Today is my first week at @TheAtlantic. Send tips — news, parenting, food and otherwise — to @aparker@theatlantic.com. And my cell/Signal is the same. Use it!.

Defense Sec. Hegseth has repeatedly described his desire to create a U.S. military force focused on lethality. But the National Guard in D.C., w their wheelbarrows full of mulch, can feel more like a focus on "leafality," a former Obama/Biden aide joked.

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At 3 pm Wed., a woman was stabbed just off a busy intersection on H Street, NE. National Guard members were dining al fresco at a taqueria DIRECTLY across the street, yet the suspect got away. "So safe," a local texted us. Our postcard from Washington:

The sudden appearance of the National Guard in D.C. brings w/ it an absurdist sheen—their tasks quotidian (“beautification”), their backdrops farcical (a Dupont Circle Krispy Kreme), their very presence sitcom-esque (as if lifted from an episode of Veep).

The National Guard in DC often feels more notional than national, with an absurdist sheen to their very presence. But that doesn't mean it's not complicated. A postcard from an occupied Washington, w @nancyayoussef:

My 2-year-old is mainly an adorable dictator. But at least once a day, she leans close to me and whispers, "Mommy, you're funny." And I forgive everything.

Fun talking to Stinson Carter @esquire (who I first met when he was bartending at the Chateau Marmont) about my now 10+ (!) years covering Donald Trump, in some capacity.

RT @lizchar:

RT @michaelscherer: Scoop: Smithsonian removes Trump from impeachment exhibit in American History Museum

RT @JonLemire: Virginia Giuffre’s Family Was Shocked That Trump Described Her as ‘Stolen’. The siblings of one of Jeffrey Epstein’s most pr….

❤️‍🩹.

RT @TheAtlantic: In Elbridge Colby’s view, the only way to stop Beijing is to pivot away from the rest of the world, @nancyayoussef, @JonLe….

Caught in the middle of a political battle, @BlackRock reaffirmed its focus is helping millions of Americans save for retirement. They warned that injecting politics from either side risks undermining financial performance.

I cannot tell you the number of times (first at the NYT, then at the WaPo) when I wasn't sure about some complicated issue, and I always turned to the WaPo Fact Checker for a clear, honest and understandable answer. @GlennKesslerWP was its heart, and his is another big loss.

Jasmine Crockett gets the @elainejgodfrey treatment (and it doesn't disappoint):

My 6-year-old takes a school bus about an hour to camp each day. And I have just learned that a poor bus wrangler has an official Vomit Bucket to deal with all the inevitable puke each day. #hero 🤢.

RT @michaelscherer: NEW: Tim Walz and Laura Kelly leaving NGA.

NEW: Tension at the NGA. Dem governors are frustrated w what they view as the group’s silence in the Trump era—and two governors (Walz and Kelly) are about to step back and stop paying dues. W/ @michaelscherer:

RT @michaelscherer: Scoop: Minnesota Gov Tim Walz and Kansas Gov Laura Kelly are dropping membership of National Governors Association over….

Yes, come for @grynbaum's deliciously juicy new book on Condé Nast. And stay for the tales of two kid reporters, locked in a glass huddle room, working on a story (which still holds up! ) on a candidate v few took seriously in the summer of 2016: Donald Trump.

RT @JonLemire: "But lately, his posts are not having the desired effect. It’s possible that what observers witnessed this weekend is a tipp….