Talking Points Memo

Do you remember any headlines from last February? Let's revisit some.

A Chinese spy balloon drifted across the United States before being shot down by an F-22. At the time, Josh Marshall wrote:

Perhaps the most important thing about the Chinese surveillance balloon episode is the completely over-the-top reaction to it among the political class, which, in turn, reminds us how the entrenched stupidity of our politics endangers us. 
 

Emblematic of that "entrenched stupidity" was that Florida Governor Ronald Dion DeSantis was, at the time, still being taken seriously as both a presidential candidate and, more troublingly, a person. On this day in 2023, this headline graced TPM: "DeSantis Couldn't Net Any Election Fraud Prosecutions, So Florida GOPers Want to Change the Law"
 

As TPM and its readers knew then, and everyone knows now, he couldn't net any votes either. His various political power plays didn't do much for him — didn't do anything at all, really.

Last but certainly not least when it comes to the stupidity of our political moment, George Santos was around. It's been just over a year since TPM obtained and published leaked audio from Santos demonstrating just how chaotic things really were in the Capitol Hill office of everyone's favorite Baruch volleyball star.

We treasure our role as the political outlet telling you what is dumb, who is dumb and why it's dumb weeks and months and years before everyone else does. That is what we do. 
 

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