On Tuesday, the Trump administration continued its post-acquittal abuse-of-power bender by in the sentencing of Russiagate figure Roger Stone. Following the of key impeachment witness Alexander Vindman and his twin brother Yevgeny from their White House postings over the weekend, and , the president is practically daring anyone to stop him.These developments are dangerous not because the fate of the republic hinges on how many years the execrable Stone spends in prison or the future employment prospects of the Vindman brothers but rather because of the precedent that they set about how...…On Tuesday, the Trump administration continued its post-acquittal abuse-of-power bender by in the sentencing of Russiagate figure Roger Stone. Following the of key impeachment witness Alexander Vindman and his twin brother Yevgeny from their White House postings over the weekend, and , the president is practically daring anyone to stop him.These developments are dangerous not because the fate of the republic hinges on how many years the execrable Stone spends in prison or the future employment prospects of the Vindman brothers but rather because of the precedent that they set about how...WW…

Voters went to the polls Tuesday in off-year gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey that have long served as the first reliable preview of the country's political mood after a presidential election. The results send a very strong signal that the political environment has turned sharply against President Biden and the Democrats, and that adjustments will need to be made – and fast – if the party wants to avoid a midterm bloodbath a year from now.While final margins are still being calculated, Republican Glenn Youngkin posted a stunning victory over former Democratic Gov....…Voters went to the polls Tuesday in off-year gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey that have long served as the first reliable preview of the country's political mood after a presidential election. The results send a very strong signal that the political environment has turned sharply against President Biden and the Democrats, and that adjustments will need to be made – and fast – if the party wants to avoid a midterm bloodbath a year from now.While final margins are still being calculated, Republican Glenn Youngkin posted a stunning victory over former Democratic Gov....WW…

The lurid scandal well-known Trump ally and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) is obviously embarrassing for the GOP. No party leader wants to see one of their members accused of paying very young women, and possibly underage girls, for sex. But Gaetz is hardly the first politician to flame out in scandal and he won't be the last. The urgent task facing Republican leadership should be to ask how or why a man like Matt Gaetz became a prominent face of the party to begin with.The details of Gaetzgate are disturbingly sordid even by the bog standards of Washington, D.C. The 38-year-old representative,...…The lurid scandal well-known Trump ally and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) is obviously embarrassing for the GOP. No party leader wants to see one of their members accused of paying very young women, and possibly underage girls, for sex. But Gaetz is hardly the first politician to flame out in scandal and he won't be the last. The urgent task facing Republican leadership should be to ask how or why a man like Matt Gaetz became a prominent face of the party to begin with.The details of Gaetzgate are disturbingly sordid even by the bog standards of Washington, D.C. The 38-year-old representative,...WW…

As $1,400 stimulus checks from the sprawling this week, prominent Republicans are doubling down on their misguided anti-wokeness message, crying "cancellation!" at the slightest criticism, and steering their party into a potentially disastrous cul-de-sac at the very moment the public is hungry for concrete action rather than theatrics. If they don't correct course by coming up with some kind of policy agenda to complement their shadow ministry of cultural grievance, Republicans may find themselves headed for a history-bucking repudiation in next year's midterm elections.It's difficult to...…As $1,400 stimulus checks from the sprawling this week, prominent Republicans are doubling down on their misguided anti-wokeness message, crying "cancellation!" at the slightest criticism, and steering their party into a potentially disastrous cul-de-sac at the very moment the public is hungry for concrete action rather than theatrics. If they don't correct course by coming up with some kind of policy agenda to complement their shadow ministry of cultural grievance, Republicans may find themselves headed for a history-bucking repudiation in next year's midterm elections.It's difficult to...WW…

If you've been watching Donald Trump and his quislings pretend that they won the 2020 election and are wondering what exactly is going on, you're not alone. It's an unprecedented, if ham-fisted, siege of America's democratic institutions, one last way for this dreadful person to psychologically abuse a majority of the American people before he exits stage far-right. Over the course of the past week, I've cycled chaotically between thinking that the attempted putsch being staged in front of an exhausted world is a laughable farce and worrying that it might actually work if they can get the...…If you've been watching Donald Trump and his quislings pretend that they won the 2020 election and are wondering what exactly is going on, you're not alone. It's an unprecedented, if ham-fisted, siege of America's democratic institutions, one last way for this dreadful person to psychologically abuse a majority of the American people before he exits stage far-right. Over the course of the past week, I've cycled chaotically between thinking that the attempted putsch being staged in front of an exhausted world is a laughable farce and worrying that it might actually work if they can get the...WW…

Another systematic polling error — this time larger than 2016 — didn't quite cost Joe Biden the presidency, but it seems pretty clear that had Republicans done about one point better across the board we would be looking at Republican control of both the House and Senate to go along with a narrowly re-elected President Trump, who would take office despite losing the popular vote by as many as 5 or 6 million votes. As it is, Democrats will eke out control of the House and will fall just short in the Senate unless they can sweep January two runoffs in Georgia. Depending on the outcomes there,...…Another systematic polling error — this time larger than 2016 — didn't quite cost Joe Biden the presidency, but it seems pretty clear that had Republicans done about one point better across the board we would be looking at Republican control of both the House and Senate to go along with a narrowly re-elected President Trump, who would take office despite losing the popular vote by as many as 5 or 6 million votes. As it is, Democrats will eke out control of the House and will fall just short in the Senate unless they can sweep January two runoffs in Georgia. Depending on the outcomes there,...WW…

What in the world is President Trump doing?With just days left until the election, and with somewhere north of , the president has precious little time to turn around the fortunes of his re-election campaign and the prospects of the endangered Republican Senate majority. You would think that someone interested in stumbling into a second inaugural would be doing everything he can to convince the dwindling number of persuadable voters to give him another chance. Instead, the president is bent on alienating as many voters as possible in the campaign's closing days by flouting public health...…What in the world is President Trump doing?With just days left until the election, and with somewhere north of , the president has precious little time to turn around the fortunes of his re-election campaign and the prospects of the endangered Republican Senate majority. You would think that someone interested in stumbling into a second inaugural would be doing everything he can to convince the dwindling number of persuadable voters to give him another chance. Instead, the president is bent on alienating as many voters as possible in the campaign's closing days by flouting public health...WW…