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☆ Handwringing over Biden's age has Democrats worried about a repeat of Ruth Bader Ginsberg's refusal to step down
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-18 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Read previewAt 81 years old, President Joe Biden is facing criticism from Republicans and Democrats alike that he's too old to be president again. Many draw parallels between Biden and the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who refused to step down from her lifetime appointment to the court while President Barack Obama was in office. The current Supreme Court is comprised of 6 conservative justices and 3 liberals, though Chief Justice John Roberts is often considered a swing vote. Bill Clinton's choice for Supreme Court vacancy, on Capitol Hill, June 15, 1993. Supreme Court justices are appointed, not elected, and the confirmation of Obama's nomination of Garland was blocked by Republicans in the Senate in the wake of Antonin Scalia's death in 2016.

Persons: —, Joe Biden, Jon Stewart, Ezra Klein —, Donald Trump, Biden, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Barack Obama, Ginsburg, Obama, Merrick Garland, shoring, Trump, Amy Coney Barrett, John Roberts, Justin Buchler, Pres, Bill Clinton's, Marcy Nighswander, Garland, Antonin Scalia's, Hillary Clinton, Clinton, she'd, Roe, Christian Grose, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Dean Phillips, Grose, Buchler, Kamala Harris, Gavin Newsom —, Harris, Newsom, Lyndon Johnson, Hubert Humphrey, Richard Nixon, Robert Hur, I've, flubs, Abdel Fattah al, Nikki Haley, Nancy Pelosi, Peter Loge, Younger, Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, Phillips, let's, I'm, we'll, Ron Sachs Organizations: Service, Democrats, Business, Supreme, Democratic, Case Western Reserve University, Committee, Capitol, AP, Trump, Wade, CNBC, University of Southern, Research, California Gov, Washington Post, Democrat, Biden, Republicans, GOP, Politico, Minnesota, Time, NBC News, Reuters, US, Judiciary, Washington DC Locations: Biden's, University of Southern California, California, Mexico, South Carolina, Trump, Capitol Hill, Washington

☆ Opinion | Building the Palestinian State With Salam Fayyad
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-09 | by ( The Ezra Klein Show | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But the truth is you don’t need just a partner — you need two partners able to deliver at the same time. So you could see it as a tragedy of history that Salam Fayyad joined the Palestinian Authority in 2002, at the height of the second intifada, just as Israeli society shifted hard to the right. A Western-educated economist, Fayyad is a technocrat at heart. And as the Palestinian Authority’s finance minister, and then as prime minister, he dedicated himself to the spadework of state-building. His theory was that instead of waiting around for the peace process to deliver Palestinian statehood, he would just build a state — institutions, infrastructure, security, sewers and all — and then statehood would follow.

Persons: ” That’s, Salam Fayyad, “, Ezra Klein, Fayyad Organizations: Palestinian Authority, Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google, Palestinian Locations: Israel

☆ Opinion | What Relationships Would You Want, if You Believed They Were Possible?
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( The Ezra Klein Show | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Almost half of children are born to unmarried women. The number of close friends Americans report having has been on a steep decline since the 1990s, especially among men. We are living out a radical experiment in how we live, love, parent and age — and for many, it’s failing. People want more love in their lives, and opening their relationships is one way to find it. A poll from last year found that one-third of Americans believe their ideal relationship would involve something other than strict monogamy.

Persons: “, Ezra Klein, it’s, It’s Organizations: Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google

☆ Opinion | ‘Why Haven’t the Democrats Completely Cleaned the Republicans’ Clock?’
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( The Ezra Klein Show | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Political analysts used to say that the Democratic Party was riding a demographic wave that would lead to an era of dominance. All this has made the Democrats’ political math a lot more precarious. And it also poses a kind of spiritual problem for Democrats who see themselves as the party of the working class. Ruy Teixeira is one of the loudest voices calling on the Democratic Party to focus on winning these voters back. But he also warned in that book that Democrats needed to stop hemorrhaging white working-class voters for this majority to hold.

Persons: “, Ezra Klein, Ruy Teixeira, He’s, ”, John B, Barack Obama, Teixeira, Judis, Joe Organizations: Democratic Party, Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google, American Enterprise Institute, Liberal Patriot, Democratic, Party

☆ Opinion | Gen Z Is Listening to What Netanyahu Is Saying. Is Biden?
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-26 | by ( Ezra Klein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

No one could demand that Netanyahu accept a Palestinian state so long as that state would be governed by Hamas. There are older Americans who knew Israel when it was young. We only ever knew Israel as the strongest military power in the region. But we also knew an Israel that seemed to be trying to find its way toward peace and coexistence. They know an Israel that controls Palestinian life and land and intends to keep it that way.

Persons: Netanyahu, Al Fatah, I’ve, Israel, Joe Biden’s, Yitzhak Rabin, Ehud Barak, David, Benjamin Netanyahu’s Israel Organizations: Hamas, West Bank, Fatah, Israel Locations: Gaza, Qatar, Israel, America, Siena, An Israel

☆ Opinion: Trump is a strong candidate. Democrats need to take him seriously.
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-25 | by ( Julian Zelizer | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —Democrats should not make the mistake of underestimating former President Donald Trump. Moreover, they note, Haley was able to win independent voters who theoretically would be more amenable to President Joe Biden than Trump in the fall. Moreover, the number of Republicans who keep saying they won’t vote for Trump under any circumstances, gives Democrats hope that on Election Day, many voters in the GOP won’t turn out. But these arguments downplay the threat Trump will pose to Biden in November by ignoring several fundamentals. Trump is succeeding even though the United States has never had a major presidential candidate saddled with so much legal baggage.

Persons: Julian Zelizer, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, —, Nikki Haley —, Trump, Haley, Joe Biden, Biden, That’s, — Trump, pollsters, Karl Marx, Lyndon Johnson, Arizona Sen, Barry Goldwater, Simon Rosenberg, Ezra Klein Organizations: CNN, Princeton University, The New York Times, America, Democratic, Trump, GOP, Republican, WWE, Republican Party, Biden, Arizona, New York Times Locations: New Hampshire, United States

☆ Opinion | ‘The Strongest Democratic Party That Any of Us Have Ever Seen’
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-25 | by ( The Ezra Klein Show | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

If you’re a Democrat, how worried should you be right now? On the one hand, polls suggest Democrats should be very worried. Biden has a strong record to run on, and Trump has a lot more baggage than he did in 2020. Simon Rosenberg is a longtime Democratic political strategist, the author of the newsletter Hopium Chronicles and one of the few people who correctly predicted the Democrats’ strong performance in 2022. He argues that the Democratic Party is in a better position now than it has been for generations.

Persons: Biden, Donald Trump, staved, Trump, “, Ezra Klein, Simon Rosenberg, MAGA Organizations: Democrat, Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google, Democratic, ’, Democratic Party

☆ Opinion | I Am Going to Miss Pitchfork, but That’s Only Half the Problem
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-21 | by ( Ezra Klein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

I’m gutted to see Condé Nast folding the online music magazine Pitchfork into GQ. I won’t try to improve on the eulogies written for the site already (Casey Newton and Eric Harvey have good ones). It’s one of the few corners of the internet I still love, no matter how often I find myself in disagreement. I’ve seen some thoughtful writing already on why Pitchfork couldn’t make it. In this case, they’re specific to Pitchfork’s editorial choices and market position.

Persons: Condé Nast, Casey Newton, Eric Harvey, HuffPost, FiveThirtyEight Organizations: Pitchfork, GQ, New York Times, Sports, BuzzFeed, Popular, U.S . News, Gawker, ABC News, Grid, ”, Vox Media, McClatchy, Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Sun, Dallas Morning News Locations: U.S

☆ Opinion | Thomas Friedman on Why the War in Gaza ‘Has to Stop’
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( The Ezra Klein Show | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

I’ve never seen it so broken,” Thomas L. Friedman, a New York Times Opinion columnist who has been covering the Middle East for decades, tells me. It’s been just over 100 days since Hamas’s attack on Israel, and the costs of the war are staggering. In polling from late fall, 64 percent of Gazans reported that a family member had been killed or injured. Israel believes that more than 100 hostages are being held captive in Gaza, and polling reveals that Hamas has gained popularity among Palestinians while support for Israel has plummeted around the world. When this war ends, will Israel really be safer?

Persons: I’ve, ” Thomas L, Friedman, It’s, Gazans, “, Ezra Klein Organizations: New York, Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google, Hamas Locations: East, Israel, Gaza

☆ Opinion | A Republican Pollster on Trump’s Undimmed Appeal
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-16 | by ( The Ezra Klein Show | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In the past, Democrats and Republicans at least understood why members of the other party liked their chosen candidates. But for a lot of Democrats, it feels impossible to imagine why anyone would cast a vote for Trump. Kristen Soltis Anderson is a veteran Republican pollster, a founding partner of the opinion research firm Echelon Insights and a CNN contributor. She spends her days trying to understand the thinking of Republican voters, including hosting focus groups for New York Times Opinion. You can listen to our whole conversation by following “The Ezra Klein Show” on the NYT Audio App, Apple, Spotify, Google or wherever you get your podcasts.

Persons: Donald Trump, weren’t, Barack Obama, George W, don’t, “, Ezra Klein, Kristen Soltis Anderson, Republican pollster, Trump Organizations: Republicans, Trump, Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google, Republican, CNN, New York

☆ The Books That Explain 2023 - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-03 | by ( Ezra Klein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

“Chip War” is a reminder of the physical artifacts that underlie what we so wrongly describe as the cloud. The title of Miller’s book is, for now, rhetorical, but I found myself wondering how long that would remain the case. There are more histories of this era of American politics than any bookshelf can hold. The apogee of America’s welfare state, with all its limitations, was coterminous with the height of the Cold War. But I believe a new one has already begun, and it is being shaped more by China than by any American politician, including Trump or Biden.

Persons: Chris Miller’s, ” Miller, Miller, Biden, Trump, Gary Gerstle’s, ”, Gerstle Organizations: Deal, Biden, Soviet Union, Trump Locations: United States, China, Taiwan, Outmaneuvering China, Soviet

☆ Opinion | A Lot Has Happened in A.I. Let’s Catch Up.
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( The Ezra Klein Show | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A lot has happened since. OpenAI, the makers of ChatGPT, recently dominated headlines again after the nonprofit board of directors fired C.E.O. But that drama isn’t actually the most important thing going on in the A.I. They’ve been closely tracking developments in the field since well before ChatGPT launched. I invited them on the show to catch up on the state of A.I.

Persons: ChatGPT, C.E.O, Sam Altman, isn’t, hasn’t, “, Ezra Klein, Kevin Roose, Casey Newton, Newton, They’ve Organizations: Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google, Tech, The Times Locations: A.I

☆ Opinion | The Unsettling Lesson of the OpenAI Mess
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Ezra Klein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

In my reporting, the best explanation I’ve heard for the board’s decision, as poorly communicated as it was, is that it fired Altman for the precise reason it said it fired Altman. “It would be wise to view any investment in OpenAI Global LLC in the spirit of a donation,” it warned. Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s chief executive, didn’t have the power to stop OpenAI’s board from firing Altman, but he did have the power to render the action hollow. He announced a new advanced innovations division, to be led by Altman (and the OpenAI president Greg Brockman, who resigned in solidarity with Altman) and staffed by any OpenAI employees who’d like to join. By Wednesday, Altman was back as chief executive of OpenAI and all but one of the board members had resigned.

Persons: I’ve, Altman, ”, OpenAI, Helen Toner, ” OpenAI, Satya Nadella, didn’t, Greg Brockman, weirdly, Ilya Sutskever, who’d, —, Meta’s Organizations: Microsoft, Google, OpenAI

☆ Opinion | Why the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process Failed
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( The Ezra Klein Show | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It is too early to talk about a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians. Peace efforts in the Middle East have been tried over and over again. Aaron David Miller is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the author of “The Much Too Promised Land: America’s Elusive Search for Arab-Israeli Peace.” Few people have been as intimately involved in the many Middle East peace processes as Miller. He’s a decades-long veteran of the State Department who has touched peace negotiations under the Reagan, the Clinton and both Bush administrations. His book is the best I’ve read on the peace processes and what went wrong.

Persons: wasn’t, “, Ezra Klein, Aaron David Miller, Miller, He’s, Reagan, Clinton, Bush Organizations: Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google, Carnegie Endowment, International Peace, State Department Locations: Israel, Gaza, Egypt, East

☆ Opinion | The Sermons I Needed to Hear Right Now
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( The Ezra Klein Show | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

This is a conversation about the relationship between Jewishness and the Jewish State. About believing some aspects of Israel have become indefensible and also believing that Israel itself must be defended. About what it means when a religion built on the lessons of exile creates a state that inflicts exile on others. In these past few months, I’ve been moved by the sermons of Rabbi Sharon Brous, which have managed to hold these paradoxes with more grace and prophetic wisdom than most. (A full transcript of the episode will be available midday on the Times website.)

Persons: I’ve, Rabbi Sharon Brous, “, Ezra Klein, Aza Organizations: Jewish, Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google, Times Locations: Jewish State, Israel, IKAR, Los Angeles

☆ Opinion | If Biden Is So Unpopular, Why Do Democrats Keep Winning?
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( The Ezra Klein Show | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A New York Times and Siena College poll released Nov. 5 showed Donald Trump leading Joe Biden in five of the six key swing states, with a notable jump in support among nonwhite and young voters. In response, Democrats freaked out. But then two days later, voters across the country actually went to the polls, and Democrats and Democratic-associated policy did pretty well. I asked Mike Podhorzer, a longtime poll skeptic, to help to help me understand the apparent gap between the polls and the ballot box. And as the founder of the Analyst Institute, he was the godfather of the data-driven turn in Democratic campaign strategy.

Persons: Donald Trump, Joe Biden, freaked, Andy Beshear, “, Ezra Klein, Mike Podhorzer, Podhorzer, ” Organizations: New York Times, Siena College, Democratic, Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google, Analyst Institute Locations: Kentucky, Virginia, Ohio

☆ Opinion | What Israelis Fear the World Does Not Understand
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( The Ezra Klein Show | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Earlier this week, we heard a Palestinian perspective on the conflict. Today, I wanted to have on an Israeli perspective. You can listen to our whole conversation by following “The Ezra Klein Show” on the NYT Audio app, Apple, Spotify, Google or wherever you get your podcasts. View a list of book recommendations from our guests here. (A full transcript of the episode will be available midday on the Times website.)

Persons: Yossi Klein Halevi, Shalom Hartman, “, Ezra Klein Organizations: Shalom, Shalom Hartman Institute in, Palestinian, Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google, Israeli Defense Forces, Times Locations: Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, Gaza, Israel, Oslo

☆ Opinion | An Intense, Searching Conversation With Amjad Iraqi
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( The Ezra Klein Show | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Before there can be any kind of stable coexistence of people in Israel and Palestine, there will have to be a stable coexistence of narratives. And that’s what we’ll be attempting this week on the show: to look at both the present and the past through Israeli and Palestinian perspectives. [You can listen to this episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” on the NYT Audio app, Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google or wherever you get your podcasts.] Our first episode is with Amjad Iraqi, a senior editor at +972 magazine and a policy analyst at the Al-Shabaka think tank. You can listen to our whole conversation by following “The Ezra Klein Show” on the NYT Audio app, Apple, Spotify, Google or wherever you get your podcasts.

Persons: we’ll, what’s, “, Ezra Klein, Amjad, Benjamin Netanyahu Organizations: Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google, Amjad Iraqi Locations: Israel, Palestine, Gaza, Palestinian

☆ Opinion | She Polled Gazans on Oct. 6. Here’s What She Found.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( The Ezra Klein Show | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” was produced by Emefa Agawu. Fact-checking by Michelle Harris, with Mary Marge Locker and Kate Sinclair. The show’s production team also includes Rollin Hu and Kristin Lin. The executive producer of New York Times Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser. Special thanks to Sonia Herrero.

Persons: “, Ezra Klein, ”, Emefa Agawu, Michelle Harris, Mary Marge Locker, Kate Sinclair, Jeff Geld, Claire Gordon, Rollin Hu, Kristin Lin, Isaac Jones, Kristina Samulewski, Shannon Busta, Rose Strasser, Sonia Herrero Organizations: New York

☆ Opinion | If Not This, Then What Should Israel Do?
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( The Ezra Klein Show | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“Two things are true: Israel must do something, and what it’s doing now is indefensible.” So writes Zack Beauchamp, a senior correspondent at Vox. Almost a month has passed since Hamas fighters slaughtered over 1,400 people in Israel and the state mounted its furious response. If Israel continues down this road, the cost in Palestinian lives, and in support for Israel, will be immense. Beauchamp, who has covered Israel extensively in recent years, set out to answer that question. I found his piece “What Israel Should Do Now” one of the best I’ve read since Oct. 7.

Persons: Zack Beauchamp, Israel, “, Ezra Klein, Beauchamp Organizations: Vox, Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google, Times Locations: Israel, Gaza

☆ Opinion | The Conflicted Legacy of Mitt Romney
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-27 | by ( The Ezra Klein Show | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

After factional infighting dominated the G.O.P.’s struggle to elect a House speaker, it feels weirdly quaint to revisit Mitt Romney’s career. He’s served as governor, U.S. senator and presidential nominee for a Republican Party now nearly unrecognizable from what it was when he started out. At the end of his time in public office, Romney has found a new clarity in his identity as the consummate institutionalist in an increasingly anti-constitutionalist party. In this resulting biography “Romney: A Reckoning,” Coppins pushes Romney to wrestle with his own role — even complicity — in what his party has become. In this conversation, guest host Carlos Lozada and Coppins examine Romney’s legacy at a time when it may seem increasingly out of place with the mainstream G.O.P.

Persons: Mitt Romney’s, He’s, Romney, wasn’t, McKay Coppins, “ Romney, Coppins, —, “, Ezra Klein, Carlos Lozada, George, Donald Trump Organizations: Republican Party, Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google, Republican, Tea Party, Trump Locations: U.S

☆ Opinion | The Reactionary Futurism of Marc Andreessen
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Ezra Klein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

I think the Republican Party’s collapse into incoherence reflects the fact that much of the modern right is reactionary, not conservative. It’s a coalition obsessed with where we went wrong: the weakness, the political correctness, the liberalism, the trigger warnings, the smug elites. The Silicon Valley cohort Andreessen belongs to has added a bit to this formula. Rather, it’s the pairing of the reactionary’s sodden take on modern society with the futurist’s starry imagining of the bright tomorrow. So call it what it is: reactionary futurism.

Persons: Jordan Peterson, J.D, Vance, Peter Thiel, Donald Trump, Patrick Deneen, ” Mark Lilla, “, —, ”, else’s, Andreessen, Nietzsche, ” “, John Galts Locations: incoherence, It’s

☆ Opinion | Trump’s Lawyers Are Going Down. Is He?
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( David French | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

On Tuesday morning, Jenna Ellis became the third Donald Trump-allied lawyer to plead guilty in Fulton County, Ga., to state criminal charges related to Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. The Ellis, Powell and Chesebro guilty pleas represent an advance for both the state election prosecution in Georgia and the federal election prosecution in Washington. At the same time, however, it’s far too soon to tell whether the prosecution has made real progress on Trump himself. The ultimate importance of the plea deals depends on the nature of the testimony from the lawyers, and we don’t yet know what they have said — or will say. To understand the potential significance of these plea agreements, it’s necessary to understand the importance of Trump’s legal team to Trump’s criminal defense.

Persons: Jenna Ellis, Donald Trump, Sidney Powell, Kenneth Chesebro, Ellis, Powell, Chesebro, Jack Smith, Trump, I’ve, Ken White, Ezra Klein’s, ” Organizations: Trump Locations: Fulton County ,, Georgia, Washington, Trump

☆ Opinion | The Jewish Left Is Trying to Hold Two Thoughts at Once
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( The Ezra Klein Show | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

So far, more than 5,000 Palestinians are reported dead and many more injured. There’s no one way to cover this that reconciles all that is happening and all that needs to be felt. So I invited Spencer Ackerman and Peter Beinart on to the show. Peter Beinart is an editor-at-large of Jewish Currents, the author of the Beinart Notebook newsletter and a professor of journalism at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism. (A full transcript of the episode will be available midday on the Times website.)

Persons: Israel, There’s, Spencer Ackerman, Peter Beinart, “, Ezra Klein, Ackerman, Trump, Craig Newmark Organizations: Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google, The, Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, Times Locations: Gaza, Israel

☆ Ranking and Explaining the Trump Indictments - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( The Ezra Klein Show | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

With four ongoing criminal investigations, Donald Trump is the most indicted president in U.S. history. After years of defying unwritten norms, he will now be subject to a criminal justice system defined by norms and precedents. Among the many commentators on Trump’s unprecedented legal troubles, White stands out for his “lawsplainers,” which analyze the gap between what the law says and what it actually does. This conversation walks through each of the four major criminal cases against Trump. Our guest host David French asks White why he loathes the overuse of the RICO statute and whether it was appropriately used in the Georgia election interference indictment.

Persons: Donald Trump, Ken White, White, “, Ezra Klein, David French Organizations: Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google, Trump Locations: Georgia, Florida

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