Reposted by Matt BaiRolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 11/09/2026It’s Been 25 Years Since 9/11. Did the Terrorists Win? We are more divided, the world is less secure, and many of our bedrock principles and ideals are eroding. Read @mattbaidc.bsky.social's commentary: www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol... 108022
Reposted by Matt BaiRolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 03/09/2026In a new interview with @mattbaidc.bsky.social, Rahm Emanuel talked about Israel and American Jews, the Democratic Party, hard career choices, life in a bizarrely high-achieving family, and much more. Read it here ⬇️ bit.lyRahm Emanuel: 'You Don't Like My Ideas? Show Me Yours'Rahm Emanuel wants to take on Republicans and Democrats from the "pragmatic center." He talks Israel, the DSA, a possible run for president and more. 33348
Reposted by Matt BaiSean Woods @seanwoods.bsky.social · 06/09/2026NEW from @mattbaidc.bsky.social www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...rollingstone.comTrump Is Doing Elite Colleges a Huge FavorPresident Trump's attacks on Ivys and other elite colleges have turned academia into a noble victim: commentary. 2136
Reposted by Matt BaiRolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 11/08/2026What the Fauci Fixation Reveals About Our Political System America’s most reviled immunologist made some questionable calls. But he was never the decider. Read @mattbaidc.bsky.social's commentary: www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol... 83611
Reposted by Matt BaiSean Woods @seanwoods.bsky.social · 29/07/2026READ @mattbaidc.bsky.social on the Dems vs DSA www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...rollingstone.comDoes the Socialist Surge Doom Democrats?Democratic Socialists of America candidates are winning elections across the country. Do they hurt Democrats' chances of taking back the White House? 662
Reposted by Matt BaiRolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 10/07/2026Trump Is Turning D.C. Into a Theme Park for the American Century The president erects monuments to the nation's greatness at home, while undermining it all over the world. Read @mattbaidc.bsky.social's commentary: www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol... 1110828
Reposted by Matt BaiRolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 05/06/2026When discussing the various indictments he has faced during Trump’s second term, Comey says: “I think [Trump’s] approach to me and to many others is… I need to get even with people.” Read more of @mattbaidc.bsky.social's interview with @jamescomey.bsky.social: www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol... 2323944
Reposted by Matt BaiRolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 04/05/2026While Donald Trump threatens, repeatedly, to obliterate the Iranian state, he seems increasingly inclined toward creating his own theocratic republic right here at home. Read @mattbaidc.bsky.social's commentary: www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol... 1324487
Reposted by Matt BaiSean Woods @seanwoods.bsky.social · 04/05/2026The American Ayatollah from @mattbaidc.bsky.social with a classic illustration from Victor Juhasz www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...rollingstone.comDonald Trump: The American AyatollahIran is the world's only functioning theocratic republic. Donald Trump wants to turn the United States into one. 095
Matt Bai @mattbaidc.bsky.social · 12/04/2026My latest Rolling Stone essay, with terrific art. (Limited time gift link.) www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...rollingstone.comDonald Trump's Incompetence Is Costing Him the CountryDonald Trump has led us to chaos — war with Iran, spiking gas prices, unstable markets — that may lose him the Republican party and the nation. 37022
Reposted by Matt BaiNeil Turkewitz @neilturkewitz.bsky.social · 17/03/2026Fantastic piece. Bravo to all involved in getting this out, and especially to @mattbaidc.bsky.social A perfect description of Brendan Carr— “a cultural claims adjuster, a pasty-faced, soft-spoken agent of Trump's retribution.” 033
Reposted by Matt BaiSean Woods @seanwoods.bsky.social · 17/03/2026FCC Chair Brendan Carr, the man leading Donald Trump’s media vendetta, is a brown-nosing bureaucrat. And that what makes him so dangerous. Commentary from @mattbaidc.bsky.social rollingstone.com/politics/pol...rollingstone.comBrendan Carr, the FCC, and the Banality of EvilFederal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr is a brown-nosing bureaucrat, which is why he's so dangerous as Donald Trump's media minion. 183
Reposted by Matt BaiRolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 17/03/2026"If you were going to single out the most dangerous functionary in Trump’s little circle of Hell, you’d have plenty of candidates from which to choose. ... But don’t sleep on Brendan Carr. His legacy of awfulness may yet prove more durable." Read @mattbaidc.bsky.social on Trump's FCC chair ⬇️rollingstone.comBrendan Carr, the FCC, and the Banality of EvilFederal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr is a brown-nosing bureaucrat, which is why he's so dangerous as Donald Trump's media minion. 919182
Reposted by Matt BaiRolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 08/03/2026Interventionism is more like physics than biology — every action sparks unpredictable reactions. The costs of war with Iran are only beginning. Read @mattbaidc.bsky.social full analysis: www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol... 5489
Reposted by Matt BaiSean Woods @seanwoods.bsky.social · 08/03/2026Regime Change Is Never Painless: "The costs of regime change won’t be clear for some time. That there are always costs, always unforeseen, is the last century’s inescapable truth." From @mattbaidc.bsky.social www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...rollingstone.comRegime Change Is Never PainlessDonald Trump's war against Iran is the latest in a long line of American attempts to topple foreign regimes, all leaving have left in their wake. 021
Reposted by Matt BaiRolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 21/02/2026“Years of tortured rationalization had created, in the end, a party of hypocrites.” @mattbaidc.bsky.social writes about Democrats’ decades-long relationship with Bill Clinton, and why they’re finally filing for divorce www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...rollingstone.comDemocrats Are Divorcing Bill ClintonDemocrats are finally divorcing Bill Clinton, with party lawmakers voting to force his testimony as part of the GOP's farcical Epstein investigation. 259224
Matt Bai @mattbaidc.bsky.social · 20/02/2026My latest Rolling Stone column, on Bill Clinton and the left. www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...rollingstone.comDemocrats Are Divorcing Bill ClintonDemocrats are finally divorcing Bill Clinton, with party lawmakers voting to force his testimony as part of the GOP's farcical Epstein investigation. 021
Reposted by Matt BaiRolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 03/02/2026How a forgotten Norman Mailer story explains why the president needs to own the Arctic wilderness, and so much more. Commentary by @mattbaidc.bsky.social: bit.ly/4qYrpmn 44412
Reposted by Matt BaiBrian Hiatt @hiattb.bsky.social · 01/02/2026Timely new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now: www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...rollingstone.comFrom Bruce Springsteen on Minneapolis to CSNY on Kent State — a History of Instant Protest SongsWe look back at rapid-response songs -- from Woody Guthrie and Nina Simone to Bruce Springsteen's quick turnaround on 'Streets of Minneapolis' 063
Reposted by Matt BaiRolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 02/02/2026@mattbaidc.bsky.social explores how Trump’s Arctic strategy mirrors Norman Mailer’s ‘Why Are We in Vietnam?’ "Greenland is Trump’s feral grizzly, and it must be subdued" to reestablish a "natural order" of white male dominance. Commentary: bit.ly/4qYrpmn 53111
Reposted by Matt BaiRolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 02/02/2026How a forgotten Norman Mailer story explains why the president needs to own the Arctic wilderness, and so much more. Commentary by @mattbaidc.bsky.social: www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol... 25012
Reposted by Matt BaiSean Woods @seanwoods.bsky.social · 02/02/2026READ @mattbaidc.bsky.social on Why We Are in Greenland www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...rollingstone.comTrump's Greenland Strategy: Manifest MasculinityDonald Trump's push for Greenland can be understood in part by looking to the forgotten Norman Mailer novel "Why Are We in Vietnam?" 022
Reposted by Matt BaiSean Woods @seanwoods.bsky.social · 16/01/2026READ @mattbaidc.bsky.social debut in RS: www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...rollingstone.comTrump's 'Year Zero' Is Over. Now Comes the ReckoningTK 2753
Matt Bai @mattbaidc.bsky.social · 16/01/2026My first @rollingstone.com column is now live! Thanks for reading and reposting, and please consider subscribing if you don’t already. (Piece also available on Apple News.) www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...rollingstone.comTrump's 'Year Zero' Is Over. Now Comes the ReckoningTK 178102
Matt Bai @mattbaidc.bsky.social · 02/12/202520-odd years ago, I was fired from my dream job at Rolling Stone before I could publish anything. So let's try this again! Thanks to all who read me in the Post these past 6 years - hope you'll follow the next chapter. 942210
Reposted by Matt BaiWashington Post Opinions @postopinions.bsky.social · 05/11/2025"Trump and his acolytes in Congress can live under a delusion of their massive popularity and stride around like Caesar and his guards, but voters who get to decide these things are largely repulsed," @mattbaidc.bsky.social writes. wapo.st/3JkGRZzwapo.stOpinion | Be afraid, Republicans. Be very afraid.Democrats don’t agree on their message or who should deliver it. They won everywhere anyway. 4136
Reposted by Matt BaiWashington Post Opinions @postopinions.bsky.social · 17/10/2025"It’s a rare glimpse of bluer skies for Democrats since last year’s presidential election," @mattbaidc.bsky.social writes. "But if their plan on immigration is to rely on Trump’s overreach, then they’ll be making the same mistake they made at the start of the Biden administration." wapo.stOpinion | Trump’s immigration tactics repel voters. Can Democrats attract them?If their plan is just to rely on Trump’s overreach, then they’ll be repeating Biden’s mistakes. 143
Reposted by Matt BaiWashington Post Opinions @postopinions.bsky.social · 03/10/2025"As much as you insist that the shutdown is about delivering health insurance to ordinary Americans, that gets lost in the noise," @mattbaidc.bsky.social writes. wapo.st/4o67zUowapo.stOpinion | The shutdown is only proving Trump’s pointThe president argues that the federal bureaucracy is useless. Shutdowns tend to reinforce that view. 221
Reposted by Matt BaiWashington Post Opinions @postopinions.bsky.social · 17/09/2025"Rarely has the corrosion of social media been so plainly exposed as it has been since last week, after the horrific killing of Charlie Kirk." The latest from @mattbaidc.bsky.social:wapo.stOpinion | The real enemy of democracy sneaked up on meI used to be a cautious optimist, but social media has changed our politics for the worse. 382
Reposted by Matt BaiWashington Post Opinions @postopinions.bsky.social · 08/09/2025"I can’t stop thinking about the giant banners of Trump that keep appearing on the front of our national buildings," @mattbaidc.bsky.social writes. wapo.st/3Vrj5NX wapo.stOpinion | Is Trump an autocrat, or does he just play one on TV?Here’s why I am so bothered by the giant banners of Trump’s face on government buildings. 343
Reposted by Matt BaiWashington Post Opinions @postopinions.bsky.social · 26/08/2025"That we have often failed to apply freedoms equally — and can acknowledge that fact — isn’t an indictment of America, as Trump believes it to be; it is the story of Americans striving toward enlightenment," @mattbaidc.bsky.social writes. wapo.st/4oTa65vwapo.stOpinion | What the Smithsonian taught me about TrumpismTrying to sanitize the American story is the antithesis of what makes the country exceptional. 164
Reposted by Matt BaiWashington Post Opinions @postopinions.bsky.social · 14/08/2025"As long as Trump is seen by a healthy plurality as the flawed but tolerable instrument of their anti-elite, anti-government rage, then we shouldn’t expect other institutions to keep him in check," @mattbaidc.bsky.social writes. "That’s not their brief. It’s ours."wapo.stOpinion | Our institutions aren’t failing. We are.It is the American people who must hold the president accountable, and we’re failing spectacularly. 353
Reposted by Matt BaiWashington Post Opinions @postopinions.bsky.social · 31/07/2025Kamala Harris made the right decision to skip the governor’s race, because she clearly wasn’t dying to do the job, @mattbaidc.bsky.social writes. "She should make the same call on the presidency — even if that’s the job she wants."wapo.stOpinion | Does Kamala Harris really scare anybody?After skipping the California governor’s race, she should make the same call on the presidency. 332
Reposted by Matt BaiWashington Post Opinions @postopinions.bsky.social · 24/07/2025"In keeping with his generally nostalgic worldview, Trump seems to harbor the ideal of a country that produces most of its own goods, and mostly for its own citizens." The latest from @mattbaidc.bsky.social: wapo.st/4o18Lcxwapo.stOpinion | Trump wants you to have your choice of Cokes — and not much elseMexican Coke, now made in America. But the rest of his agenda is taking us in the opposite direction. 253
Reposted by Matt BaiWashington Post Opinions @postopinions.bsky.social · 16/07/2025The last time Democrats went through an existential crisis over how to rebrand themselves, the main agitators were outsiders with little or no governing experience, @mattbaidc.bsky.social writes. "Now, a similar upheaval is underway." wapo.st/3TJEUY1wapo.stOpinion | Democrats have only one escape routeUnifying behind platitudes isn’t the way out of irrelevance. Making voters choose is. 583
Reposted by Matt BaiWashington Post Opinions @postopinions.bsky.social · 07/07/2025"CVS and other pharmacies have been struggling to contain a rise in thefts by gangs of fast-moving thieves," @mattbaidc.bsky.social writes. "Unfortunately for CVS, the solution might be worse for business than the organized shoplifting."wapo.stOpinion | CVS was so worried about shoplifting that it stole its own soulMy local pharmacy’s products are now encased in glass, and the whole thing makes me very nervous. 324
Reposted by Matt BaiWashington Post Opinions @postopinions.bsky.social · 16/06/2025"My issue here really has nothing to do with whether EV owners should pay more to use the roads," @mattbaidc.bsky.social writes. "It’s entirely about how they’re being asked to pay." wapo.st/3G4F4pzwapo.stOpinion | This tax testifies to the utter corruption of conservative thoughtCongress is coming for your EV — and what’s left of conservatism. 133
Matt Bai @mattbaidc.bsky.social · 16/06/2025“If you’re looking for a party to check the expansion of federal taxing power into new and previously unimagined terrain, you’ve come to the wrong city.” www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...washingtonpost.comOpinion | This tax testifies to the utter corruption of conservative thoughtCongress is coming for your EV — and what’s left of conservatism. 111
Matt Bai @mattbaidc.bsky.social · 12/06/2025“By sending troops into California and challenging the sovereignty of states, Trump seems poised to do for Democrats what they can’t do for themselves, which is to provide a national hearing for a pretty deep bench of governors.” www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...washingtonpost.comOpinion | Trump is doing Democrats a favor by elevating NewsomThe Democrats will be stronger if their opposition to Trump comes from outside Washington. 221
Matt Bai @mattbaidc.bsky.social · 01/06/2025“You’re supposed to be this great, visionary, hyperloopy guy, and this is all you’ve got? A re-org plan? The Cat in the Hat arrived with more sophisticated tricks.” www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...washingtonpost.comOpinion | Washington didn’t wreck DOGE. Elon Musk did.He failed not because his ambitions were too grand, but because they were so pathetically small. 44012
Reposted by Matt BaiWashington Post Opinions @postopinions.bsky.social · 26/05/2025"No longer is Springsteen lamenting that long walk home to the America we used to know," @mattbaidc.bsky.social writes. "Now, he’s begging us to turn around and take it."wapo.stOpinion | In Springsteen’s protest, a fitting Memorial Day pleaHis lyrics echo a nation’s slow descent from hope to distrust — and hint at redemption. 1207
Matt Bai @mattbaidc.bsky.social · 23/05/2025“No university that’s true to its values ought to attempt to censor a student’s remarks, let alone treat extemporaneous speechmaking as a crime. What is this, the Democratic National Convention?” www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...washingtonpost.comOpinion | Graduates speak their minds. Universities freak out.In punishing students who make pro-Palestinian commencement speeches, schools lose their way. 143
Reposted by Matt BaiJill Lawrence @jilldlawrence.bsky.social · 30/04/2025I've touched on this in a couple of pieces, but here's a worthwhile big dig into Elon Musk's global Starlink dealmaking and the ethics laws/rules nobody seems to care about anymore. By @mattbaidc.bsky.social in, yes, @washingtonpost.com. GIFT LINK (part of my end-of-month sale) wapo.st/3YV66G2wapo.stOpinion | Someone’s actually winning the trade war. It’s Elon Musk and Starlink.Are countries being pressured to help the world’s richest man? Or are they just making smart deals? 35827
Reposted by Matt BaiSenator Mark Warner @markwarner.bsky.social · 30/04/2025Interesting that right as Trump is holding countries hostage to make new trade deals, a lot of them seem to be feeling the pressure to make deals with Elon Musk’s companies! www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...washingtonpost.comOpinion | Someone’s actually winning the trade war. It’s Elon Musk and Starlink.Are countries being pressured to help the world’s richest man? Or are they just making smart deals? 149947
Reposted by Matt BaiWashington Post Opinions @postopinions.bsky.social · 30/04/2025India, Vietnam, Bangladesh — Starlink's flurry of expansion comes as most of the world views Elon Musk as the second most powerful man in D.C., @mattbaidc.bsky.social writes. "So it raises some obvious questions." wapo.st/3Gz2qUfwapo.stOpinion | Someone’s actually winning the trade war. It’s Elon Musk and Starlink.Are countries being pressured to help the world’s richest man? Or are they just making smart deals? 133
Matt Bai @mattbaidc.bsky.social · 30/04/2025Spent the last couple of months trying to figure out the connection between Starlink and US trade policy. Here’s what I learned. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...washingtonpost.comOpinion | Someone’s actually winning the trade war. It’s Elon Musk and Starlink.Are countries being pressured to help the world’s richest man? Or are they just making smart deals? 163
Matt Bai @mattbaidc.bsky.social · 01/04/2025"We’re running out of bulwarks, and American Jews shouldn’t feel good about that just because the white nationalist arrow hasn’t yet spun in their direction." Thanks for reading.washingtonpost.comOpinion | If the ADL thinks Trump’s thuggery is protecting Jews, it’s wrongThe Anti-Defamation League should loudly oppose the unlawful roundup of pro-Palestinian activists. 2133
Reposted by Matt BaiWashington Post Opinions @postopinions.bsky.social · 01/04/2025"Find me a moment in history when Jews anywhere benefited from a mix of rampant nationalism and repression," @mattbaidc.bsky.social writes. "You’ll be looking awhile." wapo.st/3E6gELtwapo.stOpinion | If the ADL thinks Trump’s thuggery is protecting Jews, it’s wrongThe Anti-Defamation League should loudly oppose the unlawful roundup of pro-Palestinian activists. 2277
Reposted by Matt BaiThe New Yorker @newyorker.com · 12/03/2025“Here is the unavoidable truth: the Washington Post I joined, the one I came to love, is not the Washington Post I left.” @ruthmarcus.bsky.social writes about her decision to resign from the paper in the wake of editorial changes made by its owner, Jeff Bezos.newyorker.comWhy I Left the Washington PostOwner Jeff Bezos wants to transform the Opinions section of the paper, where I worked for forty years. After the publisher killed my column disagreeing with that move—it appears here in full—I decided... 612427532