Rantt Rundown: Shutdown To Be Measured in Months
Plus, Kamala’s in, Google got fined, an attack in Afghanistan, and protests in Zimbabwe.
- Primary 2020 update: Kamala Harris is officially in! The Senator and former California Attorney General announced yesterday. And 24 hours later, the MSM reopened their old biases against women politicians.
After the alt-right reopened another bout of birtherism against Harris, media outlets, with Chris Cuomo at the helm, fanned the flames and gave the story coverage. Harris will face many challenges in a crowded primary field. Media bias shouldn’t be one of them. - Day 33 of the shutdown and there is no resolution in sight. The Senate did agree to hold votes on two bills, one including Donald Trump’s spending bill and one to temporarily reopen the government until February 8th. This wouldn’t likely result in any resolution, as neither bill would garner 60 votes in the Senate, let alone a signature from the White House.
(Don’t tell the New York Times that though. They’ve already decided this is in the bag.)
While most people blame Trump for the shutdown, this number may change with the shutdown going on for so long. Senators from both parties are therefore looking to stave off blame and vote on their steadfast positions. We’re still a long way off from a functioning government. - At least 43 people were killed and 54 injured in an attack on an Afghani intelligence base by the Taliban. Casualties may be as high as 100. The deadly attack comes during ongoing negotiations between the Taliban and the US to end the war in Afghanistan and may have been done to extract concessions. 18 years of war seem more and more to have been in vain.
- Google has been fined 50 million euro ($44 million) for a lack of transparency over how it collects users’ data and personalizes ads. The fine can be easily stomached by the internet giant. What isn’t as digestible is the continued tightening of regulations on tech corporations by European authorities. Just as well for consumers, however; if the US won’t step up to corporations, someone has to.
- At least a dozen protesters have been killed by security forces in Zimbabwe, according to human rights organizations. The government implemented a complete clampdown, including an internet blackout, in order to quell the protests over rising prices. President Emmerson Mnangagwa promised an investigation. The economy is in freefall after years of mismanagement under Mnangagwa’s dictator predecessor, Robert Mugabe. Zimbabweans would be forgiven if they don’t see much difference with the change in leadership.
