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**SEPTEMBER 23, 2020**

Kuttner on TAP

Staying Sane Amid the Daily Dope Stories

****

In the media biz, the game is to come up with a new morning line. So if
you have been reading the usual papers, social media commentary, and
following NPR, CNN, MSNBC et al., you are probably close to nervous
prostration.

One day, Trump is crashing and Biden is pulling away! The next day,
Biden is weak on the campaign trail, and Trump is resurging.

The day after, Biden is strong in the suburbs. Or maybe he isn't. Then
comes the Supreme Court fight, which could galvanize the Democratic
base. Or perhaps it could energize Trump supporters.

Plus the new daily revelations on the Russian trolls, the postal-ballot
mess, the voter suppression. But if Biden is far enough ahead, it
doesn't matter. Then again, maybe he's not far enough ahead.

And so on. For the next six weeks.

Arggh!

We all need to organize and mobilize to vote, of course. But that's
not the same as media addiction.

My advice is to obsess a lot less on the daily political tick-tock.
It's all ephemeral. Turn it off. Catch up on old movies while you are
sheltering in place. Read some good novels or better yet some poetry.

I have to do this for a living, and even I have had my fill. I'm
reading Zach Carter's fine book on Keynes, and rereading

**Ulysses**, which I last read in college.

I especially recommend the poems of Mary Oliver. Tell me, what is it you
plan to do with your one wild and precious life?

~ ROBERT KUTTNER

Follow Robert Kuttner on Twitter

Robert Kuttner's latest book is
The Stakes: 2020 and the Survival of American Democracy
.

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Liberalish: The Complex Odyssey of Lael Brainard

Biden's leading choice for Treasury secretary is somewhat more liberal
than she used to be. Is that enough? BY ROBERT KUTTNER

How to Rebalance the Supreme Court

Combine an immediate expansion with a proposal for a constitutional
amendment. BY PAUL STARR

It's Time to Take the Wraps off Medicaid

The program, expanded under the Affordable Care Act, has been a lifeline
during the pandemic, and could reach even more families with minimal
government effort. BY ANDREW SPRUNG

Countries Are Using COVID to Ignore the Climate Crisis

The need for economic recovery is being used to bail out the fossil fuel
industry in countries around the world. BY BRITTANY GIBSON

Unsanitized: The Fall Surge in Cases Has Arrived, But Not Deaths

Plus, Democrats get a small request on government funding. This is The
COVID-19 Daily Report for September 23, 2020. BY DAVID DAYEN

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