Back to school this year means worry, uncertainty for parents

[View this email in your browser]( Your daily update from [Salon](. This is not the happy back-to-school time parents hoped for Back-to-school [isn’t as worry-free as many parents were hoping]( for this year. Children under 12 won’t be eligible for a vaccine until fall or later, and that reality, coupled with rising COVID-19 cases due to the more contagious delta variant, is leaving many parents confused, scared and anxious about a school year that was supposed to be a little more “normal.” “I was ready at the end of spring,” Amanda Herman, who homeschooled her children last year, told Salon. “I was like, OK, this is great and we're good.” At that time, vaccines were becoming increasingly available. COVID-19 cases appeared to be on a steady decline. There was even a small glimmer of hope that all kids would maybe return to school vaccinated. Scientific analysis of rare COVID-19 outbreaks in school settings showed that prevention strategies like masking and social distancing worked and provided children with safe places for in-school learning even if vaccines weren’t available. But that time of hope and optimism has been replaced with all too familiar feelings of anxiety, fear and uncertainty. And it’s not just the delta variant parents are worried about. Herman, and other parents Salon spoke to, are worried about whether mask mandates will be implemented and enforced, whether their school districts will strictly follow CDC guidelines or not, and more. “There's people coming to our board school board meeting, saying that they don't want the kids wearing masks, and protests at the local high school,” Herman said. “A whole group of people online saying that they're just going to send their kids without masks and say that they don't have to wear them.” One of Herman’s children has asthma. “It’s scary,” she said. [Read more about the stress and anxiety]( many parents of children under 12 are feeling right now. Live from Sioux Falls, it's Lindell-palooza Salon reporter Zachary Petrizzo is on the scene in Sioux Falls, S.D., this week reporting from Mike "MyPillow Guy" Lindell's conspiracy-laced three-day "cyber-symposium," an event dedicated to "proving" that the presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump. (It wasn't.) Zach describes the first full day as "a rocky start" — no evidence of voter fraud was presented, only color-coded maps studded with seemingly random numbers and some vague accusations that Lindell TV had been "hacked," whatever that means. When Zach asked Brannon Howse, the co-host and producer at Lindell TV who appears to have produced or directed most of Lindell's videos, if he thought Day One was a "win" for Lindell, Howse paused and said, "It's a three-day event," before being whisked away. [Read his report]( of Day One. [Zach is also live-tweeting the event]( so you can follow along at home. - A tale of two bully governors: Chris Christie got away with it; [Andrew Cuomo didn't]( - Sending B-52s to [bomb Afghan cities]( is pointless and brutal. Biden must end this - What is "malignant normality" and [how does it define our era]( - After banning mask mandates, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott [faces a hospital bed shortage]( for COVID patients - Late-night vote-a-rama results: [Senate Dems distance themselves]( from "defund the police" - Now "Jeopardy!" [has two hosts]( - TV critic Melanie McFarland says Marvel's "What If ...?" is a "[thrilling ride into the multiverse]( - To some, turmeric is a buzzy New Age ingredient. [To this writer]( it represents medicine, faith and home - Donald Trump was "[doing his best Mussolini impression]( after his COVID diagnosis, according to his niece Mary - The Dixie Fire is [moving too fast]( for California’s emergency alert systems - [Physicians are calling for a safer biopsy]( to diagnose prostate cancer - And here's [the absolute best way to make jam]( according to experts Not a subscriber yet? [Sign up]( to receive Crash Course. Trump blew his chance to steal the election for the most predictable reason ever What was he doing instead, [our columnist Lucian K. Truscott IV writes]( Tweeting, naturally. "Trump's problem, to put it frankly, was that he didn't start committing crimes early enough," Lucian writes. "The crimes he committed in December and January were largely impulsive, not carefully planned or focused. He exploded with tweets and phone calls and meetings and rallies." "Between the early hours of Nov. 4, when Trump first realized he had lost the election, and Jan. 6, when the assault on the Capitol dominated every news cycle until the inauguration (and beyond), Trump was all over the place in his attempts to overturn the election. He was consumed with the lawsuits being filed around the country on his behalf — but was losing them, one after another. He was obsessed with following conspiracy theories about Biden ballots being carried by Special Forces soldiers from Germany and stuffed into ballot boxes in battleground states, about mysterious computers and satellites controlled by Italy switching Biden votes for Trump votes in battleground states, and multiple other outlandish conspiracies." [Keep reading](. (Photo by Getty Images) Why the GOP caved on infrastructure Early Wednesday, with "surprising haste," Salon senior politics writer Amanda Marcotte writes, the Senate's Democratic majority passed a $3.5 trillion blueprint for a budget reconciliation bill led by Bernie Sanders that addresses many Democratic priorities, from universal pre-K to fighting climate change. This vote came on the heels of the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill that passed on Tuesday. Sanders called it "the most consequential piece of legislation for working people, the elderly, the children, the sick and the poor since FDR and the New Deal of the 1930s." It's a big political win for Biden, Amanda notes, packed full of benefits to the middle class as well as the working class. And Republicans are being surprisingly chill about that. "In the past, the GOP would be whipping their base into a Tea Party-style frenzy with lurid misrepresentations about what is actually in the bill in hopes of either tanking it altogether or, at least, creating a massive backlash that would boost the GOP in the midterms," Amanda writes. "But right now, they're relatively calm — indeed, eerily so." But despite the temporary reprieve, it's not actually good news — it's a warning sign for how Republicans plan on approaching elections going forward. [Keep reading](. And if you want to keep up with Amanda Marcotte's political analysis, [subscribe to her twice-weekly newsletter Standing Room Only](. (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images) - "[Why Conservatives Around the World Have Embraced Hungary’s Viktor Orbán]( The New Yorker - "[How Do You Make a Movie About Hitler in 2021?]( Vulture - "[For the People Act Would Slow the Revolving Door]( Sludge - "[Get To Know Delgres, The French Band Named After An Anti-Slavery Freedom Fighter]( NPR - "‘[He made me hate soccer’: Players say they left NWSL’s Spirit over coach’s verbal abuse]( The Washington Post Ted Cruz blocks dozens of State Department nominees, right before the Senate summer recess President Biden has nominated 405 people for Senate-approved positions across the government, and as of Wednesday morning, over half of them remain in confirmation limbo. And [Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is maintaining a "death grip" on the process]( blocking dozens of State Department nominees right before the Senate broke for summer recess. The now weeks-long process reached a fever pitch early Wednesday morning during the all-night session, when Cruz effectively shot down confirmation of every nominee. Cruz has repeatedly said that his position is an act of protest against Biden's May decision to suspend congressionally mandated sanctions on the construction of Russia's Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline. Biden has said that he waived sanctions because the pipeline was nearly complete anyway. The administration has been internally pushing for Cruz to back down, arguing that his intransigence is weakening U.S. interests throughout the world. 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. 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