By the Way, Kamala Harris Is a Dangerous Authoritarian

With some hard work, pluck, the right boyfriend, and a bit of genetic luck, Vice President Kamala Harris has found her way onto the presidential ballot without having to secure a single primary vote. Don’t tell me the American dream is dead. Sure, Harris is a demagogue who speaks in cringy, swirling, impenetrable platitudes. And sure, according to President Joe Biden, Harris was an identity hire. But “Morning Joe” says we’re not supposed to talk about any of that. So, let’s discuss her record and stated positions. It seems like…

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Authoritarian? Conservatives Want to Restore the Constitution. The Left Can’t Handle It.

The Constitution created three branches in the federal government: the Legislature to make the laws, the Executive branch to enforce the laws, and the Judiciary to settle disputes about the laws. Yet the federal government we know and very much do not love doesn’t operate the way the Constitution says it should. Instead, unelected bureaucrats write more rules than Congress does, the president cannot fire bureaucrats who oppose his efforts to keep his promises to the people, and the Supreme Court has unilaterally rewritten the Constitution on issues like abortion,…

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How Did America’s Weirdest, Most Freedom-Obsessed State Fall for an Authoritarian Governor?

Illustrations by Brandon Celi This article was featured in One Story to Read Today, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a single must-read from The Atlantic, Monday through Friday. Sign up for it here. In the course of a single month this year, the following news reports emanated from Florida: A gun enthusiast in Tampa built a 55-foot backyard pool shaped like a revolver, with a hot tub in the hammer. A 32-year-old from Cutler Bay was arrested for biting off the head of his girlfriend’s pet python during…

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