And Gail Collins cracked the strategy and appeal of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a buff fitness buff: “If voters decide they want a president who can welcome foreign dignitaries at the White House naked from the waist up, he’s definitely your guy.” (Trish Hooven Brown, Philadelphia, and Helen C. Gagel, Evanston, Ill.)
In The Times of London, Hadley Freeman pondered the recent invisibility of Trump’s once-ubiquitous older daughter. “After the jury’s verdict was read out, Ivanka sent a message of love directly to her father — oh, wait, I stand corrected: She posted it on her Instagram Stories, which automatically delete after a day,” Freeman wrote. “Brings a tear to the eye, that. Perhaps she learned during her father’s trial that it’s best not to leave a paper trail.” (Sandra Notarangelo, London)
In The New Yorker, Rivka Galchen identified a group on which our political dysfunctions will have special impact: “Young people live on the highest floors of the teetering tower of our civilization, and they will be the last ones to leave the building. They have the most to lose if the stairwells start to crumble.” (Michael Schooler, Washington)
On NOLA.com, Clancy DuBos questioned the claims of a “mandate” by Gov. Jeff Landry of Louisiana by wondering if Landry knew the term’s meaning: “Given his obsession with anti-L.G.B.T.Q. legislation, one could even conceive that the first time he heard someone say ‘mandate,’ he thought it was two words — and recoiled in priggish disgust.” (Lorraine Gardella, New Orleans)
On Wirecutter, which is owned by The Times, Jon Chase marveled at the interior life of a newfangled washing machine: “After a month, an email appeared with usage statistics (how many cycles we’d used, what modes we favored) and — get this — a series of diagnostics confirming that the water supply, drain and all the various internal mechanicals were all in fine working order. This blew my mind: I can’t be bothered to get a physical on the reg, and now I’ve got a washer with its own Mayo Clinic built in.” (Judith Grey, Monhegan, Maine)