If only she had a clear-eyed and serious boss willing to confront Russian President Vladimir Putin. “United States Ambassador to the United Nations (U.N.) Nikki Haley on Wednesday accused Russia of flagrantly and aggressively using a nerve agent to poison a former Russian spy in the United Kingdom, and called on Moscow to ‘come clean’ about its chemical weapons program.”
She’s proposing serious measures, but more needs to be done. “U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May said Britain would introduce legislation similar to the U.S. Magnitsky Act as part of its broadside against Russia, marking another potential victory for supporters of Russian lawyer and whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky, who died in prison in 2009.”
Conor Lamb made serious inroads with working-class whites. Nevertheless: “Democrats’ principal opportunity in House races this fall remains concentrated in well-educated, globally connected, information-economy districts around the major metropolitan areas— from New York and Los Angeles to Chicago, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, and Denver; and potentially Atlanta, Dallas, and Houston as well. Among the most unnerving signs for Republicans from Pennsylvania is that [Rick] Saccone and the outside party groups that blanketed the district with ads failed to move many voters by touting the GOP tax bill, which Republicans have viewed as their best opportunity for recapturing straying suburbanites.”
These guys have a serious problem with self-delusion. “Republicans Insist Pennsylvania Election Was Not a Rebuke of Trump Agenda.” Double down!
This is a serious threat to the international liberal order that has brought unparalleled prosperity. “Brandishing security worries to justify tariffs is also an idea that flies in the face of decades of U.S. government effort to keep other countries from throwing up protectionist walls on the basis of supposed national security threats. … The obvious risk is that other countries can now seize on the national security exception to justify pretty much any restrictive trade measure — and the World Trade Organization and its members have no clear grounds to challenge it.”
A serious look at confirmation bias. “The political culture is sick, the nation is increasingly polarized and fragmented, and people’s capacity to hear one another and reason together is deeply impaired. Facts are seen by many people as subjective, malleable and instrumental—a means to an ideological end. As a result, more and more Americans are living in a self-created reality. It’s now possible, in ways that it never really was in the past, to isolate oneself in an information space that entirely confirms one’s pre-existing views and biases. We are seeing confirmation bias on steroids.”
Serious people do not want to work there. “This acute level of uncertainty — and these rapid fire executions, especially the security clearance issues — are shredding an already devastated morale inside the building. … This makes it harder than ever to attract top-tier talent. They’re going to have big problems replacing the next wave of vacancies.” No kidding.
