Crash Course Weekend: GOP bans on mask mandates face headwinds

[View this email in your browser]( Your daily update from [Salon](. Written by [Brett Bachman](. Bans on mask mandates face headwinds GOP governors in several states with spiking caseloads have made preventing any sort of wide-scale public health precaution their first priority — Florida's Ron DeSantis, of course, being the most prominent example of this thinking. But in Arkansas this week, a judge [temporarily blocked the state from enforcing]( its recently passed ban on school mask mandates — and just as surprising, the state's Republican governor, Asa Hutchinson, promptly reversed course and called for legislators to strike down the ban after promoting the measure for months. "I signed it for those reasons that our cases were at a low point," he told reporters. "Everything has changed now. And yes, in hindsight I wish that had not become law," he said at a news conference." He even added that many Arkansas lawmakers have adopted a "casual if not cavalier attitude toward this public health emergency." Even if lawmakers don't decide to reverse the ban amid a spike in cases, two lawsuits against the ban were filed recently — including one filed by an east Arkansas school district that was forced to quarantine more than 900 of its students due to a COVID outbreak. In Florida, another ban spearheaded by DeSantis is [facing similar headwinds](. He issued an executive order last week to prevent public school mask mandates, despite a record number of cases, but faces a lawsuit over the order as well. Elvin Dowling, who filed the suit, is arguing that Florida's Constitution ensures "adequate provision shall be made by law for a uniform, efficient, safe, secure, and high quality system of free public schools" – and that his children will be demonstrably unsafe in the absence of a mask mandate. It's unclear if the case will be resolved before students return to school. How celebs who can't cook seized food TV We've come a long way from watching Jacques Pépin expertly flipping an omelet. Now, fans of food programming are treated to content like Ludacris struggling to open an aluminum can, or Selena Gomez setting a kitchen fire. Netflix's new jaunt into the genre is "Cooking with Paris," which feels more like a satire than a straightforward how-to show, [Salon's Ashlie Stevens writes](. With guests like the also-endearingly inept Kim Kardashian, the entry into food TV canon feels like "a vanity project that seems more meant to sell a collection of cooking gloves than to demonstrate skill," which leaves one wondering how it is that we even got here in the first place. Call it an extension of the "death of expertise" phenomenon seen everywhere from politics to science, though ultimately it's hard to see this as anything but an inevitable byproduct of an industry coming to maturity. "It's natural that as a genre continues to develop, a spectrum begins to develop. The Olympics airs alongside "Wipeout." You've got prestige dramas and "F-boy Island." And "Chef's Table" is available on the same streaming service as "Cooking with Paris." After all, everyone can cook." (Photo via Kit Karzen/Netflix) - How did QAnon [convince a Parkland shooting survivor's father]( that the tragedy was a hoax? - Are "love languages" [real, or self-help snake oil]( - DHS is warning state and local law enforcement of [increasing threats of violence from Trump-related election conspiracies](. - "Ted Lasso" creators Jason Sudeikis and Brendan Hunt [talk with Salon about how America sees itself]( the truth other nations see in us. - N.C. GOP candidates [struggle to out-Trump each other]( — but who will be the Biggest Loser? - "Val" captures [the bittersweet paradox of Kilmer's life and art]( which were both hamstrung by his own intensity. - Trump [praised Hitler’s "economic miracle"]( — why that's even worse than it sounds. - The US Army tried portable nuclear power at remote bases 60 years ago – [it didn’t go well](. - Trump's [Scottish golf courses may soon be at center]( of their own "McMafia Law" investigation - The Paloma is [the perfect, simple summer cocktail]( — and you can make one with as few as two ingredients - Danny Trejo [reflects on life, prison and Hollywood in an exclusive interview]( "Movie stars are d**ks, OK? They suck" - Meet [the "scholar-activists" fighting Big Ag]( - Louis DeJoy [has ties to a company that was just awarded]( a $120M USPS contract. One Congressman called it a "masterclass in cronyism." - Newsmax [dispatched a reporter to heckle Fox News]( not airing Mike Lindell's wild "cyber symposium" ad - America talks big about "human rights," but [we should be ashamed of that hypocrisy]( Salon contributor Elayne Clift writes. - Ben Shapiro [had a rough night]( on Bill Maher's "Real Time" - And, finally, do you want creamier scrambled eggs? [Salon's guide to the best dairy products to add]( for texture and flavor Not a subscriber yet? [Sign up]( to receive Crash Course. Republicans, facing blame for latest COVID surge, dial up the racism America's latest COVID-19 surge is, as President Joe Biden keeps pointing out, a "pandemic of the unvaccinated." And as it's become increasingly clear in recent days, the unvaccinated are, by and large, supporters of former President Donald Trump holding out for political reasons. Polling shows Americans recognize this basic reality, and blame Republicans rather than the current administration for the current surge. Naturally, those in right-wing circles have begun to panic. "Rather than blame the obvious culprits for the pandemic — Fox News-addled anti-vaxxers — Republicans are increasingly accusing immigrants at the Southern border of bringing in COVID-19, and Biden of supposedly letting them in," [Salon's Amanda Marcotte writes](. "After Biden rightfully called out Florida's Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, for his part in letting COVID-19 run rampant, DeSantis pitifully tried to hit back by claiming Biden 'imported more virus from around the world by having a wide-open southern border.' "Other Republican politicians have been echoing this "blame Mexico" talking point, from Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas accusing the Biden administration of allowing a "super spreader event because their open border" to Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds arguing that "the problem is the southern border is open." Fox News, perhaps unsurprisingly, is getting on board with the message as well, saying that Democrats are too "woke" to deal with the plague-ridden foreigners. "Will this new "blame immigrants, not the unvaccinated" narrative work? It will, in the same way the "blame China" gambit worked: To give Fox News viewers a talking point to scream at relatives who express concerns about their unvaccinated status and give Republican politicians a way to make noise while running away from their own responsibility for this crisis," [Marcotte adds](. "What it won't do is cause the COVID-19 surge to end any time soon." (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images) - "[The Pickup Artist Rape Ring]( The Daily Beast - "[Why more Americans aren't happy for Gregg Popovich]( The Atlantic - "[Cindy Adams, Gossip’s G.O.A.T.]( The New York Times - "[Will Puma Finally Break Through in Professional Running]( Outside Magazine - "[Bo Burnham And The Online Condition]( Galaxy Brain Substack newsletter Tucker Carlson: Immigrants are "filth" During [a particularly unhinged segment]( advocating for stronger immigration laws Friday, Fox News host Tucker Carlson referred to immigrants as "chaos and filth and crime growing all around us." Carlson is — [as we covered earlier this week]( — on a tour of Hungary to see what lessons Fox viewers can learn from his favorite autocrat, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. He started [Friday's diatribe]( with a reference to a recent news report out of Minnesota, in which an undocumented immigrant from Cuba, 42-year-old Alexis Saborit, allegedly beheaded a woman in broad daylight. "It didn't need to happen," Carlson says, and only did because "authorities refused to deport him." "He had rights," the Fox host added with a sneer. "The Biden administration did this on purpose, and they're still doing it," he said. "And that is exactly why Democrats become hysterical when you mention the obvious successes that are on display here in Hungary on the immigration question. They don't want you to know that there is an option to the chaos and filth and crime growing all around us." (Photo via Getty Images) Have a tip for Salon? Feedback on this newsletter? [Let us know](mailto:brett.bachman@salon.com). [Share]( [Share]( [Tweet]( [Tweet]( [Forward]( [Forward]( Copyright © 2021 Salon.com, LLC, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in at Salon.com Our mailing address is: Salon.com, LLC 1000 N. West StreetWilmington, DE 19801 [Add us to your address book]( Want to change how you receive these emails? 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