Crash Course: Mary Trump's quest to heal America

[View this email in your browser]( Your daily update from [Salon](. Written by [Brett Bachman](. Mary Trump's quest to heal America It's been a rough few years for America. Looking back now, it would be hard to argue that all of us, regardless of our political affiliation, did not suffer some type of trauma during the Trump years. Enter Mary Trump. She is, of course, the outspoken niece of the man who caused that pain, in one way or another. But she's also a psychologist who has been studying collective trauma and just wrote a book trying to tackle one of the biggest existential questions facing the country: how do we come together again? Mary Trump [joined Salon's Dean Obeidallah for a wide-ranging episode of Salon Talks]( taking on the impacts of her uncle's four years in office — and the reasons why we can't just ignore him now that he's gone. "We ignore him at our peril, because Republicans are keeping him relevant, and Republicans are keeping him empowered," she told Obeidallah. "Who knows what's going on behind the scenes. I wish I never had to speak his name or thing about him ever again, that would be healing. It's tricky because we're all so exhausted and demoralized, but things are only going to get worse if we do look away." You can [watch the whole interview here](. Big money behind the "Unbreakable Nine" The U.S. House of Representatives passed a $3.5 trillion budget framework Tuesday — but not before a group of nine centrist Democrats tried to stall the vote in an apparent effort to scuttle the entire package. The group eventually relented after a procedural compromise with Speaker Nancy Pelosi, though it was a surprising turn of events that sets up a potential floor fight in the weeks to come. With the episode behind us, [Salon's Igor Derysh began looking into an important question]( Who are the players behind the scenes funding and advising this motley crew, which has taken to calling itself the "Unbreakable Nine"? Soon after the group came out with an op-ed in the Orlando Sentinel calling Pelosi's strategy "bad politics," Derysh found that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, one of the biggest pro-business dark money groups in Washington, began running ads praising the group for their stance. The centrist group No Labels, which funnels big donor money to conservative Democrats and moderate Republicans, also launched a six-figure ad campaign describing the centrist group as "real-life heroes." And it wouldn't be a moderate party in Washington without appearances from Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, who are reportedly advising the group. Last week Pelosi dismissed the centrist effort as "amateur hour" — a sentiment apparently shared by dozens of other Democrats who attended a private meeting on Monday to vent about their colleagues. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., warned publicly that if Democrats don't work together they will face "mutually assured destruction." One member was even caught off-mic calling the splinter group "fucking assholes." (Photo via No Labels/Screenshot) - "Republicans are putting[their anti-democratic plan to the test]( during California's gubernatorial recall. Will it work? - New York's new governor [reveals 12,000 nursing home coronavirus deaths were hidden]( by Cuomo - The late Jessica Walter [recorded one final season of "Archer"]( — one that proves in every moment why she's irreplaceable - Unvaccinated pregnant women [face a high risk of severe COVID-19]( - It's [time to give peas a chance to own the vegetable spotlight]( Salon contributor Maggie Hennessy writes - “Put the fangs back in feminism”: [Author Rafia Zakaria on how feminism loses relevance]( to whiteness - Candace Owens [slapped with $20 million defamation lawsuit]( - Spike Lee [scrambles to reedit 9/11 documentary]( after backlash for featuring conspiracy theories - Judge [sanctions "Kraken" lawyers Lin Wood and Sidney Powell]( opens door for disbarment - The National Rifle Association [canceled its annual meeting]( citing concerns over COVID-19 infections in Texas - Naked baby from Nirvana’s “Nevermind” album cover [sues over "child pornography" claims]( - And, finally, [see why salted butter gets a bad rap]( by making this delicious pretzel shortbread Not a subscriber yet? [Sign up]( to receive Crash Course. So much for "balls and strikes" Progressives weren't exactly thrilled with Donald Trump's nominations for the Supreme Court, to put it lightly. Many envisioned a number of worst case scenarios that they believed were inevitable: Republicans able to undermine democracy with impunity and the rise of a Christian nationalist theocracy sanctioned by an unaccountable court system, for starters. "But it is a truism in mainstream media that progressives are always "overreacting," [Salon's Amanda Marcotte writes](. "So all it took was the Roberts court issuing a couple of early summer moderate decisions — the biggest saving the Affordable Care Act — and voila! The Beltway media went full bore scolding the left for supposedly overreacting to the Trumpist court." If only those same writers had waited just a few months before issuing their paeans to the high court's independence. "Now, the heat is off, and it appears the Republican majority on the Supreme Court feels free to do exactly what they were appointed to do: Impose their far-right ideology on an unwilling public and trample all good-faith legal reasoning and precedent to do so." This began with a shockingly incoherent decision this week to uphold a lower court ruling that the Biden Administration must keep Trump's "remain in Mexico" refugee policy — which will impose both needless suffering on refugees and an incredible administrative burden on Biden, who must now convince Mexico to reinstate the policy despite his repeated promises to rescind it. "It is hard to even measure how radical this decision is," Marcotte writes, adding that it's a sign of how the "Court feels free to stomp all over legal norms and basic rationality in order to impose a right-wing agenda." There are many more arguments for pessimism as it relates to future Supreme Court decisions — but for now, we'll just mark this down as a win for the skeptics, who appear to be correct once again. (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images) - "[Texas Tip Line for Reports of ‘Illegal’ Abortions Flooded With Shrek Porn, Other Memes]( The Mary Sue - "[The online Afghanistan frenzy]( FWIW Substack newsletter - "[Facebook sent a ton of traffic to a Chicago Tribune story. So why is everyone mad at them?]( Nieman Lab - "[I Drove 8 Hours to (Maybe) Get My Baby the COVID Vaccine]( New York Magazine - "[Inside the Plan to Make Jeff Bezos’s Washington Post the Everything Newspaper]( The Washingtonian War of words in Trumpworld Gettr, former Trump spokesman Jason Miller's furry porn and ISIS propaganda-filled right-wing social media site, ["inadvertently" banned legendary GOP operative Roger Stone]( Tuesday. "Multiple fake Roger Stone accounts were suspended following user complaints, but his real Gettr account was inadvertently suspended too," Miller told Salon via email. "His correct account is currently active, and the imposter accounts have all been removed." But that explanation didn't exactly satisfy Stone, who has recently been in a turf battle with both Miller and Steve Bannon. He claimed the ban amounted to "censorship" — that most serious of accusations in right-wing circles. "If you were under the illusion that the new social media website Gettr set up by Mueller informant Steve Bannon and his criminal confederate Jason Miller does not engage in censorship, perhaps you can explain why they just suspended my account," he said. "Bannon is a criminal who's indictment for stealing money will be renewed shortly in New York State. I hear the New York state prisons are particularly rough." "Once Bannon is in prison, Miller won't last week on the street," he added. 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? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](. [Mailchimp Email Marketing](