Only cold takes from me for a while. And nothing that has not been and confirmed again by the mainstream news media.

amplify this not unverified reports until we know more

Another brutally honest assessment in the subject line of a DNC fund-raising email: "You deserve an explanation." Boy, do I ever.

A small reminder that Thomas was appointed by the supposedly sainted GOP president, George H. W. Bush.

My Roll Call column: "For all the hyper-partisanship of the Reagan era, a GOP president was not a threat to democracy. This is not a moment to say — as the Democrats did in the 1980s — that Mondale and Dukakis are laudable public figures, and we cannot abandon them." rollcall.com/2024/07/09/t...

My mental health strategy for the rest of the weekend (if I can manage it) : Hidin from Biden.

Not sure this is the best subject line for the Biden campaign fund-raising efforts today: "Trump is closer than ever to retaking power." And why is that?

My favorite British columnist on the election: Marina Hyde in Guardian. Her kicker invoking Sir Edward Gray saying in 1914, "The lights are going out in Europe," is powerful. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I assume if Sunak loses, Tory supporters will storm the Parliament.

"After Gov. Josh Green of Hawaii, a physician, asked Mr. Biden questions about the status of his health, Mr. Biden replied that his health was fine. 'It’s just my brain,' he added." Joke or reality? You make the call. www.nytimes.com/2024/07/04/u...

It says something about my mood over politics that my escape has been to belatedly binge watch "Babylon Berlin." When Berlin in 1929 looks good, boy, are we in trouble.

My latest in @tnr.bsky.social: "For years, party leaders mocked Republicans for sticking with Trump when it was clear he was unfit for office. Now that Joe Biden is unfit for office, they’re mostly silent." newrepublic.com/article/1834...

Another day in which I better stay away from sharp objects and open windows.

I have never been a panicked Democrat. But the Atlanta debacle changed the equation for me. Biden must withdraw to save the nation from Trump. Me in @tnr.bsky.social. newrepublic.com/article/1832...

Medical mystery: I can't tell if my sense of mal de mer is caused by Covid bounce-back or debate fears.

Teddy White on JFK on debate day in 1960: "[He] lay on his bed in a white, open-necked T-shirt...and fired questions at his intimates. He held in his hand the fact cards that Goodwin and Feldman had prepared for him...and, as he finished each, he sent it spinning off the bed to the floor."

I hope to hell that Joe Biden is happily sleeping right now and not staring at the ceiling thinking of debate one-liners.

Me in @tnr.bsky.social: "In keeping with the enduring principles of journalistic overkill, the only entities that have not yet weighed in with debate previews are two laggard preschools in Wichita, Kansas, and isolated pockets of Ukrainian soldiers in heavy combat." newrepublic.com/article/1831...

Extra! Extra! Stunning news from the NY Times: "With less than five months to go, new poll averages from The New York Times, which debut today, show a very close race nationally and in the critical battleground states." www.nytimes.com/2024/06/25/u...

Next year I will live out my dream and go on the road as a rock star. It will be my Errors Tour.

I hate this headline formulation: "Why Do We Love ‘The Bear’ So Much?" I have never seen the show, so while I am sure it is great, I hate being lumped in with the "We." www.nytimes.com/2024/06/24/d...

This afternoon—a century ago—the Democrats began their 1924 convention that lasted 103 exhausting ballots and climaxed with a battle over denouncing the KKK by name. In two parts for the New Republic, I bring the chaos to life with the help of a fellow named Mencken. newrepublic.com/article/1830...

No one should be enough of a martyr to rewatch a Trump 2020 super-spreader debate. www.wsj.com/politics/ele...

The Guardian on Will Lewis with a bit about the effort "codenamed Operation Save Big Dog – that tried but ultimately failed to salvage Johnson’s premiership. Lewis was awarded a knighthood in 2023 for his political service to the conservative prime minister." www.theguardian.com/media/articl...

Throw into the mix the issue of whether tv ads five months before the election have much interest for meh voters who won't be paying attention for months.

In a prescient column, @jilldlawrence.bsky.social highlights a key factor hurting Trump plus his GOP enablers and sycophants: "The Supreme Court’s rulings mean that politically inconvenient and sometimes traumatic reminders keep surfacing." And we're not done yet. www.thebulwark.com/p/if-trump-l...

Sadly, the steroid-scarred Barry Bonds is now unequivocally the best living baseball player.

About a year ago,I got a call my my best friend in the third grade. We had a dinner -- and, mostly relevantly, I got to apologize. For all the 8-year-old debates in which I so wrongly claimed that Mantle was better than Mays. Say hey. www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2...

Can't Nvidia (which sounds like an artificial sweetener just banned by the FDA) use some of its new-found wealth to find a new name in which the second letter is maybe a vowel. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

I woke up this morning. Checked to see if my name was Will Lewis. When I realized that wasn't me, I went back to sleep with a smile on my face.

I can'r say I would like to be Will Lewis tonight. www.nytimes.com/2024/06/15/w...

In this unusual story, let me offer three cheers for the career employees of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing who all did the right thing. www.nytimes.com/2024/06/13/n...

Wouldn't it be more ethical if Harlan Crow simply took Thomas' seat on the Court? No scandal since Crow would just be flying himself around.

Everything I know about the 2024 election, I tried to squeeze into a single Roll Call column. No, I don't have the temerity to predict who's going to win. But I do have some strong recommendations about how to navigate the next five months. rollcall.com/2024/06/11/t...

Please read this harrowing report from the mostly ignored civil war in Sudan by Declan Walsh. Walsh's brave and compelling reporting represents the NY Times at its best. www.nytimes.com/2024/06/05/w...

Me in New Republic on Democrats over-hyping Trump as a convicted felon: "A close election, with the future of democracy on the line, is not the moment to follow the 1960s mantra 'If it feels good, do it.' A consistent danger in politics is preaching to the choir." newrepublic.com/article/1823...

As a New Yorker, I would have had to pay the congestion pricing tax every time I got into a cab or Uber. That said, I am appalled at Hochul's decision and it makes me much less likely to ever vote for her again.

I cannot read anything about D-Day without tearing up.

In honor of Janis Paige who died at 101, this is my musical accompaniment for the day: the 1954 original cast album of "The Pajama Game" in which Paige starred opposite John Raitt. www.masterworksbroadway.com/music/the-pa...

Least surprising news of the week. After embracing gambling, major league baseball has a new betting scandal. I can't wait until the A's move to Las Vegas. www.wsj.com/sports/baseb...

Times headline: "Netanyahu May Face a Choice Between a Truce and His Government’s Survival." What a conundrum. I have no idea what the selfless Israeli prime minister will pick. www.nytimes.com/2024/06/02/w...

Tonight's example of "They would say that, wouldn't they?" comes from the WPost's top headline: "Trump and his allies believe that criminal convictions will work in his favor." www.washingtonpost.com/elections/20...

You can hear the cry of desperation echoing off the Manhattan skyscrapers: "Where is my Roy Cohn?"

A masterful piece by @jilldlawrence.bsky.social on political journalism: "The news business is a nonstop series of judgment calls, all day, every day. There are few if any concrete rules, and while some decisions are easy, many only seem that way in hindsight." www.thebulwark.com/p/journalism...

I assume my iPhone will release little puffs of white smoke when there is a Trump verdict.

Predicting a wave of carpal tunnel cases from compulsively checking every four minutes for jury updates.

In one of the strangest political caroms in memory, the obstinance of Ohio Republicans has guaranteed that Biden cannot be dumped at the Chicago convention. Reason: Democrats will be forced to nominate Biden virtually by August 7 to comply with a silly Ohio law. www.politico.com/news/2024/05...

I'm so frustrated with seeing this as a normal election. ByJuly 4, we will have had a presidential debate and maybe one candidate wearing an ankle bracelet. Me in the New Republic: "The problem with unprecedented political situations is they are, well, unprecedented." newrepublic.com/article/1819...

I squandered my first vote in 1968 with a foolish protest against Hubert Humphrey. Looking back on my folly, I now realize that "I stacked flawed premises on top of each other in the hopes that the entire edifice didn’t topple from the weight of its own illogic." newrepublic.com/article/1816...

Just got my hotel assignment for the GOP convention in Milwaukee. The hotel is a water park in Lake Geneva, WI, about 60 miles away. Somehow I suspect that I will be watching the convention on TV.