The Atlantic’s Anne Applebaum has followed this stuff closely for a long time. She’s never sounded so optimistic:

Orbán’s loss brings to an end the assumption of inevitability that has pervaded the MAGA movement, as well as the belief—also present in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rhetoric—that illiberal parties are somehow destined not just to win but to hold power forever, because they have the support of the “real” people. As it turns out, history doesn’t work like that. “Real” people grow tired of their rulers. Old ideas become stale. Younger people question orthodoxy. Illiberalism leads to corruption. And if Orbán can lose, then his Russian and American admirers can lose too.

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Missa in tempore belli (English: Mass in the Time of War) by Joseph Haydn.

From Wikipedia:

Haydn composed this mass at Eisenstadt in August 1796, at the time of Austria’s general mobilization into war. Four years into the European war that followed the French Revolution, Austrian troops were doing badly against the French in Italy and Germany, and Austria feared invasion. Reflecting the troubled mood of his time, Haydn integrated references to battle in the Benedictus and Agnus Dei movements. The Mass was first performed on 26 December 1796, in the Piarist Church of Maria Treu in Vienna.

Enjoy, Jack

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”

Attribution: Artemis mission watches Epic Fury parade by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Ontario, Canada

[Graeme MacKay born in Ontario, Canada, his worked as staff editorial cartoonist for The Hamilton Spectator since 1997, earning multiple national awards and nominations, including citations from the United Nations and the Association of Canadian Cartoonists.]

Melania Trump just threw a grenade into her own administration’s bunker. By stepping up to a White House podium to demand public congressional hearings for Jeffrey Epstein’s victims, the First Lady (accidentally?) dragged the darkest scandal in modern politics back into the daylight.

And what do we find? A cover-up that thought it was home free, now cracking under its own weight.

The DOJ is desperately shielding fired AG Pam Bondi from a House Oversight subpoena on the laughable technicality that she is no longer the Attorney General. Meanwhile, an unholy bipartisan alliance led by Nancy Mace and Ro Khanna is staging an institutional siege to pry open the Epstein vault. To cap it off, Ghislaine Maxwell is sitting in a cushy Texas facility maneuvering for a commutation. If the administration stonewalls her hustle, this cornered animal has every incentive to start leaking.

Effective corruption requires intense coordination, and this group is profoundly uncoordinated. They are tripping over the rugs they are sweeping under, and the First Lady just handed us a carpet knife.

We are digging into the rubble today. Join the crew for the daily Digital Diner livestream at 11 AM ET.

Deadlines: 6 more days for individuals to work on reporting income tax

and whenever for Congress to just work.

Attribution: Tax season by John Darkow, Columbia Missourian

[John Darkow has been a professional cartoonist for over 20 years, spending the last 10 as the staff cartoonist at the Columbia Daily Tribune. He is syndicated internationally by Cagle Cartoons.]