Ebola, angry white men and Mormons

KATIE RILEY RECAPS THE AMERICAN POLITICAL NEWS OF THE WEEK

NEW EBOLA CASES DIAGNOSED IN TEXAS, FEARED IN CONNECTICUT:

In the past week, two nurses from Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital have tested positive for Ebola, the first ever cases of Ebola to have been contracted in the United States. Both nurses were part of the 77-person team that took care of America’s first Ebola patient, Thomas Eric Duncan, until his death on 8th October. Since the nurses have been diagnosed, representatives from the largest nurses’ unions in the country have made allegations of ‘sloppy’ safety precautions and a shortage of safety equipment for Mr Duncan’s caregivers. Then, just yesterday, it was announced that a graduate student at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, who had recently visited Liberia, was being monitored for Ebola-like symptoms at a local hospital.

Read and watch: Shepard Smith of Fox News explains why Ebola fear mongering by the media is simply irresponsible, via Vox.com.

SEVERAL PROVISIONS OF TEXAS ANTI-ABORTION LAW BLOCKED BY THE SUPREME COURT:

Who hates abortion more than Republicans? Republicans from Texas. Last year, despite a marathon filibuster by State Senator Wendy Davis that made her a national political celebrity (thanks to which she is now running a mess of a gubernatorial campaign), Texas Republicans passed a draconian anti-abortion bill that was designed to shut down abortion clinics across the state – and it did. But on Tuesday, in a rare 6-3 decision, SCOTUS (as we polly-tickers affectionately call the Supreme Court of the United States) ruled to suspend part of the law and allow around a dozen Texas clinics to reopen, citing women’s health concerns.

Read and watch: Read Media Matters, a progressive non-profit that monitors media coverage, review Fox News’ reporting on the SCOTUS decision. Then, watch the report, via Media Matters.

FLORIDA’S ‘FANGATE’:

As Pi Politics has previously explained, #bellogate was great but not the first ‘gate’. And this week during a gubernatorial debate in Florida, another gate-ling was hatched, one we shall call ‘Fangate’. Basically, former Governor Charlie Crist really doesn’t like to sweat, so he wanted a fan underneath his podium to keep him cool (it is Florida after all). Apparently, such a fan explicitly violates the rules of the debate (no really, I checked). As a result, current Governor Rick Scott refused to go on stage. It was all very strange, as well as quite awkward for the moderators who clearly hadn’t the faintest idea of what to do. Eventually though, Scott appears. And then, once again, it’s all very strange.

Read and watch: First, read the punny headlines from various Florida newspapers, via the Washington Post. Then, watch Fangate unfold before your very eyes, via CSPAN.

A JON STEWART, BILL O’REILLY SHOWDOWN OVER WHITE PRIVILEGE:

If I had to pick the most viral political story of the week, it would be this one. People just can’t stop talking about it (mostly because it was awesome). In one corner you have the funny man adored by liberals in artisanal microbreweries everywhere: Jon Stewart. In the other corner, you have darling of the right, icon of Stephen Colbert (the fake one who went to Dartmouth), and Wikipedia image for ‘Angry White Man’: Bill O’Reilly. Topic for debate-till-the-commercial-break: the existence of white privilege.

Don’t read, just watch: Watch the extended, unedited interview, via YouTube user IntCommoner because Comedy Central is silly and the official video is not available in the UK.

ROLL CALL RELEASES ITS ‘50 RICHEST MEMBERS OF CONGRESS’ LIST:

This is just fun and illuminating all at the same time. (Spoiler: a lot of Congress is really, really rich.) My personal favourite part is looking at the pie chart detailing where all of their money comes from. For example, #1 and #2, Rep. Darrell Issa and Rep. Michael McCaull, have made almost all of their money from investments. But, go down the list to say #4 and #5, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (yeah, like that kind of Rockefeller) and Sen. Mark Warner, and the large majority of their money comes from trusts. Also, the list is interactive (so yay!).

Read and play: Read the list, feel the list, listen to the list, understand the list, become one with the list, play with the list, via CQ Roll Call.

ONLY IN AMERICA: ‘THE MORMON CHURCH IS BUILDING A FAMILY TREE OF THE ENTIRE HUMAN RACE’.