May and Macron offer clinics on how not to lead

[Bloomberg]( Today’s Agenda - [Theresa May]( and [Emmanuel Macron]( are doing it wrong. - People in China are [up in arms]( about Huawei. - Google and its critics keep [talking past each other](. - Brett Kavanaugh is [not making Clarence Thomas happy](. A Tale of Two Pities Theresa May has propped a pair of sunglasses on the ice-cold corpse of her Brexit deal and is lugging it around Europe today, a la “Weekend at Bernie’s,” in hopes somebody will believe it’s still kicking. At least she’s getting a nice European trip out of it. Otherwise it’s a farce. For one thing, nobody in Europe seems much willing to go along with her charade. Angela Merkel said the deal May hammered out with the EU [can’t be amended](. EU leaders said the same thing. Back at home, meanwhile, May came this close to a no-confidence vote. An MP even [grabbed the parliamentary mace](, for God’s sake. This foolishness has gone on long enough: May needs to [surrender to the fact that her Brexit deal is doomed](, Bloomberg’s editorial board writes. Her delays are doing nothing but adding to the embarrassment, confusion and risk of a disastrous no-deal Brexit. It’s time to stop pretending she has any power and let the people decide what’s next in a second referendum, the editors write. Read the [whole thing](. May has at least one friend in Europe, even if he doesn’t mean to be: French President Emmanuel Macron. He’s breaking the budget to get protesters to pretty please stop setting things on fire. That is hurting the euro, which is [putting a floor under the British pound](, notes Marcus Ashworth. And Macron might be just as hobbled politically as May; Lionel Laurent writes he seems to have joined a long list of [would-be French reformers who retreat]( when their plans become unpopular and then stay meek forever after. Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, must be loving the spectacle -- even if, as Leonid Bershidsky writes, [he didn’t create it](. Bonus Editorial: Taking a page from President Donald Trump, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is challenging his central bank’s independence. Both leaders need to realize such [meddling is dangerous and counterproductive]( to the growth they seek. A Troubled Trade Peace Today was an “on-again” day in the on-again/off-again trade truce between the U.S. and China. Bloomberg News reported the latter country will [consider cutting tariffs]( on U.S. cars, raising hopes in the market that trade talks can survive tensions over the Dec. 1 arrest of Huawei Technologies Inc.’s CFO. Such hopes have been dashed before. And the arrest has [certainly aroused ire in China](, notes Pankaj Mishra, who calls it akin to “poking a lion that is wide awake and increasingly angry.” Tyler Cowen writes the U.S. seems to be abusing the rule of law in the Huawei case, which [risks pushing China to reject it altogether](, dividing the world even further and making it a more dangerous place. For its part, Huawei may risk losing business in the developed world, but it didn’t really need those markets, writes Tim Culpan; developing countries in Asia, the Middle East and Africa [are more promising anyway](. Mr. Pichai Goes to Washington, for Some Reason Google CEO Sundar Pichai [testified]( for three hours before the House Judiciary Committee today, and together he and lawmakers hammered out workable solutions to all of the company’s issues. Haha, of course not. Nothing of much use happened; conservatives still think Google is biased against them, Google is still collecting way too much personal data, and nobody knows what will happen with the company’s problematic “Dragonfly” project in China. [There’s got to be a better way](! says Shira Ovide, channeling her inner TV infomercial. It’s not that these hearings are a total waste of time, but they always result in everybody “talking past each other” and resolve nothing. Speaking of resolving nothing: Another tech giant with PR headaches, Facebook Inc., is spending a bunch of money – more than $10 billion in the past year – to buy back stock, in what seems like a “forced smile” to pretend everything’s OK, Shira Ovide writes in a separate column. That money would be better spent on [fixing Facebook’s real and expensive problems](, Shira writes; the sort of problems that keep getting it dragged before Congress. Kavanaugh Is Not on Team Thomas Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas appears to be [mad at Brett Kavanaugh]( for not joining other conservative justices in voting to take on a Planned Parenthood case, writes Noah Feldman. Either Kavanaugh is just being cautious as a new judge before joining Thomas’s hard-right brigade, or he is joining Chief Justice John Roberts in a center-right coalition that will protect the high court from seeming overly partisan. Let’s hope it’s the latter, Noah writes. Read the [whole thing](. Telltale Charts Fulfilling a Trump promise, sort of, coal jobs have edged higher lately. But Trump can’t fight the reality that U.S. [coal demand is in sharp and permanent decline](, writes Justin Fox. Anheuser-Busch InBev NV’s [massive debt load]( is starting to hurt it, writes Andrea Felsted. Decent sales for a couple of Apple Inc. suppliers could be a [hopeful sign for iPhone demand](, writes Tim Culpan. Further Reading iPhone users bear the cost of the fees Apple charges developers to sell in Apple’s app store, which [feels kind of monopolistic]( – though people do have a choice of phones. – Scott Duke Kominers Bitcoin was a bubble all right. But it could have been a lot worse; and maybe it’s a [relatively pain-free reminder]( that bubbles still exist. – Noah Smith Giant infrastructure projects such as London’s Crossrail often take much longer and cost much more than expected. That [doesn’t mean we should stop doing them](. – Chris Bryant Benjamin Netanyahu [probably won’t lose his job](, despite corruption charges against him. – Zev Chafets Good White House chiefs of staff have turned presidencies around in the past. [John Kelly was not one of them](. – Jonathan Bernstein ICYMI Trump and congressional leaders [bickered in the Oval Office]( over the border wall. The Senate will [vote on a criminal-sentencing reform bill]( after all. Kickers After 41 years, the Voyager II spacecraft has [escaped the bubble of the Sun’s energy](. (h/t Alistair Lowe) Researchers make a material that [hardens instantly with magnets]( and could make futuristic armor.  A new paper in the journal “Injury Epidemiology” explores [how to survive on “Game of Thrones](.” Another study has determined that vascular surgeons [make the best golfers](. Things are so bad in the U.K. that a [plastic tunnel is a major tourist attraction](. (h/t first four kickers to Scott Duke Kominers) Santa Claus is [nothing but stress]( for families that don’t believe. Trading for top prospects [isn’t such a good deal]( for baseball teams. The Ringer’s [45 favorite sports moments]( of 2018. Pitchfork’s [50 best albums of 2018](. Note: Please send top prospects, suggestions and kicker ideas to Mark Gongloff at mgongloff1@bloomberg.net. New to Bloomberg Opinion Today? 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