Crash Course Weekend: Why are Dems so afraid to use their power?

[View this email in your browser]( Your daily update from [Salon](. Written by [Brett Bachman](. Why are Dems so afraid to use their power? It's something the GOP has been doing for the better part of a decade — unilaterally redrawing legislative maps in ways which benefit themselves, a practice widely known as "gerrymandering." But now that Democrats have greater control of state legislatures than at any point over the last few cycles, the party seems reluctant to use that power to do the same. Democrats in a number of states have instead shifted power over redistricting decisions to independent commissions or in some instances cut unnecessary "bipartisan" deals with Republicans that undermine their power over the process, [my colleague Igor Derysh reports](. One Democratic Congressman, Gerry Connolly of Virginia, went so far as to say the party was "unilaterally disarming" ahead of the important battle, which is sure to have long-running impacts for anyone invested in seeing a functioning legislative branch at both the state and federal level. "We Democrats are cursed with this blindness about good government," Connolly told Politico. Congress itself could pass a law aimed at restricting partisan gerrymandering — but given the small margins and the aforementioned "blindness" on the part of Democrats, those prospects look grim. "They know full well what's going to happen to them now," David Daley, a former Salon editor who now serves as a senior fellow at the nonpartisan advocacy group FairVote, told Derysh this week. And if they do nothing to protect against the worst excesses of partisan gerrymandering, shame on them." From body positivity to body neutrality A new generation of female celebrities — especially the teenage variety — are jumpstarting a long-overdue conversation about the way we talk about women's bodies. Lorde, the notoriously reclusive pop star who burst onto the world's radar at just 16, rarely appeared in public during the last four years years and does not partake in social media. Billy Eilish, another pop star who just turned 19 herself, is also outspoken about her desire to keep the public's focus on her music — wearing baggy, non-form fitting clothes for much of her public life to hide her body from paparazzi and nosy fans. "Eilish chose her unique fashion choices because she didn't want her body to be perceived and commented on by voyeuristic media and its obsession with hypersexualizing women and girls, no matter their age" [Salon's Kylie Cheung writes]( adding that both stars are now deciding to share more of themselves — sometimes quite literally — on their own terms. "Lorde and Eilish's early approaches, and their decisions to center their comfort in how they dress, comprise a rebellious response to hypersexualization of teens and especially teen popstars." This all seems to point in the direction of a movement called "body neutrality," coined by Anne Poirier in 2015. Contrary to body positivity, the concept is simply to recognize that it can often be unrealistic to expect everyone to be able to "love" their body or appearance at all times. (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images/Kevin Mazur/Steven Ferdman) - "A win for common sense: A judge [struck down Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' ban]( on mask mandates - Millions at risk after [Supreme Court overturns eviction ban]( - See [what New York City will look like after climate change]( — spoiler alert, it's not pretty - The Jan. 6 select committee is [asking social media platforms to turn over records]( of user comments from the leadup to Jan. 6 - "Vacation Friends" is [a happy buddy comedy in a world where race doesn't matter.]( That's a problem - Wisconsin school board [pilloried for halting free meals program]( citing concern of "spoiled" children - Trumpists live in an alternate reality — [but they believe in it, and that's terrifying]( - Why is walking so good for the brain? [Blame it on the "spontaneous fluctuations"]( - Trump's Supreme Court [just showed why court-packing is necessary]( to save U.S. democracy - Why the Hyde Amendment and [other barriers to reproductive care lead to more domestic violence]( - Liberty University's [COVID spike causes campus-wide quarantine]( - And, finally, give canned chickpeas a chance. [They're better than the soaked ones.]( Not a subscriber yet? [Sign up]( to receive Crash Course. Why Evangelicals fear the vaccine The Christian right is currently running a full-court press against the COVID-19 vaccine. Just ask Daniel Darling, the senior vice president of communications for the National Religious Broadcasters, who was fired from his job Friday for making pro-vaccine statements. But how, exactly, did we get to this point? The pastor Nathaniel Manderson [attempts to tackle that question in a weekend essay for Salon]( writing, "From Darwin to COVID the church has been wrong ... it is clear that practitioners of the current Christian faith have not evolved from their ancestors who condemned Galileo and Darwin." The thing that the modern Christian-identity movement fails to understand, however, is that science has no agenda except to discover the truth — which is precisely the problem it presents for the faithful. "To a person of faith, at least in the evangelical or fundamentalist tradition, only God is truth," Manderson writes. But it doesn't have to be this way. Belief in religious faith and science are not incompatible, and the sooner we realize this the better. "There is nothing to fear from scientific data and proper research. There is something to fear from the fearful and ignorant. Anyone who is not willing to question their own belief structure, or anyone that remains in their own echo chamber, is dangerous. "That is why there is a pandemic of the unvaccinated. It is expressing the fear of people who claim to have none. It must be addressed, but that will not be easy." (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images) - "[The Epic Family Feud Behind an Iconic American Weight-Loss Camp for Kids]( Bloomberg (Paywall) - "[Bad News: Selling the story of disinformation]( Harper's Magazine - "[Radioactive Rat Snakes Could Help Monitor Fukushima Fallout]( WIRED - "[Glenn Greenwald Speaks Truth to Reply Guys]( New York Magazine - "[The D’Amelios Are Coming for All of Your Screens]( The New York Times Bill Maher tacks to the right Self-professed liberal Bill Maher has been spending more time recently on his HBO show "Real Time" making fun of Democrats. [He addressed this strategy Friday]( a discussion of Fox News' late night host Greg Gutfeld, who has risen steadily in the ratings lately above network mainstays like Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel. "Comedy goes where the funny is," Maher said. "I keep saying to the liberals, you know what, if what you're doing sounds like an Onion headline, stop. This is why there's an opening for conservative comedy, because, you know, when you tear down statues of Abraham Lincoln in the Land of Lincoln — Land of Lincoln cancels Lincoln, it's an Onion headline. You know, three-year-olds pick their own gender is an Onion headline." Luckily for the Maher, conservatives "don't know how to do comedy." So he's forced to fill in the gap as best he can. "There is funny on the left now as well as the right." (Photo via HBO) Have a tip for Salon? Feedback on this newsletter? [Let us know](mailto:brett.bachman@salon.com). 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