Crash Course: Biden ushers in a new era

[View this email in your browser]( Your daily update from [Salon](. Written by [Brett Bachman](. Biden ushers in new era of American history There was a line buried deep in President Joe Biden's Tuesday speech on America's withdrawal from Afghanistan, one of those uncanny truth-telling moments that Washington power brokers rarely indulge in: "This decision about Afghanistan is not just about Afghanistan. It's about ending an era of major military operations to remake other countries," Biden said. For his inaugural column here at Salon, [longtime White House reporter Brian Karem focused his attention]( on this sentiment, which seemed to underscore so many of Biden's public statements over the past few weeks. "All of our investment in military hardware, our 800 bases across the globe and our massive military budget cannot stop a determined lone suicide bomber anywhere," Karem writes. "We have to attack the root causes of the despair that leads a person to strap a bomb on themselves and commit suicide and mass murder. For that, you need hope for a future for yourself and your family — and nothing is more enticing than the hope this country can deliver of a life worth living." Biden is, of course, still seeking to remake the world in America's image — but not through the uncompromising military might of the past. Instead, he's talking of looking inward and using those resources to bolster the American economy and rebuild its infrastructure, all of which he sees as ultimately part of the same project. It's not exactly a novel concept, even if it does seem like a sea change from the past few decades of U.S. domestic and foreign policy. "If Biden has looked down the road for a real solution to the problem, then history may well judge Tuesday's speech as a turning point in history — when the world's most powerful nation appealed to its better angels in an attempt to make life better for the downtrodden, instead of reflexively reaching for a gun." After all, it seems we've thoroughly proven our ability to blow things up. Now, it's time to prove we can build something. The little wildfires that could Two of California's wildfires just did something that no blaze before them had ever accomplished: [they jumped the Sierra Nevada mountains.]( Snowpack on the peaks of these mountains has stopped — or at least significantly slowed — past wildfires, preventing them from making the jump. This year, however, there hasn't been enough moisture up there to extinguish a pair of wildfires: the Caldor Fire and the Dixie fire. "Two times in our history and they're both happening this month," Thom Porter, chief of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, told the Los Angeles Times this week. "So we need to be really cognizant that there is fire activity happening in California that we have never seen before." If bad news fueled by the world's changing climate seems like it's been reaching a fever pitch of late, well, that's because it is. But don't take our word for it — fire officials in California are saying it's time to update our vocabulary for what is sure to become a new normal. "Historically, we've used terms such as 'anomaly,' 'unprecedented' or 'extreme' to describe the wildfires that we have seen burn throughout the state over the past 10 to 20 years," said Cal Fire spokesman Chris Anthony. "These terms are no longer appropriate given the clear trends associated with drought, changing climate and un-resilient forest stands. Unfortunately, these factors contribute to the resistance to control that we are seeing with the Caldor fire." (Photo via Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) - Wondering what to do in the wake of Texas' surprise abortion ruling? [Here are the best ways to help]( - No, we're not living "The Handmaid's Tale" – [it's worse, and a show highlighting how was passed over]( Salon TV critic Melanie McFarland writes - Was a corporate lobbying blitz [behind Sen. Joe Manchin's infrastructure op-ed]( - "Self-owen": Candace Owens [mocked after she was denied COVID test]( for spreading misinformation - "Somebody's got to wear the leather pants": [Rick James doc filmmaker talks with Salon]( about the infamous rock star - Inside [Hurricane Ida and the coming eviction crisis]( - Matt Gaetz claimed to be victim of "extortion" plot — but [new DOJ charges tell a different story]( - And, finally, [this Mediterranean potato salad]( is all you need for dinner Not a subscriber yet? [Sign up]( to receive Crash Course. Are women people? In Texas, it's no longer clear The religious right is ascendent in Texas, which became the poster child for the movement's anti-abortion policies Wednesday after the Supreme Court let stand a near-total ban in the state. [But the law is about more than abortion, Salon's Amanda Marcotte writes]( — it's about control over women. "This is about reducing these people to mere vessels, and rejecting the idea that they are autonomous human beings who have sovereignty over their bodies and their lives. On the contrary, having a uterus renders you as little more than human livestock in the eyes of conservatives. "We see this attitude in the enforcement mechanism of the law. "The law allows any person – even a complete stranger to the person getting an abortion — to sue an abortion provider or any other person who helps with the abortion. The right to control a pregnant person's body, in this Texas law, belongs quite literally to anyone but the woman herself: Her father, her husband, her ex, her neighbor, some random misogynist who just wants to ruin a life because he spends too much time on incel forums. Just so long as it's not the person actually living in that body." Marcotte doesn't see much room for optimism, either. The court is set to consider a full ruling on whether Roe V. Wade still stands next summer, but until then it's off to the races for Republican legislatures who disproportionately control state governments across America. In fact, officials in Florida and South Dakota have already announced plans to introduce their own abortion bans modeled after Texas. More are sure to follow in the coming days. (Illustration by Salon/Getty Images/Panuwach) - "[Half Baked: How A Would-Be Cannabis Empire Went Up In Smoke]( Indianapolis Monthly - "[Two Frontline Workers on Day One of Texas’s New Abortion Ban]( The New Republic (Paywall) - "[The Reclusive Hedge-Fund Tycoon Behind the Trump Presidency]( The New Yorker (Paywall) - "[Margaritaville and the Myth of American Leisure]( Eater - "[When Doug and Ashley Benefield Started a Ballet Company, It Wasn’t Supposed to End in Death]( Vanity Fair Sen. Collins told us not to worry. How wrong she was Sen. Susan Collins isn't eating crow — at least not yet — over her support for Brett Kavanaugh's appointment to the Supreme Court. But [it sure looks like this week sure has left a funny taste in her mouth]( after years of insisting that Kavanaugh would never overturn Roe v. Wade. Collins called Texas' near-total abortion ban "extreme and harmful" following the Supreme Court's decision to let stand a state law which banned the procedure before many women even know they're pregnant — essentially nullifying the landmark 1973 ruling in America's second-largest state. Kavanaugh, of course, voted against taking up the law, effectively doing the thing Collins repeatedly assured her constituents he never would. "Retweet if you haven't forgotten that Senator Susan Collins insisted that Brett Kavanaugh would defend Roe v. Wade before she voted to confirm him to the Supreme Court — and even called those of us who criticized her for putting abortion rights at risk 'gullible' and 'naive,'" Left-wing media outlet Occupy Democrats wrote on Twitter. "Susan Collins was wrong about Kavanaugh and Gorsuch. She sold women out, and Maine voters should never forget that," George Takei, the actor and progressive activist, added. (Photo via Drew Angerer/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? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](. [Mailchimp Email Marketing](