Opinion: All of the lies, updated

View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Friday, July 21, 2017 [NYTimes.com/Opinion »]( [David Leonhardt] David Leonhardt Op-Ed Columnist Many of you have asked us to update our definitive list of President Trump’s lies, and [we’ve now done so](. The new version covers his first six months in office. One point that’s worth emphasizing: We have used a conservative standard, one that we understand some readers will consider too lenient. For example, when he says that his health care plan is more generous than Obamacare, we don’t count that as a lie. To be included in our list, a statement must be demonstrably and specifically false, not merely misleading or unlikely to bear out. We are still sorting through all of the statements from Trump’s [interview]( with The New York Times on Wednesday and will update our list, based on our fairly strict standard, by the end of the day. As always, I welcome feedback and critique, at leonhardt@nytimes.com. To those readers who think we should not be using the word “lie,” here is our original explanation: “Not every falsehood is deliberate on Trump’s part. But it would be the height of naïveté to imagine he is merely making honest mistakes. He is lying.” As for the big running news stories: What has been the single most surprising act of the Trump administration? Slate’s Leon Neyfakh [makes a strong case]( that it was Jeff Sessions’ decision to recuse himself from the Russia investigation, a decision that obviously [haunts]( Trump. It was “one of the only instances in which this administration has lived up to a typical standard of government ethics,” Neyfakh writes. “Simply put, Sessions could have just not recused. What was going to happen if he didn’t? Who in the administration was going to stand up and tell the attorney general that even the appearance of a potential conflict of interest is a very, very bad thing?” Meanwhile, for anyone trying to make sense of the Senate’s confusing health care scrum, Vox’s Dylan Scott wrote a highly useful [piece]( yesterday, explaining what matters, what doesn’t and what is likely to happen next week. “This is the bottom line: Senate Republicans are promising a vote next week, but nobody is sure what they’re going to vote on,” he writes. Off the news: “A majority of the public finds talking with people who have a different opinion from their own about Donald Trump to be a stressful and frustrating experience,” according to a new [survey]( by the Pew Research Center. Nearly 60 percent of those surveyed describe the experience that way, while 35 percent say it is “interesting and informative.” [My advice:]( Even if you find it stressful, make a point of talking politics with people who disagree with you. Finally, I recommend this 1997 Times Magazine [article]( by Michael Lewis, which ends by describing the friendship between John McCain and Mo Udall, an early mentor of McCain’s. McCain frequently visited Udall, an Arizona Democrat, as he lay stricken with Parkinson’s disease. Here’s how Lewis’s piece ends: “McCain spoke of how it affected him when Udall took him in hand. It was a simple act of affection and admiration, and for that reason it meant all the more to McCain. It was one man saying to another, We disagree in politics but not in life. It was one man saying to another, Party political differences cut only so deep.” The full Opinion report from The Times follows, including [Jennifer Weiner]( on men who won’t grow up. [President Trump’s Lies, the Updated List]( By DAVID LEONHARDT AND STUART A. THOMPSON We have catalogued nearly every outright lie the president has told publicly since taking the oath of office. Editorial [President Trump’s Contempt for the Rule of Law]( By THE EDITORIAL BOARD In an interview with The Times, the president attacks those who could hold him to account. Op-Ed Columnist [Republicans Can’t Pass Bills]( By DAVID BROOKS The G.O.P. used to be willing to govern. Not now. Op-Ed Columnist [Donald Trump’s History Lessons]( By ROGER COHEN Napoleon, Moscow and Trump’s strange projections. Op-Ed Columnist [Health Care in a Time of Sabotage]( By PAUL KRUGMAN Republicans are working hard to make Obamacare fail. Op-Ed Columnist [Everything You Need to Understand About Trump and Russia]( By ANDREW ROSENTHAL Trump’s people never spoke to any Russians, and if they did they forgot about it, and if they didn’t forget, it was just socializing. Got it? Contributing Op-Ed Writer [The Last Best Empty Place in America]( By TIMOTHY EGAN Public land is always under threat. We are its enemy — and its savior. ADVERTISEMENT Contributing Op-Ed Writer [A Republican Health Care Fix]( By J. D. VANCE It’s conservative to offer government assistance. Contributing Op-Ed Writer [The Men Who Never Have to Grow Up]( By JENNIFER WEINER Peter Pan, Donald Jr., Ryan Seacrest and the boys. Editorial [Mr. Macron Starts Making Waves]( By THE EDITORIAL BOARD Generals resist budget cuts and other officials may follow suit. But France voted for change and the French president seems willing to provide it. Kiersten Essenpreis [News Analysis]( [Why Women Aren’t C.E.O.s, According to Women Who Almost Were]( By SUSAN CHIRA It’s not a pipeline problem. It’s about loneliness, competition and deeply rooted barriers. [Has Sexism Become Worse After the Election?]( By SUSAN CHIRA The New York Times Opinion section would like to hear from women about whether they think sexism has become worse since the U.S. presidential election. Contributing Op-Ed Writer [The Fading Trump Bump]( By STEVEN RATTNER Trump keeps touting his economic record but recent data show the post-election boomlet is fading. Contributing Op-Ed Writer [Will the Russians Hack Germany, Too?]( By ANNA SAUERBREY They’ll probably try. But here’s why it won’t matter. Op-Ed Contributor [Betsy DeVos Is Right: Sexual Assault Policy Is Broken]( By CATHY YOUNG The Trump administration is the worst possible messenger. But its message is the right one. Op-Ed Contributor [John McCain’s Brain Cancer, and Mine]( By JESSICA MORRIS Glioblastoma is an aggressive cancer, so my way of dealing with it is aggressive. Aggressively positive. Op-Ed Contributor [Help! My 3-Year-Old Is Obsessed With Trump]( By ANNIE PFEIFER We had to leave a play date early after one little girl dissolved into tears. HOW ARE WE DOING? We’d love your feedback on this newsletter. Please email thoughts and suggestions to [opinionnewsletter@nytimes.com](mailto:opinionnewsletter@nytimes.com?subject=Opinion%20Today%20Newsletter%20Feedback). ADVERTISEMENT Letters [President Trump’s Bombshell Interview]( Readers react to an interview the president gave to The New York Times. SIGN UP FOR THE VIETNAM ’67 NEWSLETTER Examining America’s long war in Southeast Asia [through the course]( of a single year. FOLLOW OPINION [Facebook] [FACEBOOK]( [Twitter] [@nytopinion]( [Pinterest] [Pinterest]( Get more [NYTimes.com newsletters »](  | Get unlimited access to NYTimes.com and our NYTimes apps for just $0.99. [Subscribe »]( ABOUT THIS EMAIL You received this message because you signed up for NYTimes.com's Opinion Today newsletter. 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