Roundup Top 10!

The right lesson of Watergate: Forget facile Trump-Nixon parallels — and get the damn evidence by Rick Perlstein The evidence is out there. It's in the phones, or to be more precise whatever servers store the transcripts of their conversations.

Can Anyone Be Truly ‘Independent’ In Today’s Polarized Politics? by Beverly Gage Today many Americans approach the notion of professional, nonpartisan expertise with suspicion, seeing it as mere cover for elite interests, bureaucratic self-preservation or partisan agendas.

What Roger Ailes Learned From Richard Nixon by David Greenberg The mastermind of Fox News played on the cultural resentment he learned working for the Nixon White House.

What Lincoln Thought of “America First” by Sidney Blumenthal Though he never traveled outside the US, Lincoln embraced an international perspective, celebrating the spread of freedom in Europe.

Why It Was Once Unthinkable for the President to Be Seen With the Pope by David Mislin It was unthinkable because for a century and more millions of American Protestants believed that Catholic politicians would be beholden to the Pope.

Why Donald Trump's 'Arab Nato' would be a terrible mistake by Rashid Khalidi This planned Sunni coalition would alienate Shia populations and Iran. How can it be in the national interest of the US to support one side in a sectarian conflict?

Trump's Saudi Speech: Pretty Good by Daniel Pipes It's a mixed performance, but overall positive.

Trump in Absolute Monarchy during Iran’s Election by Juan Cole The day the Iranian public bucked the country’s Leader and the other hard liners and put centrist President Hassan Rouhani back in for a second term, the US president was feted with gold metals in an absolute monarchy.

The Single Greatest Witch Hunt in American History, for Real by Stacy Schiff Wild accusations, alternative facts, special prosecutors—the Salem witch trials of 1692 had it all.

Comey isn’t the first FBI director to keep memos on a president by Douglas M. Charles The FBI’s history shows such documentation can be essential to how FBI directors operate, and how they can insulate or protect the FBI’s integrity.