‘Mitch McConnell: Hero or villain?’
Geoffrey Kamaservice in Politico
Sen. Mitch McConnell’s retirement as Republican leader ends “a decades-long reign of highly effective legislative leadership,” says Geoffrey Kamaservice. But future historians are likely to see him as someone who began as “a pragmatist” favoring a “big-tent party” and shifted dramatically rightward because of “his determination to put party (and his own power) over country.” In the process, he fed the polarization that “undermined the Senate’s effectiveness” and “destroyed the GOP as a responsible, governing-minded party.”
‘The Supreme Court trumps Jack Smith’
The Wall Street Journal editorial board
The Supreme Court is right to hear former President Donald Trump’s appeal of the D.C. appeals court’s “dismissive” rejection of his claim of immunity from criminal prosecution over Jan. 6, says The Wall Street Journal editorial board. Staying out of it would have been the “safe political play” — “a ruling is sure to infuriate one side or the other.” But a definitive ruling is essential to prevent the “crippling” of future presidencies by “the threat of post-presidential prosecutions.”
‘Russia’s opposition needs more than one savior’
Casey Michel in Foreign Policy
Alexei Navalny’s “death in a Siberian gulag effectively snuffed out what many viewed as the clearest path to Russia’s eventual democratization,” says Casey Michel. He was not going to beat Russian President Vladimir Putin in an upcoming election, but the dream was that Navalny could emerge from prison to lead a democratic transition, like Nelson Mandela did in South Africa. Russia’s opposition needs many new heroes, because it was “too risky to place all hopes” in one person.
‘Why are we still flu-ifying Covid?’
Katherine J. Wu at The Atlantic
“Covid policies are getting more flu-ified,” which is alarming, says Katherine J. Wu. Vaccines are now “reformulated annually,” like flu shots. Instead of the old quarantine rules, you’re told to “stay home ’til you’re feeling better” and fever-free. Our increased immunity has made Covid “a little more flu-like,” but it still requires extra precautions. “Scientists simply understand much less about the coronavirus than flu viruses.” Everything from its evolution to our immunity “may continue to change.”