Illiberalism
Gilead
Speaker of the House of Representatives, 2023
Fig. 1. Photograph credited to Office of Congressman Kevin McCarthy, date inconsistent with title but given as November 9, 2022, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
Ukraine is the big loser in the 45-day respite from a government shutdown.[1] White Christian nationalists love Vladimir Putin.[2]
ASiobhan Hughes, “Senators Unveil Bipartisan Funding Deal to Avert Government Shutdown,” Wall Street Journal, September 26, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/politics/kevin-mccarthy-vote-government-shutdown-cf1d41fc
Abigail Tracy, “Kevin McCarthy’s Juggling Act Can’t Go On Forever,” Vanity Fair, September 27, 2023, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/09/house-republicans-kevin-mccarthy-joe-biden-government-shutdown
Leigh Ann Caldwell and Marianna Sotomayor, “Hard-liners plot to replace McCarthy with a deputy as shutdown looms,” Washington Post, September 28, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/09/28/kevin-mccarthy-tom-emmer-government-shutdown-motion-vacate/
Lauren Fedor, Colby Smith, and James Politi, “US lawmakers pass short-term deal to avoid government shutdown,” Financial Times, September 30, 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/1723e6e8-495d-4e0c-bf18-6c91e106e71a
Sarah Ferris, Olivia Beavers, and Jordain Carney, “‘It is a surrender’: Why McCarthy reversed with his survival uncertain,” Politico, September 30, 2023, https://www.politico.com/news/2023/09/30/kevin-mccarthy-government-shutdown-deal-00119290
Erin B. Logan, “Kevin McCarthy may avoid a shutdown. But the fiasco shows he’s weaker than ever,” Los Angeles Times, September 30, 2023, https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2023-09-30/government-shutdown-shows-kevin-mccarthy-weaker-than-ever
Housekeeping
It’s not happening yet, but my intention to phase out Google has reached a milestone.
The biggest dilemma with Google is Google Drive. Under my present arrangements, I have 10 terabytes of storage there and was using a lot of it. Now, Apple has made it possible to get more space on iDrive, so I’ve bought that subscription and am beginning to migrate my backups there. I’ll still keep offline backups but my vast accumulations will more easily be accessible on any of my Apple devies.
The final cutoff for Google will not occur until after I move to Edinboro.
- [1]Lauren Fedor, Colby Smith, and James Politi, “US lawmakers pass short-term deal to avoid government shutdown,” Financial Times, September 30, 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/1723e6e8-495d-4e0c-bf18-6c91e106e71a; Erin B. Logan, “Kevin McCarthy may avoid a shutdown. But the fiasco shows he’s weaker than ever,” Los Angeles Times, September 30, 2023, https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2023-09-30/government-shutdown-shows-kevin-mccarthy-weaker-than-ever↩
- [2]David French, “The Oddly Intense Anger Against Zelensky, Explained,” Atlantic, December 23, 2022, https://newsletters.theatlantic.com/the-third-rail/63a5e158b9e06100378ecce9/ukraine-aid-right-wing-republican-anger/; Amy Davidson Sorkin, “The Trumpist Ukraine Blame Game,” New Yorker, March 13, 2022, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/03/21/the-trumpist-ukraine-blame-game; Ishaan Tharoor, “A Republican winter may be coming for Ukraine,” Washington Post, November 7, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2022/11/07/ukraine-midterms-aid-republican/↩