Stevenson’s army, April 19

Most of you have heard the story Senator Lloyd Bentsen told me shortly after the 1988 presidential campaign, amplifying his comment that “In Texas, politics is a contact sport.” Back home in south Texas after flying B-24s in WWII, he decided to enter politics, running against the entrenched Democratic machine for County Judge. The old guard fought back with dirty tricks, including some slashed tires. A friendly local sheriff pulled Bentsen aside and asked, “Any killing you want done?” Bentsen said no.

That was Texas in 1946. What about Oklahoma in 2023?

In other news…

NYT says China is greatly expanding its nuclear arsenal

WaPo says China is building supersonic spy drones.

NYT tells how Russia is getting around tech sanctions.

Politico says administration will target investments in China.

WaPo notes how the Senate has treated other ailing members.

 Task & Purpose says US special operations forces in Ukraine aren’t in combat.

Lula criticizes US over Ukraine war.

My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I republish here, with occasional videos of my choice. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).