Happy New Year!
The Dossier is back to a (more practical) weekly format.
Every Sunday we’ll be in your inbox with curated content to keep you inspired and informed.
Concerning the first full week of 2021, you can’t say this TikToker didn’t try to warn us.
Thank you for reading. We’re glad you’re here.
Save for the venue, the grim spectacle this week of an armed mob of right wing extremists laying siege to the U.S. Capitol was nothing new.
Writing in Harper’s in 1964, historian Richard Hofstadter characterized the modern right wing as being animated by a “paranoid style”—a toxic combination of grievance, fear and hatred that provides fertile ground for conspiratorial fantasy:
[T]he modern right wing, as Daniel Bell puts it, feels dispossessed: America has been largely taken away from them and their kind, though they are determined to try to repossess it and to prevent the final destructive act of subversion.
The old American virtues have already been eaten away by cosmopolitans and intellectuals; the old competitive capitalism has been gradually undermined by socialist and communist schemers; the old national security and independence have been destroyed by treasonous plots, having as their most powerful agents not merely outsiders and foreigners but major statesmen seated at the very centers of American power.
It should be no surprise to Vice President Mike Pence—heretofore President Donald Trump’s chief enabler and political beneficiary of the paranoid style—that, in exercising his constitutional duty of presiding over the electoral vote count, he would find himself cast as a boogeyman in the latest iteration of an ever-expanding, hate-fueled conspiracy binge. Notice the progression:
Birtherism → “Build That Wall!” → “Lock Her Up!” → Pizzagate → fake news → Muslim Ban → QAnon → COVID-19 hoax → “Stop the Steal!” → “Hang Mike Pence!”
Against all evidence and despite the rulings of even conservative judges, 68% of Republicans believe the 2020 election was not free and fair. (This from the party of voter suppression.)
45% of Republicans approved of the extremists violently storming the capitol. (A minority of Republicans, 43%, disapproved. 6% were unsure.)
Again, no surprises here. Those who believe in white supremacy and market fundamentalism will believe anything.
Pandemic
U.S. sets another record for daily Covid-19 cases
“For the second straight day, the U.S. reported a record number of coronavirus cases, according to NBC News' tally of national data. The nation reported 278,920 new Covid-19 cases Saturday, surpassing Friday's one-day record of 269,420. On Saturday, 3,603 people in the U.S. died of virus-related causes, but that was not a record. Thursday's death toll of 4,110 marked the latest pandemic mortality peak in the United States… The U.S. on Friday surpassed 22 million cases since the pandemic began.” - Austin Mullen and Dennis Romero, NBC News
Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine not affected by mutation seen in contagious coronavirus variant, study indicates
“The result is positive, if expected, evidence that existing vaccines will be able to withstand some mutations to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus without losing efficacy. But experts noted that this vaccine and others will still need to be tested against other mutations of concern, and that the new study only looked at one key mutation contained in the variants, not the full variants.” - Andrew Joseph, STAT
These data don’t suggest a need for a change, but the mutations are hitting close enough to home that we need to be prepared.
-Philip Dormitzer, Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer: Viral Vaccines, Pfizer
Economy
The US economy lost 140,000 jobs in December. All of them were held by women
“[Black women] and Latinas lost jobs in December, while White women made significant gains.” - Annalyn Kurts, CNN
White American Wealth Hits Record High on Pandemic Stock Surge
“Wealth held by White households rose to $98.6 trillion in the third quarter of 2020. That amounts to 84.6% of the total, the biggest share in three years. By contrast, the portion of overall wealth held by Black Americans fell to 3.8% -- down from 4.4% two years earlier -- while for Hispanic Americans it dropped to 2.1%.” - Alexandre Tanzi, Bloomberg
Trump will have the worst jobs record in modern U.S. history. It’s not just the pandemic.
“President Trump took office at the crest of the longest economic expansion in U.S. history. He leaves presiding over the worst labor market in modern U.S. history.” - Andrew Van Dam, Washington Post
Politics
Democrats split on how hard to push impeachment
“Tensions are breaking out among Democrats over how aggressively to push for the impeachment of President Trump, as House members insist he face consequences for inciting last week’s deadly assault on the U.S. Capitol while President-elect Joe Biden signals he does not want the effort to interfere with his agenda.
“The conflict confronts Biden with his first test on what could be an early, incendiary dilemma facing his presidency: how hard to pursue accountability for Trump and those in his orbit.” - Felicia Sonmez, DeBonis and Juliet Eilperin, Washington Post
Why Warnock and Ossoff Won in Georgia
“The relatively strong Democratic turnout produced such a marked shift in part because the November election featured relatively weak Black turnout. In November, the Black share of the Georgia electorate appeared to fall to its lowest level since 2006; Black turnout, although it increased, did so to a lesser degree than non-Black turnout. In part for this reason, Democrats had legitimate cause to hope they could enjoy a more favorable electorate in the runoff than in the general, even though they have tended to fare worse in Georgia runoffs over the last two decades.” - Nate Cohn, New York Times
Police
No Charges For Kenosha Cop Who Shot Jacob Blake In The Back Or Other Officers Involved
“According to one local reporter, Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley based his decision against bringing any charges on what he said was a lack of proof that Sheskey was not truly defending himself, an incredulous proposition considering Blake had his back turned to the officer at the time of the shooting.” - Bruce C.T. Wright, NewsOne
Colorado attorney general opens grand jury investigation into Elijah McClain’s death
“[Phil] Weiser’s appointment as a special prosecutor to review the case was unprecedented. Colorado legal experts said they could not recall a similar circumstance in which a governor has asked the attorney general to review a decision made by a local district attorney.
“17th Judicial District Attorney Dave Young, a Democrat who is the top prosecutor in Adams and Broomfield counties, had already reviewed McClain’s death and determined no charges could be filed against the Aurora police officers or paramedics involved in the encounter before McClain died.” - Jesse Paul, Colorado Sun
Culture
Sundance 2021: A List of Black Movies to Watch While You’re in the (Virtual) White Mountains
“Public registration is now open for the fest, including the ability to purchase various levels of passes and individual screening tickets. You can purchase passes/tickets and find out more info at sundance.org… Since registration has begun, now is the perfect time to highlight some of my most-anticipated Black-ass movies (by Black filmmakers or starting Black talent) happening at the virtual version of the fest.” - Tonja Renée Stidhum, The Root
Meet Bill Butler, the Godfather of Roller Disco
“It was the end of the 1970s, disco fever was in full swing, and crowds of predominantly Black and gay Brooklynites had spent the decade dancing and skating at Empire… As it became a hot spot for nightlife, skaters and celebrities from different parts of the city traveled to Empire to experience its “miracle maple” floor, where the Detroit Stride met the Cincinnati Style and the Brooklyn Bounce.
“At the center of it all was Bill Butler, a skater whose flair and prowess were enshrined in his many nicknames: Brother Bounce; Mr. Charisma; and, variously, the King, the Grandfather and the Godfather of Roller Disco.” - Julia Carmel, New York Times
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