The filmmaker @ErrolMorris calls Donald Rumsfeld a man who was “adrift in a sea of his own verbiage.” nyti.ms/2V3WlYi
"In 1966, early in his public service career, Representative Rumsfeld, Republican of Illinois, co-sponsored the Freedom of Information Act, a vehicle for understanding the intentions of high political figures," writes @ErrolMorris. nyti.ms/2V3WlYi
The trick was to marginalize the record, to litter it with so many contradictions that a rebuttal to any future historian could always be found. His memos would pile up in drifts, disguising the underlying historical landscape, writes @ErrolMorris. nyti.ms/2V3WlYi
What accounts for his seeming change of heart? The metamorphosis from a liberal Rockefeller Republican congressman, a confidant of the civil rights and antiwar activist Allard Lowenstein, to one of the most reviled neoconservatives? nyti.ms/2V3WlYi
"George Packer recently called Mr. Rumsfeld America’s worst secretary of defense. But this isn’t a popularity contest. It’s not the man, so much, as the methodology. And the methodology, alas, seems ubiquitous."
"If policymakers hold steady, we are also on the verge of creating a foundation for a more inclusive, resilient recovery — much more robust than what we experienced after the Great Recession, despite having suffered a much bigger jobs hit,” says @jc_econ. nyti.ms/3AlyR0Q
This reopening is validating the past year’s policy experiment of being bolder, more generous and quicker during a crisis, writes Julia Coronado. nyti.ms/3AlyR0Q
"Wealth is up, and the difference between the top 1% and bottom 50% is narrower than during the last crisis." nyti.ms/3AlyR0Q
The 1965 Voting Rights Act was one of the most important pieces of legislation in American history. The Supreme Court’s conservative majority has been dismantling it, piece by piece, writes the editorial board. nyti.ms/3jBk4Jw
The latest blow came today, when all six conservative justices voted to uphold two Arizona voting laws despite lower federal courts finding clear evidence that the laws make voting harder for voters of color — whether Black, Latino or Native American. nyti.ms/3jBk4Jw
The conservative justices on the Supreme Court dismissed the challenge to Arizona's voting laws because, they said, only a small number of people were affected. nyti.ms/3jBk4Jw
In 2007, Britney Spears went to a hair salon and buzzed her head bald. Later, she took an umbrella to a photographer’s car. "I didn’t really identify with Ms. Spears’s music growing up, but I did identify with this newfound rage," writes @ambertamblyn. nyti.ms/3dekBNG
This week, Britney Spears introduced damning testimony during a court hearing on her experience of a thirteen-year conservatorship under her father’s direction, notes @ambertamblyn. nyti.ms/3heg3rQ
"My own trajectory was not Britney Spears’s trajectory," but there are parallels, writes @ambertamblyn, who was acting from age 10. "As I made more and more money, the circle of those I supported opened up to include extended family members and friends." nyti.ms/3heg3rQ
"For the second time in 50 years, there are questions about whether we are dealing with a pandemic caused by scientific research," writes @Zeynep Tufekci. nyti.ms/3qpn50Z
"With so much evidence withheld, it’s hard to say anything about Covid-19’s origins with certainty," writes @zeynep. nyti.ms/3qpn50Z
Even if we are denied answers, we can still learn lessons.
"Perhaps the biggest one is that we were due for a bat coronavirus outbreak, one way or another, and the research showing bat coronaviruses’ ability to jump to humans was a warning not heeded." nyti.ms/3qpn50Z
"The way people talked about Britney Spears was terrifying to me then, and it still is now," wrote @MaraWilson, an actor from age 5, in February. "Our culture builds these girls up just to destroy them." nyti.ms/3xSjD1u
"Fortunately people are becoming aware of what we did to Ms. Spears and starting to apologize to her. But we’re still living with the scars." nyti.ms/3xSjD1u
"A big part of The Narrative is the assumption that famous kids deserve it. They asked for this by becoming famous and entitled, so it’s fine to attack them." nyti.ms/3xSjD1u
House lawmakers are considering an overhaul of antitrust law this week, with the goal of reining in Big Tech.
Online advertising is “an opaque space rife with conflicts of interest,” noted the antitrust scholar @DinaSrinivasan. nyti.ms/3vOtT9z
Amazon “has exploited this commanding position to strong-arm other companies, control their means of distribution and drive them out of business,” wrote @stacyfmitchell. nyti.ms/2UzjDoG
“Isn’t it time we were all given a break from the Apple tax?” asked @fmanjoo. nyti.ms/3d8TQKi