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Four News Items You Might Have Missed This Week
The horrific events in Ukraine flood the media and occupy our minds, and with good reason. (More on Ukraine, specifically the besieged city of Mariupol, in the next newsletter.) Still, other news continues to unfold around us. Here are four stories you might have missed over the week:
Royal Woes in the Caribbean. The future King of England, Prince William, and his wife, Kate Middleton, toured Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas as part of Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee. It was hardly a jubilant affair, according to Newsweek. Jamaica wants an apology from the Crown for years of colonialism. The Duke of Cambridge came close, stating, "I want to express my profound sorrow.
Slavery was abhorrent. And it should never have happened." Jamaicans wanted words akin to “The Crown was wrong to do such abhorrent things, and on behalf of all of us, I want to express my sincere apologies.” There have also been calls for reparations. The tour did have some bright notes, mostly related to The Duchess of Cambridge, which you can read about here.
(Almost) Normal SCOTUS Hearings. Is anything more stressful than being grilled during a Supreme Court nomination hearing? Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Biden’s pick for the Supreme Court, endured a total of 24 hours of questioning from the 22 members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The questions ranged from benign to almost bellicose, with some senators attempting to give Academy Award performances. Sen Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) called out the “jackassery” of some of his colleagues “mugging for short-term camera opportunities." Of special interest to some Republican members of the committee was a case in which Jackson gave a three-month sentence to a man convicted of downloading and trading child pornography.
Jackson maintained her composure throughout the hearings, and she may have sealed the deal for her nomination when she responded to Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-Calif.) question about what type of Supreme Court judge she would be. “I would hope to be the kind of judge that I have been during this past decade,” Jackson replied. “I think I’ve been the kind of judge who lives up to the oath in terms of being fair and impartial, ruling without fear or favor and ruling consistent with Article III [of the Constitution].”
Fake News! Wait, Maybe Not. Remember the absurd story about Hunter Biden dropping off his laptop at a Delaware repair shop, never returning to retrieve it, and then someone discovering that the hard drive contained direct evidence that Hunter (and Joe, thanks to Hunter) was knee-deep in business with a Ukrainian gas company? Remember how the story was written off as Russian disinformation? Turns out, it was a true story and not part of a Russian plot to undermine the Bidens. But do the emails on Hunter’s laptop prove Donald Trump’s assertion that Hunter and Joe are corrupt? Read this article for some insights, and then decide for yourself.
Albright’s Legacy in a Pin Collection. Madeleine Albright, 84, who died of cancer on March 23, was the first woman in the United States to hold the position of Secretary of State. She set a path for Condoleezza Rice, Hillary Clinton and certainly more women in the future to fill the role. During her time in politics and up to her death, she believed in the United States as “the indispensable nation,” one that should be involved in world affairs as a matter of humanitarianism and decency.
On a somewhat lighter note, Albright was well-known for the decorative pins she wore. They were mostly flea market finds, she said, but they also had symbolism. The pin that Albright sported on an outfit could indicate if she were dealing with a jovial or serious occasion. A few of them were controversial. “When I went to Russia with President Bill Clinton for a summit, I wore a pin with the hear-no-evil, see-no-evil, speak-no evil monkeys, because the Russians never would talk about what was really going on during their conflict with Chechnya,” Albright once told Smithsonian. “President Vladimir Putin asked why I was wearing those monkeys. I said, because of your Chechnya policy. He was not amused. I probably went too far.”