Dana Milbank
@danamilbank.bsky.social
š¤ 8799
š„ 208
š 60
Searching for humanity. Columnist for
@washingtonpost.com
.
pinned post!
We are losing our humanity. I am searching for an antidote -- and I need your help. My column about my new
@washingtonpost.com
column. Gift link.
wapo.st/472i9Gz
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Opinion | We are losing our humanity. I am searching for an antidote.
The challenge of our time is to recover what we have lost: in nature, and in our communities.
https://wapo.st/472i9Gz
4 months ago
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At a time when only 31 percent of us feel engaged at work, we could all learn from Willie Shanks. He earns just $38k running the local dump. But he loves his work and has become a local celebrity for turning the dump into a community hub. Gift link.
wapo.st/47L8iE0
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Column | The guy who runs the dump knows the secret to finding meaning at work
Willie Shanks has turned a refuse and recycling center into a place where people come to hang out and laugh, even when they donāt have trash to drop off.
https://wapo.st/47L8iE0
6 days ago
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I had feared forest bathing might be another goofy wellness fad like Tucker Carlsonās genital tanning. But evidence suggests time in the woods could prevent cancer, fight infection and protect against dementia. I went to investigate. Gift link to my latest
@washingtonpost.com
column.
wapo.st/3Jzxq8x
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Column | Forest bathing sounded silly. Then I did it with 8 Harvard doctors.
Doctors are looking to a remedy with ancient origins to treat modern stress and burnout. I joined them to see how it works.
https://wapo.st/3Jzxq8x
13 days ago
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How can we stay happy in an age gone mad, when it feels as though all is unstable? Results from a new study suggest a practical way to keep ourselves on a meaningful path ā a sort of happiness hack for our chaotic times. Gift link to my latest column.
wapo.st/4nlKw7c
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Column | A 6-year research project found a surprisingly simple route to happiness
We are living through highly uncertain times. But a study out of Cornell has identified a happiness hack that can lead you toward a life of purpose.
https://wapo.st/4nlKw7c
20 days ago
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Boy meets girl meets moth: a many-legged love triangle. My column on the very passionate community of iNaturalist, which is showing that social media and AI can be used to bring people together for a common good rather than tearing us apart. Gift link.
wapo.st/4n7T2GI
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Column | Boy meets girl meets moth: A many-legged love triangle
Their romance began with a shared fondness for counting bugs. Their story offers potential hope for the role that social media and AI could play in our lives.
https://wapo.st/4n7T2GI
27 days ago
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If you care about the future of our planet, one of the best things you can do is go fishing. Better still, take your child or grandchild. My latest column, on how to build a consensus to combat climate change: more "boots on the water." Gift link.
wapo.st/4n1Umee
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Column | Why you should go fishing, even if you think youād be terrible at it
There are ecological and political reasons to try fly-fishing in the rivers of America.
https://wapo.st/4n1Umee
about 1 month ago
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When I asked readers how they "rehumanize," more than 500 responded with deeply personal accounts. They pointed me to the one thing AI will never be able to do. Gift link to my latest column.
wapo.st/4pYbpRk
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Column | How can we be more human? I asked ChatGPT ā and you.
In an age in which machines have intellectual capacities superior to our own, we no longer have the market cornered on thinking. Feeling, though, is a different story.
https://wapo.st/4pYbpRk
about 1 month ago
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The animal most in need of "rewilding" is us. I spent some time tracking mountain lions in the Pacific Northwest, getting close to these frightening but magical apex predators. Here's why bringing them back to the East would be good for us. Gift link.
wapo.st/3KksTqC
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Column | I got nose-to-nose with a mountain lion. It was scary ā and magical.
Restoring these big cats to their historical range in the United States could help the environment and us.
https://wapo.st/3KksTqC
about 2 months ago
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As America points fingers, these MAGA faithful link arms with liberals. My latest column, on a kaffeeklatsch in rural Virginia that has found an alternative to our toxic politics-- and an antidote to the epidemic of loneliness. Gift link.
wapo.st/4gAmDHg
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Column | Together, these MAGA fans and liberals fight a common foe: Loneliness
A daily meetup at this rural coffee shop has helped create a sense of belonging and connection, even among people who are political opposites.
https://wapo.st/4gAmDHg
about 2 months ago
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In ugly times, we need to seek beauty in tiny things. The first of my new column on how we rehumanize focuses on the sublime beauty in grass flowers and other ordinary things -- as long as we pause to look. Gift link.
wapo.st/4pm7wVU
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Column | In ugly times, we need to seek beauty. Hereās how to find it.
The first installment of a new weekly column about reclaiming our humanity, restoring our connections and reviving our sense of awe.
https://wapo.st/4pm7wVU
2 months ago
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We are losing our humanity. I am searching for an antidote -- and I need your help. My column about my new
@washingtonpost.com
column. Gift link.
wapo.st/472i9Gz
loading . . .
Opinion | We are losing our humanity. I am searching for an antidote.
The challenge of our time is to recover what we have lost: in nature, and in our communities.
https://wapo.st/472i9Gz
4 months ago
14
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My
@washingtonpost.com
column will be moving later this summer to Futures, a new Post section devoted to grappling with the forces shaping the 21st century.
4 months ago
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My night in the forest with the Heebie-Jeebie, the Big Dipper, the July Comet, the Spring 4-Flasher, the Creekside Tree Blinker and other fireflies. Insects could hold the secret to human survival -- if we allow them to survive. Gift link to my latest column:
wapo.st/46yYuh9
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Opinion | On a dark night in the forest, I met the goddess of youth
With firefly scientists, I watched a fireworks show more intricate than any human-made pyrotechnics.
https://wapo.st/46yYuh9
4 months ago
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This wasnāt just another routine cave-in by conservatives. This was probably the last chance to make a dent in the trajectory of the federal governmentās finances ā and they surrendered utterly. Gift link to my latest column.
wapo.st/4kpBmFc
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Opinion | The last gasp of small-government conservatism
As the GOP budget bill rushed toward passage, one so-called principled objector after another lost their nerve.
https://wapo.st/4kpBmFc
4 months ago
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Oslo: Give Trump the %@$&)! Nobel Peace Prize already ā or heās sending the B-2s. Gift link to my latest
@postopinions.bsky.social
column.
wapo.st/4ekP76G
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Opinion | Trumpās Nobel Peace Prize odds are bombing
Has there ever been a more belligerent peacemaker than the American president?
https://wapo.st/4ekP76G
5 months ago
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Oslo: Give Trump the %@$&)! Nobel Peace Prize already ā or heās sending the B-2s. Gift link to my latest
@postopinions.bsky.social
column.
wapo.st/4ekP76G
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Opinion | Trumpās Nobel Peace Prize odds are bombing
Has there ever been a more belligerent peacemaker than the American president?
https://wapo.st/4ekP76G
5 months ago
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Will America go to war against Iran? Let us ask Donald Trump, human Magic 8 Ball. Gift link to my latest
@postopinions.bsky.social
column.
wapo.st/3I6CakI
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Opinion | War with Iran? Letās run it up the flagpole!
Trump says no one knows whether the U.S. will attack Iran. Apparently, neither does he.
https://wapo.st/3I6CakI
5 months ago
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How nature improves our cognition, our mood and much else. Lessons from the Appalachian Trail ā and from scientists studying natureās impact on our wellbeing. Gift link to my latest
@postopinions.bsky.social
column.
wapo.st/4kJERXT
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Opinion | We know time in nature fixes our brains. Hereās why.
Experimental science is proving what humanity has known, intuitively, for generations.
https://wapo.st/4kJERXT
5 months ago
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The spectacular Musk blowup is just another day in Trump's reign of error. My latest
@postopinions.bsky.social
column finds there is no sanctuary from this administration's buffoonery. Gift link:
wapo.st/43vKwe9
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Opinion | They are not good at this
Nearly five months into Trumpās new reign of error, his administrationās mistakes are multiplying.
https://wapo.st/43vKwe9
5 months ago
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Here are the 3,515 things the Democratic Party must do -- immediately! Gift link to my latest
@postopinions.bsky.social
column:
wapo.st/4kt1JuR
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Opinion | Let us count the 3,515 ways in which Democrats are lame
With all this free advice, the Democratic Partyās to-do list is getting exceedingly long.
https://wapo.st/4kt1JuR
5 months ago
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The targets of Trumpās bullying rarely win him over with obeisance. The better course is to follow (metaphorically speaking) Elon Musk's advice: āIf I had punched them hard in the nose, they wouldnāt come after me again.ā Gift link to my latest
@postopinions.bsky.social
column:
wapo.st/3ZItCqe
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Opinion | The bully gets punched in the nose
More and more Americans are summoning the courage to fight back against President Donald Trump.
https://wapo.st/3ZItCqe
6 months ago
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I cringe for my country when I look back on all the Trump administrationās embarrassing episodes over the last week. Gift link to my latest
@postopinions.bsky.social
column.
wapo.st/4kuCrfh
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Opinion | This is just embarrassing
Everywhere I looked this week, I cringed for my country.
https://wapo.st/4kuCrfh
6 months ago
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Uncovering the secret lives of turtles, we also discover ourselves. A
@postopinions.bsky.social
column on my time in the fields and streams of Virginia, tracking box turtles, river herring and American kestrels. Gift link.
wapo.st/4moW1LV
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Opinion | Uncovering the secret lives of turtles, we also discover ourselves
Breakthroughs in tracking animalsā movements through GPS, radio frequency and acoustics have exploded.
https://wapo.st/4moW1LV
6 months ago
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This is what happens when we have a morally lost president. My latest
@postopinions.bsky.social
column, on the Trump administration invoking eugenics, taking Medicaid and food stamps from the poor, celebrating Jamaal Khashoggi's killer and more. Gift link.
wapo.st/3EVWAfp
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Opinion | Trump will never understand that America is great because it is good
Whatās needed more than anything at this moment is to make the country moral again.
https://wapo.st/3EVWAfp
6 months ago
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Trump needs that Qatari 747Ā ā for all his evasive maneuvers. Gift link to my latest
@postopinions.bsky.social
column, on Trumpās reversals on tariffs, China, Iran, Israel and more.
wapo.st/4khCvz3
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Opinion | Trump needs that Qatari 747Ā ā for all his evasive maneuvers
Trump said Monday that he invented a new word that is very old. But it is the best word for him.
https://wapo.st/4khCvz3
6 months ago
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As the world goes to hell, Trump is living his best life. My latest
@postopinions.bsky.social
column, on how Trump and his family are pocketing hundreds of millions of dollars while he talks about rationing dolls and pencils. Gift link.
wapo.st/3ZcXpaj
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Opinion | As the world goes to hell, Trump is living his best life
The president has no permanent alliances, only personal financial interests.
https://wapo.st/3ZcXpaj
6 months ago
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Could Trump incompetence save the Republic? My latest
@postopinions.bsky.social
column, on the administrationās attempted sabotage of the VA, led by a guy who doesnāt know the difference between Medicare and Medicaid. Gift link.
wapo.st/4m5jxNF
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Opinion | Could incompetence save the Republic?
VA Secretary Doug Collins testifies on Capitol Hill. It doesnāt go well.
https://wapo.st/4m5jxNF
6 months ago
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War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength. And bust is boom. As the grave consequences of the administrationās policies become apparent, Trump and his lieutenants have retreated to a fantasyland. My latest column.
wapo.st/3RIvtXZ
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Opinion | As wreckage piles up, Trump and his aides retreat to fantasyland
Every remark spins a different strand of make-believe.
https://wapo.st/3RIvtXZ
6 months ago
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Trump invoked Bidenās name 21 times on Tuesday night, not counting an additional nine references to āSleepy Joeā and āCrooked Joe,ā a transcript shows. By comparison, Trump made just two mentions of the economy in an hour and a half. My latest column.
wapo.st/4jyBrqF
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Opinion | Give āSleepy Joeā a rest. Trump has nobody to blame but himself.
With little to celebrate about his first 100 days in office, Trump is dwelling on the past.
https://wapo.st/4jyBrqF
7 months ago
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'Meshugge' doesn't begin to capture Donald Trump. My
@postopinions.bsky.social
column on the latest from the bumbling amateurs in the administration. Gift link:
wapo.st/42t676t
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Opinion | For the Trump administration, itās amateur hour
I wish there was a Yiddish insult that captured the missteps weāre seeing from the White House.
https://wapo.st/42t676t
7 months ago
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The Trump administration, brought to you by the National Demolition Association. My latest column, on Trump's corporate sponsors. Gift link:
wapo.st/4jlEK48
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Opinion | And now, a word from the Trump administrationās sponsors
The pay-to-play takeover of the Easter Egg Roll could be just the beginning.
https://wapo.st/4jlEK48
7 months ago
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Trump is wrapping up 100 days of historic failure. My
@postopinions.bsky.social
column looking back at a period of destruction unlike any other in American history. Gift link:
wapo.st/3RWUWg8
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Opinion | Trump is wrapping up 100 days of historic failure
America has seen ruinous periods, but never when the president was the one knowingly causing the ruin.
https://wapo.st/3RWUWg8
7 months ago
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To save our trees, we must burn down our forests. My latest
@postopinions.bsky.social
column, on the demise of the mighty oak, our national tree, and how to save it. Gift link.
wapo.st/42x4u6n
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Opinion | To save our trees, we must burn down our forests
Fire suppression is causing the oak to disappear from our forests and landscapes.
https://wapo.st/42x4u6n
7 months ago
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Who's afraid of Donald Trump? Fewer and fewer people. My latest
@postopinions.bsky.social
column, on growing fratricide in the Republican Party and Trump's attempts to return us to the 19th Century. Beware the Miasma. Gift link:
wapo.st/42qm2RD
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Opinion | Let the fratricide begin!
Trumpās tariffs crashed the market ā and crushed the Republican Partyās fear of him.
https://wapo.st/42qm2RD
7 months ago
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My
@postopinions.bsky.social
column on the latest week in Trump crazy: Taking an ax to the economy, the Constitution -- and Andrew Jackson's southern magnolia, in preparation for paving the Rose Garden.
wapo.st/4j4HFy7
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Opinion | The economy. The Constitution. Is there anything Trump wonāt destroy?
The same day Trump said he would chop down Andrew Jacksonās magnolia, he swung an ax at the Constitution.
https://wapo.st/4j4HFy7
7 months ago
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To honor Trump's latest executive order, these migrant predators should be deported from the National Zoo: Chinese three-striped box turtle Cuban crocodile Iranian fat-tailed gecko Panamanian golden frog Andean bear Persian onager African clawed frog screaming hairy armadillo
wapo.st/4ca46iV
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Opinion | How Trump can deport all those migrant predators at the National Zoo
The National Zoo can easily be converted into a symbol of American Greatness.
https://wapo.st/4ca46iV
8 months ago
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As Trumpās parade of horribles marches on, a few on the right locate their spines. Gift link to my latest
@postopinions.bsky.social
column.
wapo.st/3YaYEq3
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Opinion | A few on the right begin to resist the Trump terror
From the Wall Street Journal editorial board to Fox News, capitulation is on the way out.
https://wapo.st/3YaYEq3
8 months ago
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More emojis! Just-released transcript of the group chat has Trump negotiator Steve Witkoff chiming in with a quintuple: šššŖ followed by two U.S. flags.
add a skeleton here at some point
8 months ago
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It's been a š©š©š© week for Trump's š¤”š¤”š¤”national security team, whose emoji use makes me š¤¦āāļøš¤¦āāļøš¤¦āāļø. Here's a š link to my latest column.
wapo.st/3DVeo9R
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Opinion | Itās a š¤¦š¤¦āāļøš¤¦š½ week for Trumpās š¤”š¤”𤔠national security team
Texting war plans to a journalist was an astonishing security breach. The emojis were pretty bad, too.
https://wapo.st/3DVeo9R
8 months ago
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Long waits, waves of calls, web crashes: Social Security is breaking down. A flood of cuts led by Elon Musk has sent the agency into chaos as a new commissioner prepares to take charge.
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
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Long waits, waves of calls, web crashes: Social Security is breaking down
A flood of cuts led by Elon Musk has sent the agency into chaos as a new commissioner prepares to take charge.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/03/25/social-security-phones-doge-cuts/
8 months ago
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Elon Musk, who comes from apartheid-era South Africa, doesn't have the foggiest idea how a constitutional democracy works. But what excuse do his colleagues have? My latest
@postopinions.bsky.social
column, on Trump's trashing of 800 years of due process. Gift link.
wapo.st/4hwKarw
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Opinion | Donāt know much about history? Iām here for you, Elon Musk.
āDue processā sounds technical, but it was elemental to our founding and is the heart of our legal system.
https://wapo.st/4hwKarw
8 months ago
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Stalin and his successors couldnāt silence it. Mao and his successors couldnāt silence it. Khomeini and the ayatollahs couldnāt silence it. But Donald Trump has just silenced the voice of freedom. My latest
@postopinions.bsky.social
column.
wapo.st/43PyNYo
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Opinion | Stalin, Mao and Khomeini couldnāt quell freedomās voice. But Trump did.
The worldās autocrats are doing somersaults about the silencing of the Voice of America.
https://wapo.st/43PyNYo
8 months ago
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Trump finds that trashing the rule of law also trashes the economy. My latest column, on Trump's ad hoc presidency -- with bonus quotes from Milton Friedman and Friedrich Hayek to remind Republicans why they once cared about the free market. Gift link.
wapo.st/3FwxJi7
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Opinion | How to tank the economy, by Donald Trump
Trump eases the fears of jittery Americans by turning the White House driveway into a Tesla showroom.
https://wapo.st/3FwxJi7
8 months ago
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These cute critters come out just once a year ā for an orgy. My
@postopinions.bsky.social
essay welcoming spring, as declared by the spotted salamander. Gift link:
wapo.st/4bJdoC4
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Opinion | Spring is here! (A little salamander told me so.)
The spotted salamander has been heralding the seasonās arrival for millions of years.
https://wapo.st/4bJdoC4
8 months ago
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Trump is fast dismantling the free press. All of us -- journalists, media owners and the public -- need to fight back -- now. My latest column (gift link):
wapo.st/3Dq7VU1
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Opinion | Trump is fast dismantling the free press. We all have to stop him.
Itās part of a broader crackdown on the civil liberties of those who disagree with the president.
https://wapo.st/3Dq7VU1
8 months ago
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To my readers who have quit the Post: For now, I'm sharing this and future columns with a "gift" link so you can read them without a subscription. My latest: In 5 days, Trump set the country back 100 years.
wapo.st/4ksNp5O
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Opinion | In just five days, Trump has set the country back nearly 100 years
The presidentās new slogan might as well be āWe were better off 95 years ago than we are today.ā
https://wapo.st/4ksNp5O
8 months ago
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reposted by
Dana Milbank
Max Boot
9 months ago
Fully agree with my brilliant colleague
@danamilbank.bsky.social
.
add a skeleton here at some point
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reposted by
Dana Milbank
Catherine Rampell
9 months ago
Perfectly executed piece from my colleague
@danamilbank.bsky.social
, on our owner's edict that WaPo opinions write "every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets." The greatest threat to these pillars is Donald Trump.
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
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reposted by
Dana Milbank
Brian Stelter
9 months ago
@danamilbank.bsky.social
's newest Wash Post column cites Jeff Bezos's two priorities, "personal liberties and free markets," and says President Trump is the biggest threat to both
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
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reposted by
Dana Milbank
Dan Froomkin/Press Watch/Heads Up News
9 months ago
Cheers for Washington Post columnist extraordinaire
@danamilbank.bsky.social
, who writes today that "the single greatest threat to 'personal liberties and free markets' in the United States today" is "President Donald Trump."
wapo.st/3DaSKxX
(gift link)
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Opinion | Hereās the real threat to āpersonal liberties and free marketsā
The rapidly spreading authoritarianism coming from this administration threatens all of our freedoms.
https://wapo.st/3DaSKxX
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I don't know what Jeff Bezos means by "personal liberties and free markets." But I do know this: The biggest threat to personal liberties and free markets in America today is Donald Trump. My
@postopinions.bsky.social
column on this week's trauma at the Post.
wapo.st/3DaSKxX
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Opinion | Hereās the real threat to āpersonal liberties and free marketsā
The rapidly spreading authoritarianism coming from this administration threatens all of our freedoms.
https://wapo.st/3DaSKxX
9 months ago
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