The Washington Post in Crisis...and More!

A Weekly Look Ahead at What You Need To Know

Welcome to week two of “Need to Know.” I’m so grateful for the support we received in week one. We are just getting started and are very grateful to all of you who have already become part of the community here.

Today, I will do a combo week-ahead and news round up to highlight a variety of need-to-know stories and offer you some capsule perspectives on each. It’s part of my effort to experiment with Substack and I hope that you will let me know what works for you and what you’d like to see more or less of going forward. For me, one of the best things about this medium is it really can produce a conversation between us all and that should keep what we do here fresh and responsive to your needs.

One final housekeeping point: This week we’ll begin the regular schedule. That means Monday-Wednesday-Friday posts will be for all subscribers and Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday posts will be for paying subscribers only. If you don’t want to miss any of what’s going on here, the best way is to pick a paying subscriber plan from the options available. I hope you’ll consider it. Thank you!

What Do You Need to Know for the Week of June 17, 2024?

·      The Washington Post is in Crisis—Jeff Bezos’ biggest mistakes as owner of the Washington Post have been William Lewis to be CEO and Publisher and Robert Winnett to assume a top editorial position. Both are Brits. Both come to the Post from Fleet Street tainted by scandals. Over the weekend, an investigative team at the Post, with the support of top editors there, ran a story detailing shady reporting tactics in Winnett’s past that the Post team reported would have violated the ethics standards at the Post. (Here is the story: https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2024/06/16/washington-post-editor-robert-winnett/.) Courageous move by the current staff at the Post and Winnett did not help his case by not responding to queries from the reporters. In my view, he’s toast. Damaged goods whose scheduled rendezvous with the Post to take a top editorial job will not or at least should not happen. Indeed, although I have friends who swear Lewis is a good guy who should not be judged by the mistakes in his past, Bezos will be throwing the most precious asset the Post has—its reputation—if he does not remedy both these errors ASAP. The fact that dozens of Post reporters took to social media to share the Winnett investigative piece suggest just how deep the concerns run among the newspapers rank and file.

·      Netanyahu Dissolve War Cabinet—Benjamin Netanyahu’s dysfunctional Israeli government grew even less functional Monday as the Israeli Prime Minister dissolved his war cabinet after the resignation of one of its key members, “moderate” Benny Gantz. Netanyahu’s move consolidates power around his inner circle while at the same time keeping far right cabinet members from positions of even greater power. All this comes in the context of deep turmoil in Israeli politics with more demonstrations over the weekend and Gantz getting beaten up in the polls despite or perhaps because of his move to distance himself from Netanyahu and, in particular, his conduct of the Gaza War. What does it mean? Likely it means more power for Netanyahu and months more conflict in Gaza that will cycle through periods of intensity and moments of “tactical” calm allegedly designed to enable some humanitarian supplies to get through to Gazans. Two possible triggers for the next crisis here: One is intensifying exchanges with Hezbollah along Israel’s northern border that could escalate. But the other, the one most likely to create even more international pressure on Israel is the likelihood that July will see intensifying famine and suffering in Gaza. Warning suggest over a million Palestinians are vulnerable. Humanitarian efforts to aid them remain inadequate. (Wild card: Israeli public protests against Netanyahu which are again reaching massive size. The problem for the protestors right now is that a majority of the Israeli population seem to support Netanyahu’s goals in Gaza and with regard to Hezbollah, at least in terms of objectives if not in terms of execution.) https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/17/benjamin-netanyahu-dissolves-israel-war-cabinet

·      Trump in Worse Shape Politically Than Many Pundits Have Suggested

A new poll from Politico and Ipsos shows that more than 1 in 5 independent voters are now less likely to vote for Trump as a result of his criminal convictions. What?! Being found guilty of 34 felony counts is actually a bad thing? Shocked. Yes, the poll also showed that the rank and file MAGA crowd have bought (or are at least spouting) the Trump line. But, the cracks showing among independents are bad news for the candidacy of the former president. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/06/17/trouble-for-trump-in-a-new-poll-on-his-conviction-00163498 What’s more, more prominent GOPers are saying they won’t vote for Trump including in recent days former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and former Trump Defense Secretary Mark Esper. And Trump’s performances on the stump have, well, jumped the shark (https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/06/trump-shark-rant/678666/) with daily illustrations that he is losing it. Having porridge for brains will not help in the debate that is now 10 days away. Trump never does well in debates. Biden typically is very good in those settings. And so Trump world, whatever they are saying publicly, are worried and some Dems even think Trump will find a way to bail at the last minute. Then, of course, you have NY sentencing on July 10, just a few days prior to the GOP Convention in a city Trump recently called “horrible.” So, it may be summer for the rest of us but Trump is entering what Shakespeare might have called the winter of his discontent.

·      Putin Should Be Worried Following Ukraine Peace Summit, G7 Meetings

After a few months of good news for Russians in the Ukraine war—largely thanks to the handiwork of Donald Trump, Mike Johnson and the MAGA GOP in the House of Representatives—developments are going from bad to worse for the Russians. Their offensives have stalled. Aid is flowing to Ukraine. The G7 leaders committed more assistance to Kyiv. Biden signed a long-term support agreement with Zelensky. At a peace summit over the weekend, the vast majority of countries in attendance made it clear—as did America’s representative at the Summit Vice President Kamala Harris—that for peace to come following Russia’s protracted invasion of its neighbor it must be on Ukraine’s terms and must respect the sovereignty of Ukraine. This amounts to a chorus of rejection for Putin’s “peace offer” that turned on Ukraine handing over territory stolen by Russia and by Kyiv agreeing not to join NATO. Of course, the worst news Putin got is contained in the preceding item above. Putin’s only real hope for a sea change in Ukraine is a Trump win in November. And, you heard it here first, that’s not going to happen.

·      Everything I Know About Foreign Policy I Learned in Show Business

Occasionally, here at this site, I will offer views on something other than politics, foreign policy and national security. A theme for many of these might be “everything I know about foreign policy I learned in show business.” That’s because the first ten years of my career—just like all national security specialists—I spent as a theater director and writer and producer for TV.  Those were great years. I got to work with some remarkable people. And I learned a lot that was later of value while I was working in or in and around government. I’ve often thought I might write a book about the connections between those worlds that many people don’t see. Today, I’ll just offer three quick points. One, Biden raised $30 million at a Hollywood fund-raiser over the weekend that featured Hollywood producer (and ex-president) Barack Obama, George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Jimmy Kimmel and more. It was the biggest sum ever raised at a single fund-raiser and underscored something else: Biden has much deeper support among the creative community in the U.S. than does Trump and that will matter probably more than it should during a campaign where issues like “where does Taylor Swift” will move voters and have an impact. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/biden-campaign-trail-los-angeles-hollywood-fundraiser/

Michelle Goldberg wrote a piece in the New York Times a couple days ago called “The Chilling Reason You May Never See the New Trump Movie.” (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/14/opinion/the-apprentice-trump-movie.html) The film, called “The Apprentice”, about Trump’s formative years alongside mentor lawyer Roy Cohn, was well-received at the Cannes Film Festival. But, as Goldberg writes, distributors in the U.S. have so far been shying away from picking it up because they fear backlash—possibly of a legal nature—from Trump supporters. What she doesn’t mention, but I have heard is a key issue, is that a chunk of the film’s funding came from now disgraced former Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder and that he gave the funds believing that the film would  be softer on Trump. The fear is he will sue to stop the release of the film leaving distributors on the hook. It’s a pity because not only is the buzz about the film good but it is really important people understand more about Trump’s formative years. (Pro-tip: For more on that read the writings of the man who understood the menace and sleaze of Trump first and best, the late journalist for the Village Voice Wayne Barrett.)

Finally, how about that standing ovation Hillary Clinton got at the Tony Awards last night. She was there to present a show for which she was a producer “Suffs” about the women’s suffrage movement and the crowd gave her the most rapturous standing ovation of the evening. (“Suffs” also won some key awards, notably for its creator, the very talented Shaina Taub.) On the whole last night’s Tonys were not a high water mark either for the telecast—which tends to be among the better awards shows—or for Broadway which was coming off a pretty dreary season (as listening to most of the snippets from the shows revealed.) The only new show with much really excitement around it was another of the night’s winners, “Stereophonic” which won the best play award.