It is past time — by almost 15 years and counting — for President Biden and other Democrats to disabuse themselves of the naive notion that the other party still has any interest in helping them govern. If democracy is to be saved, it will be done not with the Republican Party, but despite it. Failure to understand that and strategize accordingly wastes time America does not have.

The Trump-DeSantis storyline is inherently alluring, given the chances of a collision between two men who have been allies and the possibility of the subordinate in the relationship eclipsing the figure who helped to elevate him.

Who among us doesn’t have an unflattering headshot, gawky high school picture or gag photo of us clowning around? With any luck, the worst of them are hidden in drawers or pasted in albums (if they haven’t been ripped up). The ones online, alas, we’re stuck with for eternity.

Considering the number of people who think that rules apply only to the rest of us, this may well be known as a new age of hubris. Arrogance and its subset hubris surround us. And that trait may perfectly unite the Jan. 6 insurrectionists and their leader with other politicians, entertainers and athletes.

The Republican (governor of Virginia) issued an executive order allowing parents to decide whether their kids will wear masks in school, and met an instant wall of resistance from Democratic-controlled counties and criticism from the White House press secretary Jen Psaki. A Washington Post headline said that Youngkin is “terrifying people.”