'Biden is alienating young voters'
Alexander Sammon at Slate
President Biden has an age problem, says Alexander Sammon at Slate. "It's not that he's 80: It's his dreadful standing with youth voters." He "has done basically zero communications outreach" to young voters. Polls show they want him to focus more on humanitarian aid in Gaza. "Turning student loan payments back on" didn't help. To win in 2024, Biden needs to "run up" the youth vote like he did in 2020. He's running out of time.
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'A disaster for American democracy'
Matt Ford in The New Republic
The centrist group No Labels bills itself as a unifier, says Matt Ford in The New Republic. But the Democratic-aligned nonprofit Third Way argues that No Labels' plan to run "a well-funded third-party candidate in key states" in 2024 would "block President Joe Biden from getting a majority in the Electoral College." That would sidestep "the will of the American electorate" and send the 2024 election to the Republican-controlled House, where Donald Trump "would be virtually certain to win."
'Promote the habits of a free mind'
Greg Lukianoff at National Review
Donors cutting off funding to colleges over "Pro-Palestinian — even explicitly pro-Hamas — demonstrations" are squandering an opportunity, says Greg Lukianoff at National Review. Schools face calls to "condemn the Hamas attacks" in Israel because, when it's convenient, they rush to "weigh in" on issues like the Ukraine war or Black Lives Matter. Donors should use their influence to demand institutional neutrality, always, to make campuses the "oases of free speech and academic freedom" they should be.
'Society evolves and learning must evolve with it'
Nedra Rhone in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Keyboards made cursive writing "a lost skill, a relic of the past," says Nedra Rhone in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. So why has California, "one of the most progressive states," required teaching cursive to elementary students? Learning cursive is useful for reading historical documents. Studies show learning it "aids in brain development." But don’t panic if efforts to revive it fail. The important thing is teaching kids "to communicate clearly," even if it's in "block lettering."
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Air strikes in the Caribbean: Trump’s murky narco-warTalking Point Drug cartels ‘don’t follow Marquess of Queensberry Rules’, but US military air strikes on speedboats rely on strained interpretation of ‘invasion’
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Air strikes in the Caribbean: Trump’s murky narco-war
Talking Point Drug cartels ‘don’t follow Marquess of Queensberry Rules’, but US military air strikes on speedboats rely on strained interpretation of ‘invasion’
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‘Peak consumption has become the Holy Grail of the energy debate’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
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Brazil’s Bolsonaro sentenced to 27 years for coup attemptSpeed Read Bolsonaro was convicted of attempting to stay in power following his 2022 election loss
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Calls for both calm and consequences follow Kirk killingTALKING POINTS The suspected assassination of far-right activist Charlie Kirk has some public figures pleading for restraint, while others agitate for violent reprisals
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Why does Donald Trump keep showing up at major sporting events?Today's Big Question Trump has appeared at the Super Bowl, the Daytona 500 and other events
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‘Democracy is under threat globally’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
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Former top FBI agents sue, claiming Trump purgeSpeed Read The agents alleged they were targeted by a “campaign of retribution”
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Why does Trump keep interfering in the NYC mayoral race?Today's Big Question The president has seemingly taken an outsized interest in his hometown elections, but are his efforts to block Zohran Mamdani about political expediency or something deeper?
