🧵Dec. 10, 2016 is the day it all went off the rails for the tech industry, @KaraSwisher writes.

Silicon Valley leaders were invited to meet with the president-elect at Trump Tower. Donald Trump was the antithesis of all they claimed to represent. wapo.st/3OJLMTe Many tech leaders had openly opposed Trump’s stances during the campaign, @KaraSwisher writes.

Almost all of them pushed back when Trump called for a “complete shutdown of Muslims entering” the U.S.

And most privately derided Trump as a buffoon. wapo.st/3OJLMTe

🧵A year into the pandemic, I lost the will to read, Katherine May writes in the latest Post Pandemic series.

Not great for a writer. wapo.st/46ceOkr
“It wasn’t a sudden occurrence,” May writes.

“I did not read at the beginning of the crisis, because I was occupied with other things. I was busy home-schooling my son and cramming paid work into odd corners of the day.” wapo.st/46ceOkr

🧵 “All my life my father was a flyer,” Paul Hendrickson writes in a guest opinion.

“He lived to be nearly 85. But even deep into his 70s, I was unafraid to go up with him, to wonder at his skills.” wapo.st/445Wmt3 In 1983, my father retired from his 30-year career at Eastern Airlines, Hendrickson writes.

“It had been almost four decades since he was strapped into the cockpit of his P-61 Black Widow night fighter on Iwo Jima in the last days of World War II.” wapo.st/445Wmt3

🧵I lost 40 pounds on Ozempic. But I’m left with even more questions, @RuthMarcus writes. wapo.st/3qsWeVQ @RuthMarcus Weight was a chronic issue but, for the most part, not an urgent one, @RuthMarcus writes.

"I was always heavier than I wanted to be, but when I put my mind to it, I could shed enough pounds to look better — for a while." wapo.st/3qsWeVQ

“I will not be seeking the Republican nomination for president in 2024,” @GovChrisSununu writes in a guest opinion.

“The stakes are too high ... to hand the nomination to a candidate who earns just 35 percent of the vote.” wapo.st/3NcRpZv Since 2017, the national Republican Party has lost up and down the ballot, @ChrisSununu writes.

That will happen again unless we Republicans undergo a course correction. wapo.st/3C93Mjf

From the Editorial Board:

Mike Pompeo’s embrace of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman after Jamal Khashoggi's murder is revolting. wapo.st/3XEzjTk In Pompeo's book, his commentary on Khashoggi's murder reveals much more about Pompeo than his critics.

It shows that, rather than acting as a principled leader of U.S. diplomacy, Pompeo coddled the person who sent the Khashoggi hit squad. wapo.st/3XEzjTk

Originalism is bunk. Liberal lawyers shouldn’t fall for it, @RuthMarcus writes in the latest Opinions Essay. wapo.st/3OQjTHZ @RuthMarcus Originalism is the legal theory that dominates the thinking of this conservative Supreme Court, @RuthMarcus writes.

"Not all of the conservative justices are committed originalists. I count four of the six." wapo.st/3OQjTHZ

The Biden administration has granted legal immunity to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a protection that even Trump’s administration didn’t offer.

@IgnatiusPost has the details: wapo.st/3UOCZjE @IgnatiusPost For critics of MBS, the immunity decision is a slap in the face, @IgnatiusPost writes.

It will likely rouse new protests in Congress and among human rights activists that the Biden administration is accommodating Mohammed for reasons of realpolitik. wapo.st/3UOCZjE

From the Editorial Board:
Wuhan’s early covid cases are a mystery. What is China hiding? wapo.st/3hSYGkh The story of how the pandemic got started — and turned into a global catastrophe — remains a black box.

It should not be.

The first cases could provide the most important clues about the origins of the virus, yet we know the least about them. wapo.st/3hSYGkh

We are heartbroken to say Michael Gerson, 58, died on Thursday after a long battle with cancer.

For the past 15 years, Michael wrote a twice-weekly column for us.

🧵Here are some selections of his work: washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/… "I'm anxious to befriend my grown sons. But that hasn’t stopped the random, useless tears," @MJGerson wrote in this beautiful 2013 meditation on what it felt like to drop off his son at college.
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/…

Oswaldo Payá fought long and hard for democracy and respect for basic human rights in Cuba.

David E. Hoffman (@thedeadhandbook) details Payá's vision in the latest Opinions Essay, adapted from his upcoming book, “Give Me Liberty”: wapo.st/3QpBeb2 @thedeadhandbook Payá launched the Varela Project in 1998, challenging Fidel Castro’s dictatorship with an unprecedented nationwide citizen petition for democracy.

The project was named for Félix Varela, a 19th-century priest and philosopher: wapo.st/3QpBeb2

The pandemic’s death toll in the U.S. will surpass 1 million people in the coming days.

To attempt to put the 1 million in context, @salvesergio and @codingyan compared the continuing death toll with the tolls from previous catastrophes in our history. wapo.st/3wqyoJt @salvesergio @codingyan The first confirmed covid-19 death was announced in late February 2020: a man in his 50s from Washington state. wapo.st/3wqyoJt

From the Editorial Board:

Saturday marks the third anniversary of the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

It is a good moment to reflect on the duty to speak out against authoritarian rule. wapo.st/2Y5Zo3B Our late colleague wrote on Sept. 18, 2017, that he hadn’t protested initially when some friends in Saudi Arabia were wrongly arrested, but then decided he must.

For his principled stand, Khashoggi was drugged and dismembered by a Saudi hit squad. wapo.st/2Y5Zo3B

What terrible things did Neera Tanden tweet? The truth, writes Dana @Milbank wapo.st/3kl8CQq @Milbank Can you believe that Neera Tanden called Hillary Clinton the “anti-Christ” and the “real enemy”?

Oh, wait. It was Ryan Zinke who said those things.

51 Republican senators (and several Democrats) confirmed him as secretary of the interior in 2017. wapo.st/3kl8CQq

Smart Republicans could see Kamala D. Harris coming years ago, and they tried to smother her early, writes @DanielMorain.

Now that Joe Biden has chosen her as his running mate, America is about to see what those Republicans could see long ago: wapo.st/2XRjPyc The first goal of a vice presidential choice is to “do no harm,” and Kamala D. Harris clearly wouldn’t, @databyler wrote in April.

Harris has the political skills for the race: wapo.st/3kxgNsK

From the Editorial Board:

Trump’s commutation of Roger Stone’s sentence is an unforgivable betrayal of his office wapo.st/2BXbe5i The president may have had the power to help his longtime friend.

But that does not make it any less a perversion of justice — indeed, it is one of the most nauseating instances of corrupt government favoritism the United States has ever seen. wapo.st/2BXbe5i

From the Editorial Board:

It is our view that more than enough proof exists for the House to impeach President Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

Here is a summary of the evidence: wapo.st/38sbXa4 Trump’s actions were an abuse of his presidential powers.

He used his official authority — offering an Oval Office meeting to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — to obtain a personal benefit: mud he could sling at a likely opponent in 2020. wapo.st/38sbXa4

President Trump will support a sweeping budget and border compromise and declare a national emergency at the same time, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says.

Here's a thread on what has been written about declaring a national emergency⬇️ Without a bill funding the wall, where can the president find the money?

"Several places, it turns out," Mark Tushnet wrote on Feb 6: washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/…

From the Editorial Board:

The Saudi “investigation” of the disappearance of #JamalKhashoggi does not exist.

Rather, President Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are conspiring with the Saudi leadership, buying time for them to build a cover story. wapo.st/2CVGLUl The Saudi leadership under King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, like the Turkish government, knows what happened to Jamal.

So do Trump and his top aides. They have access to U.S. intelligence reports that are being withheld from Congress. wapo.st/2CVGLUl

From The Post Editorial Board:

Enough has been learned about Brett M. Kavanaugh's partisan instincts that we believe senators must vote “no.”

We do not say so lightly. We have not opposed a Supreme Court nominee, liberal or conservative, since 1987.
wapo.st/2yeBtOR Given Republicans’ refusal to properly vet Mr. Kavanaugh, and given what we have learned about him during the process, we now believe it would be a serious blow to the court and the nation if he were confirmed. washingtonpost.com/opinions/vote-…

For too long, opponents of gun reform have said nothing can be done to stem the violence. That's demonstrably wrong.

The #MarchForOurLives movement should be informed by science, with specific proposals that could make an impact. A thread with facts .... wapo.st/gunreforms Here’s a general rule: More guns = more gun deaths. It holds across countries, and note how much the U.S. stands out. wapo.st/gunreforms