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Category: Politics

The Capitol riot killed ‘both sides’ journalism

The Capitol riot killed ‘both sides’ journalism

Meredith Shiner writes: On January 6, terrorists—encouraged by former President Donald Trump and enabled by his Republican supporters in Congress—attacked the United States Capitol. And as they came for the republic, they also came for something else: Beltway journalists. This is true in the literal sense, as rioters etched “Murder the Media” into a Capitol door. But it is also true in a more challenging philosophical sense, as this violence imploded at the very altar of political journalism: the shrine…

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Why is America getting a new $100 billion nuclear weapon?

Why is America getting a new $100 billion nuclear weapon?

Elisabeth Eaves writes: America is building a new weapon of mass destruction, a nuclear missile the length of a bowling lane. It will be able to travel some 6,000 miles, carrying a warhead more than 20 times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. It will be able to kill hundreds of thousands of people in a single shot. The US Air Force plans to order more than 600 of them. On September 8, the Air Force gave…

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The evolution of Alexey Navalnys nationalism

The evolution of Alexey Navalnys nationalism

Masha Gessen writes: For years I have been content to be conflicted about Alexey Navalny. On the one hand, I thought he was an extraordinarily brave, inventive, and committed opponent of Vladimir Putin’s regime. On the other hand, he had allied himself with ultranationalists and had expressed views that I found extremely objectionable and potentially dangerous. Over the years, I’ve had a couple of arguments with Navalny and a few with my friends whose support for him flummoxed me—a mentor…

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The Taliban close in on Afghan cities, pushing the country to the brink

The Taliban close in on Afghan cities, pushing the country to the brink

The New York Times reports: The Taliban have been encroaching on key cities around Afghanistan for months, threatening to drive the country to its breaking point and push the Biden administration into a no-win situation just as the United States’ longest war is supposed to be coming to an end. Around the northern city of Kunduz, despite the winter’s fierce cold, the Taliban have taken outposts and military bases, using small armed drones to terrorize Afghan troops. In neighboring Pul-i-Khumri,…

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The GOP’s extremism is at its core, not its periphery

The GOP’s extremism is at its core, not its periphery

Ronald Brownstein writes: Congressional Republicans have crystallized an ominous question by rejecting consequences for Donald Trump over the January 6 riot in his impeachment trial and welcoming conspiracy theorist Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia into their conference: Has the extremist wing of the GOP coalition grown too big for the party to confront? Sanctioning Trump or Greene offered the party an opportunity to draw a bright line against extremist groups and violence as a means of advancing political goals….

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Senate GOP ready to turn page on Trump

Senate GOP ready to turn page on Trump

The Hill reports: Senate Republicans are warning that they no longer view former President Trump as the leader of the party amid growing signs that they are ready to turn the page after a chaotic four years. Though only seven of the 50 GOP senators voted to find Trump “guilty” at the end of his second impeachment trial, Republicans, including those who voted to acquit, are plotting a future where Trump is no longer their center of gravity after years…

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Trump’s defense was an insult to the impeachment proceedings and an assault on reason

Trump’s defense was an insult to the impeachment proceedings and an assault on reason

Masha Gessen writes: Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial was an artifact of his Presidency. It was a battle of meaning against noise, against nothing-means-anything-and-everything-is-the-same nihilism—and nihilism won. Over the course of three days, the House impeachment managers meticulously lined up facts, images, and arguments. What had been a fragmented understanding of the events of January 6th became an ordered narrative. President Trump had incited a violent insurrection. For months, he had acted consistently on his belief that he deserved to…

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First Oath Keepers guarded Roger Stone. Then they joined the Capitol attack

First Oath Keepers guarded Roger Stone. Then they joined the Capitol attack

The New York Times reports: At least six people who had provided security for Roger Stone entered the Capitol during the Jan. 6 attack, according to a New York Times investigation. Videos show the group guarding Mr. Stone, a longtime friend of former President Donald J. Trump, on the day of the attack or the day before. All six of them are associated with the Oath Keepers, a far-right anti-government militia that is known to provide security for right-wing personalities…

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A decade after the Arab Spring, autocrats still rule the Mideast

A decade after the Arab Spring, autocrats still rule the Mideast

The New York Times reports: A decade ago, crowds massed in Cairo’s Tahrir Square to demand the ouster of Egypt’s American-backed strongman, President Hosni Mubarak. In Washington, President Barack Obama made a fateful decision, calling on him to leave power. The backlash from other Arab potentates was swift, Mr. Obama recalled in his recent memoir. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, the de facto ruler of the United Arab Emirates — a tiny country with an outsized military built on American weapons…

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Impeachment did not prevail, but Trump still lost

Impeachment did not prevail, but Trump still lost

David Frum writes: In 1955, a junior United States senator named John F. Kennedy published Profiles in Courage, a collection of short essays about eight of his predecessors who had risked their careers for their ideals over the previous 150 years. In one single day in 2021, that many senators showed courage worth enduring historical honor. Seven were Republicans: Richard Burr, Bill Cassidy, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Mitt Romney, Ben Sasse, and Pat Toomey. The other was Joe Manchin, a…

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Republican senators are asking the courts to take care of Trump for them

Republican senators are asking the courts to take care of Trump for them

Jonathan Chait writes: Donald Trump limped his way to acquittal in his second impeachment trial, with 57 senators voting to convict him of inciting insurrection. But it is an ominous sign that not only did many of the senators who did vote to acquit base their position on a technicality — Trump was supposedly ineligible for impeachment as an ex-officeholder, as opposed to not guilty of the crime — they conspicuously pointed toward the court system as a venue for…

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McConnell says Trump was ‘practically and morally responsible’ for riot after voting not guilty

McConnell says Trump was ‘practically and morally responsible’ for riot after voting not guilty

CBS News reports: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell excoriated former President Trump Saturday in a speech on the Senate floor shortly after McConnell voted to acquit in the former president’s second impeachment trial. In a speech with a first half reminiscent of the arguments made by House impeachment managers, McConnell said the former president was “practically and morally responsible” for the attack on the Capitol on January 6. But McConnell argued that he believed it was unconstitutional to convict a…

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Democrats wrestle with how to quit an acquitted Trump

Democrats wrestle with how to quit an acquitted Trump

Politico reports: Donald Trump was just acquitted for a second time. Now the real question is, can Democrats finally quit the former president? Democrats have spent five years hammering Trump for what they see as the most destructive and corrupt administration in U.S. history. But as the party juggles a daunting legislative to-do list with full control of Washington for the first time in a decade, there’s a growing debate among Democrats over how much more time Congress should spend…

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New details about Trump-McCarthy shouting match show Trump refused to call off the rioters

New details about Trump-McCarthy shouting match show Trump refused to call off the rioters

CNN reports: In an expletive-laced phone call with House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy while the Capitol was under attack, then-President Donald Trump said the rioters cared more about the election results than McCarthy did. “Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are,” Trump said, according to lawmakers who were briefed on the call afterward by McCarthy. McCarthy insisted that the rioters were Trump’s supporters and begged Trump to call them off. Trump’s comment…

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Even with acquittal, GOP sees trial ending Trump’s shot at future office

Even with acquittal, GOP sees trial ending Trump’s shot at future office

The Hill reports: Senate Republicans, including those who do not plan to vote to convict former President Trump, say this week’s impeachment trial has effectively ended any chance of him becoming the GOP presidential nominee in 2024. From the viewpoint of some Republican senators, the compelling case presented by House prosecutors carries a silver lining: It means they likely won’t have to worry about Trump running for president again in three years, while at the same time eroding his influence…

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Nikki Haley criticizes Trump and says he has no future in the GOP

Nikki Haley criticizes Trump and says he has no future in the GOP

CNN reports: Former US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley directly criticized former President Donald Trump for his involvement stoking the US Capitol riot in a new interview, a notable condemnation from someone who is widely viewed as harboring presidential hopes in a party that is still in thrall to Trump. “We need to acknowledge he let us down,” she told Politico magazine in an interview published Friday. “He went down a path he shouldn’t have, and we shouldn’t…

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