What Is ‘State Capture’? A Warning for Americans. by Tyler McBrien

This piece by Tyler McBrien is the lead essay on the editorial pages of today’s The New York Times. It’s a useful explanation of what’s current happening at the federal level as the country’s top elected felon and the opportunistic oligarchs who’ve crowded in around him enact their plan to steal as much money as possible from U.S. citizens and people in need around the globe. What they are doing is not unprecedented. It is a tactic that has a name and is well understood by political scientists and economists. The stories on the front page of the newspaper should be making that clear, too.

Abandoned in the Middle of Clinical Trials, Because of a Trump Order by Stephanie Nolen

Best as I can tell, the only coherent, consistent right-wing ethos right now is to enable the deaths of as many innocent people as possible. The gutting of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is the latest and arguably clearest manifestation of that proudly cruel belief system in that it has had immediate results. Whether referring to the actual perpetrators of the proudly ignorant budget cutting or the congressional enablers, the plain truth remains the same: The Republicans have measurably killed people with their actions. That’s it. That’s the whole story. Reporting for The New York Times, Stephanie Nolen details how the choices made by these rampaging fools arm harming people under medical care and damaging the country’s reputation around the world. (That’s right, kids. It’s a national security issue, too.) One physician’s simple assessment says it all: “It’s unethical, it’s dangerous, and it’s reckless.”

Primary Every Democrat by Meredith Shiner

The past few weeks have been a test. With precious few exceptions, the Democrats have failed this test miserably. They have gone to federal offices under siege and responded to being illegally barred from entering with little more than a grumble and a shrug, accepting the status of literally being outside looking in. Too many of them have cast votes to confirm flagrantly unqualified and transparently immoral cabinet nominees, even as the executive branch was actively engaged in stripping the government down to the studs. Writing for The New Republic, Meredith Shiner is appropriately livid and makes the only logical argument. It’s the national Democratic party that actually needs to be razed and replaced.

Plucky Asheville Restaurants Rise Above the Flood by Pete Wells

I remain agonized by what the community I called home for nearly a decade has endured these past few months. Because of this, I am grateful whenever the national press circles back to Asheville, whether to report on the continuing struggles or the hopeful signs of rebuilding. Pete Wells reports on the progress towards recovery made by various restaurants in a city that is still establishing itself as a top culinary destination. I’m especially glad that the article focuses on The Bull and Beggar, a wonderful restaurant I and my partner in all things visited a few times in the first couple years after it opened. We spent enough time in its neighborhood that seeing it partially submerged helped lock in for our household the gravity of the situation. This article is published by The New York Times.

Marianne Faithfull Made an Art of Upending Expectations by Lindsay Zoladz

Much as I adore a lot of the music created by Marianne Faithfull, I did not feel qualified to write about her life and legacy when she passed away. I knew others would do a far better job with the assignment. Lindsay Zoladz absolutely did. This piece is published by The New York Times.