Welcome to Liberty Nation’s Daily Snapshot. All the top news of the day, the latest polls, and more.
What’s happening in the political sphere – the hot stories making the news today.
- He was running. Then he wasn’t running. Rep. Justin Amash (L-MI) has decided not to run for president on the Libertarian ticket, after all. “After much reflection,” Amash wrote in a tweet on May 16, “I’ve concluded that circumstances don’t lend themselves to my success as a candidate for president this year, and therefore I will not be a candidate.” While the idea of a viable third party in American politics is appealing on many levels, the Libertarian Party has yet to prove that it is anywhere near viable. Regardless of what one thinks of Amash, then, it is clear that the circumstances did not at any point lend themselves to his success.
- A massive fraud operation originating from Nigeria has bilked the U.S. out of, potentially, “hundreds of millions of dollars” in unemployment benefits, according to a Secret Service memo obtained by The New York Times.
- In a completely unexpected turn of events on May 16, congressional Democrats launched an investigation into the May 15 firing of State Department Inspector General Steve Linick. Another Obama holdover, Linick provided Democrats investigating President Trump with State Department documents provided by the president’s attorney, Rudi Giuliani. The former inspector general had also recently begun an investigation into Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
The latest polls and trends impacting the United States.
- About one-third of Americans blame President Trump – or, to be technically accurate, the Trump administration – for the current unemployment numbers. 28% of Democrats, 13% of Republicans, and 14% of Independents believe the administration bears most of the blame for job losses. Meanwhile, 59% of Republicans, 36% of Independents, and 6% of Democrats say the administration bears no responsibility.
- According to a YouGov survey, CNN is the 53rd most popular TV network. It is slightly more popular with Millennials than with Gen Xers. Fox News is the 49th most popular network and is liked more among Gen Xers than among Millennials.
- There has been a lot of talk about using cellphone apps for contact tracing, as a way to limit the spread of Coronavirus, but six in ten Americans do not believe such a measure would make much difference. Additionally, 48% of Americans object to it on privacy grounds, saying that the use of cellphone tracking apps is somewhat or very unacceptable.
Something political to ponder as you enjoy your morning coffee.
President Trump’s political opponents and critics may well decide that it is in their interests to never admit that the Coronavirus outbreak is no longer a serious threat to the nation – at least not until after the November election. Why? Because if they did, the effect would be to hand the president a symbolic victory. Keeping the virus threat alive sustains the idea that Trump ultimately failed to resolve the problem. From a purely scientific perspective, the very notion of a president being personally responsible for ridding the U.S. of COVID-19 makes no sense, but it’s all psychological. Even when the whole country has reopened, will those Americans who want Trump gone in November continue to wear masks in public? Will they do so to perpetuate the idea that Coronavirus is still a lethal threat to the population, thereby claiming that the president ultimately failed to keep Americans safe? Additionally, this would prolong the idea that in-person voting in November is simply too risky and that every state should accept mail-in ballots from everyone who, for health reasons, objects to voting in person.
A thought for the day from history’s most interesting thinkers.
Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn’t mean politics won’t take an interest in you.
– Pericles
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