This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareWhen Americans worried about their nation veering toward dystopian authoritarianism, no one ever expected those nightmares to involve the Federal Protective Service. That’s in part because, before the post-apocalyptic images of officers in military gear waving flaming cans of smoke and wearing gas masks on the streets of Portland, Ore., few Americans knew the FPS existed at all. Yet the force — which languished for years within the Department of Homeland Security, with depleted ranks and a dwindling budget — has suddenly...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareWhen Americans worried about their nation veering toward dystopian authoritarianism, no one ever expected those nightmares to involve the Federal Protective Service. That’s in part because, before the post-apocalyptic images of officers in military gear waving flaming cans of smoke and wearing gas masks on the streets of Portland, Ore., few Americans knew the FPS existed at all. Yet the force — which languished for years within the Department of Homeland Security, with depleted ranks and a dwindling budget — has suddenly...WW…

Outlook We haven’t even begun to grasp how much damage the pandemic will do Zoe van Dijk for The Washington Post By Listening to recent news conferences by the White House, certain governors and other state officials — like those in , , and — makes it seem as if the coronavirus crisis is already passing, America is on the verge of reopening and our economy will be begin bouncing back any day now. “All the key metrics are going in the right direction,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told the Texas Tribune at the end of April. Even those governors who acted most aggressively and whose states have...…Outlook We haven’t even begun to grasp how much damage the pandemic will do Zoe van Dijk for The Washington Post By Listening to recent news conferences by the White House, certain governors and other state officials — like those in , , and — makes it seem as if the coronavirus crisis is already passing, America is on the verge of reopening and our economy will be begin bouncing back any day now. “All the key metrics are going in the right direction,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told the Texas Tribune at the end of April. Even those governors who acted most aggressively and whose states have...WW…

Experts and police chiefs ask: How could a pumped-up, post-9/11 force with its own bomb squad and intelligence department have flunked the most basic security drill?Photo by Stephen Voss for POLITICOThe successful storming of the U.S. Capitol by pro-Trump rioters on Wednesday represents perhaps the greatest policing failure in American history, a catastrophic collapse that ended up costing one Capitol Police officer his life and the entire security leadership of the Capitol their jobs.With both houses of Congress in a crucial joint session, the crowds that first approached the Capitol’s...…Experts and police chiefs ask: How could a pumped-up, post-9/11 force with its own bomb squad and intelligence department have flunked the most basic security drill?Photo by Stephen Voss for POLITICOThe successful storming of the U.S. Capitol by pro-Trump rioters on Wednesday represents perhaps the greatest policing failure in American history, a catastrophic collapse that ended up costing one Capitol Police officer his life and the entire security leadership of the Capitol their jobs.With both houses of Congress in a crucial joint session, the crowds that first approached the Capitol’s...WW…

From profiting off his lifetime Secret Service protection to trolling the Biden administration by cozying up to dictators around the world, Trump’s stint as ex-president could be as disruptive and norm-busting as the last four years have been.Sarah Silbiger/Getty ImagesBeing an ex-president can be a cushy and quiet life for the most part. Jimmy Carter builds homes; George W. Bush paints. After leaving the White House, Barack Obama went kite-surfing with Richard Branson on his private island in the British Virgin Islands.None of that, though, seems likely to be in the cards for Donald Trump...…From profiting off his lifetime Secret Service protection to trolling the Biden administration by cozying up to dictators around the world, Trump’s stint as ex-president could be as disruptive and norm-busting as the last four years have been.Sarah Silbiger/Getty ImagesBeing an ex-president can be a cushy and quiet life for the most part. Jimmy Carter builds homes; George W. Bush paints. After leaving the White House, Barack Obama went kite-surfing with Richard Branson on his private island in the British Virgin Islands.None of that, though, seems likely to be in the cards for Donald Trump...WW…

Presidents typically reserve their most controversial decisions for their last weeks in office. Imagine what that could mean for Trump.President Donald Trump addresses thousands of supporters during a campaign rally in Lansing, Michigan. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesAs we count down the days to Election Day, the pundit class is wringing its hands in worry over whether President Donald Trump will accept a possible win by Joe Biden and agree to leave the White House.But even if Trump calmly walks out the door of the White House on the morning of January 20th, a more immediate problem looms:...…Presidents typically reserve their most controversial decisions for their last weeks in office. Imagine what that could mean for Trump.President Donald Trump addresses thousands of supporters during a campaign rally in Lansing, Michigan. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesAs we count down the days to Election Day, the pundit class is wringing its hands in worry over whether President Donald Trump will accept a possible win by Joe Biden and agree to leave the White House.But even if Trump calmly walks out the door of the White House on the morning of January 20th, a more immediate problem looms:...WW…

Election experts game out the chaos that could unfold in the minutes, hours and days after the last ballot is cast.Illustrations by Daniel ZenderThe coronavirus pandemic was always going to make the 2020 election , and Donald Trump’s norm-busting style was always going to make it tense, but headlines in recent days have started to read like political thriller plot lines. We’ve seen Iranian skullduggery, dummy ballot boxes and mysterious threatening emails. Congressional Democrats are with the military to respect a peaceful transition of power. A poll shows that barely a fifth of Americans...…Election experts game out the chaos that could unfold in the minutes, hours and days after the last ballot is cast.Illustrations by Daniel ZenderThe coronavirus pandemic was always going to make the 2020 election , and Donald Trump’s norm-busting style was always going to make it tense, but headlines in recent days have started to read like political thriller plot lines. We’ve seen Iranian skullduggery, dummy ballot boxes and mysterious threatening emails. Congressional Democrats are with the military to respect a peaceful transition of power. A poll shows that barely a fifth of Americans...WW…

with four years of hindsight, that the American news media owes John Podesta an apology. The political media did almost everything wrong in covering the theft-and-leak of his private emails amid the heat of the 2016 presidential campaign, four years ago today—and yet it’s not at all clear that if confronted by an operation similar to what Russian intelligence executed in targeting the Democratic National Committee via Hillary Clinton’s campaign chair, that we’d get it any more right now.In fact, so-called “hack-and-leaks” remain one of the most difficult stories to confront appropriately....…with four years of hindsight, that the American news media owes John Podesta an apology. The political media did almost everything wrong in covering the theft-and-leak of his private emails amid the heat of the 2016 presidential campaign, four years ago today—and yet it’s not at all clear that if confronted by an operation similar to what Russian intelligence executed in targeting the Democratic National Committee via Hillary Clinton’s campaign chair, that we’d get it any more right now.In fact, so-called “hack-and-leaks” remain one of the most difficult stories to confront appropriately....WW…

entered what may be one of the most dangerous months in recent memory. That was true even before Thursday night, when a virus that should have been easy to keep away from a responsible White House sidelined entire ranks of West Wing staff, senior Republican leaders, and .Now, instead of a country focused on successfully defending and executing a rapidly approaching and logistically complex election, the United States is as splintered and distracted as it has been in modern history.Trouble and worry mount in every direction. The final run-up to Election Day—and the days after—have been...…entered what may be one of the most dangerous months in recent memory. That was true even before Thursday night, when a virus that should have been easy to keep away from a responsible White House sidelined entire ranks of West Wing staff, senior Republican leaders, and .Now, instead of a country focused on successfully defending and executing a rapidly approaching and logistically complex election, the United States is as splintered and distracted as it has been in modern history.Trouble and worry mount in every direction. The final run-up to Election Day—and the days after—have been...WW…

conference announcing the Monday, US Attorney General William Barr spoke out loud what had long been discussed only over drinks at security conferences: Some of the biggest hacks of Americans’ private data in the past decade had been the work of the Chinese government, resulting in a massive, unparalleled espionage advantage.“For years, we have witnessed China’s voracious appetite for the personal data of Americans, including the theft of personnel records from the US Office of Personnel Management, the intrusion into Marriott hotels, and Anthem health insurance company, and now the...…conference announcing the Monday, US Attorney General William Barr spoke out loud what had long been discussed only over drinks at security conferences: Some of the biggest hacks of Americans’ private data in the past decade had been the work of the Chinese government, resulting in a massive, unparalleled espionage advantage.“For years, we have witnessed China’s voracious appetite for the personal data of Americans, including the theft of personnel records from the US Office of Personnel Management, the intrusion into Marriott hotels, and Anthem health insurance company, and now the...WW…

of December 1, 2018, the vast central plaza in Mexico City was thronged by tens of thousands of people. Andrés Manuel López Obrador, a left-wing populist, had just been sworn in as Mexico’s 58th president. In his inaugural address, he thumbed his nose at decades of neoliberal rule and promised a sweeping political and economic transformation of Mexico.The people converging on the Plaza del Zócalo from all over the country weren’t the only ones who sensed opportunity in the new administration. At that very moment, high over the Pacific Ocean, a Chinese executive named Meng Wanzhou was...…of December 1, 2018, the vast central plaza in Mexico City was thronged by tens of thousands of people. Andrés Manuel López Obrador, a left-wing populist, had just been sworn in as Mexico’s 58th president. In his inaugural address, he thumbed his nose at decades of neoliberal rule and promised a sweeping political and economic transformation of Mexico.The people converging on the Plaza del Zócalo from all over the country weren’t the only ones who sensed opportunity in the new administration. At that very moment, high over the Pacific Ocean, a Chinese executive named Meng Wanzhou was...WW…