Brodner’s Cartoon du Jour: Kenny Boy

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The guardrails protecting democracy may have buckled, but they are not broken. Autocratic forces are ascendant in America—yes, it can happen here, and did—but the story isn’t fully written. Truth-telling independent media is one remaining bulwark against Trump’s unrestrained exercise of power. He rails against the press as the “enemy of the people,” because like all liars and extremists, he hates the scrutiny that comes from fearless investigative reporting. Our nonprofit newsroom is built for the chaos and uncertainty ahead. Depend on it, and please stand with us.

The guardrails protecting democracy may have buckled, but they are not broken. Autocratic forces are ascendant in America, but the story isn’t fully written. Truth-telling independent media is one remaining bulwark against Trump’s unrestrained exercise of power. He rails against the press as the “enemy of the people,” because he hates the scrutiny that comes from fearless investigative reporting. Our nonprofit newsroom is built for the chaos ahead. Please stand with us.

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Today we heard that Ken Lewis is retiring from Bank of America. He’ll get $125 million in retirement and stock. When your company gets $45 billion in the bailout it really doesn’t seem like so much. And it wasn’t easy. Paying $50 billion for Merrill Lynch’s toxic lunch, especially at Paulson and Bernanke’s Soup Nazi Kitchen, is a crazy way to spend a career. If I were an insider I’d probably think he’s worth every penny. Art done for Jason Treat at The Atlantic.