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In today’s edition:
- A new podcast from Post Opinions
- The undermining of a pioneering Black educator
- Would you be willing to lend Trump half a billion dollars?
- Liz Cheney might be a 2024 X-factor
‘Impromptu’ conversations
“I’ve been trying to get us to do this for eight years, so I’m so excited we have an Opinions podcast.”
And with that, inaugural guest Ruth Marcus serves up “Impromptu,” the new Post Opinions podcast that has been simmering on the department’s back burner for so long that the conversations could hardly be more collagen-rich.
Each week, “Impromptu” will invite listeners to drop in on the actual convos our columnists are having about the news and cultural debates of the day. A rotating cast from the Post Opinions roster will make sure you get the most authoritative, interesting voices on any given topic.
This week, it’s Ruth and Alexandra Petri, moderated by Amanda Ripley, discussing the fight over the abortion medication mifepristone that will make its way to oral argument next week at the Supreme Court.
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Ruth lays out the background of the case and its context now. The stakes are high, but the risks — deep breath — are “relatively low,” as she explains. Alexandra, our resident humor columnist, talks about how difficult it is to satirize a situation that’s already so ridiculous.
And that’s before unpacking the politics of the whole mess — all in about 20 minutes.
Listen to this and all the coming episodes of “Impromptu” on Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, The Post site or anywhere else you listen to podcasts.
Nevertheless, she led
I used to live just two blocks from the D.C. home once occupied by early 20th-century educator Anna Julia Cooper — which I would pass most winter weekdays on my way to swim laps at the high school she once presided over — but it wasn’t until this week that I knew anything about her.
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Shirley Moody-Turner, editor of a collection of Cooper’s writings, rectifies that in a fascinating account of the educator’s story. Cooper, one of the most highly educated Black women of her day, became principal of D.C.’s prestigious M Street High School for Black students in January 1902. The attempt to undermine her began shortly thereafter.
Moody-Turner’s recounting of that attempt is full of salacious, brazen tactics — including rumormongering about truancy, insufficient discipline and even an improper romantic relationship. “The tactics used to discredit Cooper followed a recognizable pattern,” Moody-Turner writes. “Public shaming, presumed incompetence, questioning her professional judgment and other innuendoes used to cast doubt on her fitness to lead.”
Resonates an awful lot today, no? Shedding light on this underappreciated history, Moody-Turner hopes, will show “not only how the tactics around removing such leaders have persisted for more than a century, but also what was at stake — and still is — in the battles over educational access and leadership.”
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Chaser: Jump to modern day, when David Moinina Sengeh, chief minister of Sierra Leone, is still fighting for radical inclusion in education. He writes in an op-ed how much his work has been shaped by one seemingly small decision: cutting off his dreadlocks.
From Catherine Rampell’s column about how former president Donald Trump can’t get any surety company to spot him the money. Sureties, she explains, aren’t so keen to accept as collateral the properties he lied about.
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“Imagine you sold someone a glass engagement ring that you claimed was a real diamond,” Catherine writes. “Then, when a judge found you liable for fraud, you tried to use the ‘diamond ring’ as collateral for an appeal bond. That’s the level of chutzpah we’re working with here.”
Trump’s whole boast-about-not-paying-his-bills vibe and general aura of I-might-sic-the-government-on-you-if-elected-again also don’t necessarily appeal to sureties — curious!
Catherine says, “That’s the funny thing about rule of law: When you make clear you won’t uphold it, those who might need its protection are a little less willing to do business with you.”
Chaser: Despite enjoying some schadenfreude, Ruth Marcus frets that the hefty penalty might infringe on Trump’s right to appeal the judgment. Don’t let “Trump derangement syndrome” get in the rule of law’s way, she writes.
More politics
In yesterday’s newsletter, we pretty much finished casting our characters for this fall’s election. Well, after publication, Republican Party pariah Liz Cheney got her agent to make some calls, her people talked to my people, yadda yadda yadda, and now David Ignatius can’t “help thinking that Cheney might be an underappreciated X-factor in the 2024 race.”
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Okay, what actually happened is this: David moderated a talk last week in Connecticut during which the deposed GOP conference chair landed one “rhetorical roundhouse punch” after another against Trump. He thinks Cheney’s vociferous opposition might actually make a difference, especially if she marshals voters not only away from Trump but toward President Biden.
But perhaps her highest purpose, David writes, will be refusing to let Americans forget what happened on Jan. 6, 2021 — a horror for which Cheney had a front-row seat.
Smartest, fastest
- The musical artist Matisyahu has been vocally pro-Israel — and has had shows canceled as a result. Chuck Lane says it’s a worrying sign of the state of artistic freedom.
- The Editorial Board asked this week: Can anything stop the D.C. crime wave? Then, it pulled together eight ideas from columnists and experts.
- A bill in Congress could help secure the baby-formula market, Alyssa Rosenberg writes. She hopes lawmakers recall the desperation of the shortage two years ago and support the legislation.
It’s a goodbye. It’s a haiku. It’s … The Bye-Ku.
More motivation
For Trump to win the White House:
Fast collateral
***
Have your own newsy haiku? Email it to me, along with any questions/comments/ambiguities. See you tomorrow!
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You’re reading the Today’s Opinions newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox.
In today’s edition:
“I’ve been trying to get us to do this for eight years, so I’m so excited we have an Opinions podcast.”
And with that, inaugural guest Ruth Marcus serves up “Impromptu,” the new Post Opinions podcast that has been simmering on the department’s back burner for so long that the conversations could hardly be more collagen-rich.
Each week, “Impromptu” will invite listeners to drop in on the actual convos our columnists are having about the news and cultural debates of the day. A rotating cast from the Post Opinions roster will make sure you get the most authoritative, interesting voices on any given topic.
This week, it’s Ruth and Alexandra Petri, moderated by Amanda Ripley, discussing the fight over the abortion medication mifepristone that will make its way to oral argument next week at the Supreme Court.
Ruth lays out the background of the case and its context now. The stakes are high, but the risks — deep breath — are “relatively low,” as she explains. Alexandra, our resident humor columnist, talks about how difficult it is to satirize a situation that’s already so ridiculous.
And that’s before unpacking the politics of the whole mess — all in about 20 minutes.
Listen to this and all the coming episodes of “Impromptu” on Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, The Post site or anywhere else you listen to podcasts.
I used to live just two blocks from the D.C. home once occupied by early 20th-century educator Anna Julia Cooper — which I would pass most winter weekdays on my way to swim laps at the high school she once presided over — but it wasn’t until this week that I knew anything about her.
Shirley Moody-Turner, editor of a collection of Cooper’s writings, rectifies that in a fascinating account of the educator’s story. Cooper, one of the most highly educated Black women of her day, became principal of D.C.’s prestigious M Street High School for Black students in January 1902. The attempt to undermine her began shortly thereafter.
Moody-Turner’s recounting of that attempt is full of salacious, brazen tactics — including rumormongering about truancy, insufficient discipline and even an improper romantic relationship. “The tactics used to discredit Cooper followed a recognizable pattern,” Moody-Turner writes. “Public shaming, presumed incompetence, questioning her professional judgment and other innuendoes used to cast doubt on her fitness to lead.”
Resonates an awful lot today, no? Shedding light on this underappreciated history, Moody-Turner hopes, will show “not only how the tactics around removing such leaders have persisted for more than a century, but also what was at stake — and still is — in the battles over educational access and leadership.”
Chaser: Jump to modern day, when David Moinina Sengeh, chief minister of Sierra Leone, is still fighting for radical inclusion in education. He writes in an op-ed how much his work has been shaped by one seemingly small decision: cutting off his dreadlocks.
From Catherine Rampell’s column about how former president Donald Trump can’t get any surety company to spot him the money. Sureties, she explains, aren’t so keen to accept as collateral the properties he lied about.
“Imagine you sold someone a glass engagement ring that you claimed was a real diamond,” Catherine writes. “Then, when a judge found you liable for fraud, you tried to use the ‘diamond ring’ as collateral for an appeal bond. That’s the level of chutzpah we’re working with here.”
Trump’s whole boast-about-not-paying-his-bills vibe and general aura of I-might-sic-the-government-on-you-if-elected-again also don’t necessarily appeal to sureties — curious!
Catherine says, “That’s the funny thing about rule of law: When you make clear you won’t uphold it, those who might need its protection are a little less willing to do business with you.”
Chaser: Despite enjoying some schadenfreude, Ruth Marcus frets that the hefty penalty might infringe on Trump’s right to appeal the judgment. Don’t let “Trump derangement syndrome” get in the rule of law’s way, she writes.
In yesterday’s newsletter, we pretty much finished casting our characters for this fall’s election. Well, after publication, Republican Party pariah Liz Cheney got her agent to make some calls, her people talked to my people, yadda yadda yadda, and now David Ignatius can’t “help thinking that Cheney might be an underappreciated X-factor in the 2024 race.”
Okay, what actually happened is this: David moderated a talk last week in Connecticut during which the deposed GOP conference chair landed one “rhetorical roundhouse punch” after another against Trump. He thinks Cheney’s vociferous opposition might actually make a difference, especially if she marshals voters not only away from Trump but toward President Biden.
But perhaps her highest purpose, David writes, will be refusing to let Americans forget what happened on Jan. 6, 2021 — a horror for which Cheney had a front-row seat.
It’s a goodbye. It’s a haiku. It’s … The Bye-Ku.
More motivation
For Trump to win the White House:
Fast collateral
***
Have your own newsy haiku? Email it to me, along with any questions/comments/ambiguities. See you tomorrow!
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