<em>The Atlantic</em> Politics Daily: This Article Is About Articles of Impeachment

Some of the president’s opponents might be hoping that maybe, just maybe, one of the eight witnesses coming next week will be their white knight who can bring down the president. In other words, some on the left may be transferring the hope that they’d placed in Robert Mueller—whose testimony over the summer was a resounding dud on that front.

But as Quinta Jurecic argues, it can be a big mistake to turn career diplomats into heroes. Here’s her argument for why.

—Saahil Desai

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« SNAPSHOT »

(YARA NARDI / REUTERS)

Roger Stone, a longtime Trump confidant and self-described “dirty trickster,” was convicted today on seven counts of lying to Congress and attempting to obstruct a House investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

We detail his history of political mischief here.

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« ARGUMENT OF THE DAY »

(ERIN SCOTT / REUTERS)

In the year after the dramatic entrance of the Green New Deal into American political discourse, the underlying arguments for reorienting America’s carbon economy are already winning, Robinson Meyer writes.

[A]s a more surprising admirer says: It assumes that “our environment and our economy are completely and totally connected.” That idea—which also underpins, to some degree, the Paris Agreement—is too potent to perish. And if it is winning, it is because it is true.

Read the argument here.

+ Rob has been following the shifting center for how the 2020 Democrats want to combat climate change, including adopting variations of the Green New Deal. Read that analysis here.

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« WEEKEND READ »

(MATTHIEU BOUREL)

70, 73, 76, and 78. (Do you know what these numbers refer to?)

James Hamblin explores the history of the idea of being “fit” for office, and interrogates a cognitive test that could be used to evaluate that fitness.

Better tests do exist. Simply and transparently administered, they could help the public know what is really going on with the cognitive status of people who seek to hold the nuclear codes.

Read the full story.

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The Atlantic has a new look. Read our editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg’s conversation with our creative director, Peter Mendelsund, about the new design.

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Today’s edition of our daily newsletter of political ideas and arguments was written by Saahil Desai and Christian Paz, and edited by Shan Wang.

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Saahil Desai is an associate editor at The Atlantic, where he covers politics and policy.

Christian Paz is an editorial fellow at The Atlantic.