The Ideological-Operational Divide in the G.O.P. by Jeffrey Frank for the New Yorker offers some interesting thoughts about the Republican Party, as it has developed between the late 1960s and now. Best line: “Voters tend to favor candidates who offer the hope of better times, and who manage to convey an ability to govern the country (all of it).” We’ll see, soon enough!

The Curator saw a poll yesterday which showed a 46 (Clinton) – 43 (Trump) race, which ought to make everyone take Donald Trump seriously. So here’s Trump’s Putin Fantasy by Timothy Snyder for the New York Review of Books. Mr. Snyder goes deep, and the essay provides yet more reasons to be very focused on making sure Mr. Trump has a very, very unhappy fall.

Steve Benen, who writes The MaddowBlog, has Paul Ryan’s Curious Case against Expertise. The Curator doesn’t know about y’all, but nitwit comes to mind when he reads these words:

We do not believe we should be governed by elites. We do not believe that there are experts or elites who should steer us in their preferred direction. We see that sense of organization as condescending, paternalistic, and downright arrogant. We know it’s wrong. […]

Because we believe that all of us are equal, we believe there is no problem that all of us – working together – cannot solve. We believe every person has a piece of this puzzle, and only when we work together do we get the whole picture.

If the grown-up in the Republican Party holds—and expresses with pride—this  position, it’s no wonder we’re suffering badly in 2016.

Sometimes, the Curator packs a big punch. Here from Longform.org is The Longform Guide to Sleep, which includes five essays about sleep issues. Sleep matters, and while reading about it does provide an unintended consequences—somnolence aka sleepiness—sleep-deprived individuals will take solutions wherever they appear.

For Tucson readers here’s Your Guide to 35 Bars & Restaurants on Fourth Avenue by Gloria Knott. Some good choices; some, not so much!

For Passover, the Curator ingests no wheat-based products which are leavened. (Short description. The rules are much more complicated.) Alas, Passover means no pizza, and no, matzah pizza is so awful it’s just not worthy. So here’s the last pizza I made and ate, around sundown—around being a term which must be applied loosely—this past Friday evening.