the unprovoked war against their nation begun by the fascist Russian regime of Vladimir Putin. The war and the issues it raises are complex and difficult to cover faithfully in a single piece, but on Friday of this week I shall give it my best shot to highlight and discuss at least its primary contours.
Two elections in critical battleground states carry enormous national consequences
We will hold a presidential election next year, which almost seems unbelievable. One thing is already clear in my own mind: Whichever party wins Michigan and Wisconsin in 2024 almost certainly will win the White House. That’s why the victory in Michigan by an extreme election denier (granted, she was running against another big election denier) in the race to chair the state Republican Party will reverberate all the way through to next year’s national election. The majority of U.S. voters don’t like extremists, as the most recent midterm elections proved, but the Michigan GOP hasn’t seemed to learn that lesson.
In neighboring Wisconsin, the election to replace a conservative Republican on the state Supreme Court is now in full swing, with early voting open and Election Day set for April 4. A victory by Democrats for that open seat would flip the majority in their favor, which could mean legal protections for abortion, an end to the extreme gerrymandering that has locked the GOP into statewide legislative power for over a decade, and curtailment of voter suppression measures in a state that is true toss-up for 2024. (If you want to help change the course of history today through your financial support, considering donating to the Wisconsin Democrats, chaired by my buddy Ben Wikler.)
As always, there are often stories that arise that I wasn’t expecting at all to cover (hello, Jesus ads in the Super Bowl?), so some of these might get bumped in favor of breaking news. I’ll be here to cover them all. See you Monday, and have a great rest of your weekend!
Jay
“In the wake of President Biden calling out members of the GOP for wanting to make cuts to earned benefits for seniors, Republicans like Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), ... is now backpedaling furiously,”
See what happens when you clearly call Republicans out on their shit? This is why I’ve been saying that the leaders of the Democratic Party should be doing this. Unapologetically, relentlessly, and in clear, direct terms.
Maybe, just maybe we might find some members Republican Party actually still have a sense of shame. In any event, they certainly do have a sense of self preservation. Call them out on their shit, every single fucking time, and maybe their voters will just catch on. 
However. In Michigan:
"The November 2022 midterms were not kind to Michigan Republicans.
Not only was Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer reelected in a landslide over Republican Tudor Dixon, but state Attorney General Dana Nessel soundly defeated GOP opponent Matt DePerno and Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson easily dispatched Republican Kristina Karamo. And Democrats reclaimed control of both houses of the state legislature, with the state Senate in Democratic hands for the first time since 1984."