Lauren Boebert doubles down on her anti-Muslim bigotry

[View in browser]( [Mother Jones Daily Newsletter]( November 30, 2021 I've been sitting here for half an hour, deciding what to write for today's newsletter. I could give you a rundown of [what we know about the Omicron variant]( (not much) or a prediction about how the Supreme Court's oral arguments on the [case that threatens to overturn Roe v. Wade]( will go tomorrow (no clue) or a rundown of the graphic details of Ghislaine Maxwell's [sex trafficking trial]( (oy). But what I really want to talk about is how a tiny Caribbean island nation finally [became a parliamentary republic]( yesterday, ditching Queen Elizabeth as head of state and immediately declaring Rihanna a national hero. Barbados gained independence from the United Kingdom 55 years ago, but it only recently severed its colonial ties and [elected its first president](. At the ceremony, Prince Charles apologized for the "appalling atrocity of slavery," and crowds celebrated with song and dance. We should all be so lucky as to call Ms. Fenty a national hero. —Abigail Weinberg P.S. There are so many worthy causes to support on #GivingTuesday, but if you regularly enjoy Mother Jones’ hard-hitting journalism—and this newsletter!—I hope you’ll consider [making a special donation today](. We deeply appreciate any gift, big or small. Advertisement [Columbia University Press]( [Top Story] [Top Story]( [Lauren Boebert Doubles Down on Her Anti-Muslim Bigotry]( "Cancel culture 101." BY NOAH Y. KIM [Trending] [Jack Dorsey tried to be cool, but the company he built is deeply conventional]( BY ALI BRELAND [I asked seven classics experts how to pronounce "omicron"]( BY JAMES WEST [Amazon workers will likely get another chance to unionize in Alabama]( BY ABIGAIL WEINBERG [Nurdles: The worst toxic waste you've probably never heard of]( BY KAREN MCVEIGH Advertisement [Columbia University Press]( [Special Feature] [Special Feature]( [How Dangerous Is Peter Thiel?]( In a recent speech, the tech billionaire gave us a frightening look at his worldview. BY DAVID CORN [Fiercely Independent] You read Mother Jones for unique journalism, and we love doing it for you. That's [the upshot]( of our fall fundraising drive, and we're hoping to raise $250,000 in a much shorter than normal three-week window, by November 5, so we can keep right on doing it. Please pitch in early to help us get there. [Donate]( [Recharge] SOME GOOD NEWS, FOR ONCE [How Biking Calms My Pandemic Angst]( Last February, in the grips of the pandemic before getting vaccinated, I took stock of my wellbeing, and things weren’t great. I felt depleted. I was slogging through that transitional “sandwich generation” space, which I’m smack in the middle of. Everyone, everything, seemed to signal rising levels of anxiety and stress. The January 6 insurrection, mass COVID death—a few within my own circle of family and friends—took their toll. I wasn’t exactly “bouncing back.” I was sleeping poorly and starting each day pissed, sad, or numb. I needed a reset. Gratitude—a healing practice I believe in (my mom calls it “prayer”)—wasn’t enough. I craved something proactive. I picked up a nerdy pandemic obsession—kelp harvesting—and buried myself in learning about seaweed’s rich history, feeling buoyed by its carbon-sequestering potential. I kept gravitating to the ocean and a salt marsh for long walks, searching for direction, and somewhere along the way, in my resetting of headspace, I decided I needed an ambitious, joyful goal. So I signed up for a [biking fundraiser]( to support climate advocacy and reset my outlook. I chose a group to support, [SeaTrees](, whose mission is to restore coastal ecosystems. And I convinced a girlfriend to join me. My friend is a school principal who knows that depression and anxiety among kids and teachers have spiked during the pandemic. She needed a recharge as well, so the two of us plunked down deposits and trained for the ride: four days and 273 miles along Maine’s coast. The fundraising was community-building, and I’m still volunteering, but biking a lot—committing to it—was the hard part. “Do just one thing”—the wise words of Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, a badass marine biologist and co-author of [All We Can Save](, a collection of musings by powerful women sharing stories and poems about how we can turn the tide on climate catastrophe. It’s as much a blueprint for change as a meditation on health and a racial justice primer that shows how much agency we all have when we lift each other up. My favorite observations about biking through the lens of Johnson’s insight: Syncing with the rhythms of nature After clocking almost 2,000 miles over seven months, I’m less inclined now to obsessively grab my phone, refresh my inbox, and scroll Twitter. Like the tides, our bodies have rhythms, so I pay closer attention to focusing my behavior for fewer interruptions. My bike paths reward me with a familiar flock of turkeys, “my dudes,” whom I’ve watched grow up into teenagers. I’ve seen their [caruncles]( up close, deer trails on steep hills, a reservoir dry up, trees discolor too early from drought. I’ve seen turkey vultures drying their wings at sunrise. A coyote sunbathing. A meadow where jackrabbits play. I wave to my favorite madrone tree every time I pass her by. Like a swimmer timing ocean waves, I choose my routes to take the headwinds so I can flip around with winds at my back. And when I misread nature, another lesson awaits. Take your time (if you can). The journey counts. Biking awakens my senses: the sun on my cheeks, fog wetting me down. I’ve gotten cold, overheated, dehydrated, tired, but each brings a reminder: take time to feel, smell, and taste it all, and develop a new skill, like leaning into the turns and looking ahead. I’m a lefty politically and handedly. Like most lefties, I tend to be more big-picture when it comes to problem-solving, but a few small modifications serve me well when biking—keeping my speed up, tucking into turns instead of hitting the brakes, with my body aligned to the road’s curves. Taking the turns, instead of being taken by them, is possible in areas of life beyond biking. Finding your edges Our esteemed colleague [Jamilah King](, upon leaving her MoJo family recently for exciting new challenges, gave us parting advice: Do something every now and then that scares you. For me, that’s hard to do. My reserves run low. So I’ve tried something similar: finding my edges. None of us know what we’re fully capable of until stepping into uncomfortable spaces, forced to rise to the occasion. The edges are usually farther out than we think. Sleeping and eating have never felt so good No joke: Bike a lot and your sleep will improve, and food is more delicious. Never has a PB&J felt more satisfying, squished up in my jersey pocket. By the time I pull it out midride, it looks like nothing much but it tastes like five Michelin stars. Boosting endorphins by resting up and exercising is a nontoxic, sustainable way to improve my mood and mental health, and biking makes me breathe hard and deeply. Hope follows healing, and I understand now why sunflowers bend toward the sun. I’m leaving this Recharge in my editor’s hands as I head out for a Climate Ride. I’m excited and a little scared—to ride and to write—in a way that’s as joyful as it is unsettling. I highly recommend choosing a personal recharge, just one that’s good for you and the planet. As Johnson suggests, “Do just one thing.” The momentum and connections can strengthen us all. —Teri Carhart is Mother Jones’ director of leadership gifts. She’s just finished her first Climate Ride, biking 273 miles in four days to raise funds and awareness for the climate crisis. Send a wave to recharge@motherjones.com. 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? [Sign up for Mother Jones' newsletters today.]( [www.MotherJones.com]( PO Box 8539, Big Sandy, TX 75755