Hodge Podge Monday May 20, 2024May 19, 2024 Here is Maureen Dowd profiling Bill Maher, of whom I’m a big fan. A little X-rated for my prudish taste; and he skewers the left where we deserve it. But he has no illusions of “equivalence.” He’s no dupe to “whataboutism.” And so — like Liz Cheney and Ben Sasse and virtually any Republican who hasn’t sold his or her soul — he . . . well, read the profile. It’s fun. As frequently noted: If we had open primaries and ranked choice voting, we could empower the sensible center and begin to wind down this cold civil war. How 20 Years of Same-Sex Marriage Changed America. Having grown up when I did, it just drops my jaw to see the Wall Street Journal ho-humming what not so long ago seemed unthinkable. WheelTug: Still Kicking. (Per an e-publication that serves the Middle East.) I thought this line, careening around the Internet, was funny: So now cocaine is legal in Oregon, but straws aren’t. That must be frustrating. But when I went to fact check it — is cocaine really legal in Oregon? — it turns out that Oregon Is Recriminalizing Drugs. Here’s What Portland Learned. The trial resumes in New York — but not in Florida. Listen: he took documents he shouldn’t have; lied to the FBI about having them; then actively moved to conceal them; and now claims it’s a “witch hunt” that he is being held to account. He was a private citizen when he did most of this; but surely Donald Trump should not be subject to the laws of the United States. What a crazy idea.