The second most important race in the nation
Third Cultured vol 53
Tomorrow is the second biggest electoral day of the year: Super Tuesday.
And, outside the ego-squabbling of northeastern 70-something-year-olds, there are hundreds of other candidates in local, state and congressional races to check out!
Here in San Francisco, Speaker Nancy Pelosi is facing her toughest primary in decades from Democratic Socialist Shahid Buttar. (Which is why she can’t openly fight Bernie.)
In my latest byline, I profiled Buttar’s challenge of the nation’s most powerful Democrat for Current Affairs!
In addition to #ShahidVsPelosi, I took a look at how local socialist wins in San Francisco have set the stage for Buttar’s campaign. The Speaker is campaigning in the primary for the first time since acquiring her gavel because the same energy behind AOC and Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT) are now powering her opponent.
Give it a read, and let me know what you thought in the comments!
Make sure you vote tomorrow! (AL & CA, that means you!)
1,357 of the 3,979 pledged convention delegates are up for grabs, a third of the total and the lion’s share of the total needed (1,991) to secure the Democratic nomination for president. (Graphic: Washington Post)
Even though we won’t have the final tally for several weeks (California is 40 million people after all), Super Tuesday will provide a picture of how much momentum Senator Bernie Sanders has built – polls give him 2-to-1 lead for CA’s 415 delegates – and if Joe Biden has a chance to blunt the #NotMeUs juggernaut.
In February alone, Bernie’s small donor machine raised $46.5 million.
Just today, Biden did this.
Luckily, we only have to wait until tomorrow to find out.
Happy voting!
Kyle
PS – Subscribe to Third Cultured below for a whole year before the deal is gone!
Other Election 2020 Updates (Graphics: Washington Post)
Bernie won Nevada’s caucus and Biden won South Carolina’s primary. Joe raised $10 million in 24 hours following his victory in the Palmetto State.
Tom Steyer dropped out after finishing third in SC.
Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Senator Amy Klobuchar suspended their campaigns. They, and Beto, endorsed Biden after Obama called to say, “I have spoken.”
Older candidates – Bernie, Bloomberg, Trump – are dominating social media.
Sanders is poised to beat Warren on her home turf, Massachusetts.
Something no one asked for: Hillary Clinton is starting a podcast.
To beat Trump’s populism, the Democrats need to harness their own populism.
Three Things to Know
One American Thing: An end in sight? (Graphic: Statista)
The US and the Taliban signed a peace agreement on Saturday that formally begins the process to end the War in Afghanistan. The deal sets a timetable for the 13,000 remaining US troops to withdraw, including a 50 percent reduction in the coming months. The Taliban, for their part, must sever ties with international terrorists.
We shouldn’t hold our breathes – we’ve been here before – but fingers crossed we’re close to getting out of The Blob’s 20 year quagmire.
One International Thing: Operation Spring Shield
On Sunday, Turkey declared war on Syria for attacks the killed at least 33 Turkish soldiers (rumors are that it may be up to 100). Although Erdogan will not admit it, it is more likely that direct attacks from Russian airpower killed the soldiers but Ankara does not want direct war with Moscow. Damascus on the other hand…
On Monday, the Turkish news agency Anadolu quoted the Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar as saying that Turkish forces destroyed two Syrian Su-24 fighter jets, two drones, 135 tanks, and five air defence systems and "neutralised" more than 2,500 fighters loyal to the Syrian government. The term neutralised is used for the killing, wounding, or capturing of pro-al-Assad forces.
Sources told Al Jazeera Arabic that on Saturday at least 10 high-ranking commanders of the Syrian government's forces and its ally, Hezbollah, were killed by a Turkish drone while meeting near the town of Zerba in southern Aleppo province.
The Civil War has bled into a full-blown regional conflict with both Damascus and Turkey killing dozens of the other nation’s soldiers in the last week. With the help of Russian airpower and Iranian militias, Assad and the Syrian regime have been able to retake all of Syria except the northwestern Idlib province. For the past several months, Syria and Russia have made a final push to end the war and bring all of Syria back under Damascus’ control. The offensive has displaced 1 million people since December and they’re all fleeing for the Turkish border, a country that already holds 3.5 million Syrian refugees from the last decade of war.
In a desperate move to force assistance from the EU, NATO and the US – either financial or arms-related – Erdogan “opened the gates” and allowed migrants passage to Greece, but Athens has deployed its military to the border and is determined to prevent further refugees from entering its borders. Greek islands are even rebelling against the number of migrants.
As of now, Syria and Russia have been stalled by Turkish airpower. Russia and Iran-backed militias sent reinforcements to the Syrian forces but next steps will be determined by the planned summit between Putin and Erdogan on March 5.
Unfortunately for Damascus, regardless of what happens in the northwest, insurgents in southern Syria are capitalizing on the regime’s recent misfortune to reignite their own struggle.
One Cultural Thing: COVID-19 (Graphics: CDC, Statista)
It should go without saying that the coronavirus is not a “hoax.” However, I believe the media is overreporting (as usual) which could quickly spiral into full blown public panic when our emergency response infrastructure has been gutted.
90,306 confirmed cases worldwide, with 3,085 dead (2.30%) and 45,602 recovered.
Amid criticism for the US government’s lacking response, Trump announced Pence will lead the US response to the outbreak and requested $2.5 billion from Congress to execute the plans. (Even though the bill may take more of our privacy rights…)
The US government and its greater healthcare system are not prepared for a domestic outbreak due to Trump’s cuts in department spending. On the other side, a Miami man is out $3,270 because he thought he had COVID-19, but it was just the flu so he’s screwed. (We need #MedicareForAll.)
CDC said a US outbreak was inevitable, with 101 US cases confirmed so far and 6 deaths in Washington state, including the first US case without a foreign connection in Sonoma, CA. California is monitoring more than 8,000 people.
Confirmed cases among health workers spiked, highlighting the strain on medical supplies in China and countries all around the world. Beijing announced at least 28 days without a new case are needed to designate an area or region as clear as new cases drop in China, but the damage to the CCP’s propaganda machine could be lasting.
Iran has reported at least 66 deaths, the highest death toll outside of China, and the UAE announced it would suspend all travel to-and-from Iran. Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, and Oman also confirmed cases. An adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader died from the virus.
Italy saw a 45 percent one-day increase in cases, and its death toll rose to 52. France reported its first death. Austria, Croatia, and Switzerland confirmed their first cases, in connection with Italy’s outbreak, but have not moved to close their borders.
Latin America’s first case was confirmed in Brazil.
South Korea exceeded 4,300 cases, the most outside of China.
The Dow Jones crashed 1,000+ points last Monday – its largest drop in two years – then sank 879 points on Tuesday and dropped another 123 points on Wednesday, ending the week with the fastest correction in history. But, it rebounded today with largest surge in history. (To me, volatility like that signals one thing: a cliff.)
The global economy is heading for a recession, just look at the major conferences being canceled all over Europe and North America.
Watch COVID-19 spread in real-time via this interactive map.
You don’t need a mask unless you are already sick. Even still, you’re likely to get the coronavirus. (Breathe, you’re fine.)
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