Charlie Baker and the Rise of One-Party Rule

At least once a week during the past two years, a flock of protesters could be found outside the seaside home of the Republican governor of Massachusetts, airing their grievances about the man they call “Char-lie Baker.” (It rhymes with pie—get it?) Two years of “Char-lie Baker” would be a lot for any person to take, especially when the clamor is coming from members of your own party. The gatherings began in April 2020, when more than a dozen anti-lockdown demonstrators drove, horns blaring and Trump flags hoisted high, back…

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Nuts & Bolts—Inside the Democratic Campaign: The No. 1 rule in all campaigns

Welcome back to the weekly Nuts & Bolts Guide to small campaigns. Over the course of more than a decade, I’ve taken time to speak with campaign managers, field directors, communications directors, finance directors, and, of course, been a part of as many campaigns as I could. As election season gets close, there are always questions we ask of candidates who are considering running for office.  You would think the first question that the local party or campaign help would ask might be, “Can you raise money?” Another guess is, “How is your name…

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Russia’s nuclear threats will top agenda for Biden at NATO summit in Brussels

Russia’s threat of a nuclear attack will be among the key topics discussed by President Biden and U.S. allies during the NATO summit this week, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Wednesday. A Kremlin spokesperson said this week that Russian President Vladimir Putin could use nuclear weapons if he perceived … The Washington Times stories: White House

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New bill would mandate legacy IT inventories, modernization plans

Agencies finally would be on the hook to address the ever growing need to modernize legacy technology systems. After years of reports from the Government Accountability Office that found agencies didn’t have a good idea of how many or how old their legacy systems were, Sens. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) are trying to change that. Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H.,  introduced a new bill to require agencies to improve their plans to modernize legacy IT. (Graeme Jennings/Pool via AP) Hassan, the chairwoman of the Homeland Security and Governmental…

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‘Substantive Due Process’ Looms Large in Jackson Hearing

When Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota questioned Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson at her Supreme Court confirmation hearing on Tuesday afternoon, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont proved they have something in common in addition to being members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Neither of them was in the hearing room. Yet that did not necessarily make them outliers on the committee. A number of senators on the committee did not stay in the room to personally witness Klobuchar’s questioning of Jackson.…

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Ukraine update: We were so focused on NW Kyiv, we didn’t notice all the action on the other side

NBC’s Richard Engel got an unclassified look at the status map at a Ukrainian headquarters. Click the link for the full video, but here’s a screenshot of the map itself:  For all the talk about Ukraine encircling the Russian spearhead at Bucha, northwest of the city, it’s actually the northeastern side of Kyiv where counter-attacks are having the most success. Here’s @War_Mappers latest map of the area, updated last night:  Both of these maps have Bohdanivka, just northeast of Brovary, in Russian hands. But look at the thin tendril supplying…

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