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alexshephard.bsky.social
senior editor at the new republic
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I find the idea of a "cover up" of Biden's health both obvious and absurd. It's clear that the president and the people closest to him went to great lengths to try to obscure his declining health. But the idea that you can "cover up" aging is ridiculous and most people saw through the ruse

thats right

I don't think this is hard or a big deal: most will say they didn't see much of him, that he did a lot of good things, and that running for reelection will be a mistake. This isn't Iraq and they can surgically separate the policies they like from Biden. Pete and Kamala will have a problem though

I agree that this is not a "litmus test" - Democratic voters pick their nominee, and they won't care about this issue in 2028. It's a test, for the candidates, of whether they can answer a tricky (predictable) question from reporters.

the first gay president

A beloved, fan-owned soccer team in Germany — Schalke 04 — needed a sponsor. They got into business with Vladimir Putin. On the new PTFO, we report the inside story of what happened next. And why it’s relevant to your favorite team: youtu.be/TaOqrTO-RUE?...

We sent @hooks.bsky.social to Greenland and he came back with a story about imperial folly, the return of the 19th century, and just what Donald Trump and his cronies are really up to there. It's the best thing I've read about Trump's second term newrepublic.com/article/1947...

the big tell that Biden was losing it was was when he started to get way weirder way more often

This is a great review of what I thought was an appalling biography www.nytimes.com/2025/05/13/b...

We sent Chris Hooks to Greenland and he wrote the best piece I've read about how Donald Trump sees the world newrepublic.com/article/1947...

the absolute #1 core thing that New York primary voters don't understand is that Andrew Cuomo is going to collaborate with Trump not oppose him he keeps telling us this, during the primary, instead of lying about it like I assumed he would

"The emerging conventional wisdom that Biden entered a steep decline in 2023, may be accurate, but it ignores the fact that voters had concluded he was unfit for the presidency much earlier—and were summarily ignored by Democratic politicians." www.washingtonpost.com/books/2025/0...

It's totally unsustainable for Democrats to argue "Trump is a dangerous authoritarian criminal who is openly disregarding the constitution and taking bribes--which is why it's idiotic to call for impeachment." You can say it's too soon, but it's what the constitution requires.

I reviewed a new book about an elderly man who doomed the country for The Washington Post www.washingtonpost.com/books/2025/0...

what exactly does Timothy Snyder do now? write Facebook posts and give talks to investment bankers called like "What Is Freedom?" and "Russia—Is it Even Worse Than You Thought? (Yes And It Always Has Been)" www.nytimes.com/2025/05/14/o...

it really is amazing how easy it is to jangle your keys in front of these people

Remember how the media credulously reported that Trump wants to raise taxes on the rich? Guess what: Buried in the House GOP bill is a provision that would create a new and expanded tax break for exactly those types of wealthy investors. New piece from me: newrepublic.com/article/1952...

someone should tell the DNC people who are ousting David Hogg that none of that money is actually going to be spent primarying Democrats and that within five years he will be exactly like them. In fact, he's already exactly like them in nearly all the ways that count (to them)

I genuinely don't think good counter-messaging on trans rights is all that difficult. There are Democrats who aren't doing it not because coming up with it is hard but because they agree with the Republicans and want to disguise their disdain for trans people as a matter of political strategy.