What a difference five weeks of pointless, mind-numbing misery, humiliation, and dysfunction makes, huh?  Our big wet president demanded his Wally Wall and was willing to bankrupt every civil servant from TSA screeners to microbiologists and hardworking NEH muppets to get his way, while snarling everyone’s tax returns and shuttering our majestic national parks. We even saw a brief return of the barbaric practice of catfish racing. (“Dogfight’s closed. Moose shoulda told ya.”)

American democracy continues its daring career move into Situationist Surrealist metacomedy, a bit of Seinfeld (it’s about nothing!) and Groundhog Day (it keeps happening!) by way of Jackson Pollock (it’s a big mess and no one will clean it up).

The one upshot? Our big wet boy has gotten totally owned by a 78-year-old grandmother with a fucking adamantium skeleton and a barbed-wire spine, and he has literally no idea what to do with it.  Even his most sycophantic fascist allies are pantsing him at the White House food court.  He can’t get from the Orange Julius to the Sambo Burger without a merciless wedgie.   Other than the epic fail of ACA repeal, it’s hard to think of another time when Trump’s widely reported political skills came to such a big, glorious nothing.

As our editor Joelito put it:

Shoot Someone In A Major US City, And Odds Are You’ll Get Away With It (Buzzfeed and The Trace)

In Oakland speech, Kamala Harris launches White House bid with scathing assault on Trump (San Diego Union Tribune) and Harris picks hotbed of anti-Trump movement for campaign launch (Politico)

Ursula K. Le Guin on Being a Man (Brain Pickings)

Japan’s Supreme Court rules trans people have to get sterilised (Pink News)

Renewing Working-Class Internationalism (New Labor Forum)

The World Economy Just Can’t Escape Its Low-Growth, Low-Inflation Rut (NYT)

How to Think About Empire: Interview with Arundhati Roy (Boston Review)

Socialism and Freedom: Karl Polanyi’s Early Writings (LARB)

What Was New Atheism? (The Point)

The Fascinating Science Behind Why We See ‘Faces’ In Objects (Mental Floss)

Americans are having fewer babies, and it might have to do with the economy (Marketplace)

Robert A. Caro on the Secrets of Lyndon Johnson’s Archives (New Yorker)

‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ Is Back, and Stephanie Beatriz Is Making the Most of It (NYT)

Norway town ready to battle Canadian city for world’s tallest moose statue (CTV)

Australia’s Hot Duck Is Goth and Lives in a Sewage Pond (The Cut)

Tired of cat cafes? Try rabbits, owls, or snakes (Tsunaga Japan)