When we first traced in American politics, we tried to give Mitch McConnell his due. At the time, we primarily focused on the then-Senate Majority Leader's procedural shamelessness: his abuse of arcane rules and mechanisms to block popular legislation, or indeed, to block President Barack Obama from exercising his constitutional prerogative to appoint judges to the federal bench. Through sheer brassness of balls, McConnell ground the federal government into a dramatic slowdown, which happened to be in the interests of many of the people who pay his campaign bills. If the system is already...…When we first traced in American politics, we tried to give Mitch McConnell his due. At the time, we primarily focused on the then-Senate Majority Leader's procedural shamelessness: his abuse of arcane rules and mechanisms to block popular legislation, or indeed, to block President Barack Obama from exercising his constitutional prerogative to appoint judges to the federal bench. Through sheer brassness of balls, McConnell ground the federal government into a dramatic slowdown, which happened to be in the interests of many of the people who pay his campaign bills. If the system is already...WW…

One of the defining experiences of the Trump era was watching the steady-then-swift degeneration of The Supporting Cast. In the beginning, you had some reasonably normal people—generals, financial-services executives, Traditional Republican Congressmen—who must have convinced themselves they could Siegfried-and-Roy the vicious clown this country saw fit to make its president for as long as he was in the big chair. By the end, they'd pretty much all given up, willing to Yes, Sir their way to a contributor contract with Newsmax, or whatever. Paul Ryan escaped with his rich-kid tax cut and...…One of the defining experiences of the Trump era was watching the steady-then-swift degeneration of The Supporting Cast. In the beginning, you had some reasonably normal people—generals, financial-services executives, Traditional Republican Congressmen—who must have convinced themselves they could Siegfried-and-Roy the vicious clown this country saw fit to make its president for as long as he was in the big chair. By the end, they'd pretty much all given up, willing to Yes, Sir their way to a contributor contract with Newsmax, or whatever. Paul Ryan escaped with his rich-kid tax cut and...WW…

One side effect of the conservative movement going completely off the cliff into a valley of paranoid delusion is that it presents some legal peril for the people charged with keeping the wheels greased. As soon as it was clear that Donald J. Trump had lost the 2020 election, and that he'd need the seeds of election-fraud conspiracies he'd planted months before so that he could overturn the election and stay in power, it fell to the various inhabitants of the right-wing infotainment ecosystem to feed and stoke the conspiracies. This involved peddling all kinds of insane and inane slop about...…One side effect of the conservative movement going completely off the cliff into a valley of paranoid delusion is that it presents some legal peril for the people charged with keeping the wheels greased. As soon as it was clear that Donald J. Trump had lost the 2020 election, and that he'd need the seeds of election-fraud conspiracies he'd planted months before so that he could overturn the election and stay in power, it fell to the various inhabitants of the right-wing infotainment ecosystem to feed and stoke the conspiracies. This involved peddling all kinds of insane and inane slop about...WW…

If Joe Biden knows anything, it's that you've got to underpromise and overdeliver. At a press conference Thursday, from the original 100-million-in-100-days goal to 200 million in the same timeframe. But that news seemed to take a backseat to the idea of the press conference itself, the spectacle of it, after weeks of countdown clocks and generalized agita about his unwillingness to hold a proper presser. To be clear, he should hold them regularly. It's part of the job. But with all the buildup, the White House press corps fell into exactly the trap Biden has sought to avoid in his brief...…If Joe Biden knows anything, it's that you've got to underpromise and overdeliver. At a press conference Thursday, from the original 100-million-in-100-days goal to 200 million in the same timeframe. But that news seemed to take a backseat to the idea of the press conference itself, the spectacle of it, after weeks of countdown clocks and generalized agita about his unwillingness to hold a proper presser. To be clear, he should hold them regularly. It's part of the job. But with all the buildup, the White House press corps fell into exactly the trap Biden has sought to avoid in his brief...WW…

It's a beautiful day in New York, but Steven Donziger cannot leave his house. There’s an electronic bracelet around his ankle, and he is only permitted to leave for medical appointments, meetings with lawyers, and school events for his 14-year-old son. He needs permission from a pretrial-services officer each time—those are the terms of his house arrest. So on a 68-degree Thursday in March, he is getting fresh air by sitting in front of an open window in his apartment on 104th street in Manhattan while we talk on the phone. He has not been convicted of a crime. He's only been accused of a...…It's a beautiful day in New York, but Steven Donziger cannot leave his house. There’s an electronic bracelet around his ankle, and he is only permitted to leave for medical appointments, meetings with lawyers, and school events for his 14-year-old son. He needs permission from a pretrial-services officer each time—those are the terms of his house arrest. So on a 68-degree Thursday in March, he is getting fresh air by sitting in front of an open window in his apartment on 104th street in Manhattan while we talk on the phone. He has not been convicted of a crime. He's only been accused of a...WW…

The American Rescue Plan, a pandemic-relief package that will get a final vote Wednesday in the House of Representatives, has the support of 75 percent of Americans according to . That includes 59 percent of Republicans. And yet Senate Republicans unanimously opposed it. Some House Republicans, led by the extremely normal Marjorie Taylor Greene, at 9:24 a.m. Wednesday to avoid a vote on it. A sweeping majority of her Republican colleagues—people collecting a salary from taxpayers—joined her in trying to take the day off. At first glance, this seems like incredibly self-destructive behavior...…The American Rescue Plan, a pandemic-relief package that will get a final vote Wednesday in the House of Representatives, has the support of 75 percent of Americans according to . That includes 59 percent of Republicans. And yet Senate Republicans unanimously opposed it. Some House Republicans, led by the extremely normal Marjorie Taylor Greene, at 9:24 a.m. Wednesday to avoid a vote on it. A sweeping majority of her Republican colleagues—people collecting a salary from taxpayers—joined her in trying to take the day off. At first glance, this seems like incredibly self-destructive behavior...WW…

What is the purpose of the Democratic Party? Sometimes, we are forced to ask. Because while 42 Democratic senators did indeed vote to take up a proposal on raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour by halfway through this coming decade——eight voted against it. Many of the people who make less than $15 an hour right now are those essential workers we used to hear so much about in the beginning of the pandemic. You know, the people who everyone began to realize were so vital to the functioning of our society. Not vital enough to pay them a decent wage, it seems. The list of those in the...…What is the purpose of the Democratic Party? Sometimes, we are forced to ask. Because while 42 Democratic senators did indeed vote to take up a proposal on raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour by halfway through this coming decade——eight voted against it. Many of the people who make less than $15 an hour right now are those essential workers we used to hear so much about in the beginning of the pandemic. You know, the people who everyone began to realize were so vital to the functioning of our society. Not vital enough to pay them a decent wage, it seems. The list of those in the...WW…

Watching the proceedings this fine Thursday as the United States Senate prepared to take up the $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill, a fairly important feature of the national legislature's upper chamber was made plain. Republicans declared their lockstep opposition to even opening debate on , and it looked like the vote would shake out 50-50. In fact, it did. And so Vice President Kamala Harris arrived and broke the tie, advancing the bill to be considered by the Senate. This was possible because, as outlined in Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution of the United States, Harris has a...…Watching the proceedings this fine Thursday as the United States Senate prepared to take up the $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill, a fairly important feature of the national legislature's upper chamber was made plain. Republicans declared their lockstep opposition to even opening debate on , and it looked like the vote would shake out 50-50. In fact, it did. And so Vice President Kamala Harris arrived and broke the tie, advancing the bill to be considered by the Senate. This was possible because, as outlined in Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution of the United States, Harris has a...WW…

Once again we must ask if Democrats will allow huge swathes of their legislative agenda—the one voters handed them control of the federal government to enact—to perish in order to maintain some arcane procedural mechanism that no normal person cares about. We are talking, of course, about the filibuster, which is not some ancient rite enshrined in the Constitution, , and besides all that, completely sucks. It does not foster bipartisanship, it fosters gridlock. We had it all through the Obama and Trump eras. How much bipartisanship did you see? There are not 60 votes—10 Republican—for...…Once again we must ask if Democrats will allow huge swathes of their legislative agenda—the one voters handed them control of the federal government to enact—to perish in order to maintain some arcane procedural mechanism that no normal person cares about. We are talking, of course, about the filibuster, which is not some ancient rite enshrined in the Constitution, , and besides all that, completely sucks. It does not foster bipartisanship, it fosters gridlock. We had it all through the Obama and Trump eras. How much bipartisanship did you see? There are not 60 votes—10 Republican—for...WW…

This is not an article about how Hillary Clinton lost because of Russian interference. This is not an article about how Russian interference in the 2016 election was the single worst thing that ever happened. It is not an article that operates on the sunny pretext that the United States has never interfered in anyone else's elections, though the idea voters in Michigan should bear some kind of karmic retribution for what the CIA did in South America doesn't make much sense in the first place. It's not about suggesting Donald Trump did not actually win the 2016 contest, which he did through...…This is not an article about how Hillary Clinton lost because of Russian interference. This is not an article about how Russian interference in the 2016 election was the single worst thing that ever happened. It is not an article that operates on the sunny pretext that the United States has never interfered in anyone else's elections, though the idea voters in Michigan should bear some kind of karmic retribution for what the CIA did in South America doesn't make much sense in the first place. It's not about suggesting Donald Trump did not actually win the 2016 contest, which he did through...WW…