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Gail Collins: Bret, much serious stuff to talk about today, but I want to get my canine issues out of the way first. Kristi Noem of South Dakota is publishing a new memoir she presumably hoped would help her chances of being named as Donald Trump’s running mate. Gail: In it she brags about having killed her dog, Cricket, for a string of bad behavior. Bret: In the same memoir, Noem claims to have met Kim Jong-un, the North Korean dictator, which never happened. Maybe she was confusing him with the governor of North Dakota, Doug Burgum?

Persons: Gail Collins, Bret, Kristi Noem, Donald Trump’s, Bret Stephens, Trump, Seth Tupper, Gail, Noem, Kim Jong, Doug Burgum Organizations: Gov, Cricket, South Dakota Searchlight, North, Republican Locations: South Dakota, North Korean, North Dakota

Gail Collins: Bret, I have a feeling we’re going to be spending a good amount of time talking about the adventures of Donald Trump. Bret: By “adventures,” you mean “affairs.”Gail: But just to start with something we’re in disagreement about …. Joe Biden has, in my opinion, been doing a great job building his re-election campaign. Or a border crisis that’s shifted from Texas to California and New York but hasn’t gone away. Or his repeated refusal to sit down for formal interviews with serious journalists — other, that is, than Howard Stern.

Persons: Gail Collins, Bret, Donald Trump, ” Gail, Joe Biden, He’s, Joe, Ron Burgundy, hasn’t, Howard Stern Organizations: Trump Locations: Washington, Texas, California, New York

I think the theme for last week was the return of adult supervision. And Minouche Shafik, the president of Columbia University, authorized the police to arrest pro-Palestinian student protesters who had occupied part of the campus in violation of university policies. Gail Collins: Bret, as a former college sit-inner myself, back in days of yore, I have mixed feelings. Not saying President Shafik was wrong, just that I just can’t get into cheering administrators who try to solve nonviolent campus demonstrations by calling in the cops. If it were up to me, I’d sentence them to six months of hard academic time at the University of Chicago.

Persons: Bret Stephens, Gail, Mike Johnson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Gail Collins, Bret, Shafik, Israel, That’s, idealists Organizations: House, Columbia University, Palestinian, Columbia, University of Chicago Locations: yore

☆ Opinion | Abortion Is Remaking Our Political Landscape. Why Aren’t Guns?
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-17 | by ( Gail Collins | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But think about the public debate on gun control versus the one we’re having on abortion rights. Perhaps the two biggest long-running social issues in American politics, and the gulf does seem huge. A lot of politicians who were historically opposed to abortion have clearly gotten very nervous about public opinion, worrying that being anti-choice is costing them votes. Take Arizona’s Kari Lake, one of the Republican Party’s most famous crazy-person candidates, now running for a Senate nomination. Hoping to dump the problem on the governors, he embraced the theory that abortion was a state issue.

Persons: Kari Lake, Lake, “, I’m, there’s, Donald Trump Organizations: Republican Locations: Arizona

☆ Are There Eclipse Glasses for the Election? - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-08 | by ( Gail Collins | Bret Stephens | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The economy added just over 300,000 new jobs last month, which gives Joe Biden something to brag about. 1 concern for voters, according to a story in The Wall Street Journal, and in one February poll 65 percent of Americans disapproved of Biden’s handling of the border. Voters are going to have to pay attention, and that’s going to give Biden the election. But you have more faith in the wisdom of the American people than I do. Mencken on the presidency: “As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people.

Persons: Bret Stephens, Gail, Joe Biden, Gail Collins, Biden, Bret, H.L . Mencken Organizations: Street Journal, Voters, H.L

☆ Opinion | George Santos May Not Be in the House, but He’s in Your Springtime Quiz
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-03 | by ( Gail Collins | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Spring is here, people! Time to move on from the dark, dreary winter into the bright, cheery march toward this summer’s presidential nominating conventions. Yeah, yeah, I know. But let’s see whether you were paying attention to politics when it was cold:

Gail Collins: Hey, Bret, we just hit April Fools’ Day. Lake isn’t even bothering to defend herself on the substance of the suit and has asked the court to move directly to the damages phase. I hope the court takes the Fake out of Lake with a whopping judgment in Richer’s favor. Current subject is the business dealings of Joe’s son Hunter, a road we’ve been down a trillion times before. Bret: Hey, think of all the fun we’ll have when Democrats return the favor by investigating Javanka, Don Jr. and Eric when Donald Trump is — gulp — back in office.

Persons: Gail Collins, Bret, Bret Stephens, Kari Lake, Kyrsten, Stephen Richer, Richer, isn’t, Richer’s, Gail, James Comer, who’s, Joe Biden, Joe’s, Hunter, Javanka, Don Jr, Eric, Donald Trump Organizations: Trump, U.S, Senate, Republican Locations: Arizona, Maricopa County

It goes without saying that we wish Catherine, Princess of Wales, health and strength in her battle with cancer. Other than that, I think the best we can do to respect her privacy is to say as little about it as possible. Gail Collins: Absolutely no reason to torment public figures in such dire circumstances — unless, of course, they’re running a country. Bret: Thomas Edsall had a great essay in The Times last week noting that the Democratic Party is losing support among nonwhite voters. Gail: A great essay indeed.

Persons: Bret Stephens, Gail, Catherine, Princess of, Gail Collins, Bret, Thomas Edsall, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, it’s Organizations: Democratic Party Locations: Princess of Wales, Times

I think it’s safe to say that Joe Biden’s confident performance at the State of the Union has put to rest any doubts that he’ll be the Democratic nominee, with Kamala Harris as his running mate. But the great thing about the speech, Bret, wasn’t that he changed people’s minds about who to vote for in November. Bret: He also did a very good job defining the stakes of the election. Will we support the free world against Vladimir Putin or abandon it to him? Also, I marveled at the many ways Mike Johnson, the speaker of the House, managed to approximate the expressions of a constipated turtle.

Persons: Bret Stephens, Gail, Joe Biden’s, he’ll, Kamala Harris, Gail Collins, Bret, wasn’t, he’d, Vladimir Putin, Mike Johnson Organizations: State, Union, Democratic, Biden Locations: It’s

☆ Trump's lawyers are hunting for the identities of secret consultants who approved Russiagate Pulitzer Prizes
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-07 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

AdvertisementIn an overlooked lawsuit, Donald Trump's lawyers are exhibiting a habit from his White House days: Hunting for anonymous sources. At each turn, a lawyer for the Pulitzer Board members stopped their clients from answering. The journalists whom Trump's lawyers deposed did, however, offer some characterization of the "consultants" who conducted the reviews. The Pulitzer Prize Board is hosted by Columbia University, in Manhattan, which manages the small organization's payroll and offers institutional support. Chad Bowman, a Ballard Spahr attorney representing the Pulitzer board members, directed Business Insider to court filings.

Persons: Donald Trump, —, Donald Trump's, Trump, Pulitzer, Robert Mueller, Quincy Bird, Katherine Boo, Boo, Chad R, Bowman, Ballard Spahr, don't, Marjorie Miller, Miller, Weber, Crabb, Wein, Neil Brown, David Remnick, Nicole Carroll, Lee Bollinger, Kevin Merida, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Lee C, Bollinger, David Ake Trump's, Gail Collins, John Daniszewski, Bird, Daniszewski, Dana Canady, doesn't, Bebeto Matthews, Collins, we've, John Durham, Hillary Clinton, James Comey, Brown, Chad Bowman, Ballard, Evan Vucci Trump, Christopher Steele, Jeff Gerth's, Gerth, You've Organizations: Service, Business, The New York Times, Washington Post, American, The Washington Post, Pulitzer, Times, Post, PAC Trump, Columbia University, Mar, Poynter Institute for Media Studies, Tampa Bay Times, New Yorker, Los Angeles Times, Associated Press, Global Enterprise, New, AP, Katherine Boo , New York Times, Trump, Republican, Columbia Locations: Russia, Chad, Manhattan, Florida, USA, New York City, Mar, Katherine Boo ,, New York, Palm Beach , Florida, United States, Washington, DC

Gail Collins: So, Bret — are you gonna miss Mitch McConnell? Bret Stephens: I guess it all depends on who succeeds him. If it’s a fairly traditional Republican, like John Cornyn of Texas or John Thune of South Dakota, I don’t think it will make much of a difference. But lately, McConnell has certainly seemed more civilized than a lot of the other Republican leaders. Bret: A first — Bret is harder on Mitch than Gail is.

Persons: Gail Collins, Bret —, Mitch McConnell, Bret Stephens, John Cornyn of, John Thune of, Rick Scott, Nicholas II, Gail, Trump, McConnell —, Barack, Merrick Garland, McConnell, Bret, Trump’s, Gail :, who’s Organizations: Republican Locations: John Cornyn of Texas, John Thune of South Dakota

I know we’ll get around to talking about Donald Trump’s big South Carolina primary win, but first I want to pick your brain about Joe Biden’s State of the Union address. It isn’t happening till next week, but I’m guessing the White House speechwriters are working hard on it now. Any advice on what the president should say and how he should say it? Gail: Then at some point he’ll turn to foreign affairs. Biden’s already laced into that one once, but he was so … vigorous that I’m hoping for a repeat.

Persons: Bret Stephens, Gail, Donald Trump’s, Joe, Gail Collins, Bret, Will, Biden’s Organizations: Carolina, NATO Locations: Joe Biden’s State, Russia, United States

Gail Collins: So Bret, Donald Trump gets a roughly $355 million fine for fibbing about his fortune. Bret Stephens: Gail, I would never want to stop you from chortling, but here goes: I think the case was ridiculous and the verdict outrageous. It lends credence to the Trumpian belief that the justice system is rigged, which will help him politically. Gail: I know you’re worried all this will make him look like a martyr to a whole lot of voters. But I can’t help thinking a string of 91 pending felony counts has to also look pretty darned messy.

Persons: Gail Collins, Bret, Donald Trump, Bret Stephens, Gail, ”

☆ Opinion | Tom Suozzi Makes the Democrats Look Good for a New York Minute
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Gail Collins | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Hey, Tom Suozzi beat Mazi Pilip. OK, I know it was only a congressional race in the New York suburbs. But the only thing that really matters is which side has the most votes. Or his recent insistence that Taylor Swift is bound to come over to his side because he made her a lot of money. Or — OK, I know you really don’t want to go on.

Persons: Tom Suozzi, Mazi, Suozzi, Biden, We’ve, Joe Biden’s, Donald Trump’s …, Russia “, Taylor Swift Organizations: Republican, Biden, Congressional District, NATO Locations: New York, Nassau County, Russia

☆ Biden Has a Week He Would Like to Forget - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-12 | by ( Gail Collins | Bret Stephens | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It was a no good, very bad week for the “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory” who happens to be the 46th president. We’re talking, of course, about the report a Justice Department special counsel filed on President Biden’s handling of classified material — the same kind of material Donald Trump left piled around the toilet. Bret: I used to joke that Trump’s behavior gave new meaning to the term “anal retentive.” Maybe we can start describing Biden as mnemonically challenged. Gail: While Trump’s behavior with classified documents was inexcusable, Biden’s was a lot less serious — inadvertently leaving stuff in the garage. But the counsel who cleared Biden of any serious misbehavior — a Republican — did seem to feel compelled to add that Biden’s excuse was “diminished faculties in advancing age.”

Persons: Bret Stephens, Gail, Gail Collins, gosh, Bret, We’re, Biden’s, Donald Trump, Biden, mnemonically, —, Republican —, ” Organizations: Republican

Gail Collins: So, Bret — more than 350,000 new jobs in January without an inflation surge! I guess that means the Biden plan is really working out, hehehehe. First, prices for groceries are still too damn high — up 25 percent in the last four years, according to The Washington Post. That practically amounts to a campaign ad for Donald Trump every time people are at checkout. Gail: Well, it’s a pretty good sign for Biden that an economic conservative like you so desperately wants him to win.

Persons: Gail Collins, Bret —, Biden, Bret Stephens, Donald Trump, Peter Coy, Joe, Gail Organizations: The Washington

☆ Opinion | Running for President Is Not a Hobby
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Gail Collins | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

No, it’s not about how to get your kids Taylor Swift tickets in Tokyo. My news is that Dean Phillips is not going to run as a third-party candidate for president. OK, you’re thinking that you’ve had more thrilling news from the grocer on banana prices. People there were a tad piqued by the Democrats’ decision to move the first official party vote to South Carolina. Despite all that rancor, Phillips, who, unlike President Biden, was on the ballot, got about 24,000 votes to Biden’s nearly 80,000 write-ins.

Persons: Taylor Swift, Dean Phillips, “, you’ve, Phillips, Biden Organizations: New, Democrats Locations: Tokyo, Minnesota, New Hampshire, South Carolina

It’s fair to say that Nikki Haley has next-to-no chance of beating Donald Trump for the Republican nomination. Or join forces with someone like Joe Manchin in a third party? Gail Collins: Third parties are for people who don’t care who wins the election as long as they’ve got their name on the ballot. Bret: A third-party run with her and Manchin might subtract more votes from Trump than from Biden. Gail: And I’d like her to stay in, if only to spare us nine straight months of nothing but Trump vs. Biden.

Persons: Bret Stephens, Gail, Nikki Haley, Donald Trump, Joe Manchin, Gail Collins, they’ve, Bret, Biden Organizations: Republican, Trump, Biden

☆ Opinion | Poor Nikki, Poor Us
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-24 | by ( Gail Collins | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Two possible ways of looking at New Hampshire’s vote:A: Face it, Nikki Haley is toast. B: … Except that she’s the only thing saving us from a full year of just Trump vs. Biden. But face it, you’d rather not start reliving the 2020 campaign already. Right now, we turn our attention to the South Carolina Republican primary — at least there’s going to be one. It is not the last in the nation,” Haley told her supporters after she came in, well, second, in her one-on-one race against Donald Trump.

Persons: Nikki Haley, Biden, Joe Biden’s, ” Haley, Donald Trump, ”, Haley Organizations: Trump, South Carolina Republican, Republican Locations: “ New Hampshire

Gail: If DeSantis weren’t such an awful candidate, this toppling of his campaign might be a little sad. Bret: The Trump endorsement was dishonorable but probably inevitable, politically speaking. If Trump wins the presidency, DeSantis will have to live with him as a governor; if Trump loses, he can try to court Trump’s voters in 2028. That’s assuming Trump isn’t on the ballot in 2028. Which means Trump will, for all practical purposes, be the nominee by the middle of this week.

Persons: Gail Collins, Bret, Ron DeSantis, Bret Stephens, Nope, Gail, Donald Trump, ” wasn’t, Trump, DeSantis, there’s, South Carolina …, Nikki Haley Organizations: Republican, Trump Locations: South Carolina

☆ Opinion | Take That, America
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-17 | by ( Gail Collins | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

And hey, probably about a tenth of the population that visited the Butter Cow at last year’s Iowa State Fair. Certainly can’t blame them for choosing to stay home during weather that would have discouraged Nanook of the North. Everybody knew Trump was going to win. Nikki Haley won there, giving her at least a little bounce for the next stop, in New Hampshire, which has a relatively high percentage of college graduates. She’s already taken on the front-runner by announcing that she won’t go to any debates there unless Trump agrees to participate, too.

Persons: Trump, Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, Haley, I’m, DeSantis, it’ll Organizations: Fair, University of Iowa, Trump Locations: Iowa, New Hampshire

I’m trying to remember the last time the Republican winner went on to win the nomination: Ted Cruz in 2016? Gail Collins: And remember, Trump won Iowa in 2020, when he was an incumbent president looking for a second term; that didn’t turn out all that well for him, either. Bret: Not that I’m rooting for him to win in Iowa. Bret: Her zinger in the debate with Ron DeSantis — “You’re so desperate, you’re just so desperate” — could be turned into a country music hit by Miranda Lambert. Or maybe Carly Simon: You’re so desperate, you probably think this race is about you.

Persons: Bret Stephens, Gail, who’ll, Ted Cruz, Rick Santorum, Mike Huckabee, Donald Trump, Gail Collins, Trump, Bret, Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis —, you’re, Miranda Lambert, Carly Simon, You’re Organizations: Republican, Iowa Locations: Iowa

While the real world can get kinda depressing, the debate world is always ready to just chatter away. I want to hear your predictions on the Republican set-to coming this week. Bret Stephens: The idea for the governors’ debate was first mooted when it looked like DeSantis could be the Republican presidential nominee. Now he seems slightly less relevant than the moderator, Sean Hannity, as well as slightly more obnoxious. But I still think DeSantis got the better of Newsom on the substance of their arguments.

Persons: Gail Collins, Bret, I’ve, Gavin Newsom, Ron DeSantis, Bret Stephens, Sean Hannity, DeSantis, Newsom Organizations: Republican

☆ The Electoral College Is ‘the Exploding Cigar of American Politics’ - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Gail Collins | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Or it’s possible the founders just had a lot on their minds and threw the system together at the last minute. Confession: I was hoping to blame the whole Electoral College thing on Thomas Jefferson, who’s possibly my least favorite founding father. Anyway, no matter how it originally came together, we’ve now put the loser of the popular vote in office five times. One involved the Republican Rutherford B. Hayes, who won in 1876 even though the electoral vote was virtually tied and Samuel Tilden easily won the popular vote. George W. Bush lost the popular vote to Al Gore in 2000 — many of you will remember the manic counting and recounting in Florida, which was the tipping point state.

Persons: Waldman, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, who’s, Sally Hemings, Jefferson, it’s, we’ve, Republican Rutherford B, Hayes, Samuel Tilden, George W, Bush, Al Gore, Gore, Ralph Nader’s, Robert Kennedy Jr Organizations: Republican, Republicans, Southern Democrats, Black, White Locations: France, Florida

Bret Stephens: Hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving, Gail. Peggy Noonan had a terrific column last week in The Wall Street Journal, making the case for why Taylor Swift should be Time’s Person of the Year. Gail Collins: Had a great Thanksgiving, Bret. And she’s currently giving a lift to everyone slogging through the football-watching season with their loved ones: Will Taylor be there to cheer Travis Kelce on at the Super Bowl? Bret: You’re assuming the Chiefs make the Super Bowl.

Persons: Bret Stephens, Hope, Gail, Peggy Noonan, Taylor Swift, Gail Collins, Bret, Can’t, Swift, she’s, Will Taylor, Travis Kelce, You’re, I’ll, … Gail Organizations: Street, Kansas City Chiefs, Chiefs, Miami, Eagles

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