Grasping Reality on TypePad, by Brad DeLong

Must-Read: I am now hopelessly confused.

I get that it Trump drops the appeal—and if states have not intervened—that the executive is thereafter enjoined from paying the cost-sharing payments.

But I did not think that the executive was required to pay the cost-sharing payments. It was simply not required not to pay the payments. If the Justice Department decides that the House is right as a matter of law, what stops Trump from accepting that legal advice and stopping the cost-sharing payments?

I would have thought that the states would not only have to intervene, but to obtain an injunction requiring Trump to continue to pay the cost-sharing payments until final adjudication is attained.

So I am hopelessly confused here...

Nicholas Bagley: Taking the Nuclear Option Off the Table: "Last Thursday, fifteen states and the District of Columbia moved to intervene in House v. Price... http://theincidentaleconomist.com/wordpress/taking-the-nuclear-option-off-the-table/

Should-Read: Stan Collender: This Week's Rollout Of Trump 2018 Budget Could Be His Biggest Failure Yet: "There was no Trump speech to... Congress last week at which his budget was featured... https://www.forbes.com/sites/stancollender/2017/05/21/due-tuesday-2018-budget-could-be-trumps-biggest-failure-yet/

Should-Read: Dan Drezner: Trump’s first foreign trip is all downhill from here: "This is day two of the trip, and he’s about to do more flying. He’s only going to get crankier and more error-prone from here...

Over at Equitable Growth: Must- and Should-Reads:

• Larry Summers: 5 Suggestions for Avoiding Another Banking Collapse: "First, it is essential to take a dynamic view of capital...
• Matthew Yglesias: The Case for Impeaching Trump—and Fast: "Andrew Johnson... the move... to remove him... reeked... of...resolv[ing] a policy dispute by ginning up a legal one... https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/5/22/15655296/impeach-trump
• Bridget Ansel: Weekend Reading: “Mind the Gap” Edition: "Alana Semuels reports... a growing number of men... turning towards jobs...traditionally dominated by women, especially within... healthcare sector... http://equitablegrowth.org/equitablog/weekend-reading-mind-the-gap-edition/
• Dara Lind: It’s becoming increasingly clear that Jared Kushner is part of Trump’s Russia problem: "Jared Kushner: the young, pragmatic, hardheaded businessman out to modernize the US government and moderate the worst tendencies of his father-in-law—Donald Trump... https://www.vox.com/2017/5/20/15668162/kushner-trump-russia-corruption
• Chang-Tai Hsieh and Enrico Moretti: Housing Constraints and Spatial Misallocation: "We quantify the amount of spatial misallocation of labor across US cities and its aggregate costs... http://eml.berkeley.edu//~moretti/growth.pdf
• Fabio Ghironi: On Twitter: to @MESandbu: "Some readings and thoughts on Macron’s plans and macro policy in the euro area... https://twitter.com/FabioGhironi/status/865695595566030848
• Jim Acosta: On Twitter: "Talked to a former Trump campaign staffer: who has hired attorney in Russia probe and feels Trump himself should help pay for legal costs... https://twitter.com/Acosta/status/865762200757170176
• John Gruber: Announcing JSON Feed https://jsonfeed.org/version/1: "Brent Simmons and Manton Reece... https://daringfireball.net/linked/2017/05/17/json-feed
• Berkeley Behaviorial Economics Initiative: Celebration of 30 Years of Behavioral Economics at Berkeley: May 20, 2017 :: Wells Fargo Room at U.C. Berkeley:
• Heather Boushey et al.: "After Piketty" panel at the Graduate Center, CUNY: "Heather Boushey, Paul Krugman, Branko Milanovic, and Salvatore Morelli discuss After Piketty at the Graduate Center of CUNY on May 11, 2017. http://equitablegrowth.org/equitablog/after-piketty-panel-at-the-graduate-center-cuny/
• Nick Bunker: Just how big does the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet need to be?: "The balance sheet grew so much over the past 10 years because the Fed was purchasing massive amounts of assets to stimulate the economy... http://equitablegrowth.org/equitablog/value-added/just-how-big-does-the-federal-reserves-balance-sheet-need-to-be/

Must-Read I disagree with Noah Smith: reading Phil Price convinced me that Phil Price is an idiot, that for many, many people NIMBYism is not a "flawed but serious package of ideas" but rather "simple ignorance"—or, perhaps, rather, very hard work to remain ignorant, in a way that is supportive of the "selfishness of incumbent homeowners trying to feather their own nests... [and] white people trying to exclude poor minorities from their communities while still appearing liberal..."

What was Andrew Gelman thinking in giving him his microphone?

Noah Smith: The NIMBY Challenge: "NIMBY theorists like [Phil] Price... should do the following thought experiment... http://noahpinionblog.blogspot.com/2017/05/the-nimby-challenge.html

Live from the Orange-Haired Baboon Page: No, Marcolito. 66 million of us voted against Trump. 63 million of you voted for him. We-the-people did not get what we voted for: we got what you voted for. Man up, for a change:

Marco Rubio: ‘People Got What They Voted For’: "People got what they voted for. They elected him... http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/marco-rubio-people-got-what-they-voted-for-trump

...I don’t understand why people are that shocked.... [It's] not much different from his very unconventional campaign. And that’s what the American people voted for..."

Live from the Orange-Haired Baboon Cage Shame on you, General McMaster! If you are going to work for a liar, you need to have a very good memory:

Esme Cribb: McMaster Says He Doesn’t Remember If Trump Told Russians Comey Was ‘Nut Job’: "“I don’t remember exactly what the President said,” McMaster said... http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/mcmaster-says-doesnt-remember-trump-comey-russians

Must-Read: Endorse.

Matthew Yglesias: The Case for Impeaching Trump—and Fast: "Andrew Johnson... the move... to remove him... reeked... of...resolv[ing] a policy dispute by ginning up a legal one... https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/5/22/15655296/impeach-trump

Should-Read: Larry Summers: 5 Suggestions for Avoiding Another Banking Collapse: "First, it is essential to take a dynamic view of capital...

Live from the Orange-Haired Baboon Cage: Matt Taibbi: Roger Ailes Was One of the Worst Americans Ever: "Ailes was the Christopher Columbus of hate... http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/taibbi-roger-ailes-was-one-of-the-worst-americans-ever-w483013

Must-Watch: Heather Boushey et al.: "After Piketty" panel at the Graduate Center, CUNY: "Heather Boushey, Paul Krugman, Branko Milanovic, and Salvatore Morelli discuss After Piketty at the Graduate Center of CUNY on May 11, 2017. http://equitablegrowth.org/equitablog/after-piketty-panel-at-the-graduate-center-cuny/

https://www.youtube.com/nHiWW96SS

..." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnHiWW96SSg&ab_channel=penname68

Should-Read: Bridget Ansel: Weekend Reading: “Mind the Gap” Edition: "Alana Semuels reports... a growing number of men... turning towards jobs...traditionally dominated by women, especially within... healthcare sector... http://equitablegrowth.org/equitablog/weekend-reading-mind-the-gap-edition/

Must-Read: Dara Lind: It’s becoming increasingly clear that Jared Kushner is part of Trump’s Russia problem: "Jared Kushner: the young, pragmatic, hardheaded businessman out to modernize the US government and moderate the worst tendencies of his father-in-law—Donald Trump... https://www.vox.com/2017/5/20/15668162/kushner-trump-russia-corruption

Must-Read: Chang-Tai Hsieh and Enrico Moretti: Housing Constraints and Spatial Misallocation: "We quantify the amount of spatial misallocation of labor across US cities and its aggregate costs... http://eml.berkeley.edu//~moretti/growth.pdf

Should-Read: Fabio Ghironi: On Twitter: to @MESandbu: "Some readings and thoughts on Macron’s plans and macro policy in the euro area... https://twitter.com/FabioGhironi/status/865695595566030848

Should-Read: Jim Acosta: On Twitter: "Talked to a former Trump campaign staffer: who has hired attorney in Russia probe and feels Trump himself should help pay for legal costs... https://twitter.com/Acosta/status/865762200757170176

Should-Read: John Gruber: Announcing JSON Feed https://jsonfeed.org/version/1: "Brent Simmons and Manton Reece... https://daringfireball.net/linked/2017/05/17/json-feed

Must-Attend: But, alas!, I will not—I have to miss it. It is really a shame...

Berkeley Behaviorial Economics Initiative: Celebration of 30 Years of Behavioral Economics at Berkeley: May 20, 2017 :: Wells Fargo Room at U.C. Berkeley:

Must-Reads:

• Heather Boushey et al.: "After Piketty" panel at the Graduate Center, CUNY: "Heather Boushey, Paul Krugman, Branko Milanovic, and Salvatore Morelli discuss After Piketty at the Graduate Center of CUNY on May 11, 2017. http://equitablegrowth.org/equitablog/after-piketty-panel-at-the-graduate-center-cuny/
• Paul Krugman: Calling Literatures From The Vasty Deep: "Noah [Smith's]... Two Paper Rule...
• Lionel Barber et al.: Trump’s Failures Risk a Constitutional Crisis: "No president is above the law... https://www.ft.com/content/872a9e2a-3af8-11e7-ac89-b01cc67cfeec
• Eric Miller: The Unnamed Behemoth: Review of "Public Intellectuals in the Global Arena" http://amzn.to/2pSZyVd: "Deep learning eloquently brought to bear on the contemporary moment has, quite evidently, not been enough to shore up the aging foundations of our republic... https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/unnamed-behemoth
• Jack Goldsmith et al.: Bombshell: Initial Thoughts: "H.R. McMaster... Rex Tillerson... very carefully worded statements that leave open the possibility that classified information was disclosed other than sources and methods... https://www.lawfareblog.com/bombshell-initial-thoughts-washington-posts-game-changing-story
• David Rennie: An Economist reporter dishes on Trump's 'priming the pump' interview: "On trade deals... [Trump] seems to think that... if the Mexicans seem to be doing well out of the deal at all... https://www.pri.org/stories/2017-05-12/economist-reporter-dishes-trumps-priming-pump-interview
• David Luban: The Case Against Serving: "Masha Gessen, writing in NYRDaily, fears the worst: that Trump will be an American Erdoğan or a Putin on the Potomac... https://www.justsecurity.org/34404/case-serving-trump/
• David Roberts: We Overanalyze Trump. He Is What He Appears to Be: "Why is it so hard to accept that Trump is acting out of pique, on impulse, because Comey on his TV gave him bad feels?... https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/5/12/15621140/interpret-trump

Weekend Reading: Jacob Levy: Autonostalgia: "Autonostalgia reminded me that seven years ago there was a Cato Unbound about Philip Blond's Red Toryism... https://www.facebook.com/jacob.t.levy/posts/10101195175465610

...but the link was dead; the whole issue seems to have been taken down, maybe because (IIRC) Blond obnoxiously refused to write his promised reply and it ended up being his critics talking to each other.... I went and dug up my piece. Considering that this was written in 2010, I'm pretty pleased with how this description of conservatism has aged. Remember the findings last year that, in both the primaries and the general election, it was especially elites in non-elite areas—richer whites in poorer regions—who tended to support Trump.

Should-Read: Nick Bunker: Just how big does the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet need to be?: "The balance sheet grew so much over the past 10 years because the Fed was purchasing massive amounts of assets to stimulate the economy... http://equitablegrowth.org/equitablog/value-added/just-how-big-does-the-federal-reserves-balance-sheet-need-to-be/

Over at Equitable Growth: Must- and Should-Reads:

• Rick Levin: Toward Sustainable Financing of Higher Education: "In the face of rising costs of attendance and an escalating burden of student debt... http://www.cshe.berkeley.edu/events/toward-sustainable-financing-higher-education-0
• Paul Krugman: Calling Literatures From The Vasty Deep: "Noah [Smith's]... Two Paper Rule...
• Ben Thompson: Apple-WeChat Follow-up: "I did make one additional addition to the article... this... https://stratechery.com/2017/apple-wechat-follow-up-windows-10-s-and-the-education-market/
• Branko Milanovic: Reducing inequality by deconcentrating capital: "The capital–income ratio continues to rise... http://voxeu.org/article/reducing-inequality-deconcentrating-capital
• David Anderson: Revisiting Cassidy-Collins: "Engagement either leads to burning Senate time if there is no productive grounds for a deal... https://www.balloon-juice.com/2017/05/16/revisiting-cassidy-collins/
• Lionel Barber et al.: Trump’s Failures Risk a Constitutional Crisis: "No president is above the law... https://www.ft.com/content/872a9e2a-3af8-11e7-ac89-b01cc67cfeec

Must-Read: Ryan Avent: Free exchange: A new anthology of essays http://amzn.to/2pYyN2A reconsiders Thomas Piketty’s “Capital”: "The book explores arguments left undeveloped in Mr Piketty’s masterwork... http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21722166-book-explores-arguments-left-undeveloped-mr-pikettys-masterwork-new

Should-Read: The problem is that nobody really knows—yet—how to accomplish the successful "scaling [of] faculty productivity through online education". The people who can successfully take MOOCs—at least as they are currently organized and envisioned—are people who could perfectly well learn via sustained interaction with the Turing-class virtual instantiation of the thinker they could construct and run on their wetware—in other words, by reading and thinking about the book.

The fact that the lecture survived Gutenberg strongly suggests that that slice of the population—the successful MOOC-takers—is a relatively small fraction of even those who excel and strongly benefit from our current system of higher education.

Rick Levin: Toward Sustainable Financing of Higher Education: "In the face of rising costs of attendance and an escalating burden of student debt... http://www.cshe.berkeley.edu/events/toward-sustainable-financing-higher-education-0

Must-Read: My two—three—macro papers would be: Krugman (1998) https://www.gc.cuny.edu/CUNY_GC/media/LISCenter/pkrugman/1998b_bpea_krugman_dominquez_rogoff.pdf, Blanchard-Leigh (2013) https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.103.3.117, and Mian-Sufi (2011) https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.101.5.2132...

Paul Krugman: Calling Literatures From The Vasty Deep: "Noah [Smith's]... Two Paper Rule...

Should-Read: Matt O'Brien: How Japan proved printing money can be a great idea: "Falling prices would mean falling wages, but not falling debts, so they would become harder to pay back... http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11857507

Live from the Utopian Republic of Letters: An absolutely brilliant choice!

AP: Ian Buruma Chosen as New Editor of New York Review of Books: "An acclaimed essayist and historian has been chosen to succeed the late Robert Silvers as editor of The New York Review of Books.... https://www.usnews.com/news/entertainment/articles/2017-05-18/ian-buruma-chosen-as-new-editor-of-new-york-review-of-books

...The publication announced Thursday the selection of Ian Buruma, who has been contributing to the Review for more than 30 years. His books include "Their Promised Land: My Grandparents in Love and War" and "Year Zero: A History of 1945." Buruma, 65, is a professor of democracy, human rights and journalism at Bard College...

Matt O'Brien: Liberal democracy is not dead, but it's not well...

...From Hungary to Poland to even the United States, far-right populists have won power, and, in a few cases, are busy consolidating it. In some sense, it shouldn't be too surprising that the worst economic crisis since the 1930s has led to the worst political crisis within liberal democracies since the 1930s. At the same time, though, it's not as if right-wing nationalists are winning everywhere. Just in the last six months, they've come up short in Austria, the Netherlands and now France. So why is it that these abundant raw materials for a far right — stagnant incomes and increased immigration—haven't always turned into a far right that wins elections? I talked to Harvard's Daniel Ziblatt, whose new book Conservative Parties and the Birth of Democracy http://amzn.to/2qxQXeJ traces the history of how the center-right often determines whether democracy lives or dies, about what's behind our populist moment and just how close a parallel we're running to some of history's darkest episodes.

His answer: It depends.

Artemisia: I am now on Team Bannon!

Atossa: Why are you now on Team Bannon?

Artemisia: Because Steve Bannon warned Donald Trump that firing James Comey would be big trouble. Also Rince Priebus did so.

Live from the Orange-Haired Baboon Cage: Ashley Dejean: Report: Top GOP Lawmaker Was Recorded Saying He Thought Trump Was on Putin's Payrolls: "Ryan and McCarthy had met separately with the Ukrainian prime minister... http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/05/mccarthy-trump-russia-payroll

Should-Read: Ben Thompson: Apple-WeChat Follow-up: "I did make one additional addition to the article... this... https://stratechery.com/2017/apple-wechat-follow-up-windows-10-s-and-the-education-market/

Should-Read: Branko Milanovic is what Marx used to call a petty-bourgeois socialist: tame capitalism by making sure that valuable property is widely distributed. Marx thought that this was doomed to fail under industrial capitalism, but Marx's arguments have big holes in them. It might well work:

Branko Milanovic: Reducing inequality by deconcentrating capital: "The capital–income ratio continues to rise... http://voxeu.org/article/reducing-inequality-deconcentrating-capital

Should-Read: David Anderson: Revisiting Cassidy-Collins: "Engagement either leads to burning Senate time if there is no productive grounds for a deal... https://www.balloon-juice.com/2017/05/16/revisiting-cassidy-collins/

Must-Read: Lionel Barber and company at the Financial Times call for the impeachment and removal from office of Donald Trump—unless, that is, Trump does things that Trump is and that Lionel Barber and company know Trump is mentally and psychologically incapable of doing. The question left hanging, however, is how long Lionel Barber and company think the Congress should wait before pulling the plug:

Lionel Barber et al.: Trump’s Failures Risk a Constitutional Crisis: "No president is above the law... https://www.ft.com/content/872a9e2a-3af8-11e7-ac89-b01cc67cfeec

Over at Equitable Growth: Must- and Should-Reads:

• Some Notes on Eric Miller’s Review of “Public Intellectuals in the Global Arena”… | Equitable Growth http://equitablegrowth.org/equitablog/some-notes-on-eric-millers-review-of-public-intellectuals-in-the-global-arena/
• Bridget Ansel: Climbing the career ladder, switching jobs, and the gender wage gap in the United States: "For workers with a college education, gender-based gaps in pay are primarily caused by disparities that emerge within a single workplace... http://equitablegrowth.org/equitablog/climbing-the-career-ladder-switching-jobs-and-the-gender-wage-gap-in-the-united-states/
• Nick Bunker: A reminder on the current size of the gig economy: "From 2005 to 2015, the share of workers in alternative work arrangements rose from 10.1 percent to 15.8 percent... http://equitablegrowth.org/equitablog/value-added/a-reminder-on-the-current-size-of-the-gig-economy/
• Nick Bunker: Home is where the government subsidy is: "Matthew Desmond outlines how U.S. government policy toward housing has become a source of inequality... http://equitablegrowth.org/equitablog/value-added/home-is-where-the-government-subsidy-is/
• Lachlan Markay et al.: White House Staff ‘Hiding’ as Russia Chaos Engulfs West Wing: "“With news like this I’m beginning to wonder why Trump ran in the first place and if he really cares about the country” said a senior Trump appointee... http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/05/15/white-house-staff-hiding-as-russia-chaos-engulfs-west-wing
• Noah Smith: Vast Literatures as Mud Moats: "My solution to this problem is what I call the Two Paper Rule... http://noahpinionblog.blogspot.com/2017/05/vast-literatures-as-mud-moats.html
• Jack Goldsmith et al.: Bombshell: Initial Thoughts: "H.R. McMaster... Rex Tillerson... very carefully worded statements that leave open the possibility that classified information was disclosed other than sources and methods... https://www.lawfareblog.com/bombshell-initial-thoughts-washington-posts-game-changing-story
• Scott Lemieux: Our Presidential Manchild: "It’s sad that none of the details in Shane Goldmacher’s story about how Trump’s aides deal with him are even surprising anymore... http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2017/05/our-presidential-manchild-2
• Bob Davis: Why Trump’s Scorn for Pacific Trade Pact May Have Been Hasty: "On his first workday in the Oval Office, President Trump killed the Trans-Pacific Partnership. He will probably spend the rest of his term trying to revive parts of it... https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-trumps-scorn-for-pacific-trade-pact-may-have-been-hasty-1494763203
• Bill Janeway: Which Productivity Puzzle?: "It is now, just 50 years from the invention of the microprocessor, that the complex of digital technologies have matured... https://medium.com/@bjaneway/which-productivity-puzzle-ffe1d574ae96

Should-Read: Nick Bunker: A reminder on the current size of the gig economy: "From 2005 to 2015, the share of workers in alternative work arrangements rose from 10.1 percent to 15.8 percent... http://equitablegrowth.org/equitablog/value-added/a-reminder-on-the-current-size-of-the-gig-economy/

Should-Read: Bridget Ansel: Climbing the career ladder, switching jobs, and the gender wage gap in the United States: "For workers with a college education, gender-based gaps in pay are primarily caused by disparities that emerge within a single workplace... http://equitablegrowth.org/equitablog/climbing-the-career-ladder-switching-jobs-and-the-gender-wage-gap-in-the-united-states/

Should-Read: Nick Bunker: Home is where the government subsidy is: "Matthew Desmond outlines how U.S. government policy toward housing has become a source of inequality... http://equitablegrowth.org/equitablog/value-added/home-is-where-the-government-subsidy-is/

Live from the Journamalists' Self-Made Gehenna: I remember that it was in July 2005 that I realized that Michael Kinsley had no true friends...

The Highest Broderism of Them All: A Historical Document http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2007/07/the-highest-bro.html: Just think what had to be going through their minds—Broder's, his editors', and their bosses'—to print this piece of just-you-wait-Nixon-is-going-to-get-his-revenge-on-all-those-Democrats-and-wimpy-Republicans fanfic 29 days before Nixon's resignation:

David S. Broder (1974), "If Congress Refuses to Impeach..." Washington Post (July 10), p. A 30: "With the oral arguments before the Supreme Court completed...

Live from the Orange-Haired Baboon Cage: So why haven't Mike Pence and Teresa May had their Conversation with James and Lachlan Murdoch yet—about how it has all been fun-and-games so far, but now it needs to stop because somebody is about to lose an eye (and Mossad has, we presume, already lost assets)?

How come Pence, Tillerson, Mnuchin, McMaster, Purdue, and company have not already had their conversation with Trump—about how he is the star but not the boss, and how they are willing to use #Amendment25 to make sure he acts the star and not the boss?

Duncan Black: Because I Am Not Serious: "Trump is a senile old man with some sort of degenerative brain condition and he will brag to anybody about anything... http://www.eschatonblog.com/2017/05/because-i-am-not-serious.html

Eric Miller: The Unnamed Behemoth: Review of "Public Intellectuals in the Global Arena" http://amzn.to/2pSZyVd: "Deep learning eloquently brought to bear on the contemporary moment has, quite evidently, not been enough to shore up the aging foundations of our republic... https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/unnamed-behemoth

...And a live-from-the-West-Wing Twitter feed is not likely to advance our fortunes, either.... Is the liberal democratic tradition up to the challenge—the challenge of disciplining an economic order that exists not to prosper democracy but itself? On such crucial questions this volume sounds an uncertain note—and a rather quiet uncertain note at that.... No thoroughgoing leftists (seemingly) number among the contributors—none, that is, disposed to warn of enlarging catastrophic conflict between democracy and capital...

(1) But I thought I had done so! Was I too elliptical?

Must-Read: Eric Miller: The Unnamed Behemoth: Review of "Public Intellectuals in the Global Arena" http://amzn.to/2pSZyVd: "Deep learning eloquently brought to bear on the contemporary moment has, quite evidently, not been enough to shore up the aging foundations of our republic... https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/unnamed-behemoth

Live from the Journamalists' Self-Made Gehenna: Esme Cribb: ‘Morning Joe’ Hosts: Kellyanne Conway Said She Needed A Shower After Defending Trump: "“This is a woman, by the way, who came on our show during the campaign and would shill for Trump in extensive fashion,” Brzezinski said... http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/morning-joe-conway-used-to-say-she-needed-shower-after-defending-trump

Live from the Orange-Haired Baboon Cage: Dan Drezner: The foreign policy implications of Trump’s big mouth: "Most important... is the complete lack of preparation it sounds like Donald Trump went into this meeting with...

Should-Read: What FBI officials who "worked aspects of the Russia investigation" are now "former FBI officials"? Who are "senior Trump appointees involved in counter-ISIS policymaking"? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller

Lachlan Markay et al.: White House Staff ‘Hiding’ as Russia Chaos Engulfs West Wing: "“With news like this I’m beginning to wonder why Trump ran in the first place and if he really cares about the country” said a senior Trump appointee... http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/05/15/white-house-staff-hiding-as-russia-chaos-engulfs-west-wing

Should-Read: Noah Smith: Vast Literatures as Mud Moats: "My solution to this problem is what I call the Two Paper Rule... http://noahpinionblog.blogspot.com/2017/05/vast-literatures-as-mud-moats.html

Must-Read: Jack Goldsmith et al.: Bombshell: Initial Thoughts: "H.R. McMaster... Rex Tillerson... very carefully worded statements that leave open the possibility that classified information was disclosed other than sources and methods... https://www.lawfareblog.com/bombshell-initial-thoughts-washington-posts-game-changing-story

Should-Read: Scott Lemieux: Our Presidential Manchild: "It’s sad that none of the details in Shane Goldmacher’s story about how Trump’s aides deal with him are even surprising anymore... http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2017/05/our-presidential-manchild-2