New at Tusk: The NYT’s flattering profile of Katie Britt’s influence shows that it doesn’t amount to much

Eh Winter Olympics is kinda boring wait Muad’Dib on Ice?!?

“The Super Bowl halftime show featuring one of the biggest recording artists in the world isn’t white enough so I want to organize a counter-show” is something a drunk racist Florida grandpa would mutter between Cheetos a decade ago and forget two seconds later

It turns out if you follow too many deer too closely they will actually get pissed and try to scare you away. I never learned how to scare off deer because usually *it isn't fucking necessary*.

Need 1st & 2nd dimension NOMINATE scores for members of Congress who appear in the Epstein files

Finneas is better at political messaging than 99% of the Democratic consultants in DC.

No disrespect to @booker.senate.gov, but have any members of Congress gone to Minneapolis to function as observers and put their bodies on the line?

Every day Trump: [says something absolutely horrible] Media: Why did the president say that WH: Obviously the president didn't say that Trump: Yes I did WH: Ah well nevertheless

I don’t like to romanticize the past but I think society was better when we shunned child molesters rather than make them president

New at Tusk: Thinking about Vance’s chances should he become the 2028 GOP nominee. He’s no Trump. That could both help and hurt.

I used the term “sold a bill of goods” with students and they looked at me like I was a time traveler

"It's not sexist. Roger Ailes used to tell us that." 😭

This *could* be an interesting story of how a Republican subtly pressures Trump while keeping him happy. But unless I missed it, there’s no point where Britt exerts any influence. She gets Noem on the phone and Noem baldly lies to her. (1/2)

Lieu: "In those files, there’s highly disturbing allegations of Donald Trump raping children, of Donald Trump threatening to kill children.”

New at Tusk: Many Dems believe their path to victory lies in nominating moderate candidates — who don’t win any more votes than progressives do — and abrogating stances they never took. It’s a bad call.

The Washington Post will shut down and refurbish for two years while Kid Rock writes most of the op/eds

WSJ wastes no time hiring laid off WaPo headline writers

As always, the answer to "what should I do if I'm worried about Rs loudly announcing their aspirations to try & ratfuck elections?" is go volunteer to be a poll worker or an elections observer. That is, if you actually want to so something beyond just wallowing in despair & untreated anxiety online

From @juliaazari.bsky.social's interview with the @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2026/02/03/o...

Life is lifeing at me pretty hard this week, messing up my usual writing schedule. But I did manage to join @nytimes.com's John Guida to discuss Backlash Presidents and what it tells us about Trump's second term. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/03/o...

On the plus side, Colorado is likely experiencing a record low for snow shoveling-related back injuries

Tips: Learn how to use your toaster from your oven

they should make a movie series about how it’s irresponsible to use technology to mess with the natural order of things for profit

Fifty years ago this week, the most important fight ever

Go Crimson kids

I was told that remote learning to avoid a deadly virus was going to destroy our kids' minds for a generation

Other than legislating, Congress' main job is overseeing the executive branch

Punxsutawney Phil is the Even Worse Bunny

At Tusk: Whether the killers of Good and Pretti were immoral or poorly trained is irrelevant; they're in an administration that rewards violent behavior and punishes de-escalation

Punxsutawney residents react to groundhog

TENURED YALE PROFESSOR IN AN OP-ED: In our society we have too often accepted the heckler’s veto, allowing the perfect to be the enemy of the good and making the refusal to forgive our highest virtue TENURED YALE PROFESSOR IN AN EMAIL: hii jfefrey Can I come to rape party w/a plusone this weekend

Not that anyone should care what Bill Maher said, but I appreciate that he did a rant about how celebrities should stay out of politics, as he's hosted a show since 1993 inviting celebrities to come on and talk about politics

New at Tusk: The officers who killed Good and Pretti were experienced and well trained. The problem is their incentives.

If the NYT needs a new person to whine about the price of double bourbons at airport restaurants, I can clear my calendar

Awful lot of older white academics would would rather have a convicted pedophile as a friend than a lefty as a colleague

Unrivaled 3X3 women's basketball in Philly Friday night. Over 20,000 attendees.

I always feel kinda patronizing talking about this, but gosh damn the growth of woman's basketball warms the cockles of my heart. There's 21,500 people at this Unrivaled game. Hell yes.

Meeting Catherine O’Hara with my dad in 2022

Conclusion: every white guy even slightly more prominent than I am is in the Epstein files

JANE FONDA: “I know Don Lemon. My husband created CNN. And I will fight for their right to speak… they arrested the wrong Don. This is how autocrats act. We can’t fall for it.”

oh my god

God… flawed vessels… something

I once got to meet Catherine O’Hara and I told her that her walk in Best in Show was one of my favorite pieces of physical comedy. She said she learned it from her dad and it was a family tradition. RIP

“Release Don Lemon and investigate Renee Good’s killer and then we’ll talk” is a perfectly reasonable negotiating position for congressional Dems

New at Tusk: Two different governments are prosecuting Ilhan Omar's attacker, which is not a great sign for the rule of law

To be clear, we've been at the journalists-getting-arrested stage of democratic decline for the past year. Lemon is the most prominent journalist to be targeted so far.

West Wing S3E3: Josh: "We got the money, Bruno." Bruno: "You don't want the money. You want the issue. You should have waited until the fall, when the bell rings and then we hammer them with it. Of course you got the money. I'm amazed they didn't send it to you with candy and a stripper."