NotableDemocracy dies by database. “We must also pay attention to the phone. That phone represents a greater power, one that could outlast Trumpism. ICE knows that it cannot shoot us all. But the Department of Homeland Security is close to being able to track us all.” — Tressie McMillan Cottom, Opinion columnist The long game behind Xi Jinping’s P.L.A. purge. “Mr. Xi apparently believes he can cultivate a new generation of leaders in short order for the world’s largest standing army.” — John Garnaut, a former China correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald On Trump’s ‘backlash’ presidency. “Periods of backlash feature very contentious politics around who has power and how it is used, and the ways that is presented politically are very in flux. What ties together Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon and Donald Trump is that they all presented visions of victimhood in response to racial change. That’s essentially what populism is in this context — Nixon’s ‘silent majority,’ for example.” — Julia Azari, a political science professor at Marquette Spotlight
‘Melania’ the Book Was Bad. ‘Melania’ the Movie Is Worse.“When I hear her worries about leaving the car, I fast-forward one year later, to when people are being pulled from their cars — or shot in them — by agents of her husband’s administration,” writes the columnist Carlos Lozada. ICYMIWant to make a difference? Donate a kidney. “The officials eroding government aid programs and democratic institutions benefit from good people’s nihilism. Nothing disproves helplessness like actually helping others.” — German Lopez, Opinion writer Listen (or Watch)More in Opinion
In Your WordsRe: “We Were Top Homeland Security Lawyers. You Can’t Wish Away the Fourth Amendment.” Laws, including constitutional protections, mean nothing without enforcement. Time to take a long look into the abyss of fascism. — Jeffersonian from Sausalito, Calif. Read more comments on the story here and check out our Letters to the Editor. We hope you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times.
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