The Threat to Democracy Is Coming From Inside the U.S. House

Representative Jim Jordan may or may not break down the last few Republican holdouts who blocked his election as House speaker yesterday. But the fact that about 90 percent of the House GOP conference voted to place him in the chamber’s top job marks an ominous milestone in the Republican Party’s reconfiguration since Donald Trump’s emergence as its central figure. The preponderant majority of House Republicans backing Jordan is attempting to elevate someone who not only defended former President Trump’s efforts to subvert the 2020 presidential election but participated in…

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How We Got ‘Democracy Dies in Darkness’

I should not have been surprised, but I still marveled at just how little it took to get under the skin of President Donald Trump and his allies. By February 2019, I had been the executive editor of The Washington Post for six years. That month, the newspaper aired a one-minute Super Bowl ad, with a voice-over by Tom Hanks, championing the role of a free press, commemorating journalists killed and captured, and concluding with the Post’s logo and the message “Democracy dies in darkness.” The ad highlighted the strong…

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Who should staff the arsenal of democracy, feds or contractors?

The war between Russia and Ukraine has provoked a debate here in the U.S. Who should rebuild the Defense Department supplies shipments to Ukraine have drawn down? Specifically, should it be expanded contracting with industry or a buildup of what’s known as the government’s organic industrial base? Or should the government enlist industry to make up the shortfall? The question in some ways forms a proxy for wider questions of who should do what. On the specific weapons question, though, DoD in reality is working on a variety of ways…

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Amid Historic and Damning January 6 Hearings, MoveOn Political Action Announces Democracy Slate Endorsements

MoveOn members are endorsing six governors and five secretary of state candidates and will raise $ 1 million in small-dollar contributions for them. As hearings reveal past – and continuing – efforts by MAGA extremists to overturn elections, MoveOn is mobilizing millions of voters to protect our freedom to vote. Washington, D.C. – As the historic and damning January 6 hearings continue to reveal disturbing new details about past and ongoing efforts by MAGA extremists to overturn elections, MoveOn Political Action is announcing its Democracy Slate endorsements to protect our…

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Pelosi Defies China’s Bluster, Heralds ‘Taiwan’s Vibrant Democracy’

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi defied the Communist Chinese government Tuesday by touching down in Taiwan for a visit. The California Democrat continued to win praise from Republican lawmakers, but an ambiguous response at best from the Biden administration, which has been skeptical of the trip.  Pelosi issued a statement after her arrival saying that the visit “honors America’s unwavering commitment to supporting Taiwan’s vibrant democracy.” Pelosi is the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Taiwan since then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., did it in 1997.  Gingrich is among Republicans who had…

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Biden calls fight for democracy the world’s ‘defining challenge’

President Biden called upon more than 100 world leaders gathered for the opening of his “Summit for Democracy” on Thursday to stand together in battling what he described as a “backward slide of rights and democracy” in the face of rising authoritarianism around the world. “We stand at an inflection … The Washington Times stories: White House

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