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Last Sunday saw one of the biggest protests outside Downing Street in years.

It wasnt over Ukraine, or the soaring heating bills some fear will eventually push us into social unrest, or even the growing crisis in British hospitals. It was over what should have been a small, if sensitive, legislative change improving a relative handful of lives, which has somehow been blown up into the kind of mutually destructive culture war that burns everyone it touches. And thereby hangs a tale about how not to fight the next general election, for all our sakes.

This particular protest was over the governments long-promised ban on conversion practice, a grim form of quackery involving trying to cure LGBT people of their orientation or identity. Threats to dump it from the forthcoming Queens speech triggered such a backlash in Tory ranks that a U-turn was announced within hours but only for lesbian, gay and bisexual people. Trans people will be excluded, at least in England, pending further examination of claims that a loosely worded ban might deter therapists from properly exploring childrens reasons for questioning their gender identity. (Scotland is expected to proceed with a full ban, and Wales is examining options for doing so.)

Such claims deserve to be taken seriously but theyre not new, having been raised by the Equality and Human Rights Commission this January and long before that by gender-critical campaigners. The British Medical Association, plus other professional bodies that regulate counselling, supports a full ban and ministers have repeatedly argued that any concerns could be resolved in the usual way by careful wording when the bill is drafted.

Yet Downing Street still changed its mind at the 11th hour without even consulting its own equalities ministers, shattering the already fragile trust in its intentions. The result is a flagship LGBT rights policy that has offended and distressed many LGBT people attempts to split trans rights from gay ones are widely interpreted as an attempt to divide and conquer, leaving trans people vulnerable and isolated. A backbench rebellion is now brewing among Tory MPs who are tired of never quite knowing where they stand.

Whatever happened to the new year shake-up of Downing Street that had been meant to bring order to the chaos? Even a planned summit on LGBT rights this summer a Tory manifesto commitment designed to encourage progressive change in countries where homosexuality is still shrouded in taboos had to be scrapped after British gay rights groups withdrew support in protest.

Many are suspicious, too, of a U-turn announced on the eve of difficult local elections. As the Conservative MP for Rutland and Melton Alicia Kearns put it: This ban isnt some new woke frontier for politicians to weaponise in some culture war they think is vote-winning.

The governments LGBT business champion resigned and some predicted the prime ministers personal envoy on LGBT rights, the former Tory MP Nick Herbert, would follow. But instead he released a thoughtful, if exasperated, statement that deserves a wider hearing, calling for a cross-party independent royal commission on trans rights issues to stop them being further weaponised for political advantage.

Some may tell the government that this is a political opportunity for a wedge issue, but this would be deeply unwise, he wrote, noting pointedly that opinion polling shows Britons are tired of ideological punch-ups over trans rights and want to see politicians respond with kindness and practical solutions. But Herbert was equally critical of what he called Stonewalls penchant for boycotts and shouty protests, reflecting frustration among some Tories with a style of activism they think alienates potential allies. His conclusion is that a judge-led commission, free to go wherever the evidence takes it on issues such as teenagers transitioning or the inclusion of trans women in elite female sport, may now be Britains best hope of avoiding a viciously full-blown American-style culture war.

Ironically, thats what many hoped Herbert himself would do when he was appointed last May. Back then, Johnson had been convinced that aggressive culture wars were turning moderate voters off. Working alongside the openly gay equalities minister Mike Freer and then No 10 aide Henry Newman to rebuild bridges with the LGBT community, Herbert came tantalisingly close to brokering a truce; behind the scenes they had powerful backing from Carrie Johnson, a longstanding advocate of LGBT rights who delivered a rare public speech last autumn declaring her husbands commitment to the cause. But in January, the rug was pulled out from under them.

Fearing a leadership challenge after revelations of lockdown-busting parties inside Downing Street, Boris Johnson agreed to a shake-up that saw Carries influence curtailed, Newman exiled, and a new team installed that is frankly uninterested in the niceties of millennial identity politics. Led by policy unit chief Andrew Griffith, chief of staff Steve Barclay and spin doctor Guto Harri, the new regime has positioned Johnson as the voice of the middle-aged bloke down the pub.

Last week, he kickstarted the local election campaign by declaring that biological males shouldnt be allowed to compete in womens sport, a helpful distraction from tax rises coming into force. If it works, expect to see the same tactic, but on steroids, in a general election. Which is why some will see Herberts proposed royal commission as, at best, a nice idea doomed to fail; at worst, kicking things into the long grass.

But where similar schemes have worked as with Dame Mary Warnocks 1980s inquiry into the then pioneering field of human fertilisation and embryology, sensationally portrayed by tabloids as Frankenstein science they have defused public anxiety about the novel and unfamiliar, opening the space for bold leaps forward.

Walking people methodically through complex ethical arguments takes time, but since scientific research on the impact of transitioning on athletes performance is still in its infancy, conclusive answers to some issues of trans inclusion are probably years away anyway. If Boris Johnson ignores the idea although oddly it might suit him given the strange elusiveness of his own views on the subject Keir Starmer should pick it up.

For whether or not hes right about the exact mechanism, Herbert is right about the urgency of lifting this issue above toxic party politics. Hes right that nobody wins a culture war and right that those most harmed will be trans people who already feel stigmatised who deserve greater kindness than todays politics will permit.

Its depressing to think our current political system cant be trusted to handle this maturely. But not half as depressing as looking back in five years time and realising those years were wasted, doing the same thing over and over, and being surprised each time it failed.

Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnist

Politics Weekly UK liveJoin John Harris, Lisa Nandy MP and Gaby Hinsliff in a livestreamed event discussing partygate, the upcoming local elections, the cost of living crisis and more on Tuesday 3 May, 8pm BST. Book tickets here

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The PM sees votes in a culture war over trans rights, but this issue must transcend party politics - The Guardian

Tonight on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert the educational culture wars are on his mind and Florida (which the host calls Americas mullet) is ground zero for all of it.

Problems have arisen in the south and midwest when it comes to critical race theory and any teaching that focuses on marginalized communities that makes students feel bad for historic wrongs in American history.

What is history class in Florida going to be like now? he says. He goes on to give an example to what students can expect. Ok today kids, were going to learn that in 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blueblah blah blah, the new Batman is now streaming on HBO Max. Come and get your diplomas!

Unfortunately, the censorship of certain parts of history does not stop there. Colbert talks about some statistics that shed light on just exactly how out of control this is as he states (from CNN) how the Florida education department rejected 41 percent of new math textbooks. These books were rejected because of references to critical race theory. He points out the problem of this thinking and the type of education students can look forward to.

Well that explains the updated unit on division: A house divided against itselfHey thats two houses. Nice!

While the education department claims the process for ruling out said books was transparent, it left the host scratching his head in confusion.

I guess they also banished dictionaries because thats not what transparent means, he jokes.

Watch the rest of the opening monologue above.

See more here:
On 'The Late Show With Stephen Colbert' He Takes Shots At Florida's War On Critical Race Theory - Deadline

What can the behavior of apes teach us about sex and gender? A great deal, according to primatologist Frans de Waal and his findings are already stirring controversy

By Laura Spinney / The Guardian

Sex and gender have come to represent one of the hottest fronts in the modern culture wars. Now, on to this bloody battlefield, calmly dodging banned books, anti-transgender laws and political doublespeak, strolls the distinguished Dutch-American primatologist Frans de Waal, brandishing nearly half a centurys worth of field notebooks and followed, metaphorically speaking, by an astonishingly diverse collection of primates.

Given the world it enters, de Waals new book, Different: What Apes Can Teach Us About Gender, would arguably have failed if it didnt stimulate debate. It seems safe from death by indifference, however, since it is dividing opinion even before it is published.

I found the book to be as wise as it was humane, the American primatologist Sarah Blaffer Hrdy told me, while US palaeontologist and writer Riley Black, a non-binary trans woman, is disappointed the author didnt attempt a more radical overhaul of sex.

Princeton University primatologist Agustin Fuentes, meanwhile, is full of admiration for de Waals descriptions of ape behavior, but feels the book falls short when it comes to humans. Given the authors public visibility and his masterful storytelling skills, Fuentes told me, this was his opportunity to present a thorough and thoughtful discussion of the latest research.

Unfortunately, he said, thats not this book.

SOCIAL CONSTRUCT?

What this book is is an attempt to put the biology the sex back into gender. For too long, de Waal thinks, gender was regarded as a purely social construct and talk of inborn sex differences was taboo.

The fact that we have genders is related to the fact that we have sexes and sexual reproduction, he told me, ahead of a tour to promote Different. Thats an undeniable fact, in my opinion, even though the gender concept is obviously more flexible than the two sexes that we have.

Sex (male/female) is approximately binary, he argues, while gender (masculine/feminine) is a spectrum. The fact that the latter grew out of the former should not stop us questioning the cultural components of gender, some of which are based on a misunderstanding of biology, nor rejecting gender-based discrimination. Different doesnt mean better or worse.

He makes this case by reference to the non-human primates he has observed for decades, but the book is also a plea to us to look beyond chimpanzees when searching for parallels in our nearest primate relatives. We are just as close to bonobos, the Kama Sutra apes for whom sex is as banal as a handshake, though much more fun.

It was only by accident, de Waal reminds us, that explorers stumbled on chimps first and they became our go-to model of primate behavior (some Victorian prudishness helped). Since chimps are generally more aggressive than bonobos, this skewed emphasis gave rise to an unjustifiably bleak view of human nature, he feels, which has only begun to lighten up in the last few decades. In his unfashionable optimism about humanity, he compares himself to a frog he once spotted in an Australian lavatory bowl. Like the frog, he has clung on through periodic deluges of cynicism and despair.

Among his accumulated titles, de Waal is professor of psychology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and from the first pages of Different you know youre in the presence of someone who feels beyond the slings and arrows of the culture wars.

You wouldnt write a book like that if you were 40 and trying to get tenure, remarks Meredith Small, an anthropologist at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and an admirer.

Hes well-known enough to feel comfortable sharing personal reflections on growing up as one of six brothers and describing himself as a feminist who nevertheless refuses to denigrate his own gender. Hes also critical of what he sees as the contradictions of modern feminism, in particular, the idea that gender is socially constructed until it comes to gender identity and sexual orientation, which are innate and immutable.

YOUNG FIELD

Primatology is a relatively young field that was founded by men but came to be dominated by women, which means it is acutely aware that who is looking is as important as what they see. This cisgender, straight, 73-year-old white man is no exception. He describes how the field broadened its horizons thanks to the feminization that has happened over his career.

When the women came, we got more interested in female-female and mother-offspring relationships, he told me. Female choice became an important issue.

His entrancing descriptions of apes illustrate this. Theres Princess Mimi, the bonobo with staff who grew up pampered in a human home and was mystified by the retinue of males with obvious erections she acquired on meeting her own kind; the gender-nonconforming chimp Donna and the gay capuchin monkey Lonnie, both of whom were fully integrated into their respective colonies; Mama, the wise kingmaker among chimps; and the rhesus macaque love triangle of Orange, Dandy and Mr Spickles.

Through these characters de Waal brings to life the complexity of sex and social behavior in other apes. He recounts, for example, how Nikkie, a young and possibly overpromoted alpha-male chimp, was chased up a tree by a bunch of disgruntled underlings who wouldnt let him come down.

After about a quarter of an hour, Mama slowly climbed into the tree. She touched Nikkie and kissed him. Then she climbed down while he followed close at heel. Now that Mama was bringing him with her, nobody resisted any more. Nikkie, obviously still nervous, made up with his adversaries. No other chimp in the group, male or female, could have brought about such a smooth closing.

Mr Spickles was the alpha male of a large macaque troop; Orange was the alpha female. The males all looked up to Mr Spickles, the females to Orange. But Mr Spickles enjoyed his privileged status largely thanks to Orange, his staunchest political ally.

When mating season came around, Orange would pair up with Dandy, a handsome male almost half Mr Spickless age. If Mr Spickles tried to chase Dandy away, Orange would simply seek her younger mate out again. But if Dandy was tempted to flaunt his youth and vigor in front of Mr Spickles, Orange would loyally take up position next to the aging alpha.

Orange carefully balanced two preferences, de Waal writes. One concerned political leadership and the other sexual desire. She never confused the two.

EVOLUTIONARY FITNESS

Both males and females strive non-consciously to maximize their evolutionary fitness, but because they differ biologically their methods for achieving this goal differ too. Protecting offspring from male infanticide is a common female preoccupation, de Waal says, which is why one rule holds across species: The typical primate society is at heart a female kinship network run by older matriarchs.

Beyond that, however, there are as many models of relations between the sexes as there are species.

Males and females are both hierarchical, but these hierarchies are based on more than just physical prowess or fighting ability. Prestige, which is less visible, counts too. Hierarchies are always at least partly coercive, but prestige always has a component of altruism and community-mindedness to it, as Mama and Orange showed. In most primates, the alpha female ranks below the alpha male. He has strength but she has choice. (Bonobos, uniquely, have reversed this order: females invest everything in the sisterhood, which collectively dominates the group.)

As a result, the female has been underrated, an argument the British zoologist Lucy Cooke also made recently, in her acclaimed book Bitch. But de Waal thinks weve gone wrong at a deeper level. He challenges the idea that non-humans are natural while humans are cultural, arguing that nature and nurture are inextricably entwined in both. Apes may have gender as well as sex there are hints of cultural variation in the way the sexes behave in non-human primates, though he says it hasnt been studied enough yet but you cant take the sex out of human gender.

In this domain as in so many others, de Waal says, were more similar to other primates than we think. (Years ago, he coined a term for those who warned against anthropomorphizing other primates: anthropodenialists.) Yet humans do seem to be unique in one way. We are apparently the only ape that attaches labels to sexual or gender diversity and prejudices to the labels. In other primates, he says, I dont find the kind of intolerance we have in human societies.

BLOWBACK

He expects blowback from two broad camps the feminists whom he overtly criticizes in the book and those conservatives who claim that men are men and women are women and never the twain shall meet, wrongly asserting that science supports their position. But he also has critics closer to home.

Black says he fails to ask the most fundamental question: what is biological sex?

Is it chromosomes or hormones or gametes, or some combination thereof, or is it a concept we need to go back and start over? she asks. Until weve answered that question, she feels its unreasonable to assume that sex is essentially binary, even if de Waal does allow for some blurring and acknowledges non-binary and transgender people.

Fuentes wonders why he overlooks a large body of research on human sex and gender work by the American neuroscientist Lise Eliot, for example, showing that male and female brains arent that different, or British psychologist Cordelia Fines probing of the complex feedback loops that exist between sex and gender.

To read these and other researchers, Fuentes says, is to understand that the non-human-natural/human-cultural division is a straw person argument. Moreover, in the introduction to Different, de Waal explains that he will not discuss areas of human behavior for which there are no animal parallels, such as economic disparities, household labor and dress.

But you cant discuss gender without these! Fuentes says.

These controversies will undoubtedly dominate discussion of the book once it comes out, so now seems a good moment to flag up some of de Waals quieter but still thought-provoking observations, such as: Most beauty in nature exists thanks to female taste. Or: We have no evidence that any species other than our own knows that sex leads to progeny.

And whether or not you agree with him, Different is worth reading for its anecdotes alone. The description of two grizzled male chimps who were normally sworn enemies, arms slung around each others shoulders, forming a barrage between a newborn and a young alpha male with possibly infanticidal intent, is one of many that will be hard to forget.

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Beyond the birds and bees -

Privately, more and more Democrats see inflation in far more dire terms. | Getty Images

MITCHS MASSIVE AD BUY Burgess Everett has the exclusive on a gargantuan new ad buy from the Senate Leadership Fund: The MITCH MCCONNELL-aligned GOP super PAC is booking $141 million in fall advertisements to help turn the Senate red, a staggering sum that sets the stage for a vicious battle over the chambers control. The group is reserving eight-figure ad flights starting in September.

Where that money is going:

Where its NOT going: The group has not yet put any money into New Hampshire, where Democrat MAGGIE HASSAN is running for reelection.

MORE DEM ALARM OVER INFLATION Democratic strategists have split in two over how to discuss inflation.

One camp tends to blame the media for focusing too much on the issue at the expense of positive economic news such as low unemployment. This group tends to promote statistics buried beneath the headlines that suggest inflation isnt that bad. SIMON ROSENBERG of NDN has been leading the charge on this. And some context on inflation, he wrote recently. It is high, but wages/stocks/home prices [are] also way up. People who are really feeling it are those who use a lot of gas. For most everything else its [a] modest 2-3% net increase. Net grocery bill has gone from $100 to $102.80.

But privately, more and more Democrats see inflation in far more dire terms and not just for their prospects in elections this year.

One top progressive sounded the alarm over the weekend on a widely read off-the-record email list. The author gave us permission to quote from their missive Danger: Inflation Is a Third Rail which was ricocheting around lefty circles Sunday night. A couple of things stood out to us:

1. Some progressives now see inflation as an accelerant for both fiscal conservatism and authoritarianism. The former is undoubtedly true: Inflation concerns have already killed President JOE BIDENs multitrillion-dollar social welfare proposal and pushed him to embrace deficit reduction. But our anonymous progressive warns of something darker:

Obviously inflation does not always lead to authoritarianism. But when it is a feature of the political environment, it often compounds the weakness of regimes already under stress. In that environment, the appeal of a strong leader who can just fix it becomes considerably more appealing both to the population and leading business interests. Although Trump has not seized on inflation yet on the campaign trail, that opportunity remains open for him and MAGA.

2. Inflation is a psychological trauma for many Americans that financial elites dont understand:

Ive become very concerned that most of us are not appreciating how terrifying rising prices are for most Americans. If you havent lived through an extended inflationary episode, and if you are reading this from the vantage point of personal financial security, it will be very difficult for you to comprehend how most Americans are experiencing rising prices now

Unlike nearly every other issue which can be ignored by most Americans in their daily lives, inflation insists on voters attention and not just when they go to the gas station to discover gas prices are higher again. The financially stressed have a kind of mental overhead that those who are not financially stressed dont: constant mental checkbook balancing, constant recognition that buying this means not having that, and doubts about your ability to provide for those you care about most. Rising prices compound those daily recalculations of how to make it through the month, because you cannot even be certain of the prices for your immediate necessities. There is an enormous literature connecting financial stress with mental illness, suicide and poorer health outcomes. To a great extent, it is the psychological mechanism driving deaths of despair.

BUT LOOK WHOS TALKING ABOUT INFLATION Given the stakes, its perhaps surprising that Democrats arent talking about inflation more. But new data from Quorum, which scoured public comments and tabulated how much each lawmaker mentioned inflation between Jan. 1 and April 13, shows a major divide between the two parties.

Good Monday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.

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KAMALAS WORDLE SECRETS Last week at a DNC fundraiser that we covered, VP KAMALA HARRIS let us in on a secret: She, too, is obsessed with Wordle.

Now, The Ringers Claire McNear has just published an exclusive interview with Harris on the veeps Wordle strategies. Some highlights:

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BIDENS MONDAY:

10:15 a.m.: The president and first lady JILL BIDEN will deliver remarks for the 2022 White House Easter EGGucation Roll, with Harris and Emhoff also in attendance.

1:45 p.m.: Biden will receive the Presidents Daily Brief.

HARRIS MONDAY (all times Eastern):

12:05 p.m.: Harris and Emhoff will depart D.C. en route to Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

6:15 p.m.: Harris will receive a briefing on the U.S. Space Force and U.S. Space Command.

7:30 p.m.: Harris will meet with service members and their families, and deliver remarks at 8:15 p.m.

8:55 p.m.: Harris and Emhoff will depart Vandenberg Space Force Base en route to Los Angeles.

11:10 p.m.: Harris will deliver remarks at a DNC fundraiser.

Press secretary JEN PSAKI will brief at 4 p.m.

THE SENATE and THE HOUSE are out.

BIDENS WEEK AHEAD:

Tuesday: Biden will travel to Portsmouth, N.H., where he will visit the New Hampshire Port Authority and discuss his agenda.

Wednesday: Biden will meet with Defense Secretary LLOYD AUSTIN, Deputy Defense Secretary KATHLEEN HICKS, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Combatant Commanders in the Cabinet Room, and later will host a dinner for the group with the first lady.

Thursday: Biden will travel to Portland, Ore., where he will discuss infrastructure.

Friday (Earth Day): Biden will travel to Seattle, where he will discuss his administrations climate change response.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Worshippers gather for a sunrise Easter Sunday celebration at the Lincoln Memorial. | AP

THE ECONOMY

FUTURE FORECASTING Goldman Sachs Sees U.S. Recession Odds at 35% in Next Two Years, by Bloombergs Eric Martin

ALL POLITICS

WHERE IT COUNTS Run for Something, a Democratic group that recruits and trains candidates, is pitching donors on an $80 million, three-year program to find, train and support 5,000 candidates for local offices in charge of election administration, a sprawling national effort intended to fight subversion of future election results, reports Elena Schneider. Called project Clerk Work, the effort will include every state where election administrators are themselves elected by voters.

ON WISCONSIN One of Democrats best opportunities to expand their Senate majority in November is in Wisconsin, where they hope to take down GOP incumbent RON JOHNSON. But could the timing-blessed senator survive in whats shaping up to be another good year for Republicans? Democrats intend to paint Johnson as a different man from the one voters elected in 2010, someone who morphed from an outsider businessman concerned about the national debt to, as [JOE] ZEPECKI calls him, a conspiracy theory-fueled crank, APs Scott Bauer reports. And Lt. Gov. MANDELA BARNES, one of the Dem frontrunners, has embarked on a tour of rural Wisconsin to try to win back voters.

THE LEFTS NEW PURITY TEST? In North Carolina, progressives are rescinding their endorsement of Democratic state Sen. VALERIE FOUSHEE after campaign disclosures showed that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) made significant donations to Senator Foushee's campaign comprising more than half the campaign's total quarterly fundraising, the Progressive Caucus of the NCDP said in a statement. No American candidate should be accepting funds from an organization that provides financial support for those seeking to destroy our democracy."

TRUMP CARDS

THE MAN, THE MYTH, THE MACHINE NYTs Shane Goldmacher has a neat summation of Trumps place in the contemporary GOP: Hes something akin to a 19th-century party boss, towering over Republicans from his perch at Mar-a-Lago. In this deeply reported step back with 50+ sources, Goldmacher writes that Trumps obsession with unadulterated loyalty matches his role as kingmaker, and he draws gratification from the raw exercise of his power. Working from a large wooden desk reminiscent of the one he used in the Oval Office, Mr. Trump has transformed Mar-a-Lagos old bridal suite into a shadow G.O.P. headquarters, amassing more than $120 million.

Notable detail: Not unlike past political bosses, Mr. Trump has focused heavily on the mechanics of elections who counts the votes, who certifies them while ceaselessly sowing distrust in the system through false claims of vote rigging.

BEYOND THE BELTWAY

THE NEW CULTURE WARS The conservative movement to censor books has been successful in Llano, Texas, a small city where WaPos Annie Gowen reports that everything from MAURICE SENDAKs In the Night Kitchen to Freddie the Farting Snowman to ISABEL WILKERSONs Caste has been pulled from public library shelves. How it happened: The very conservative county dissolved its library board and replaced them with largely political appointees, going on to close their meetings to the public and introduce religious elements. Ultimately, its a censorship battle that is unlikely to end well for proponents of free speech, Gowen writes.

POLICY CORNER

THE SETTING SOHN Democrats hopes of securing a majority on the Federal Communications Commission are running into another potential obstacle their pick is becoming a midterm campaign issue, John Hendel reports. A coalition of Republicans, moderate Democrats and telecom industry allies are ratcheting up pressure on potential swing Democrats to oppose FCC nominee GIGI SOHN, including by calling the progressive consumer advocate an anti-police radical and accusing her of being biased against rural America. Sohns supporters say these broad swipes, rooted in politically sensitive culture wars, bear little attachment to her actual record.

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THE PANDEMIC

RIPPLE EFFECT Kids arent getting caught up on routine shots they missed during the pandemic, and many public health experts are blaming Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy. Public health officials and school nurses in 10 states told POLITICO they worry an increasing number of families are projecting their attitudes toward the Covid vaccine on routine shots for measles, chicken pox, meningitis and other diseases, our colleagues Megan Messerly and Krista Mahr report. That has pediatricians, school nurses and public health experts worried that preventable and possibly fatal childhood illnesses, once thought to be a thing of the past, could become more common.

CHOOSE YOUR OWN PANDEMIC In year three of the pandemic, gone are the stern recommendations and admonishments to get vaccinated. Pandemic precautions and responses have become something of a choose your own adventure story.

Health officials are leaving it up to people to assess if they need booster shots, whether to wear a mask and how long to isolate after a positive test. Businesses, schools and other entities are scaling back specific guidelines as they prepare for a return to normal, WSJs Jared Hopkins writes. Thanks to the wide array of offerings that help dent the worst outcomes as the virus continues to spread, the response is becoming more tailored to peoples own health and appetite for risk, according to public-health experts.

NYTs Benjamin Mueller also has a look at this new approach, writing that many scientists said they also worried about this latest phase of the pandemic heaping too much of the burden on individuals to make choices about keeping themselves and others safe, especially while the tools for fighting Covid remained beyond some Americans reach.

WAR IN UKRAINE

WASHINGTONS LEAST POPULAR MAN Our colleague Nahal Toosi talks to the one man in Washington that no one else wants to: ANATOLY ANTONOV. Russias ambassador to the United States cant get meetings with senior officials at the White House or the State Department. He cant convince U.S. lawmakers to see him, much less take a photo. Its the rare American think tanker whos willing to admit to having any contact with the envoy. Not even Russian leader VLADIMIR PUTIN chats with him.

It is unwise, foolish, he insists, to shut out the ambassador of a country with which the United States is doomed to cooperate on everything from nuclear non-proliferation to climate change. In an exclusive interview with POLITICO conducted last week in the ornate Ukrainian Room of the Russian embassy over tea, ice cream and pastries cooked by a beloved chef the U.S. is soon to kick out Antonov is by turns charming and unbending, with a riposte for every question that challenges the Kremlins official position.

SURRENDER OR DIE Ukrainian fighters who were holed up in a massive steel plant in the last known pocket of resistance inside the shattered city of Mariupol ignored a surrender-or-die ultimatum from Russia on Sunday and held out against the capture of the strategically vital port, report APs Adam Schreck and Mstyslav Chernov.

After the Ukrainian fighters defending Mariupol refused to surrender on Sunday, the Russian assault intensified, NYTs Michael Schwirtz, Jack Nicas and Neil MacFarquhar report.

THE BIG PICTURE All this land is in blood, and it will take years to recover, the wife of a Ukrainian civilian reportedly executed by Russians tells APs Cara Anna and Emilio Morenatti. In the killing fields of the Kyiv suburbs, they write in this harrowing story, volunteers are digging up the bodies left behind by the invading forces: This spring is a grim season of planting and replanting.

PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION

FOR THOSE KEEPING TRACK Container ship stuck in Chesapeake Bay for more than a month is free, by WaPos Ian Shapira

Tucker Carlson, in a new special for Fox Nation, discussed, um testicle tanning a self-described red-light therapy that its promoters claim raises testosterone levels. Kid Rock was just as confused as the rest of us.

Scott Adams tweeted that on somewhere between 5-7 occasions, someone stole more than $50,000 from me. (We tend to think wed remember exactly how many times that happened to us.)

Alex Jones businesses are weighing bankruptcy in an effort to pause civil litigation against the far-right radio host, reports Bloomberg.

Showtime debuted its new series, The First Lady, on Sunday night, examining the lives of Michelle Obama (played by Viola Davis), Betty Ford (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Eleanor Roosevelt (Gillian Anderson).

COVID COLOR CLASH By now, its something of a ritual: If youre a White House staffer or a reporter whos going to be close to one of the four main principals of the administration (Biden, Harris or their spouses), you must first get a negative result on a Covid test. That result gets you a one-day wristband that signifies youre clear to have access, and everyone goes on their merry way.

On Friday, one of the technicians who handles the Covid testing at the White House told us that they recently added more wristband colors to the mix (Even teal!). Apparently some of the more fashion-focused folks were getting frustrated with the lack of color options and seeming randomness of the palette.

The tech says theyve had lots of press, but mostly staff who try to get the skinny on what color the bands are going to be ahead of time so they can color-coordinate their outfits. Were told that one administration staffer recently wore red hoping that the days wristband would complement the color and when it didnt, the staffer scoffed with disgust as the tech put a clashing color on their wrist. (Who says serious people cant care about fashion?)

TRANSITIONS Conner Larsen is now senior digital strategist at Woolf Strategy. She previously was at DCG Communications. Reed Howard is joining the Millennial Action Project as senior director of comms. He previously was director of comms at Georgetowns Institute of Politics and Public Service. Marissa Morabito is joining Triple P America as U.S. head of public affairs. She previously was chief government affairs and policy officer at Prevent Child Abuse America.

WEEKEND WEDDING Sam Nitz, partner at Fireside Campaigns and an EMILYs List alum, and Ben Takai of the D.C. Health Department got married Friday night at District Winery, surrounded by family and friends. Their first-date story: Ben and Sam were so lost in getting to know each other that neither of them realized Ben had spent the majority of the night with a full chicken tender stuck to his shorts which they both found funny later. Pic SPOTTED: officiant Brad Bauman, Pili Tobar and Christina Carr, Jessica Post and Andy LaVigne, Josh Dorner, Lauren Dikis, Karen Petel, Tatenda Musapatike, Brandon English, Molly Haigh, Julia Rosen Chaplin and Lucinda Guinn.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD Frances Lanzone, manager of social impact, executive engagement and philanthropy at Amazon Web Services and a POLITICO and Obama White House alum, and Giuseppe Lanzone, co-founder and CEO of Peruvian Brothers and a former Olympic rower, welcomed Gisella Mia Lanzone on Tuesday. Pic Another pic

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Reps. Bob Latta (R-Ohio) and Gwen Moore (D-Wis.) John Podhoretz White House Cabinet Secretary Evan Ryan White Houses Kelsey Donohue, celebrating at the White House Easter Egg Roll Kayleigh McEnany Black Rock Groups Mike Dubke Darby Grant Nate Parker of Bart & Associates Bret Manley POLITICOs Burgess Everett, Michael Stratford and Lara Seligman John Fogarty DHS Robert Silvers USA Todays Donovan Slack Sean Maloney MSNBCs Ayman Mohyeldin Grant Saunders of the Jan. 6 committee Micki Werner Tracy Spicer of Avenue Solutions Caleb Crosswhite Amazons Brian Huseman Doug Baker Rick Kaplan Protocols Max Cherney Ryan Sager former Reps. Justin Amash (Libertarian-Mich.) and Karen Handel (R-Ga.) (6-0) Zach Zaragoza Princetons Ben Chang, who celebrated at the Manchester United game this weekend Phil Gordon Trey Grayson (5-0)

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POLITICO Playbook: The inflation argument splitting Dems in two- POLITICO - POLITICO

Republican governors seeking reelection this year are embracing the bunker mentality of Trump-era culture wars as they seek their place in the new Grand Old Party, both at home and across the nation.

The tones many have adopted are a stark reminder that even if former President Trump is no longer in the White House, and his once-iron grip over the Republican Party is slipping, the divisiveness he embodied has become a guide for others chasing the path to success.

It is also a sign of just how much turbulence Trump stirred up within his own party. If Ronald Reagan taught Republicans never to fight each other, Trump has taken the opposite tact, attacking at will and inspiring outsiders to take on incumbents who must now fight back.

In Oklahoma, Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) this week signed a new law making it illegal for a doctor to perform an abortion, with exceptions only in the case of a medical emergency. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) signed laws banning transgender girls from high school sports, controlling the way schools teach about race and gender and eliminating permit requirements for carrying concealed weapons.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R), a low-key politician who rarely makes headlines outside of her state, has launched campaign advertisements that echo Trumps evidence-free false statements about the 2020 election results.

The fake news, Big Tech and blue state liberals stole the election from President Trump. But here in Alabama, were making sure that never happens, Ivey says in her first ad. The left is probably offended. So be it.

All three governors face potentially competitive primaries. Polls show Kemp leading former Sen. David Perdue (R), who has Trumps support. Two conservative groups have spent money attacking Stitt; former state Veterans Affairs Director Joel Kintsel (R) launched a campaign against Stitt earlier this week, accusing the governors administration of corruption, self-dealing and cronyism.

Ivey faces a challenge from Lindy Blanchard (R), a businesswoman who served as Trumps ambassador to Slovenia and who has spent her own money on an early advertising onslaught.

Other conservative incumbents who once would have coasted to renomination now find themselves accused of heresy. Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R), Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R), Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon (R) and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) all face primary challenges, though all are favored to win both renomination and another term.

Those who face primary challenges are racing to catch up with other governors who have a clear path to Novembers midterm elections and who have already staked out their trenches in the culture wars ahead.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is near the front of the pack. This year, he has signed legislation establishing a new state agency to combat supposed election fraud, banning abortions after 15 weeks and limiting education on sexual and gender identity for children, a bill opponents call the Dont Say Gay law.

That law is among the conservative measures that has gained traction in other states. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has said he will make a similar version a priority when the legislature returns to Austin next year.

Abbott is in the midst of his own effort to focus attention on the border with Mexico. Abbott has deployed the National Guard to help secure the border, and he has ordered stepped-up inspections on trucks crossing into his state a move Jim Henson, a political scientist at the University of Texas at Austin and executive director of the Texas Politics Project, called a straightforward middle-finger to the Biden administration.

Abbotts administration has also sent at least three buses full of undocumented immigrants to Washington, D.C., where they unload just outside the office building that hosts several media bureaus, including that of Fox News.

The respective motivations for each governor is drawn from their relative political positions. DeSantis will face the winner of a late Democratic primary, while Abbott knows the identity of his opponent: former Rep. Beto ORourke (D). Both Republicans are favored to win reelection, leading some to suspect that they have set eyes farther down the road.

The difference is national attention and ambitions, said Brent Buchanan, an Alabama-based Republican strategist and pollster. DeSantis and Abbott are building national profiles. Ivey and Kemp are just focused on reelection so they can continue implementing conservative policies within their respective states.

Defeating a sitting governor is rare, and the national landscape is so favorable to Republicans right now that every governor seeking reelection is favored to win.

But the governors embracing Trumps culture wars show the salience those issues have among the primary voters who will renominate most, if not all of them.

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Republican governors sprint right, eyeing reelection and 2024 - The Hill