The uproar over Disney’s decision to fire the Mandalorian actress highlights some difficult questions — Disney and its subsidiary Lucasfilm announced that actress Gina Carano won’t be on The Mandalorian anymore and people got mad. …

The 11 most common defenses and why they’re wrong — The January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol is indefensible and Donald Trump’s role in inciting it is obvious. Yet a sizeable contingent of Americans — including most Republican Senators and right-wing media figures — have committed themselves to defending it. Well, not really defending it, but finding ways to…

The Democratic Congresswoman’s Instagram video created emotional connections some would rather suppress — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) went live on Instagram to recount her experience of the January 6 attack on the Capitol building. In a 90-minute video, AOC described her rising sense of anxiety as protest turned into riot, and a spike of fear as someone started banging on office doors. She…

On the very noticeable and welcome absence of Donald Trump — I’ve thought about Donald Trump every day for almost five years. Every single day, usually many times. I didn’t want to, but couldn’t help it. I bet many of you could say the same. In spring 2016, as it became clear Trump would be the Republican nominee, I started saying…

An open letter to QAnon, “stop the steal,” and other communities involved in the Capitol attack — To the QAnon community, and others involved in storming the Capitol: The Deep State is real, but it’s not what you think. The Deep State you worry about is mostly made up; a fiction, a lie, a product of active imaginations, grifter manipulations, and the internet. …

A sad day for America that might inadvertently lead to some good — It was a sad day for America. A mob stirred up by lame duck president Donald Trump stormed the Capitol building as Congress met to certify the November election, smashing windows, ransacking offices, and taking photos on the Senate floor. Five people died, including a rioter shot by Capitol police. …

You un-American, anti-democracy, lying sack of sh*t — Liar or believer? I’ve asked that a lot these past four years, as Republican politicians and media figures spout falsehood after Trump-supporting falsehood. Do they really believe it? …

One teenager used a racial slur in a video, another made it go viral, and adults made the whole thing worse — This weekend, The New York Times reported on some teenage drama. In 2016, a high school freshman named Mimi (who is white) posted a short video to Snapchat of herself saying “I can drive, n*****” in a rapper-like cadence. In spring 2020, it circulated around the school again, and a…

Undermining democratic legitimacy and conning supporters, but not actually affecting results — I saw this coming. As President Trump denigrated vote-by-mail and installed crony Louis DeJoy as Postmaster General, his unsubtle plan to manipulate the election came into focus. I called it out in July, and again, step-by-step, in August: