The stage was set for an epic political brawl when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and California Gov. Gavin Newsom agreed to debate this summer. “This was sure to be must-see TV,” Alexander Sammon writes. “Two guys who really wanted to be president, both of them very much under 80, squaring up.”
It never happened. Why not? That their showdown was delayed—perhaps indefinitely—says a lot about this political moment. Sammon tells the story of two governors flying too close to the sun.
And speaking of DeSantis: John Pfaff breaks down the Florida GOP’s new, devious way to thwart liberal judges and prosecutors.
An international assassination?
Justin Trudeau says India may have murdered a Canadian. Nitish Pahwa unpacks the complex story behind the accusation.
Whoopsie!
It’s Groundhog Day at the Supreme Court, as the third term kicks off amid “another crisis of the court’s own making,” Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern write. Last term, Brett Kavanaugh signaled to Alabama lawmakers, in a wink-wink, nudge-nudge kind of way, that the door might be open to make the voting district they were pushing for a reality in the future. Lithwick and Stern take a look at how that seems to have encouraged them to blatantly defy the court right away, and what that says about the changing relationship between the court and the conservative legal movement.
The parent flap
Sam Bankman-Fried’s folks were allegedly tied up in his crypto empire—including some of its shenanigans. Alex Kirshner fills us in as the FTX saga attains new levels of farce.
Decisions, decisions
To One Piece or not to One Piece? Nadira Goffe helps you decide whether Netflix’s live-action adaptation of the popular anime is right for you.
What the British already knew
The sexual assault allegations in the new Russell Brand documentary are sadly not a surprise—especially to Brits, Imogen West-Knights writes. She takes a look at the particular moment that forged his misogyny.
Dank news
The Biden administration may soon take an important step toward decriminalizing pot. It’s not legalization, but it’s something! Alex Halperin explains what rescheduling cannabis will actually do.
Today, Slate is … * GAH! YEESH! BLERGH.
… much like the week Kevin McCarthy is having! Jim Newell is here to catch you up on the speaker’s trials and tribulations.
Thanks so much for reading! We’ll see you tomorrow.
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