Please become a voluntary paying subscriber to Wide World of News today and support ad-free, independent journalism.
****
HALPERIN’S WEDNESDAY BIG FIVE
1. The latest from Ukraine:
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Western governments prepared Wednesday to toughen sanctions against Russia and send more weapons to Ukraine, after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pointedly accused the world of failing to end Moscow’s invasion of his country and what he said was a campaign of murders, rapes and wanton destruction by Russian forces.
In scarred and silent streets of ruined towns around Ukraine’s capital, investigators collected evidence documenting what appeared to be widespread killings of civilians. Specialists cleared mines from devastated towns near Kyiv that Russian troops have left, as Moscow regrouped its forces for a new assault on Ukraine’s east and south at the end of the war’s sixth week.
SPOILER ALERT: It is up to the Germans to decide if they will choose the combo of the risk of a recession and human rights – or something else.
****
2. However the war ends, figuring out Russia’s role in the world is going to be complex.
SPOILER ALERT: Putin is not going to any more G-Whatever meetings.
****
3. Bill Galston takes a fair and hard look at where inflation stands:
Inflation is now, incontestably, the leading issue for the electorate, and voters are giving the Biden administration low marks for handling it. This is a political crisis for Democrats, who are battling to retain their House and Senate majorities in highly unfavorable circumstances.
It is also a challenge for establishment economists—in academia, the administration and the Federal Reserve—most of whom misjudged the issue until the reality of high, rising and persistent inflation became too obvious to deny.
On one level, this challenge occurs within the conventional paradigm, with economists such as Paul Krugman on one side of the debate and Larry Summers and Jason Furman on the other. Mr. Krugman has abandoned his earlier optimism that inflation would be transitory and now believes that “rising prices will get worse before they get better. . . . There’s still a lot of inflation in the pipeline.”
SPOILER ALERT: Galston is a Summersian kind of guy.
****
4. The Washington Post has an essential read on congressional Democrats searching for answers on gas prices ahead of the midterms.
SPOILER ALERT: Accusing energy executives of price gouging at a Wednesday Capitol Hill hearing will not solve the party’s substantive or political problem on this one.
****
5. Washington Post reporter Josh Dawsey writes up a rollicking Tuesday night at Mar-a-Lago, featuring Donald Trump, a screening of a film about the 2020 election, and a cast of recognizable, bold-faced-named MAGA figures in an essential read for the ages.
SPOILER ALERT: Dawsey’s apparent presence at the event is not acknowledged or explained within the four walls of the piece, but it is going to be a thing.
****
OTHER WAYS TO SUPPORT MY WORK ON WIDE WORLD OF NEWS
If you want to kick in ANY lower amount than the formal subscription rates by check, send a simple email to markhalperintalk@gmail.com and ask how you can do that.
You can also leave a tip in the amount of your choice via:
• PayPal. markhalperinnyc@gmail.com
• Venmo. Mark-Halperin-4 (telephone number ends in x3226)
• Zelle. markhalperinnyc@gmail.com
* Buying me a cocktail (at Gotham City prices….), tax and server tip included, by clicking here.
* Buying me a cup of coffee (or a week’s worth) by clicking here.
Thank you!
Mark