Our Best Stuff From Last Week, All in One Place
In another era, it might have been surreal. (Of course, in another era, we got our news when the paper landed on the front porch.) But on Tuesday, our phones buzzed twice within minutes, first with the news that Nancy Pelosi had signed the articles of impeachment and then that Senate had given Donald Trump a rare legislative victory by passing the USMCA. And … it felt about typical for these times.
One of our goals at The Dispatch is to give you meaningful news that takes a step back from the hustle and bustle of the Twitter-driven news cycle. But we know that you might not be able to drop everything and read it the moment we publish. So we are introducing a Saturday email that will let you catch up on the best of what we’ve done the previous week. We’re sending this edition to you because you’ve signed up for one or more of our other newsletters. If you want to continue to receive this, please opt-in here.
Justin Amash Has a Decision to Make
For all the calls for a GOP or third-party challenger for the 202 election, no serious candidates have emerged (no offense, Bill Weld). Could that change? Michigan Rep. Justin Amash formally left the GOP in July, but he’s always had a bit of an independent streak. And in 2016, he won re-election to his congressional seat by 203,000 votes—well more than the 77,000 across three states that gave Donald Trump the edge in the Electoral College. Declan Garvey profiled Amash on Wednesday, and during their interview, Amash asked: “Is there any better time to have a president who might be not from either party?”
The World Needs the U.S. as a Superpower
Americans have long debated our nation’s role on the world stage, and now we have a president who has, at different times, taken both sides. He’s vowed to end our “forever wars” (and shown a willingness to make terrible deals to do so) while also sending troops into conflict zones and escalating tensions with our rivals. Avi Woolf makes a compelling argument that there is no one else qualified, or willing, to serve as a “beacon of democratic and Western values at their best.”
