Bye-owa

It takes a Herculean effort to make radio host Alex Jones look like the sane guy in the room, but rapper and supposed 2024 presidential candidate Kanye ‘Ye’ West managed to pull if off yesterday. Appearing on Jones’ show in a black hood, West claimed he “likes” Adolf Hitler and offered a full-throated defense of the dubious “value” that the German dictator who masterminded the Holocaust “brought to the table.” Like Donald Trump, West is a self-promoter who has made a habit of saying controversial or downright hateful things for attention. But while Trump’s motives—profit and ego—have always been abundantly clear, West’s are less so. Money? Maybe. Power? Probably. But one also gets the sense that, through some combination of narcissism and madness, he might be a true believer, which is particularly disturbing given his influence and the dangerous ideologies he is openly embracing. Fortunately, his influence waned a bit today, when he was suspended from Twitter for posting a swastika combined with a Jewish star. He had briefly been brought back to Twitter, along with a slew of other banned accounts, by the platform’s new head, Elon Musk. Musk is trying to do with Twitter what Republicans thought they could do with Trump: control him. West quickly showed why it won’t work. —Melissa Amour, Managing Editor

• President Biden signs legislation preventing freight rail strike —USA Today

• Biden, speaking with Macron, says he’s open to meeting with Putin —The New York Times

• Appeals court orders end to special master review process in Trump documents case —CBS News

• Kevin McCarthy says Republicans will investigate Jan. 6 committee’s work —The Washington Post

• November jobs report: Payrolls rise 263,000, unemployment rate holds at 3.7% —Yahoo! Finance

Big changes coming for 2024

Taking the lead from President Biden, who has called for greater diversity in the presidential primary process, a Democratic committee voted today to remove Iowa as the leadoff state on the presidential nominating calendar. It would be replaced with South Carolina beginning with the 2024 primary elections. Biden suggested South Carolina because it is more racially diverse than Iowa, and would thus ensure that voters of color aren’t marginalized as Democrats choose a presidential nominee. The president also advised Democrats to scrap “restrictive” caucuses like Iowa’s altogether, as they require in-person participation that can sometimes exclude working-class and other voters. —Associated Press

• Not everyone is happy about it. Iowa Republicans are blasting the Democratic Party for the decision. Sen. Chuck Grassley released a statement saying, “I believe the Democratic National Committee is on its way to making a grave mistake to upend our democratic nominating process. Coastal elites and party bosses put their thumb on the electoral scale to drown out the voices and values of Middle America to advance their woke agenda.” —KIMT

• New Hampshire gets stepped over. Since Iowa has a caucus, New Hampshire has had the distinction of hosting the country’s first primary in the presidential nominating process for more than a century. The Granite State would also lose “first-in-the-nation” status with the change, slipping to the second primary behind South Carolina. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen said, “It’s tremendously disappointing that the president failed to understand the unique role that New Hampshire plays in our candidate selection process as the first primary state.” —The Conway Daily Sun

• "South Carolina was the first opportunity for Black voters who are really the backbone of the Democratic Party to have a meaningful say," Tom Perez, a former DNC chair, said. "So I think one thing that needs to happen is we shouldn't be waiting for until the fourth primary or caucus to have Black voters have their opportunity to be heard." With ratification by the full DNC, Nevada, Georgia, and Michigan would round out the first five nominating states. —NPR

MORE: Michigan poised to dominate presidential politics —Axios

Kibler: I’m suing NJ because I shouldn’t have to be a Democrat or Republican

“While my sense of civic duty keeps me from sitting out an election, I know that others feel differently and are pushed out of the political process altogether by a system that forces them into one of two boxes. It is wrong to force people to associate with a major party in order to cast a meaningful vote. With more perspectives reflected on the ballot, fusion voting can keep more voters engaged and committed to representative government as the means of resolving our many differences.” —William Kibler on NJ.com

William Kibler is an appellant in a pending lawsuit to legalize fusion voting in New Jersey. He is an Army veteran, environmental lawyer, and clean water advocate.

MORE: Push for fusion voting in New Jersey didn't end with Rep. Tom Malinowski's loss —New Jersey Monitor

Arizona follow-up

On Tuesday, we told you about Cochise County, Arizona, where the board of supervisors was blocking the certification of election results, in defiance of a state deadline. The two Republicans on the county's three-member board had resisted the certification because they said they wanted to hear more evidence from those who’ve argued, without evidence, that the county’s voting machines were not properly certified. The state disputed that claim and filed suit. At a hearing yesterday, a superior court judge ruled that the supervisors did not have the right to block certification. Soon after the court hearing, the board approved the election results. Crisis, for now, averted. —Reuters

MORE: Cartwright will withdraw election certification lawsuit —The Citizens’ Voice

Dalmia: What holds the new right together?

“Its unifying force is not the leftist enemy abroad, but the leftist enemy within. And it doesn’t just fear this enemy, it hates it. Indeed, the new right’s dislike of the domestic left is so great that it is rethinking America’s historic foreign policy commitments in light of it. If you have been puzzled by the post-Trump right’s love fest with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin despite his invasion of the liberal democratic and pro-West Ukraine, it is because Putin has declared himself the enemy of the woke left that he claims is destroying Western civilization of which he is now the self-avowed champion.” —Shikha Dalmia in The UnPopulist

Shikha Dalmia is the editor of The UnPopulist and a visiting fellow at Mercatus Center's Program on Pluralism and Civil Exchange at George Mason University.

MORE: On his way out the door, Congressman Fred Upton is ‘very troubled’ about state of GOP —MLive.com

Focus on the Jan. 6 investigation

The House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol met behind closed doors today to take up its remaining to-do list. Committee Chair Bennie Thompson hasn't ruled out a criminal referral for Donald Trump or others, including the House Republicans who defied subpoenas from the panel. Other options include a House Ethics Committee referral or civil actions against other witnesses who did not cooperate with the committee. In any case, the members better hurry. They have a hard deadline this month to issue a comprehensive report of the findings of their yearlong probe. The panel will sunset on Dec. 31, just before the GOP takes control of the House. —NPR

• DOJ forging ahead. Whatever happens with the House committee, the Department of Justice’s criminal investigation will soldier on. This week, Trump’s former top adviser, Stephen Miller, testified before a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., for several hours. Miller is the first known witness to testify before the DOJ-appointed special counsel, Jack Smith, who is overseeing investigations into the insurrection and classified documents Trump took to his Mar-a-Lago home. —The Daily Beast

• Solidarity with insurrectionists. Trump expressed support for the mob that attacked the Capitol in a video he sent to an event last night hosted by the Patriot Freedom Project, which assists families of those being prosecuted by the government. “People have been treated unconstitutionally, in my opinion, and very, very unfairly, and we’re going to get to the bottom of it,” he said. “It’s the weaponization of the Department of Justice, and we can’t let this happen in our country.” Trump has already indicated he would pardon the insurrectionists if he returns to the White House. —The Washington Post

• Seditious conspiracy. Trump’s comments came as Stewart Rhodes, leader of the far-right militia group the Oath Keepers, was convicted of seditious conspiracy. A jury found Rhodes guilty of seeking to keep Trump in power through a months-long plot to unleash political violence and prevent the inauguration of Joe Biden, culminating in the Jan. 6 attack. It’s the first time in more than two decades that the Justice Department has successfully used the criminal charge, which is notoriously difficult to prove. —Voice of America

MORE: Trump's legal woes just keep piling up —Politico

Groome: Upending the incentives for division 

“If we change the incentives of the media, we’ll also change the incentives of political parties and politicians. Show them by what we watch and consume (and what we reject), that what we really want are ideas and policies that move us forward and bring us together, not constant outrage and trolling that divides us and leaves us with no hope for a path forward. Of course, we can also send them the message most directly and powerfully in the voting booth.” —Peter Groome on Medium

Peter Groome co-founded the Serve America Movement and is the owner of WPZG Advisory.

MORE: Lynn Schmidt: 'Spirited' offers lessons on healing partisan divisions —The Fulcrum

As a lifelong moderate Republican, I share much of Evan McMullin’s ideas and think the Utah senatorial election result was, to a limited extent, positive. My brother lives in Salt Lake City and liked the idea of Evan running. I believe he and his wife voted for him. I must say that I am a Never, Ever, Trumper, even though I am still a conservative (primarily as regards the economy), old, retired codger who was and is a major fan of Reagan, Bush I, and particularly John McCain. That’s the party I belonged to and still believe in.

Reaching across the aisle, as Evan says, is the only way we can move together as a unified country. Just think of what could be accomplished if both parties worked together to help Americans, and the rest of the world, to overcome all the problems we are confronted with. Over the last few days, there have been small signs that show there is indeed the possibility of the two parties working together for the people of this country. But that is not enough—it’s a little start.

I’m afraid the ingrown enmity and distrust between Democrat and Republican is too deep to be resolved in the short or intermediate term and until Trump(ism) leaves the political scene. That’s why the duopoly has to end. It’s really painful to see, hear, and read about all the things that one party plans to do and enact when control of Congress changes. It’s simple payback time, and that’s the major front we see, instead of what is their plan to help the citizens of this country.

There is a very large group of “in the middle” voters who are essentially left out of the two exclusive political clubs, although one is certainly more exclusive than the other. I like the idea of a third national party and plan on helping out in the small ways I can—by talking with friends, relatives, and neighbors (although I live in a pretty MAGA hotbed at this time).

And, finally, I like the idea (if there is no viable Forward Party candidate) of backing candidates from the other two parties who fit the profile of the Forward Party platform, as it finally turns out to be.

We as a country, with over 300 million inhabitants, will never completely agree on much, if anything at all. However, there is a vast majority who can agree on most of what is good for us.

And, voting is the most important right and civic duty we have as Americans. We should expect every American citizen to exercise that duty and take advantage of that right, and that duty and right must be protected completely. —Steven B., Florida

The views expressed in "What's Your Take?" are submitted by readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff or the Renew America Foundation.