It can’t be mixed, diluted, it can’t be changed or switched.
 | | The Iowa State Democratic Party headquarters in Des Moines.Damon Winter/The New York Times |
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I’m sure everyone reading this is aware of this week’s debacle in Iowa, where the state Democratic Party used an untested app to tally results, creating chaos and confusion on the night of the caucuses. We still don’t know the final results, but we have a good sense of how things landed. Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg were at the front of the pack, followed by Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden and the rest of the candidates. |
The campaigns have already moved on to New Hampshire, but it’s still worth asking why the Iowa Democratic Party chose to use an app to tabulate results, when past caucuses were run without trouble with traditional methods — pencil, paper and telephones. The reported answer is that the party wanted a quick result to announce the winner that night. But the only reason to have a quick result is to feed the media frenzy around the Iowa caucuses. There’s nothing about the process that requires immediate knowledge. A 24- or 48-hour wait between voting and results leaves plenty of time for campaigns to respond, retool and fund-raise. |
But waiting undermines the spectacle, and the spectacle has unfortunately consumed much of the presidential nomination process. Think back to 2016, when cable and broadcast media aired endless footage of Donald Trump’s events and rallies — $2 billion worth of free coverage. Not because it was necessary — no one ever learned anything from his long tirades against enemies real and perceived — but because it was entertaining. Because it gave cable commentators something to talk about. |
For this cycle, media organizations have turned the Democratic presidential primary once again into a sporting event. Debates are less about the candidates’ views and more about creating conflict, which television news can then turn into speculation and commentary. The actual primaries are fodder for the most breathless coverage, which only reinforces the idea that this is all a game. And as we saw in Iowa, the parties have responded to this, making decisions for the sake of the spectacle. |
If there’s a reform to make for the next Democratic nomination race — once this one concludes — it’s to get the media out of the process as much as possible. Debates should be hosted in collaboration with public broadcasters; results from primaries and caucuses should be tabulated on their own time, to ensure an accurate result. (And the party should keep things low-tech — paper and pencil still works to cast votes, and people are still capable of counting ballots.) |
My larger point is this: The nomination process is far too important to cede so much influence to for-profit entities like television news networks. And with party establishments as weak as they are, giving the media such a prominent role is asking for trouble. Let the fact of President Trump be a lesson in that regard. |
| Trump is almost certainly ignorant of the Johnson-Reed Act. But he’s channeling the impulse of that law — the attempt to cast the United States as a white nation, off-limits to those who don’t fit his preferred racial type. And with the Supreme Court’s blessing (granted to the revised version of the original travel ban), he’s doing just that: using his immigration policy to resurrect and reconstitute the exclusions of the early 20th century. |
| There’s a way in which Trump’s strong-arming of Ukraine — and his acquittal by the Republican Senate majority — is the capstone to at least a decade of attacks on our democratic system. Seen in that context, Republican politicians are simply playing their usual part, greeting these attacks with either indifference, support or outright enthusiasm. |
McKay Coppins on the conservatives trying to ditch fake news, in The Atlantic. |
Devin Leonard on the attempt to make passenger rail cool again, in Bloomberg magazine. |
Paige Williams on criminal justice and the opioid crisis in The New Yorker. |
If you’re enjoying what you’re reading, please consider recommending it to friends. They can sign up here. If you want to share your thoughts on an item in this week’s newsletter or on the newsletter in general, please email me at jamelle-newsletter@nytimes.com. |
 | | Chatham Manor in Fredericksburg, Va.Jamelle Bouie |
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Here is your semiregular photo of the boy, seen running around Chatham Manor in Fredericksburg, Va. This is actually one of a series of photos, each one shot while he was on the move, running around in circles. It was a fun afternoon. I took the picture using my digital Leica range finder and a wide-angle lens. |
Now Eating: Barley Risotto With Marinated Feta |
I’ve been in a real mood for Mediterranean food, so I’ve been cooking from Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi’s “Jerusalem: A Cookbook,” which is where this recipe comes from. It is extremely simple and doesn’t require much in the way of ingredients if you have a well-stocked pantry. I don’t have any particular comments to make other than you’ll want to use the best feta available, as well as the best canned tomatoes you can find (I am very partial to Cento and Muir Glen). |
- 1 cup pearl barley
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 small celery stalks, cut into ¼-inch dice
- 2 small shallots, cut into ¼-inch dice
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 4 thyme sprigs
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 strips lemon peel (use a potato peeler and try to avoid the pith)
- ½ teaspoon chile flakes
- 1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes, roughly chopped in a blender or food processor
- scant 3 cups of chicken or vegetable stock
- ½ tablespoon caraway seeds
- 10½ ounces feta cheese, broken into roughly ¾-inch pieces
- 1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves
- salt
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Rinse the pearl barley well under cold water and leave to drain. |
Melt the butter and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a very large frying pan and cook the celery, shallots and garlic over gentle heat for 5 to 7 minutes, until soft. Add the barley, thyme, paprika, bay leaf, lemon peel, chile flakes, tomatoes, stock and salt to taste. Stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce to a very gentle simmer and cook for 45 minutes, stirring frequently to make sure the risotto does not catch on the bottom of the pan. When ready, the barley should be tender and most of the liquid absorbed. |
Meanwhile, toast the caraway seeds in a dry pan for a couple of minutes. Then lightly crush them so that some whole seeds remain. Add them to the feta with the remaining 4 tablespoons olive oil and gently mix to combine. |
Once the risotto is ready, check the seasoning and then divide it among four shallow bowls. Top each with marinated feta, including the oil, and a sprinkling of oregano leaves. |
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