Deadline Poet / June 4, 2024

A Lesson From the High Court

Calvin Trillin
US Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is seen after a swearing in ceremony for Mark Esper to be the new US Secretary of Defense in 2019.
US Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is seen after a swearing in ceremony for Mark Esper to be the new US secretary of defense in 2019.(Alex Wong / Getty Images)

If you’re engaged in public life,
The criticism’s often rife.
So if involved in serious strife,
The thing to do is blame your wife.

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With the midterm elections now firmly upon us, the question is whether Democratic candidates will do more than merely occupy ballot lines as mild alternatives to the red-hot crisis that is Donald Trump.

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Katrina vanden Huevel
Editor and Publisher, The Nation

Calvin Trillin

Calvin Trillin is The Nation’s “deadline poet.”

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