Reading archive 2026-01-14

Smithsonian submits files to White House after funding threat The White House had threatened to withhold the Smithsonian’s funding if it did not send more documentation on its exhibits and operations.

These prosecutors spent years on cases. Then Trump granted pardons.: The president’s clemency acts have eroded faith among Justice Department employees that their work will result in accountability, some prosecutors say.

In Secret Testimony, Republicans Derided Trump’s Stolen Election Claims: The testimony, part of the derailed Georgia election interference case, makes clear how dismissive some senior Republicans were of claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 election.

How to make the midterms slightly less disgusting: Divided government would be good outcome next fall.

World’s fattest parrots set for mating bonanza after bumper berry crop: After a four-year hiatus, conservationists in New Zealand are relieved that the flightless kākāpo is once again breeding. Fewer than 300 of the parrots exist. - "The parrots were once abundant in New Zealand, but dwindled after the arrival of Polynesian settlers around 700 years ago, who hunted them for meat and feathers. The arrival of European settlers accelerated their demise by clearing forest habitats and introducing deer and possums, competing with them for forest resources."

Trump makes obscene gesture, mouths expletive at Detroit factory heckler: “As far as calling him out, definitely no regrets whatsoever,” the heckler told The Post after a video captured Trump twice mouthing “f--- you” and raising his middle finger.

FBI executes search warrant at Washington Post reporter’s home: The search came as part of an investigation into a government contractor accused of illegally retaining classified government materials.

Thom Tillis wants you to know something: ‘I’m sick of stupid’: The North Carolina Republican has been at the forefront this month of staking out anti-MAGA ground and criticizing Trump’s aides. [ed. note: Thom Tillis is deeply insincere, very stupid, or both]

A casino bill is a bad bet for Virginia Democrats: Few issues have divided Democratic lawmakers as sharply as the proposed Tysons casino.

After fleeing the Taliban, they felt safe in America. A shooting in D.C. changed everything.: “Most of all, I wanted freedom. I’m so scared I won’t get it.”

A Romance That Actually Takes Sex Seriously: Heated Rivalry understands how relationships develop through physicality.

How the Supreme Court Broke Congress: In the name of protecting the balance of powers, the Court is radically refashioning that balance. - "The citizens and commentators shouting from the sidelines that Congress must act, fix itself, and reclaim its intended role are not wrong. But they miss that the Court has made doing so nearly impossible. The practical result is a Congress caught between paralysis and policing, mostly incapable of translating collective judgment into law and, when it does manage to do so, vulnerable to having its most significant accomplishments - civil-rights enforcement, voting protections, campaign-finance reform, administrative authority - erased by judicial decree. The judiciary, long conceptualized as a check on legislative excess, is now defined by its own excess against legislative charge.

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"The Roberts Court has hollowed out these dynamic sources of congressional constitutionalism. Its voting-rights and campaign-finance decisions have weakened the electoral systems that make Congress responsive to the public. Statutes of this genre, to borrow from the former Yale Law School dean Robert Post, should be thought of as "wholesome legislation that nourishes democratic legitimacy"-measured legislative judgments about the guardrails and ground rules necessary to preserve elections as channels of representation, and public faith in them as such. In dismantling this scaffolding, the Court has left Congress more detached from its electorate, diminishing its claim and role as a representative authority."

The Islamic Republic Will Not Last: But the opposition has to start working together if something better is to follow.

The Biggest Myth About Trump’s Base (And Why Many Believe It): The MAGA faithful aren’t deserting their leader. - "The obvious conclusion is this: These purportedly pro-Trump figures do not actually speak for Trump or his supporters. Trumpism is not neo-isolationist or neoconservative, pro-restraint or pro-intervention. It is not pro-worker or pro-billionaire. It is whatever Trump says it is. According to YouGov, two weeks before American forces snatched Maduro, Republican support for invading Venezuela stood at 43 percent. Today that number is 74 percent. 'America First' and 'Make America Great Again' are slogans, not deeply held governing philosophies. They are branding - and Trump is the brand."