Extra, Extra
Stupor Tuesday: Yes, it’s Super Tuesday. But you don’t need me to tell you that. You know it because of the breathless headlines that focus only on the race and ignore the issues and the stakes. You know it because it’s Super Spam Tuesday in your messages and email. And if you didn’t know it because of that, you know it because Taylor Swift told you.
+ X Marks the Spot: “We’re familiar with Trump’s arc, of course. But why is Musk so important to the right? Why is a reported illicit drug user and unmarried father of 11 children by three women, a man whose social media site, X, is overrun with hatred and pornography, celebrated across the length and breadth of the new right, including parts of the Christian right? The answer is that if Trump is MAGA’s champion, Musk is its gatekeeper.” David French in the NYT (Gift Article): Why Elon Musk Is the Second Most Important Person in MAGA. (If you refuse to support Fox News, you should refuse to post on Twitter.) Elon is like Trump in other ways, too. For example, he hates paying his bills. Elon Musk Sued for $128 Million in Unpaid Severance by Former Twitter Execs. (Prediction: Don’t be surprised if Elon comes to Trump’s rescue by helping him pay his NY fraud trial fines.)
+ Truth Enamel: Musk and Trump are all about creating an alternate reality. The excellent Deb Roy, director of the MIT Center for Constructive Communication, is all about piecing back together the trust between experts and society. The Atlantic: How to Tackle Truth Decay.
+ News Clipping: “Opill, the first oral contraceptive approved for over-the-counter use in the United States, will be available in stores and online this month.” Meanwhile, after Dobbs, Trump’s White House Was ‘Awash in Speed’ — and Xanax. In fairness, during the four years I covered the Trump White House, my man cave was awash in that and a lot worse. But there’s an even scarier part of the story. “Immediately after counseling sessions, therapists were pressed for information about what they were told.”
+ Benioff the Marc? The other day I linked to a story about Marc Benioff buying up a lot of property in Hawaii. Now it looks like he’s up to the same thing he was up to in the Bay Area. Marc Benioff gives $150 million to Hawaii hospitals and says he donated most of the land he bought there.
+ Gas Leak: Man charged with smuggling greenhouse gases from Mexico into US in first-of-a-kind prosecution.
+ Center of Gravity: Jason Kelce announced his retirement after 13 seasons. There were a lot of tears. Thankfully, Jason Kelce is not retiring from this.
