Kremlin Insiders Alarmed Over Growing Toll of Putin's War in Ukraine  —  Almost eight weeks after Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine, with military losses mounting and Russia facing unprecedented international isolation, a small but growing number of senior Kremlin insiders are quietly questioning his decision to go to war.

They Know How Journalism Works!  They're Just Against It!  —  On Tuesday, Washington Post reporter Taylor Lorenz published a story about a repulsive creep who uses her large online following to, essentially, subject random LGBTQ people (and especially trans people) to harassment, and worse.

House Rating Changes: Eight Races Move in Republicans' Direction  —  President Biden's approval rating remains stuck at 42 percent, and if anything the political environment has deteriorated for Democrats since January as inflation concerns have soared and Build Back Better has stalled.

Inside the New Right, Where Peter Thiel Is Placing His Biggest Bets  —  They're not MAGA.  They're not QAnon.  Curtis Yarvin and the rising right are crafting a different strain of conservative politics.  —  It was Halloween in Orlando, and we had piled into a car to make a short trip …

Defeat Has Not Defanged Trump — or Trumpism  —  The fissures in the Democratic Party are on display for all to see, since it is the party in power, but the divisions in the Republican Party and the conservative movement are deeper, wider and far more threatening.

Majority of Americans want masks for travelers: AP-NORC poll  —  FARGO, N.D. (AP) — A majority of Americans continue to support a mask requirement for people traveling on airplanes and other shared transportation, a new poll finds.  A ruling by a federal judge has put the government's transportation mask mandate on hold.

Text Messages Show the Critical Role the Trump White House Had in Giving MBS His Job  —  On Monday, I published excerpts including text messages from legal documents that supported my previous reporting about the relationship forged between Jared Kushner and the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, known as MBS.

Tennessee GOP kicks Trump-backed Morgan Ortagus, Baxter Lee and Robby Starbuck out of primary  —  Adam Friedman Melissa BrownNashville Tennessean  —  The Tennessee Republican Party on Tuesday voted to remove three congressional hopefuls from the primary ballot in the new-look 5th Congressional District …

EXCLUSIVE Ex-CIA analyst says she ‘got bloodied’ in tangled U.S. war on Al Qaeda  —  In the 2012 Hollywood hit “Zero Dark Thirty,” a red-haired Central Intelligence Agency analyst played by Jessica Chastain travels to a secret CIA prison and watches a colleague waterboard a screaming Al Qaeda suspect …

Tucker Carlson and the Crisis of Masculinity  —  America needs more—and better—male role models.  —  Tucker Carlson's foray into testicle toasting is only the latest (and possibly most amusing) example of the right-wing's masculinity obsession.  The manliness theme keeps reappearing.

Biden's Errors Worsen Inflation  —  He needs to ditch his woke advisers and make growth the overriding priority.  —  1x  —  Three factors combined during the past two years to create the perfect economic storm.  Covid-19 scrambled the U.S. economy's supply lines.

A young Democrat's viral takedown demands a ‘wokeness’ rethink  —  “Wokeness is a problem and we all know it,” James Carville recently told Vox in his inimitably splenetic way.  The veteran strategist called on Democrats to distance themselves from “faculty lounge bulls—” and to undo their image as an …

Trump's Most Loyal Lawmakers Are Actually Losing Money  —  The members of Congress trying to mirror Donald Trump's politics the most are spending an awful lot.  —  Last year, it was a fundraising feast for the MAGA Goon Squad.  But in 2022, without the donor stimulus of an attempted insurrection …

‘Anti-Woke’ GOP Candidate Totally Forgot He Used to Condemn ‘Structural Bigotry’  —  Senate candidate David McCormick has pledged to “fight the woke mob,” but he once called for “solidarity by denouncing and eradicating structural bigotry.”  —  CJ  —  Pennsylvania Republican David McCormick …

Ginni Thomas also texted Meadows about another friend who shared election fraud conspiracy theories  —  (CNN)A day before the 2020 presidential election, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas mugged for the camera wearing a Trump baseball cap with her friend Connie Hair, chief of staff to GOP Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas …

Biden launches $6B effort to save distressed nuclear plants  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is launching a $6 billion effort to rescue nuclear power plants at risk of closing, citing the need to continue nuclear energy as a carbon-free source of power that helps to combat climate change.

The misinformation cope  —  Democrats are misunderstanding their losses with less-educated voters  —  A couple of weeks ago, Barack Obama spoke at a University of Chicago seminar on Disinformation and the Erosion of Democracy.  And as you might expect from a speaker at a seminar on Disinformation …

Judge sends Assange extradition decision to UK government  —  LONDON (AP) — A British judge on Wednesday formally approved the extradition of Julian Assange to the United States to face spying charges.  The case will now go to Britain's interior minister for a decision, though the WikiLeaks founder still has legal avenues of appeal.

The rise of solo judges nixing nationwide policies  —  The Biden administration's mask mandate for airplanes and public transportation might be going out with a whimper, rather than a bang.  Asked about a U.S. district judge halting the mandate this week, Biden was somewhat noncommittal …

Exclusive: Sergei Lavrov and Oleg Deripaska Traveled With a Sex Worker to Japan in 2018  —  On official business in Tokyo, Russia's foreign minister was with its most notorious oligarch in the company of the former's mistress and the latter's escort  —  Michael Weiss is news director at New Lines

Why Trump is lashing out at one of his own GOP allies in Arizona  —  Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich isn't quite corrupt enough for Donald Trump.  It's likely to cost the Arizonan his career in Republican politics.  —  At first blush, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich appears …

'It's Just Scaring People, and It's Not Saving Lives'  —  As the United States nears its numbing, millionth COVID death and shrugs its shoulders at a rise in cases, some Americans are feeling left behind.  Immunocompromised people have suffered disproportionately throughout the pandemic …

Scoop: Biden considers delaying Title 42 repeal  —  President Biden's inner circle has been discussing delaying the repeal of Title 42 border restrictions, now set to end May 23, according to a source with direct knowledge of the internal discussion. … That already endangers Democratic incumbents …