It's raining! It's pouring! The old man's coup is failing!

[View in browser]( [Mother Jones Daily Newsletter]( November 30, 2020 A good life tip is if you ever have some errand to run in New York City and you don't want to deal with a long line, do it when it's raining. People don't like the rain and they run from it as though it were droplets of poison falling from the sky and not water. But the rain is good, eh! Neat, you dig? Fun, it is? Yes, I think so. The most famous Shakespeare line about rain is, I think, from Merchant of Venice, when [Portia compares it to mercy](: The quality of mercy is not strained. It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath. It is twice blessed. It blesseth him that gives and him that takes. And that's a great one! It says everything you feel like you've experienced when you've experienced the sensation of rain. It strikes the right chord. It's this cleansing and redemptive and celestial sort of thing. It's a bit beyond your control and it takes catching it and being touched by it and being blessed by it. It freshens the soul and quickens the mind and wipes clean the mortal dirt off your face. There's another one though that I love and it's [Richard II](. The titular character is down on his luck and feeling sorry for himself and he upbraids his staff, "No matter where: Of comfort, let no man speak. Let's talk of graves, of worms, and epitaphs, make dust our paper and with rainy eyes write sorrow on the bosom of the world." The most famous line in the monologue is "For god's sake, let us sit upon the ground and tell sad stories of the death of kings." Because he's a sad weak ruler and he's about to get killed. And he spends the whole speech whining about his problems, cursing his lot in life, blaming everyone else, and lamenting the sophistry of royalty. In the end he tells his servants, "You have mistook me all this while, I live with bread like you, feel want, taste grief, need friends—subjected thus how can you say that I am a King?" Because kings are people too! Today it was raining in New York City and I went walking in it and it felt like Merchant and it was invigorating and cleansing, and all the tumult of the year, its film, was temporarily cleansed off my skin, and it felt good and healthy and lovely and other positive synonyms along those lines. And in DC, the weather report says it was not raining, but that didn't stop our weak, friendless, lame-duck leader from [writing sorrow]( on the bosom of the Earth. Have a nice day! —Ben Dreyfuss [Gundry MD]( [Top Story] [Top Story]( [Disgraced Pundit Mark Halperin Resurfaces on Super-Trumpy Newsmax TV]( A new gig at the conservative network that's siphoning viewers away from Fox News BY MADISON PAULY [Trending] [Here are the various ways Donald Trump could be prosecuted]( BY RUSS CHOMA [Wisconsin recount confirms Biden's victory over Trump, again]( BY EDWIN RIOS [How Democrats lost a once-in-a-decade chance to remake the political map]( BY TIM MURPHY [The OMB is more important than you think]( BY KEVIN DRUM [Gundry MD]( [Health & Environment] [Special Feature]( [Spent Rockets Are Dangerous Space Trash, but They Could Be the Future of Living and Working in Orbit]( “It’s remarkable how little we still know about manufacturing in space after 70 years.” BY DANIEL OBERHAUS [Fiercely Independent] Support from readers allows Mother Jones to do journalism that doesn't just follow the pack. [Donate]( [Recharge] SOME GOOD NEWS, FOR ONCE [Help for Musicians and Other Post-Thanksgiving Leftover Hope]( The devastating toll of the pandemic on gigging musicians continues to upend artistic communities, but relief efforts are also growing. I got an encouraging email from the jazz drummer and singer Rie Yamaguchi-Borden. The nonprofit she started, [Gotham Yardbird Sanctuary](, with her husband, Mitch Borden (founder of the legendary jazz clubs Smalls and Fat Cat), helps musicians hardest hit by the coronavirus. “Even COVID-19 hasn’t completely broken our hearts,” she [said](. “As long as we are alive, we will never stop thinking about playing.” The group provides paid gigs with physical distancing in place throughout New York. More than 60 percent of musicians [surveyed]( by the Jazz Journalists Association said their income this year is less than half of last year’s. More than 70 percent said they have [no]( live gigs lined up for next year. Relief groups like GYS and the Jazz Foundation of America are meeting the moment with fundraisers and livestreams. GYS’s [first monthlong series]( starts Tuesday and continues every Saturday from 6 to 9 p.m. ET. More Recharges to enter the week: Fowl headlines: “Lame Duck Pardons Turkey,” [tweeted]( Washington Post editor Marc Fisher. Take two: “Lame Duck Pardons Turkey.” Thanks [Guardian](. Take three: “Lame-Duck President Pardons Turkey.” Thanks [Reuters](. Climate win: Goldman Environmental Prize winners are being celebrated today in a virtual ceremony hosted by Sigourney Weaver, with appearances by Jack Johnson, Robert Redford, Danni Washington, and Lenny Kravitz. Winners include the [innovative activists]( Chibeze Ezekiel of Ghana, Kristal Ambrose of the Bahamas, Leydy Pech of Mexico, Lucie Pinson of France, Nemonte Nenquimo of Ecuador, and Paul Sein Twa of Myanmar. Season of firsts: The American Ballet Theater welcomes Calvin Royal III as its first Black male principal in more than two decades. “Whether I was being featured or not over the years, I pushed myself and strived to be the best version of myself on stage and off,” he [said](, “so to finally make it to principal with ABT, it was a dream come true.” Hat tip to Venu Gupta for the story, and if you haven’t yet, check out our colleague Cathy Asmus’ insightful [take]( on how dance studios are adapting to the pandemic. —Daniel King Did you enjoy this newsletter? Help us out by [forwarding]( it to a friend or sharing it on [Facebook]( and [Twitter](. [Mother Jones]( [Donate]( [Subscribe]( This message was sent to {EMAIL}. To change the messages you receive from us, you can [edit your email preferences]( or [unsubscribe from all mailings.]( For advertising opportunities see our online [media kit.]( Were you forwarded this email? 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