"Trump and his acolytes in Congress can live under a delusion of their massive popularity and stride around like Caesar and his guards, but voters who get to decide these things are largely repulsed," @mattbaidc.bsky.social writes. https://wapo.st/3JkGRZz

"It’s a rare glimpse of bluer skies for Democrats since last year’s presidential election," @mattbaidc.bsky.social writes.

"But if their plan on immigration is to rely on Trump’s overreach, then they’ll be making the same mistake they made at the start of the Biden administration."

"As much as you insist that the shutdown is about delivering health insurance to ordinary Americans, that gets lost in the noise," @mattbaidc.bsky.social writes.
https://wapo.st/4o67zUo

"Rarely has the corrosion of social media been so plainly exposed as it has been since last week, after the horrific killing of Charlie Kirk."

The latest from @mattbaidc.bsky.social:

"I can’t stop thinking about the giant banners of Trump that keep appearing on the front of our national buildings," @mattbaidc.bsky.social writes. https://wapo.st/3Vrj5NX

"That we have often failed to apply freedoms equally — and can acknowledge that fact — isn’t an indictment of America, as Trump believes it to be; it is the story of Americans striving toward enlightenment," @mattbaidc<a href="https://wapo.st/4oTa65v" class="hover:underline text-blue-600 dark:text-sky-400 no-card-link" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link="bsky">.bsky.social writes.
https://wapo.st/4oTa65v

"As long as Trump is seen by a healthy plurality as the flawed but tolerable instrument of their anti-elite, anti-government rage, then we shouldn’t expect other institutions to keep him in check," @mattbaidc.bsky.social writes.

"That’s not their brief. It’s ours."

Kamala Harris made the right decision to skip the governor’s race, because she clearly wasn’t dying to do the job, @mattbaidc.bsky.social writes.

"She should make the same call on the presidency — even if that’s the job she wants."

"In keeping with his generally nostalgic worldview, Trump seems to harbor the ideal of a country that produces most of its own goods, and mostly for its own citizens."

The latest from @mattbaidc.bsky.social: wapo.st/4o18Lcx

The last time Democrats went through an existential crisis over how to rebrand themselves, the main agitators were outsiders with little or no governing experience, @mattbaidc.bsky.social writes.

"Now, a similar upheaval is underway." wapo.st/3TJEUY1

"CVS and other pharmacies have been struggling to contain a rise in thefts by gangs of fast-moving thieves," @mattbaidc.bsky.social writes.

"Unfortunately for CVS, the solution might be worse for business than the organized shoplifting."

"My issue here really has nothing to do with whether EV owners should pay more to use the roads," @mattbaidc.bsky.social writes. "It’s entirely about how they’re being asked to pay." wapo.st/3G4F4pz

“If you’re looking for a party to check the expansion of federal taxing power into new and previously unimagined terrain, you’ve come to the wrong city.”
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

“By sending troops into California and challenging the sovereignty of states, Trump seems poised to do for Democrats what they can’t do for themselves, which is to provide a national hearing for a pretty deep bench of governors.”
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

“You’re supposed to be this great, visionary, hyperloopy guy, and this is all you’ve got? A re-org plan? The Cat in the Hat arrived with more sophisticated tricks.”
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

"No longer is Springsteen lamenting that long walk home to the America we used to know," @mattbaidc.bsky.social writes.

"Now, he’s begging us to turn around and take it."

“No university that’s true to its values ought to attempt to censor a student’s remarks, let alone treat extemporaneous speechmaking as a crime. What is this, the Democratic National Convention?”

www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

I've touched on this in a couple of pieces, but here's a worthwhile big dig into Elon Musk's global Starlink dealmaking and the ethics laws/rules nobody seems to care about anymore. By @mattbaidc.bsky.social in, yes, @washingtonpost.com. GIFT LINK (part of my end-of-month sale) wapo.st/3YV66G2

Interesting that right as Trump is holding countries hostage to make new trade deals, a lot of them seem to be feeling the pressure to make deals with Elon Musk’s companies! www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

India, Vietnam, Bangladesh — Starlink's flurry of expansion comes as most of the world views Elon Musk as the second most powerful man in D.C., @mattbaidc.bsky.social writes.

"So it raises some obvious questions." wapo.st/3Gz2qUf

Spent the last couple of months trying to figure out the connection between Starlink and US trade policy. Here’s what I learned.

www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

"We’re running out of bulwarks, and American Jews shouldn’t feel good about that just because the white nationalist arrow hasn’t yet spun in their direction." Thanks for reading.

"Find me a moment in history when Jews anywhere benefited from a mix of rampant nationalism and repression," @mattbaidc.bsky.social writes.

"You’ll be looking awhile." wapo.st/3E6gELt

“Here is the unavoidable truth: the Washington Post I joined, the one I came to love, is not the Washington Post I left.” @ruthmarcus.bsky.social writes about her decision to resign from the paper in the wake of editorial changes made by its owner, Jeff Bezos.

"A $50 billion agency — funded by taxpayers, empowered by Congress and employing something like 11,000 people around the world — is now controlled by a handful of 20-something software engineers who have never worked a day in government."

From @mattbaidc.bsky.social (gift link): wapo.st/3QCdXDY