Stand up for science: Trump has spent a good portion of his first week in office railing against facts that he dislikes—but that doesn’t mean government scientists should muzzle themselves to stay in his good graces. “It’s completely reasonable for government employees to assume that tweets about climate change would bother Trump, who is a denier,” writes Susan Matthews. “It is terrifying that they would start censoring themselves so as not to upset him.”
The president and the prime minister: Theresa May just became the first foreign leader to meet with the new president in Washington. Her awkward search for common ground with Trump reflects the economic reality of Brexit-era Britain, explains Joshua Keating.
Mike Pence’s abortion doublespeak: At the March for Life, our pro-life vice president called for “generosity, not judgment” for women who seek abortions. Mark Joseph Stern argues that Pence’s gentle language belies his ideal outcome, which is a country that imprisons women who get abortions.
The gag rule and the First Amendment: Elsewhere in Slate, Stern explains why the global gag rule—Trump’s order to deny funding to any international nonprofit that provides information about abortions—is unconstitutional. (Even John Roberts and Samuel Alito signed on.)
For fun: Dillon Brooks’ flop in a recent college basketball game was pretty bad. But was it the worst flop in basketball history?
Generously, not judgmentally,
L.V. Anderson
