“Congress has a caucus for every cause — bicycles, snowboarding, baking, composting, aquaculture, soccer, rock-and-roll, and on and on. There are more caucuses, formal and informal, than members of Congress. Come January, many Democrats will compose what should be called the Cognitive Dissonance Caucus. In November, Democrats did well with voters, but beginning on Jan. 3, reality gets a vote. Consider four subjects: climate change, campaign finance, Medicare-for-all and racial gerrymandering.” (11/11/26)
“Kenya on Wednesday discharged its last Ebola patient, officially beginning the 42-day countdown toward being declared Ebola-free, even as the number of cases recorded in the wider region topped 11,000 since the outbreak began in May. The country recorded nine Ebola cases in October after the first patient traveled from Congo through Uganda, transmitting the virus to four family members and four healthcare workers. The first patient and his mother died of Ebola, while the other seven patients have fully recovered. The government had identified 135 contacts who had interacted with the first patient. Kenya now begins the 42-day countdown to being declared Ebola-free, provided no new infections are recorded during that period.” (11/11/26)
“Students often come to my office for advice about political extremism. Their internet feeds are awash with political binaries: ‘You’re either for us or against us,’ everyone is saying. There is no middle ground, and refusal to join appears tantamount to helping the enemy. Conservative students especially feel this pressure. ‘Is moderation synonymous with cowardice?’ they ask me. ‘Does refusing to join the fight really undermine America?’ It occurs to me that few of these young people have ever heard a forceful critique of binary thinking. When I tell them that this kind of thinking is a sign of political naiveté and immaturity, they stare at me blankly, as if they have no idea what I’m saying. But in fact binary thinking in politics is demonstrably foolish. The reasons are theological, epistemological, and anthropological.” (11/11/26)
“Donald Trump’s decision last week to name Stephen Miller as his new White House chief of staff gives the impression that instead of learning from and correcting the policy mistakes of the past two years, the president intends to double down on them. Miller has been unapologetically racist, and his prejudices and hatreds have fueled much of the Trump administration’s nativist agenda, especially in the area of immigration enforcement. He will now hold even more power over the administration’s policy direction. Naturally I wanted to ask Republican senators, newly returned to Capitol Hill on their first day back in session, for their thoughts on Miller’s promotion.” (11/11/26)
“Donald Trump was presented with several war options last Friday but rejected them all, at least for the moment. Neither did he accept the negotiated package on the table. Instead, he opted to continue his economic warfare against Iran. Given the expectation that Trump would restart the war after the midterms, optimism has grown that Trump may finally have abandoned the fantasy of a military victory. I suspect that optimism is premature. Instead, I see possible scenarios: War, peace, and a Swiss cheese status quo.” (11/11/26)
“The U.S. Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against Lyft, saying the company discriminated against passengers with service animals and those who use some mobility devices. The lawsuit, filed Monday, seeks $53 million for people with disabilities against whom Lyft allegedly discriminated and who have filed complaints to Lyft or the Justice Department. … The department filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. It alleges the company violated Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which prohibits private transportation companies from discriminating based on disability.” (11/10/26)
