Few silver linings for Playbook's new boy Jack
But among the political class, it's POLITICO's Playbook that's gathering attention for all the wrong reasons. Playbook is the morning email almost everyone in DC reads – it has a Westminster equivalent that fills a very similar niche – while complaining that it's not as good as it once was.
Washington DC is a city that knows its priorities. The federal government is in disarray, the president is ripping up the post-world war two security compact and the US might be in the biggest peacetime constitutional crisis in its history.
Playbook was recently taken over by a new author, Jack Blanchard – a well-liked and highly regarded journalist in the Westminster lobby, but a virtual unknown in Washington DC.
Few have accused DC of being welcoming to newcomers, but POLITICO's decision to drop a near-total outsider into the ultimate insiders' email is prompting an early backlash.
Blanchard has just had to write a mea culpa for suggesting that Trump's first month had seen more activity than any previous president – prompting a flurry of reminders from readers that Franklin Delano Roosevelt got a lot more done.
But Blanchard's decision to add in several paragraphs from FDR's Wikipedia page made a bad situation even worse.
'Hiring someone with at best a passing knowledge of American politics to write one of America's premier political newsletters was an odd choice to say the least,' said former Obama senior advisor Dan Pfeiffer.
'I am a believer in the economic benefits of immigration but I think maybe Playbook should be written by an American,' said centrist commentator Matthew Yglesias, while Julia Ioffe from the Puck News site posted: 'Will agree that the latest iteration of Playbook has been, erm, subpar.'
Blanchard can surely recover from this baptism of fire, but some within DC's press corps observe that he may have enemies inside the house, as well as beyond it.
A few days before the FDR gaffe, one noted, he referred to the Super Bowl 'pitch' – instead of 'field' – and his editors allowed the glaring Britishism through untouched. Good to see DC has got its priorities straight.
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Glasgow Times
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Powys County Times
18 minutes ago
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Israel strikes state-run Iranian TV after Iranian missiles kill eight
Israel struck Iran's state-run television station during a live broadcast on Monday, forcing a reporter to run off camera following an explosion, after Iran fired a new wave of missiles at Israel that killed at least eight people. In other developments, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israeli strikes have set Iran's nuclear program back a 'very, very long time'. He added that Israel is not attempting to topple the Iranian government, but said he would not be surprised if that happened as a result of the strikes. 'The regime is very weak,' Mr Netanyahu told a news conference. He added that he is in touch with US President Donald Trump daily. As he spoke, large numbers of explosions were heard in Tehran. Israel warned hundreds of thousands of people in the middle of Tehran to evacuate ahead of the strike against the TV station, which the military said provided a cover for Iranian military operations. The warning came on the fourth day of the conflict, when the Israeli military claimed it had achieved air superiority above the Iranian capital and could fly over the city without facing major threats. The military has issued similar evacuation warnings for civilians in parts of Gaza and Lebanon ahead of strikes. The warning affected up to 330,000 people in a part of central Tehran that includes the country's state TV and police headquarters, as well as three large hospitals, including one owned by Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. 'At this time, we can say that we have achieved full aerial superiority over Tehran's skies,' said Israeli military spokesperson Brigadier General Effie Defrin. The military said it had destroyed more than 120 surface-to-surface missile launchers in central Iran, a third of Iran's total. Israeli military officials also said fighter jets had struck 10 command centres in Tehran belonging to Iran's Quds Force, an elite arm of its Revolutionary Guard that conducts military and intelligence operations outside Iran. The Israeli strikes 'amount to a deep and comprehensive blow to the Iranian threat', Brig Defrin said. Iran's state-run news agency reported that state-run television abruptly stopped a live broadcast after an Israeli strike. During the broadcast, an Iranian state television reporter said the studio was filling with dust after 'the sound of aggression against the homeland'. Suddenly, an explosion occurred, cutting the screen behind her as she hurried off camera. The broadcast quickly switched to pre-recorded programmes. Iran, meanwhile, announced it had launched some 100 missiles and vowed further retaliation for sweeping attacks on its military and nuclear infrastructure that have killed at least 224 people in the country since Friday. One missile fell near the American consulate in Tel Aviv, with its blast waves causing minor damage, US ambassador Mike Huckabee said on X. He added that no American personnel were injured. So far, 24 people have been killed in Israel and more than 500 injured, Israeli officials said, after Iran launched more than 370 missiles and hundreds of drones. The latest conflict began when Israel launched an assault on Iran's top military leaders, uranium enrichment sites and nuclear scientists that it said was necessary to prevent its long-time adversary from getting any closer to building a nuclear weapon. Iran maintains that its nuclear programme is peaceful, and the US and others have assessed that Tehran has not pursued a nuclear weapon since 2003. But the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly warned that the country has enough enriched uranium to make several nuclear bombs if it chooses to do so. Iran has retaliated by firing waves of ballistic missiles at Israel. The back-and-forth has raised concerns about all-out war between the countries and propelled the region, already on edge, into even greater upheaval.
The Herald Scotland
27 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Israel strikes state-run Iranian TV after Iranian missiles kill eight
'The regime is very weak,' Mr Netanyahu told a news conference. He added that he is in touch with US President Donald Trump daily. As he spoke, large numbers of explosions were heard in Tehran. Israel warned hundreds of thousands of people in the middle of Tehran to evacuate ahead of the strike against the TV station, which the military said provided a cover for Iranian military operations. The warning came on the fourth day of the conflict, when the Israeli military claimed it had achieved air superiority above the Iranian capital and could fly over the city without facing major threats. The military has issued similar evacuation warnings for civilians in parts of Gaza and Lebanon ahead of strikes. The warning affected up to 330,000 people in a part of central Tehran that includes the country's state TV and police headquarters, as well as three large hospitals, including one owned by Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. Women mourn over the body of a man reportedly killed in an Israeli strike on Tabriz (Matin Hashemi/AP) 'At this time, we can say that we have achieved full aerial superiority over Tehran's skies,' said Israeli military spokesperson Brigadier General Effie Defrin. The military said it had destroyed more than 120 surface-to-surface missile launchers in central Iran, a third of Iran's total. Israeli military officials also said fighter jets had struck 10 command centres in Tehran belonging to Iran's Quds Force, an elite arm of its Revolutionary Guard that conducts military and intelligence operations outside Iran. The Israeli strikes 'amount to a deep and comprehensive blow to the Iranian threat', Brig Defrin said. Iran's state-run news agency reported that state-run television abruptly stopped a live broadcast after an Israeli strike. During the broadcast, an Iranian state television reporter said the studio was filling with dust after 'the sound of aggression against the homeland'. Suddenly, an explosion occurred, cutting the screen behind her as she hurried off camera. The broadcast quickly switched to pre-recorded programmes. Iran, meanwhile, announced it had launched some 100 missiles and vowed further retaliation for sweeping attacks on its military and nuclear infrastructure that have killed at least 224 people in the country since Friday. Firefighters work to extinguish a blaze after a missile launched from Iran struck Tel Aviv (Baz Ratner/AP) One missile fell near the American consulate in Tel Aviv, with its blast waves causing minor damage, US ambassador Mike Huckabee said on X. He added that no American personnel were injured. So far, 24 people have been killed in Israel and more than 500 injured, Israeli officials said, after Iran launched more than 370 missiles and hundreds of drones. The latest conflict began when Israel launched an assault on Iran's top military leaders, uranium enrichment sites and nuclear scientists that it said was necessary to prevent its long-time adversary from getting any closer to building a nuclear weapon. Iran maintains that its nuclear programme is peaceful, and the US and others have assessed that Tehran has not pursued a nuclear weapon since 2003. But the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly warned that the country has enough enriched uranium to make several nuclear bombs if it chooses to do so. Iran has retaliated by firing waves of ballistic missiles at Israel. The back-and-forth has raised concerns about all-out war between the countries and propelled the region, already on edge, into even greater upheaval.
