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For a time, the most indelible cultural artifact of this moment was a parenthetical bit of metadata, (Taylors Version), which Swift appended to the titles of her newly recorded songs, and which became a meme anyone could use to signal a prideful ownership of their own cultural outputs, no matter how slight. But in November, Swifts immersion in her past built to a breakthrough, as she released a 10-minute extension of her beloved 2012 breakup song All Too Well. With the new version, she interpolates the wistful original with starkly drawn scenes that play almost like recovered memories, recasting a romance as a site of trauma that so reduced her that she compares herself to a soldier whos returning half her weight.

Nostalgia is derived from the Greek words for homecoming and pain, and before it referred to a yearning for the past, it was a psychopathological disorder, describing a homesickness so severe it could actually kill. Nostalgia itself represented a form of traumatic stress, and now pseudo-therapeutic treatments have made their way into our cultural retrospectives. So while Serena Williams appears on MasterClass to teach tennis, and Ringo Starr to teach drumming, Clinton arrives to school us on the power of resilience.

Resilience suggests elasticity, and there is something morbidly fascinating about watching Clinton revert to her pre-Trump form. The victory speech itself reads like centrist Mad Libs a meditation on E Pluribus Unum, nods to both Black Lives Matter and the bravery of police, an Abraham Lincoln quote but at its end it veers into complex emotional territory. Clinton recalls her mother, Dorothy Rodham, who died in 2011, and as she describes a dream about her, her voice shakes and warps in pitch. Dorothy Rodham had a bleak upbringing, and Clinton wishes she could visit her mothers childhood self and assure her that despite all the suffering she would endure, her daughter would go on to become the president of the United States.

As Clinton plays her former self comforting her mothers former self with the idea of a future Clinton who will never exist, we finally glimpse a loss that cannot be negotiated, optimized or monetized: She can never speak to her mother again. Soon, Clintons MasterClass has reverted back to its banal messaging she instructs us to dust ourselves off, take a walk, make our beds but for a few seconds, she could be seen not as a windup historical figure but as a person, like the rest of us, who cannot beat time.

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How Hillary Clinton's MasterClass Shows a Very 2021 Way to Be - The New York Times

Miranda Devine said Thursday that Hillary Clinton is begging Democrats to consider her again with her "masterclass in self-pity and delusion" after she tearfully read what was her would-be victory speech if Donald Trump hadn't defeated her in the 2016 presidential election.

HILLARY CLINTON TEARS UP READING WOULD BE 2016 VICTORY SPEECH

MIRANDA DEVINE: "I think it tellsyou more about the state of theDemocratic Party than it doesabout poor America, that theyare even consideringHillary Clinton, that she isntjust being laughed out of schoolfor popping her head up above theparapet, from so desperately and soobviously having her hand up andsaying "pick me, take me!"The master class, so-called,that she gave the other day thatpeople pay $20 a month to watch,in which she read her undeliveredvictory speech and then cried atthe end of it with no real tears, that was her begging theAmerican people and begging theDemocratic Party to look at heras the alternative to Joe Biden,because after all, she isyounger than him.

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"Its going to be a nightmare.And really, the subtext is thatonly Hillary Clinton, who was sonarrowly cheated of victoryagainst Donald Trump in 2016,only she can save America.And that is her shtick.She wont stop she will doituntil her last breath, she wantsto vindicate herself."

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Hillary Clinton is begging Democrats to consider her as an alternative to Biden: Devine - Fox News

A Corona man who fatally shot a woman and injured her husband in Long Beach during an argument over Hillary Clinton and the 2016 presidential election was sentenced to 35 years to life in prison for murder on Monday, Dec. 27.

John Kevin McVoy Jr., 40, was given the maximum sentence in the wake of last months finding by a Long Beach Superior Court jury that he murdered Susan Garcia, 33.

Her husband, Victor Garcia, and McVoy were in a garage band together and the two got into an argument over politics on Jan. 10, 2017, at the Garcia home in the 6300 block of Knight Avenue in North Long Beach. Two other bandmates were also at the home for practice.

Prosecutors said McVoy shot the Garcias after he was teased for saying he voted for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election and was told by Victor Garcia to leave, according to prosecutors.

During the trial, McVoys defense attorney, Ninaz Saffari, said her client shot Victor Garcia in self-defense. Victor Garcia made violent threats to McVoy and picked up a can opener which McVoy said he thought may have been a knife from a table when he was shot, she said.

The second shot, which struck Susan Garcia while she held the couples 2-year-old son occurred during a battle for the gun with one of the bandmates, Saffari said. Susan Garcia died at the scene and the boy was not injured.

The jury, after four days of deliberation, found McVoy not guilty of two counts of attempted murder in relation to Victor Garica and the child. And he was also found not guilty of one count of child endangerment.

On Monday, Victor Garcia told the court that McVoy destroyed his family: The couple had just celebrated a wedding anniversary and were planning to have more children.

I wanted to grow old with her and raise our children, Victor Garcia said. She will never be able to see the fine young man my son is growing up to be.

The first bullet struck Victor Garcia in the head, leaving him in a coma for months and prompting two brain surgeries, he said. Hes taken physical therapy to re-learn how to feed and take care of himself, he said, but still struggles with many tasks and permanently lost control of one foot.

My son not only lost his mother, but also part of his father, Victor Garcia said.

McVoy said he did not intend to hurt anyone that day and apologized to the family.

As far as my remorse, I think about this every day, he said.

McVoys sister, Jillian Jones, asked Judge Laura Laesekce for leniency. She said her brother is a good person and her family was shocked when it learned of the shooting.

Laesecke sentenced McVoy to 15 years to life for the murder charge, in addition to 20 years for a firearm sentencing enhancement.

McVoy was the one who brought the loaded gun, cocked it and pointed it at Victor Garcia, the judge said.

Theres no reason to be pointing a gun, she said. Mr. Garcia should not bear the weight of this crime.

McVoy was also ordered to pay $8,000 in restitution to the court. Another restitution hearing for the victims expenses, such as Susan Garcias memorial and Victor Garcias medical bills, was scheduled for March 1.

More here:
Corona man who shot and killed woman during Hillary Clinton argument gets 35 years to life in prison - Press-Enterprise

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said he does not expect President Joe Biden to run for reelection in 2024.

The Republican told Fox News this week the Democratic Party would be surprised if Biden ran again, and, Gingrich said, the "last rumor" he heard was that Hillary Clinton would campaign for president again.

"I fully expect Biden to not run again. I think the Democratic Party would be in a state of shock if he did," Gingrich said.

KAMALA HARRIS SEEKS COUNSEL FROM HILLARY CLINTON FOR 'A PATH FORWARD'

Vice President Kamala Harris appears even "weaker than Biden," he said. "So the last rumor I heard was that Hillary is going to run, and I think it would say a lot about the chaos of America if Hillary Clinton reemerged one more time."

The comments came in reaction to a clip from Biden's interview with ABC News in which the president said he plans to run again "if I'm in good health."

The Democratic president has some successes under his belt, including signing a $1 trillion infrastructure bill last month. But Biden and Harris have job approval numbers around the 40% mark nearly one year into their administration. If Clinton were to get in the ring again, she could be in for a rematch against former President Donald Trump, who beat her in 2016. Clinton recently predicted Trump would run again and be a "make-or-break point" for the country.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE IN THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Gingrich, a congressman from Georgia in the House from 1979 to 1999, said the coronavirus pandemic, economy, and southern border situation is "weakening" Biden, adding his position was only worsened this week when Sen. Joe Manchin said he would not support the Build Back Better Act.

"He is already weaker than Jimmy Carter was at this stage. And Carter went down to the worst Electoral College defeat of any incumbent president in modern history," Gingrich said, predicting the Republicans will win back control of the House and Senate in the 2022 midterm elections.

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Gingrich: Biden won't run for reelection, but rumor is Clinton will try again in 2024 - Washington Examiner

Nearly a decade ago, former Sen. Rick Santorum ran a surprisingly competitive presidential campaign, before ultimately coming up short against former Gov. Mitt Romney. As the 2016 cycle approached, the Pennsylvania Republican saw himself as a national frontrunner since he was the next in line, which in GOP politics, often has real meaning.

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas is apparently thinking along the same lines. Politico reported:

Sen. Ted Cruz on Wednesday argued he is particularly well-positioned to win the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, citing his second-place finish behind then-candidate Donald Trump in the party's 2016 primary. The remarks from Cruz (R-Texas) came in an interview with The Truth Gazette, a conservative news service operated by 15-year-old Brilyn Hollyhand.

"You know, I ran in 2016," the senator said. "It was the most fun I've ever had in my life. We had a very crowded field. We had 17 candidates in the race a very strong field. And I ended up placing second.... There's a reason historically that the runner-up is almost always the next nominee."

Asked whether he'd consider another White House bid, Cruz replied, "Absolutely. In a heartbeat."

So, is he right? Is the most recent runner-up "almost always" the party's next presidential nominee? In Democratic politics, no. In fact, in recent decades, it's only happened once (Hillary Clinton came in second in 2008, before winning the nomination in 2016).

But in Republican politics, it's a very different story. Ronald Reagan won the GOP nomination in 1980 after finishing second in 1976; George H.W. Bush won the nomination in 1988 after finishing second in 1980; Bob Dole won the nomination in 1996 after finishing second in 1988; John McCain won the nomination in 2008 after finishing second in 2000; and Mitt Romney won the nomination in 2012 after finishing second in 2008. As patterns go, that's quite a few data points.

So, does Cruz have a point? If Donald Trump doesn't run, should the Texas senator be seen as the likely 2024 nominee?

He probably shouldn't start writing his acceptance speech just yet.

The pattern is interesting, but there are exceptions. For example, Pat Buchanan came in second in 1996, but he was crushed by George W. Bush in 2000 and ended up running on the Reform Party's ticket. Santorum came in second in 2012, but when he tried again four years later, the former senator finished in 11th place in Iowa and promptly quit.

The runner-up is "almost always the next nominee"? Not exactly. The next-in-line thesis works, except when it doesn't.

I won't pretend to know what the GOP's 2024 field will look like, or who the top contenders will be. But I think it's safe to say historical patterns like these should be seen more as fun trivia than reliable predictors of future events.

Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MSNBC political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "The Impostors: How Republicans Quit Governing and Seized American Politics."

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Ted Cruz and the Republican Party's next-in-line problem - MSNBC