Respond to prefers-color-scheme dark in app web views

Follow section front redirects in Spectrum

Enable NLP source in PCS for load testing

Switch off the News Alerts Survey Widget when we have enough responses

Poll to determine if new LUF updates are available

Allows the winning A/B test variant to be turned on without Spectrum deployment

Show infinite scrolling sections in Assembler MultiView

Show option for NLP article summaries in Action Bar

Show NLP summaries collection recirc on article pages

A general feature flag for Recipe Features that aren't yet released

Feature flag for media team features that aren't yet released

Use new Orca video player for preroll plugin in Spectrum

Show the snow tracker (instead of the heat tracker) on Spectrum

Middle East conflict live updates: Israeli forces advance in Rafah, Health Ministry says Gaza hospital system will collapse in hours

Why Spain will recognize a Palestinian state

Far-right German party may threaten democracy, can be spied on, court rules

Ask Amy: Dad hurt by daughter publicly reconnecting with her biological family

Miss Manners: Should I accept offered seat swaps when I’m flying for free?

Carolyn Hax: What’s the real cost of going halfsies on a modest engagement ring?

Pete Buttigieg’s view from the middle seat

The case for eating at Italian gas stations

5 big travel lessons from an accomplished conservationist

U.S.-China talks on AI risks set to begin in Geneva

Web publishers brace for carnage as Google adds AI answers

Fooled by AI? These firms sell deepfake detection that’s ‘REAL 100%.’ 

Eighth-inning decision burns the Nats in a 4-2 loss to the Red Sox

The Wizards will pick second in the NBA draft. Here’s whom they could take.

Mistakes pile up, leaving the Nationals with a 3-2 loss at Fenway Park

Retired cop meets abandoned baby he helped 23 years ago: ‘What are the odds?’

I used to dismiss my mom’s advice. Then I found a note she wrote before she died.  

Photos of his mom at lunch are a balm people didn’t know they needed

Can you spot bad financial advice on TikTok? Take our quiz.

Trump insults N.Y. case prosecutor at Jersey Shore rally

Blinken: U.S. ‘would not support’ Israeli invasion of Rafah

No, Apple, people do not want tech to crush everything in its path 

The urgent air defense lessons of April 16 

Are smartphones destroying childhood? It’s complicated.

2024 elections latest updates: Biden seeks to put focus on health care, infrastructure

Democratic group starts attacking Trump with abortion rights testimonials 

Did Obamacare ‘massively’ increase the cost of health care?

RFK Jr.’s ‘history lesson’ on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine flunks the fact test

The Trump-Biden battle over the 2017 tax cut

5 myths about Social Security as the program faces a funding crisis

Social Security has to be fixed. But you still need your own savings.

US President Joe Biden Departure

Haiyun Jiang

This week, I look at how a group of Republicans might begin to make amends for the failure to defend democracy against the MAGA movement, pick the distinguished person of the week and share a new interest.

Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) announced on Saturday that <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/02/10/mike-gallagher-congress-house/" target=_blank>he would not run for reelection</a> — just days <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/02/06/house-republicans-yell-gallagher-impeachment-vote/" target=_blank>after voting against</a> the meritless impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Though <a href="https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2024/02/13/mike-gallaghers-departure-is-a-bad-sign-for-democracy/" target=_blank>some pundits</a> <a href="https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/mike-gallaghers-unexpected-retirement-announcement-matters-rcna138359" target=_blank>praised Gallagher</a> as the sort of Republican the country needs, he has a long record of appeasing four-times-indicted former president <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/donald-trump/" target="_blank" class="contextual_link">Donald Trump</a>.

He endorsed Trump in 2020, even after Trump ridiculed late Arizona senator <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/19/trump-john-mccain-fan-1227632" target=_blank>John McCain (R-Ariz.)</a>, whom Gallagher apparently <a href="https://gallagher.house.gov/media/in-the-news/gallagher-says-mccains-life-should-inspire-americans-conduct-selves-dignity" target=_blank>held in high regard</a>. <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/mike-gallagher-insurrection/" target=_blank>He voted</a> against <a href="https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2019696" target=_blank>both Trump</a> <a href="https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/202117" target=_blank>impeachments</a> and <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/19/politics/house-republicans-january-6-commission/index.html" target=_blank>against an independent commission</a> to investigate the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/january-6-capitol-riot/" target="_blank" class="contextual_link">Jan. 6</a>, 2021, insurrection (though he did say he would <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p7piaHhAME" target=_blank>not support Trump in 2024</a>). Gallagher was <a href="https://www.postcrescent.com/story/news/2019/07/19/mike-gallagher-green-bay-wont-call-trump-omar-chant-racist/1768379001/" target=_blank>not one to denounce</a> Trump’s rabid racism, his association with antisemites or his denunciation of the justice system.

Worse, he joined in Trump’s <a href="https://gallagher.house.gov/media/press-releases/gallagher-statement-fbi-raid-mar-lago" target=_blank>attacks against the FBI</a>. He declined to vote to hold Trump adviser Stephen K. Bannon <a href="https://captimes.com/opinion/john-nichols/opinion-mike-gallagher-doesn-t-represent-wisconsin-he-represents-donald-trump-and-steve-bannon/article_944ab1d6-50c9-5598-bf23-389488269284.html" target=_blank>in contempt of Congress</a>. He fanned the flames of the baseless assailing of critical race theory. For his weak-kneed approach, he earned a C-minus grade from the <a href="https://accountability.gop/profile/rep-mike-gallagher/" target=_blank>Republican Accountability Project</a>.

That this guy should be lauded as a profile in courage says much about the state of the MAGA-intoxicated Republican Party. Gallagher was, as I have described, among those who <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/02/02/donald-trump-authoritarian-accommodate-dangerous-immoral/" target=_blank>chose to accommodate</a> evil rather than resist it.

After a brief show of independence with his Mayorkas vote, he has joined a <a href="https://www.axios.com/2024/02/08/mcmorris-rodgers-house-gop-retirements" target="_blank">stampede</a> of departing House Republicans — many outside the core MAGA group — including <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/02/08/rep-mcmorris-rodgers-head-energy-commerce-panel-wont-seek-reelection/" target="_blank">Cathy McMorris Rodgers</a> (Wash.), <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/13/michael-burgess-congressional-district-26/" target="_blank">Michael C. Burgess</a> (Tex.), <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/02/05/victoria-spartz-2024-election-indiana/07ecd694-c441-11ee-bbc9-9b5ca9b20779_story.html" target="_blank">Larry Bucshon</a> (Ind.), <a href="https://jeffduncan.house.gov/media/press-releases/representative-jeff-duncan-announces-he-will-not-seek-re-election#:~:text=Washington%2C%20D.C.%20%E2%80%94%20Congressman%20Jeff%20Duncan,or%20Nation%20in%20some%20capacity." target="_blank">Jeff Duncan</a> (S.C.), <a href="https://www.kuer.org/politics-government/2024-01-02/hes-running-rep-john-curtis-changes-his-mind-on-the-race-for-romneys-senate-seat" target="_blank">John Curtis</a> (Utah), <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/01/09/greg-pence-retires-congress/" target="_blank">Greg Pence</a> (Ind.), <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/12/05/patrick-mcchenry-not-seeking-reelection/" target="_blank">Patrick T. McHenry</a> (N.C.), <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/11/01/kay-granger-retiring/" target="_blank">Kay Granger</a> (Tex.) and <a href="https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/01/23/congress/armstrong-running-governor-north-dakota-house-burgum-00137312" target="_blank">Kelly Armstrong</a> (N.D.).

Well, now that most of these Republicans have nothing to fear from a primary challenge, why not show some spine? They could, for example, join Gallagher and refuse to support Trump. Furthermore, they could vote to discharge any Ukraine aid bill to get it to the floor, defend judges and law enforcement from baseless MAGA attacks, and repudiate Trump’s betrayal of NATO and his unconstitutional vow to use the military to suppress dissent. Freed from the bounds of party loyalty — which never stopped former Wyoming congresswoman Liz Cheney from putting country over party — they could belatedly join Cheney’s anti-Trump crusade to protect the United States from a fascist onslaught.

That might not erase their original sin in refusing to impeach Trump and ignoring his anti-democratic actions as president, but it would be a step in the right direction. Yet I sense that is a bridge too far for most of them. I hope I am wrong. I will be watching to see whether Gallagher and others find their decency and pro-democracy bona fides. It is not too late to do the right thing.

Craig Hudson

Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.), a former CIA agent <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/live-updates/midterms/midterm-election-updates/spanberger-notches-big-win-for-brat-in-virginias-7th-district/" target=_blank>first elected to Congress in 2018</a>, is not running for reelection this year. Instead, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/11/11/abigail-spanberger-virginia-governor-run-reelection/" target=_blank>she will run for governor</a> in Virginia in 2025. Congress — and the country — will miss her deep knowledge of foreign policy and commitment to national security.

After a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/02/12/ukraine-aid-congress/9b78814c-ca13-11ee-aa8e-1e5794a4b2d6_story.html" target=_blank>recent trip to Ukraine</a>, where she met with President Volodymyr Zelensky, Spanberger told me in a lengthy phone interview that the “clear-eyed and clear-voiced” Ukrainian leader emphasized that this is “a make or break” moment for Ukraine. Though Ukraine has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/world/europe/ukraine-maps.html#:~:text=Ukraine%20has%20reclaimed%2054%20percent,for%20the%20Study%20of%20War.&text=BEL.&text=UKR." target=_blank>recovered about half the territory Russia seized in 2022</a>, it is nowhere near victory.

Spanberger is candid about the Biden administration refusing the initial request from Ukraine for critical equipment, waiting for Europeans to act and then, finally, acceding. “Initially, I was willing to concede they were being careful,” she said. The risk of elevating the war to a major-power war is not zero. However, “we have demonstrated that Ukraine is abiding by the parameters” we set, she argued. The rigmarole leaves us consistently at least “a few months behind” Ukraine’s urgent requests.

As for her GOP colleagues, she told me that key Republicans on her visit, including Intelligence Committee Chairman Michael R. Turner (R-Ohio), “promised” Zelensky the aid bill would “get done.” Spanberger stressed: “They are committed to getting it done.” The mechanism for accomplishing that, however, remains uncertain.

MAGA Republicans’ indifference to Ukraine — evidenced by their shrug at <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/02/11/trump-nato-russia-invade/" target=_blank>Trump’s recent invitation for Russia to invade Europe</a> — incensed Spanberger. “What are they missing? We saved the world from fascism. We ended the Holocaust. We freed Europe. That was us,” she said, her voice rising with emotion. Now, these Republicans “want to remove America from the world,” she says. Russian President Vladimir Putin, she continued, “is on the precipice of destroying the world order we put in place through the deaths of thousands of Americans.” And, yet, it seems, they cannot be bothered to “explain this to their constituents or fend off a primary challenge” to defend our vital interests, she declared. Instead, they meekly follow their isolationist cult leader.

She recalled that the day after 9/11, our NATO allies invoked Article 5 for the first time. “They went to war for 2o years for us. For our war.” In a word, she said, she finds Republicans’ disregard of America’s vital interests “shameful.”

Her passion, clarity and knowledge on national security and democracy made Spanberger a standout in the House class of 2018. Congress badly needs members with these qualities. But Spanberger, just 44 years old, will continue her rise in the Democratic Party. Mark my words: She will be back on the national stage.

I can hardly believe I now love watching golf. Yeah, golf. I don’t play. I used to make cracks that any activity for which you could wear street clothes and need not run wasn’t a sport. Then, I watched “<a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/81483353" target=_blank>Full Swing</a>,” the Netflix reality show that follows the lives of several professional golfers on the PGA and LIV tours. The characters are engaging, as is the interaction among players and between players and their families. Some grew up in country clubs, and some <a href="https://www.ksl.com/article/46291884/how-utahs-tony-finau-went-from-a-garage-in-rose-park-to-the-masters" target=_blank>practiced in the family garage</a>(!). The PGA-LIV battle provides insight into the issue of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/06/24/monumental-sports-qatari-investment-authority/" target=_blank>sportswashing</a>, which we see in many professional athletic leagues.

But what’s intriguing about the show — and the sport — is how maddeningly difficult golf is. (If a Martian landed, it might exclaim: “You have to use that skinny stick to get the little ball in the tiny hole in a huge park?) These athletes are not physical freaks. They look like ordinary people. But the technique (to generate speed and power), the endurance and, most of all, the mental toughness over a tournament running four days and 72 holes — plus playoff holes — is hardly ordinary. In an instant, a front-runner can lose concentration and collapse; someone back in the pack can catch fire, stringing together a series of near-impossible shots. And aside from their caddies (phenomenal golfers and strategists in their own right), the players’ struggle is a solitary affair. The winner must defeat not a single opponent but everyone else playing that week. (No such thing as an “easy draw,” as in tennis.)

So, I have gotten hooked watching the variety of shots, the puzzle-solving (e.g., when to take a penalty, calculating whether the wind will send your ball flying into the water), the idiosyncratic personalities, the announcers’ patter, the sometimes <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/22/golf/golf-outrageous-fashion-spt-spc-intl/index.html" target=_blank>hilariously hideous ensembles</a> and the dignified camaraderie. And, sometimes, you can simply gaze at the gorgeous setting (the cliffs of Monterey in California, the spring flowers at Augusta in Georgia, etc.) to achieve zen-like serenity. The magnificent execution of a game that drives mere mortals mad might give <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/69649-jogo-bonito-the-beautiful-game" target=_blank>soccer</a> a run for its money as the “beautiful game.”

Next week, subscribers will get my Mail Bag News letter. Read a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/02/14/jennifer-rubin-live-chat/" target=_blank>transcript of this week’s Q&amp;A</a>, or <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/02/28/jennifer-rubin-live-chat/" target=_blank>submit a question</a> for the Mail Bag newsletter.

University of California at Berkeley, BA in history

University of California at Berkeley, JD

Jennifer Rubin writes reported opinion for The Washington Post. She is the author of “Resistance: How Women Saved Democracy from Donald Trump” and is host of the podcast Jen Rubin's "Green Room."

Jennifer Rubin

Newsletter: How Mike Gallagher and other Republicans can atone

the-washington-post

Hill Coverage of Nov. 8, 2023

FTWP

Editorials

Columns

Guest opinions

Cartoons

Submit a guest opinion

Today's Opinions newsletter

Opinions

washpost

Sign up for the Prompt 2024 newsletter for opinions on the biggest questions in politics

Washington Post Opinions

The Washington Post Opinions section features opinion articles, op-eds, editorials by the Editorial Board, global opinions and letters to the editor on the issues of the day. Offerings include columns by Washington Post opinion writers, political cartoons by editorial cartoonists Ann Telnaes and Michael de Adder and podcasts by Jonathan Capehart.

Sign up for Democracy, Refreshed, a newsletter series on how to renovate the republic.

Opinion Some Republicans can atone for their betrayal of U.S. democracy

What caught my eye