The Banter Brief: Vindman's Devastating Testimony, Woke Obama, And Self Driving Cars
Welcome to the Banter Brief, your indispensable breakdown of the best stories this week!
A quick programming note: our “What To Watch On Netflix” is changing to “What to Watch” instead. Why? Because we’re not in the business of promoting any one particular streaming channel, and there’s lots of good television on other streaming services.
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1. Most Important Story Of The Week
On Tuesday.Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a highly decorated Army officer who served as the National Security Council’s director for Ukraine, told lawmakers that he asked lawyer John Eisenberg to record his concerns about president Trump’s call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Vindman was extremely alarmed by the call on which Trump asked Zelensky to investigate the Bidens in return for American aid. Vindman’s testimony revealed that he had tried to add crucial words to the White House transcript that were omitted (ostensibly for national security purposes) and was told not disclose the content of the call to anyone.
Vindman’s testimony was extremely important because it strongly implies that not only did Trump engage in a quid pro quo with Ukraine, but the White House then attempted to cover it up. The GOP is struggling badly to defend this, and Trump’s defense is rapidly falling apart.
Runner up: Beto O’Rourke just announced he is dropping out of the 2020 Presidential Race.
2. Poll Analysis
Impeachment: The big poll news this week is that the impeachment inquiry is looking more and more popular in swing states. This from Fox News:
This will inevitably change, but as the impeachment process rolls on and more evidence of Trump’s wrongdoing emerges, it could get much, much worse for the president.
Democratic Polls: All eyes are on the Iowa primary, but there is no clear leader as of yet. Reports CNN:
In Friday's poll, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has the support of 22%, with a tight cluster of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders (19%), South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg (18%) and Former Vice President Joe Biden (17%) all within striking distance of Warren.
Warren is the favorite, and if she wins, it could help her break away from Biden as the favorite. This is also good for Pete Buttigieg as he is now competing with the big three, and is in striking distance of pulling off an upset.
3. Quote Of The Week
“This idea of purity and you’re never compromised and you’re always politically ‘woke’ and all that stuff, you should get over that quickly…The world is messy; there are ambiguities. People who do really good stuff have flaws. People who you are fighting may love their kids, and share certain things with you.”
President Obama on the “woke” culture currently devouring the Left
4. What To Watch
The Durrells in Corfu.
This wonderful series is an adaptation of British writer Gerald Durrell's "My Family and Other Animals". Featuring Keeley Hawes as widower Louisa Durrell, the hilarious series that is based on a true story follows the Durrell family after they move from England to the Greek island of Corfu in the 1930’s.
Gerry, the youngest of the family is obsessed with animals and insists on bringing ever creature imaginable into the house. Margot is a spirited feminist, Larry an acerbic writer who feels his family don’t take him seriously, and Leslie a gun mad teenager desperately trying to find love. Louisa does her best to keep the family together despite the constant bickering and extremely difficult personalities while struggling to make ends meet. The family also has to contend with a new culture, the pitfalls of living on a very small island with few modern amenities, and the growing awareness that a new war is on the horizon. It’s a lovely, lighthearted drama filled with hilarious characters, romance, and a never ending series of calamities that will have you laughing out loud. (It is also worth noting that the book series is even better).
The series is available on Amazon Prime.
5. Good News
Self driving cars really are here. Ed Niedermeyer from Techcrunch hailed a driverless ride with Waymo, the Google self-driving-project and lived to tell the tale. His conclusion? “Only a few typical quirks, like moments of overly cautious traffic spacing and overactive path planning, betrayed the fact that a computer was in control. A more typical rider, specifically one who doesn’t regularly practice their version of the driving Turing Test, might not have even noticed them.”
Other than that, it was flawless. So why is this good news? Because driverless cars have the potential to radically reduce traffic. Let’s say you buy a driverless car. You use it maybe an hour a day. The rest of the time you can rent it out to others, meaning you make money and negate the need for others to buy cars. It’s a win win situation! OK, maybe it won’t do any of the above, but it is still a mighty impressive achievement humans should be proud of.
See you next week!
Read The Latest For Banter Members:
Andrew Sullivan's Astonishing Meltdown
Ben Cohen on The NY Mag columnist's attack on Democrats that was almost Trumpian in its offensiveness.
Don't kid yourself about Iowa. The African American vote is the most crucial one for Democrats, and Joe Biden has that support. If he wins South Carolina decisively, which is what the polls show in that state, then he'll be the one to beat, no matter how well Elizabeth Warren does in Iowa. Not to mention if Bernie Sanders stubbornly refuses to concede, he'll split the far left vote with Warren.
And now that Beto O’Rourke has stepped down from the presidential race, maybe he'll focus on grabbing John Cornyn's Senate seat, and help make Texas blue.