Irreversible: President Trump’s opportunity to fill a large number of judicial vacancies (thanks, Senate Republicans) is going to let him transform the federal bench for years to come. Dahlia Lithwick looks at three of his first nominees, finding them horrifying: “The decision seems to have been made that these jobs should go to polemicists and bomb-throwers, performance artist lawyers who have spent their intellectual lives staking out absurd and often abhorrent legal positions.”
Here he comes: Mark Joseph Stern wonders what Robert Mueller, who is now looking into the business dealings of Trump’s associates, will find. “We still know little about what potential misconduct investigators are scrutinizing,” Stern writes. “But we know nothing they find is liable to be good news for Trump.”
Let her speak: Interrupted Sen. Kamala Harris is the liberal hero of the day. But Katy Waldman wonders whether some Democrats celebrating her would really support her for higher office, given her middle-of-the-road record on crime and punishment.
The long view: What is Amazon doing buying Whole Foods? Figuring out ways to make you pick up your own purchases, Daniel Gross theorizes. Cementing its place as the comprehensive go-to for all your shopping needs, Will Oremus thinks.
For fun: Watch Sigourney Weaver fight an alien invasion in a short film by Neill Blomkamp.
She’s good at that,
Rebecca
