“Years of tortured rationalization had created, in the end, a party of hypocrites.”
 @mattbaidc.bsky.social writes about Democrats’ decades-long relationship with Bill Clinton, and why they’re finally filing for divorce www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

My latest Rolling Stone column, on Bill Clinton and the left. www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

How a forgotten Norman Mailer story explains why the president needs to own the Arctic wilderness, and so much more. Commentary by @mattbaidc.bsky.social: bit.ly/4qYrpmn

Timely new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now: www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...

@mattbaidc.bsky.social explores how Trump’s Arctic strategy mirrors Norman Mailer’s ‘Why Are We in Vietnam?’ "Greenland is Trump’s feral grizzly, and it must be subdued" to reestablish a "natural order" of white male dominance. Commentary: bit.ly/4qYrpmn

How a forgotten Norman Mailer story explains why the president needs to own the Arctic wilderness, and so much more. Commentary by @mattbaidc.bsky.social: www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

READ @mattbaidc.bsky.social on Why We Are in Greenland www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

READ @mattbaidc.bsky.social debut in RS: www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

My first @rollingstone.com column is now live! Thanks for reading and reposting, and please consider subscribing if you don’t already. (Piece also available on Apple News.) www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

Wow, that Google AI is pretty good.

20-odd years ago, I was fired from my dream job at Rolling Stone before I could publish anything. So let's try this again! Thanks to all who read me in the Post these past 6 years - hope you'll follow the next chapter.

"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.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

Trump and Musk lay siege to Washington. What should Democrats do? The latest from @mattbaidc.bsky.social , @perrybaconjr.bsky.social and David Von Drehle: wapo.st/3ERNfVf

“For me, it raises a fundamental question about Musk’s work, and I don’t think I’m alone in asking it. Is it what Musk is trying to do that makes me recoil — or is it the way in which he’s doing it?” My latest dispatch on DOGE… www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

“A Congress that has surrendered its authority to Donald Trump on every front since he took office last month remains deeply unpopular among Americans, with one notable exception: diehard Trump voters.” That would be way better. (2/2)

Dear former @nytimes.com colleagues, I mean this in the most constructive way, but the headline and lead here are just wrong. "Americans" are not "loving" anything when the approval rating for Congress is at 29%. Allow me to donate a more accurate lead... (1/2) www.nytimes.com/2025/02/19/u...

I would argue, @nytopinion.nytimes.com, that Trump actually brought the American century to a close 8 years ago. Oh, wait. I did. www.yahoo.com/news/preside...

Elon Musk seems to want to break government. Can anybody stop him? @danamilbank.bsky.social, Ruth Marcus and @mattbaidc.bsky.social discuss: wapo.st/4jKHVDf

🧵 The world’s richest man is said to be sleeping on a pullout couch in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. @mattbaidc.bsky.social has talked to multiple agency officials and policy experts who reported different versions of the same basic story about DOGE. wapo.st/4jLmvG0

"In each case, young Musk acolytes called with questions or demands that betrayed stunning confidence in their own abilities along with total ignorance of how the federal government works," @mattbaidc.bsky.social writes. Among these experts is a 19-year-old Northeastern student: wapo.st/4jLmvG0

In the past week, Musk’s minions have engaged in dramatic clashes with senior officials at the Treasury Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development, which Musk called a “criminal organization.” @mattbaidc.bsky.social has the latest: wapo.st/4jLmvG0

"Musk and the newly appointed interim U.S. attorney for D.C., Edward R. Martin Jr., have decreed that it’s a crime to publicly name anyone who works for DOGE. I look forward to my trial." Thanks for reading. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

"If your main takeaway on the Musk-Ramaswamy gambit is that they’ll never come up with a way to reduce federal deficits and balance the budget, then you’re right," @mattbaidc.bsky.social writes. "But you’re probably asking the wrong question to begin with." bit.ly/40A9WG6

I have a new assignment: DOGE. (No, not the dog. Though that would be cool as hell.) Here’s the first installment. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

"Whatever else we say about him from this point on, Bobby will no longer be judged simply as a Kennedy," @mattbaidc.bsky.social writes. wapo.st/4ge86Q3