January 2024: Russia threatens Latvia (a NATO nation) with retribution for confiscating a Russian-owned building that Russian spies used as a base of operation. Putin propagandist Margarita Simonyan warns a fight between Russia and NATO is imminent — in other words, World War III “in our lifetime.” Putin also issues a decree that includes claims on imperial Russian property in Alaska.

Republicans will have to decide what to do on a border deal, perhaps sooner rather than later. But Biden is deciding to give Donald Trump an invaluable political gift every day.

The Pennsylvania senator is demonstrating how — through theatrical dissent from a few fashionable left-wing causes and strategic rebranding — it’s possible to create a Democratic politics shorn of some of its dumbest, most unnecessary cultural vulnerabilities.

Two restaurants have complained lately about the enforcement of Lewiston city regulations. Cowbell Grille & Tap decamped from downtown (to Yarmouth), and DaVinci’s Eatery closed for nine days because of a sanitation complaint. The owners mentioned the obstacles of dealing with city bureaucrats.

With the economy, the border and foreign policy not working for them in this election cycle, Democrats are counting on the abortion issue to save their hides in November.

Jack Smith is a threat to American democracy. He is blatantly seeking, as a prosecutor, to influence the outcome of the 2024 election. This is not his role and, in fact, is against Justice Department guidelines.

His failure to replace Donald Trump as the likely Republican nominee for president seemed preordained. His mistake was copying Trump’s penchant for cruelty without absorbing any of the ex-president’s talents as a performer.

For the sake of accuracy and truth the Republican Party should exchange its elephant symbol for one that is more reflective of today’s GOP. One candidate might be Triumph the Insult Comic Dog.

These lessons, the down-to-earth and practical, and the whimsical ones that nurture our children’s imagination, are all part of that special joy of taking trips through the pages of books about trains, and through the pages of books well beyond the world of railroad tracks.

If Joe Biden were, as a matter of the principle, devoted to defending democracy at all costs, the first thing he would do would be to step aside for some younger, more capable, less radioactive Democrat with a much better chance of beating Trump.