“Democrats have accused the president of creating endless diversions to distract from Epstein – accusing Obama of treason, threatening to revoke Rosie O’Donnell’s citizenship, etc. Name the escapade, some adversary has tried to dub it an Epstein diversion" www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

"It has become the Democrats’ go-to exhortation: Trump is just doing this to distract you from Epstein. In other words, America’s descent into authoritarianism is a mere deflection." www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

Like every word she writes, @SallyJenki is undefeated. And so’s this. Swirling gratitude for and from the Goddess x.com/BenMullin/st...

Long live this piece -- and this kicker – and M “Readers of the Post, though, may not notice immediately: I’m told that there are still roughly 900 pre-written obits in the can, waiting for God to decide on when to lift the embargo.” www.politico.com/news/magazin...

“Bacon’s wife, Angie, enjoys having her husband in Nebraska for a number of reasons. One is that if he’s home, she’s less likely to sleep with a gun.” www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

“Right now, what I think America wants is a little bit of normalcy.” www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

“Yesterday marked one year since Joe Biden’s debate meltdown against Donald Trump. Happy anniversary to those who observe such things, or are triggered by such things. Please celebrate responsibly.” www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

“Obama’s detachment feels jarringly incongruous with the desperation of his longtime admirers—even more so given Trump’s assaults on what Obama achieved in office.” www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

Where Is Barack Obama? The “audacity of hope” presidency has given way to the fierce lethargy of semi-retirement, @markleibovich.bsky.social writes.

God bless you @markleibovich.bsky.social www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

“Here is why I think that the ‘cover-up’ of Biden’s ‘true condition’ is beside the point—and why I’m not really vibing with the umbrage-mongering: It’s pretty much impossible to ‘cover up’ for something that is hiding in plain sight,” @markleibovich.bsky.social writes

“You know what else is old? The story about Biden being old.” www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

Tim Walz has been busy traveling from state to state for labor roundtables, townhall meetings, and impromptu roadside stops, reports @markleibovich.bsky.social. At the very least, Walz “feels itchy to help jump-start the second Donald Trump resistance”:

If there is one lesson that Democrats can take from Trump, Tim Walz told @markleibovich.bsky.social, it is to “continually be present.” theatln.tc/Jd1sBG5f

Walz volunteered that Bill Clinton called him in early October. “He said, ‘Don’t allow them to make you a caricature.’” (“Them” here refers to the Harris-Walz campaign higher-ups.) “You are a consequential governor,” Clinton told him, according to Walz. www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

“Probably the last guy to tell you what to do is the guy who got his ass kicked in the last election.” www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

Read @markleibovich.bsky.social on Trump and a third term.

"Soon, Trump’s right to serve a third term could become a litmus test for Republicans who wish to stay viable in the party. The White House could make clear that refusing to support Trump’s remaining in office will be considered an act of disloyalty." www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

“Peace and love, peace and love . . . " "I imagine that’s one of the hassles of immortality: It tends to go on forever . . . "

Ringo Starr has spent his post-Beatles career as a roving ambassador of peace and love, @markleibovich.bsky.social reports. These days, we need him more than ever.

“I was an only child, and then suddenly I had three brothers,” Ringo Starr told @markleibovich.bsky.social. Few bands have inspired such complicated mythology as the Beatles. But the truth resides only in the exquisite space that the bandmates inhabited together: theatln.tc/lwMjptdw

Ringo Starr is among the most scrutinized, fetishized, analyzed, and catechized people in history. @markleibovich.bsky.social spent about a year reporting on the former Beatles drummer. The world still needs him:

Ringo Starr has spent his post-Beatles career as a roving ambassador of peace and love, @markleibovich.bsky.social reports. These days, we need him more than ever.

“Peace and love, peace and love,” Starr said back to a cluster of onlookers, sounding cheerfully bored. He paused and puffed out his cheeks into an ostentatious deep breath. I imagine that’s one of the hassles of immortality: It tends to go on forever." www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

This article was brought to you by the letter d—for depressing. www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

Truly a must watch for #Democrats with @sarahlongwell25.bsky.social and @markleibovich.bsky.social discussing focus groups with Biden-to-Trump voters.

Since Mitch McConnell announced that he will not run for reelection, many have described him as “liberated.” Indeed, McConnell voted against more Trump nominees than any other GOP member. @markleibovich.bsky.social met the senator to find out if he feels freer now:

Since the onset of Trump 2.0, “frenetic action—or at least the nonstop impression thereof—seems very much the point," @markleibovich.bsky.social writes. And so far, "people seem to like it":

Greenland remains a remote curiosity next to Trump’s higher-profile priorities, “but his ongoing fascination with the country can’t be dismissed as merely the frivolous object of one egoist’s manifest destiny,” @markleibovich.bsky.social writes: theatln.tc/5grClN68

@markleibovich.bsky.social got stranded in Greenland on assignment, so he chatted about it with Paul McCartney. theatln.tc/qkRaAznB

Loved this witty, nuanced dispatch from Greenland by @markleibovich.bsky.social

“Greenland is in the center of the world,” Egede proclaimed a few days later in Copenhagen, perhaps overstating things but still offering a whiff of the heady sense of relevance that’s been sweeping through Official Nuuk.”

www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc... I spent inauguration week in Greenland

“Greenland is in the center of the world,” Egede proclaimed a few days later in Copenhagen, perhaps overstating things but still offering a whiff of the heady sense of relevance that’s been sweeping through Official Nuuk.”

RIP Jimmy Carter #RockAndRollPresident

I’ve been thinking about this story for a long, long time. I hope you will read it. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

“The moral high ground can be overrated. Especially for an ornery short-timer, whose understudy lost to a felon, and whose own son was facing jail time.” www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

Reminds me of another outstanding recent NFL book, “Big Game” by @markleibovich.bsky.social, in which the McCaskeys are mentioned twice, with just one anecdote, a great one, but still, just one. www.windycitygridiron.com/2019/1/3/181...

TONIGHT at 8pm ET: @markleibovich.bsky.social, Brendan Buck, & Melanie Zanona