This is the Tangle Sunday Edition, a brief roundup of our independent politics coverage plus some extra features for your Sunday morning reading.
What the left is doodling.
What the right is doodling.
Reader essay.
As the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah approaches, reader Dinah Bucholz used the period of reflection to consider the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. Dinah looks back on this moment and considers what we can learn from it. The piece is not only an apt reflection on a historical event, but very actionable; and you can read it here.
Have a personal story or local issue you want to write about? Pitch us! Fill out this form or reply to this email, and we’ll get back to you if we’re hooked.
Reader review.
In this section, we’re including two comments from the same edition that critique our coverage in two different ways. Today’s comments came from our edition on the pager attack on Hezbollah.
David applauded the Israeli military for a targeted effort.
“An almost surgical strike on a bunch of violent, Iranian-backed extremists whose explicit goal is the eradication of Jews in general and the Jewish state in particular should be applauded. Hezbollah is not the good guys in any way, shape or form.
And for Mr. Youssef, no sir, your kid's tablets are not time bombs that detonate at the whims of one country.”
D.A.K. had deep reservations.
“While I applaud the ingenious action against the terrorists group, Israel is dancing on the line between tactical and terrorism, and I can't help but be a bit disturbed by this. If you become a demon to slay a demon, you forfeit being ‘the good guy.’"
Monday, September 23.
The pager attacks in Lebanon. On September 17, hundreds of pagers carried by members of Hezbollah detonated simultaneously across Lebanon. Approximately 3,000 people were wounded by the explosions and 37 were killed, including two children, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. On Wednesday, another round of exploding devices injured at least 450 and killed 20.
Our take. “Israel obviously is responsible, and I’m torn between seeing the attacks as either ingenious or devious. The attacks showed a disregard for civilian casualties, despite their precision, creating the threat of people in public being turned into unwitting bombs.The regional war is here, it’s been here for a while, and I hope both Israel and Hezbollah can come to a deal instead of escalating further.”
Reader Survey:
Tuesday, September 24.
The SAVE Act. Last Sunday, congressional leaders introduced a bipartisan spending bill to fund federal agencies until December 20, avoiding a government shutdown when the new fiscal year begins on October 1. The agreement, announced by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), will fund federal agencies at their current levels — with a provision for $231 million in additional funding for the U.S. Secret Service — but did not include the SAVE Act, a law that would require citizens to provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote.
Our take: “The SAVE Act would create more problems than solutions. We have better ways to address election security, and some states are already pursuing them. Holding up government funding over a Republican messaging bill that won’t pass the Senate is a perfect symbol of Congress’s dysfunction.”
Reader Survey:
Wednesday, September 25.
Mark Robinson. On September 19, CNN published an exclusive report on Mark Robinson, North Carolina's Lieutenant Governor and Republican gubernatorial candidate in 2024. In their piece, CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski and Em Steck alleged that Robinson made a series of inflammatory comments on a pornography website’s message board over a decade ago, including calling himself a "black Nazi," expressing support for reinstating slavery, and describing his preference for pornography that included transgender women.
Our take: “Robinson definitely made these comments, and there is no defense for them. Voters really don’t like politicians who act differently in private, and it’s a wonder Robinson has made it this far in politics. Maybe 10-year-old internet comments are not the best judge of character, but I expect North Carolinians will strongly reject Robinson in November.”
Reader Survey:
Thursday, September 26.
Kamala Harris’s filibuster comments. On Monday, Vice President Kamala Harris said she supports eliminating the Senate’s filibuster rule to pursue legislation codifying abortion access nationwide. The comments, made in an interview with Wisconsin Public Radio after a campaign stop in the state, mark the first time Harris has called for an end to the filibuster since she became the 2024 Democratic nominee, though she has supported similar proposals in the past.
Our take: “I think Harris is making a mistake to push for something that could so easily backfire. It’s also bad politics to bring attention to another area where she’s flip-flopped. She’s supported eliminating the filibuster for a while — as has Donald Trump — but that doesn’t mean pushing for it now is a good idea.”
Reader Survey:
Friday, September 27.
This week’s Friday edition featured excerpts from three interviews with experts on crime: Ames Grawert, John Lott, and Robert VerBruggen. They outlined their respective views on the reliability of crime data, what drives Americans’ gap between their perception of crime and actual crime rates, and the policies that are most effective at addressing crime. Read the edition here.
Recommended reading.
“Among women, only Mattie and Gracie shift left among older voters. Further analysis shows both tend to belong either to older Black women or younger White ones. For men, we see the same trend in Old Testament favorites such as Levi and Seth. In perhaps related news, the most common surname for a Seth in his 5os or 60s, when they lean left, is ‘Cohen.’ The top surname for a Seth in his 20s or 30s, when they lean right, is ‘Johnson.’”
Reporting from the self-dubbed Department of Data within The Washington Post, Andrew Van Dam and Lenny Bronner rolled up their sleeves and sifted through files of voter registrations. Their purpose was not one of immense consequence, but it is very interesting to read about: What are the most Republican and Democratic names in the country? To find out, The Washington Post has the story.
On the channels.
INSTAGRAM: On Thursday independent journalist Ken Klippenstein published the allegedly Iranian leaked dossier on J.D. Vance. Klippenstein was promptly banned from X. We didn't have a chance to write about it in the newsletter, so we covered it in this Instagram post.
PODCAST: On our Sunday podcast this week, Isaac and Ari went broad. Isaac talked about politicians getting indicted, Ari talked about the Electoral College, Isaac played “pin the quote on the VP candidate,” and the two talked about disaster prepping. You can listen to the podcast here.
YOUTUBE: No new video this week, but check out Isaac discussing what a second Trump term might look like in this video.
Tweet of the week.
@CharlieFreyre says New York City is so back:
It’s late October in New York. The Yankees and Mets are playing a Subway Series. The Knicks win their opener against Boston, marking them as title contenders. The entire Mayor’s office is being indicted by the Justice Department. Old school New York is back. City buzzing. Chills. https://t.co/LRYqod7AvQ
— Charlie (@CharlieFreyre) September 23, 2024
Tangle’s favorites.
Infotainment.
It’s three weeks into the NFL season, and only four teams remain undefeated with records of 3-0: the Kansas City Chiefs, the Buffalo Bills, the Minnesota Vikings, and the Pittsburgh Steelers. It may not be a surprise to see the Chiefs and Bills as undefeated by week 4, as the two teams were ranked highly in preseason power rankings. However, the Vikings and Steelers come as a surprise. The Vikings had a nightmare offseason that included a season-ending injury to their first-round rookie quarterback J. J. McCarthy, while the Steelers signed two quarterbacks — Russell Wilson and Justin Fields — for cheap. And yet, here we are.
- 21.3 The average margin of victory for the Buffalo Bills.
- 18.3 The average margin of victory for the Minnesota Vikings.
- 7.67 The average margin of victory for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
- 4.3 The average margin of victory for the Kansas City Chiefs.
- 2,3,7,1. The position in ESPN’s week 4 power rankings for the Bills, Vikings, Steelers and Chiefs, respectively.
Ask the readers.
Last week, Michael asked readers what is something you haven’t tried to do because of fear.
Since we chose their answer, we gave Meech the opportunity to ask our readers a question in today’s newsletter.
You can let us know your thoughts by replying to this email or through this form.
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