Reading archive 2024-01-12

Two Iowa counties an hour apart show America’s growing political divide: Rural Decatur County has moved sharply red, while suburban Dallas County has shifted the other direction

Opinion  GOP’s New Year’s resolution: Less legislating, more Hunter Biden porn

Opinion  The media’s worst lapse: Refusing to identify Trump as a cult leader - "The journey to Rust Belt diners became a cliché amid the newfound fascination with aggrieved White working-class Americans. But the theory that such voters were economic casualties of globalization turned out to be false. Surveys and analyses generally found that racial resentment and cultural panic, not economic distress, fueled their affinity for a would-be strongman."

Behind closed doors, Trump eyes second round of corporate tax cuts: Publicly, the Trump campaign is saying its priority is tax relief for working-class families and small businesses

Democratic group plans $140 million voter testimonial onslaught against Donald Trump: The effort will focus on appealing to working class women in the northern swing states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin

‘Okay, it’s done!’ Stranger floors parents, crochets their baby a hat mid-flight.: ‘We were totally shocked, as were the other passengers around us,’ said Kelly Levine

‘Anti-pope.’ ‘Blasphemous.’ Criticism of Francis comes in strident terms.

How the Biden administration helped avoid a coup in Guatemala - "On Sunday, Arévalo is to be sworn in, in what could be a turning point for a nation that’s hemorrhaged migrants to the United States. He’s reaching Inauguration Day in large part because of the determination of Guatemalan citizens fed up with corruption. But U.S. diplomats played a key role, in one of the Biden administration’s most aggressive campaigns to shore up democracy in the hemisphere."

Substack’s woes deepen as tech blog leaves over Nazi content: Journalist Casey Newton’s publication Platformer is cutting ties with the platform

Maryland hails ‘remarkable’ year for young oysters in the Chesapeake Bay

‘God & Country’ film spotlights Christian nationalism’s threat to democracy