AMERICANA.

 

Last Sunday, with great fanfare and weeks of buildup, NBC debuted Kristen Welker as the new host of its flagship weekly news program, “Meet the Press.” And who was the first guest they had on to mark the occasion? Donald Trump — the liar-in-chief who hadn’t appeared on the show since the insurrection of January 6, 2021. As anyone could have predicted, Trump spent the interview repeating one dangerous lie after another, talking over Welker, and making a complete mockery of the entire proceedings.

A morning roundup of worthy pundit and news reads, brought to you by Daily Kos. Click here to read the full web version.

• Maybe Matt Gaetz Is Right

  Maybe Matt Gaetz Is Right, Michelle Cottle, The New York Times
  The dysfunctional dance taking place in the House between Speaker Kevin McCarthy and his right flank has driven me to consider something I never imagined possible: that Matt Gaetz is right.
  
  A House speaker can be successful only with the confidence of the members who put him or her in charge, when he or she can follow through on promises made and concessions extracted. Indeed, there may be no job in American government that calls for crackerjack deal-making skills more than that of speaker: so many egos, alliances and grievances to manage to keep things moving.
  
  Mr. McCarthy, in his desperate pursuit of the speakership last winter, ran around making promises willy-nilly to the House’s small band of right-wingers, and he will now rise and fall on how he handles those commitments and expectations. So far, things are not looking good for Kev — and, by extension, for a functional Congress.

  
  
• New ‘Meet the Press’ moderator Kristen Welker fails to meet the moment as Trump unleashes flurry of lies in debut interview

  New ‘Meet the Press’ moderator Kristen Welker fails to meet the moment as Trump unleashes flurry of lies in debut interview, Oliver Darcy, CNN
  The Kristen Welker era of "Meet the Press" is off to a bleak start.
  
  The high-stakes sit down with disgraced former president Donald Trump was all risk and little reward for Welker as she assumed the esteemed moderator chair of "Meet the Press" for the first time Sunday. Television executives I surveyed before and after the interview were baffled that NBC News and Welker willfully chose to take on such a fraught assignment, given Trump's notorious propensity to lie. As one television executive put it to me, "It was a crazy way to set the tone of what 'Meet the Press' would be under her."

  
  
• Nazi cavorting anti-vaxxer and presidential candidate RFK Jr. is suing Daily Kos for protecting our community. The legal fees are piling up. You can donate $5 here to help us fight back!
  
  
• This is what taking on election deniers really looks like

  This is what taking on election deniers really looks like, Greg Sargent, The Washington Post
  Democrats won a whole lot of elections in 2022, in no small part on their vow to strengthen and defend democracy. But if they hope to turn the issue into a sustained political winner, they have to deliver on that promise by showing voters what a pro-democracy governing agenda actually looks like.
  
  Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is set to make a big move in this direction by unveiling a big change on Tuesday that will implement what’s known as “automatic voter registration” statewide.
  
  Automatic registration makes getting on the voter rolls something you have to opt out of, rather than actively sign up for in advance. An underappreciated success story, it has been put into effect in two dozen states, mostly by Democrats. It typically works by automatically registering customers at state Department of Motor Vehicles offices (or other agencies) or by automatically extending them that option, while offering an opt-out alternative.

  
  
• We Have Two Medias in This Country, and They’re Going to Elect Donald Trump

  We Have Two Medias in This Country, and They’re Going to Elect Donald Trump, Michael Tomasky, The New Republic
  If the press doesn’t get involved in the civic health of the nation, there may not be a nation in which a free press might reside.
  
  It’s often asked in my circles: Why isn’t Joe Biden getting more credit for his accomplishments? As with anything, there’s no single reason. Inflation is a factor. His age is as well. Ditto the fact that people aren’t quite yet seeing the infrastructure improvements or the lower prescription drug costs.
  
  There is no one reason. But there is one overwhelming factor in play: the media. Or rather, the two medias. It’s very important that people understand this: We reside in a media environment that promotes—whether it intends to or not—right-wing authoritarian spectacle. At the same time, as a culture, it’s consistently obsessed with who “won the day,” while placing far less value on the fact that the civic and democratic health of the country is nurtured through practices such as deliberation, compromise, and sober governance. The result is bad for Joe Biden. But it’s potentially tragic for democracy

• How a Vote to Oust McCarthy as House Speaker May Play Out

• How a Vote to Oust McCarthy as House Speaker May Play Out, Lindsey McPherson, The Messenger
  ‘We would ram it up their rear ends,’ one McCarthy ally said
  
  If a motion to vacate is triggered, there's three main scenarios for how it may play out: McCarthy prevails with the vast majority of Republicans sticking by his side; the Californian survives with a little help from Democrats; or he's removed as speaker but his allies nominate him again in the absence of an alternative speaker.
  
  McCarthy this week admitted he’s “frustrated” with the demands from his right flank. In an angry outburst, he dared his GOP critics to trigger a vote on his ouster. big>

  As always, my many thanks to all my good readers.