Don't Bogart My Blog: Sunday Best: Can I buy you a drink?

Stories from across the bar.

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Sunday, April 28, 2019

NYTimes.com/Opinion »

Joe Biden may have officially announced that he is joining the crowded presidential candidate pool, but the news seemed dwarfed by the person currently sitting in the Oval Office and the word casting a shadow over the White House: impeachment. This week, writers commented on the lure of impeaching the president and the potential danger of not doing so; readers, meantime, were left divided. Where do you stand on impeachment? Write me at op-reads@nytimes.com. Please note your name, age and location in your response, which may be included in the next newsletter. — Alexandra March

Can Bar-Stool Democracy Save America?

Sam Alden

By TONY HORWITZ

A bartender married to a member of the Aryan Brotherhood. A mechanic. A biker. These are all people this writer met while traversing the South, getting the real story after getting his bearings at the local Chamber of Commerce.

My Grandma, Rasputin

Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin, a Russian mystic and spiritual advisor to the Romanovs and a highly influential figure in the court of Czar Nicholas II, in 1905. Hulton Archive/Getty Images

By AMOS BARSHAD

In the vein of the reputed Russian master manipulator, his grandmother went from person to person in the nursing home and whispered in their ears. Soon, their complaints echoed her own.

The Empty Promise of Suicide Prevention

Rachel Levit

By AMY BARNHORST

There are two psychiatric medications shown to reduce suicide, but what happens when neither works?

They Committed Genocide. Their Neighbors Welcomed Them Home.

Daphrosa Mukamusoni, a former Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda combatant, at the Reintegration and Demobilization Center in Mutobo, Rwanda. Jacques Nkinzingabo/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

By HOLLIE NYSETH BREHM AND LAURA C. FRIZZELL

Twenty-five years after participating in the mass violence that plagued Rwanda, these genocidaires returned to their communities and found peace.

An Israeli Shot Me. An Israeli Healed Me.

Khalil Bashir, whose son was shot in the back, in front of his house in the Gaza Strip in 2005. The house had been taken over by the Israeli army for five years. Marco Di Lauro/Getty Images

By YOUSEF BASHIR

"The soldier who shot me was suspended. I often wonder what has happened to him since, why he did it and what he now thinks about the whole thing. I wish we could talk ... I would tell him that I have forgiven him."

Join Ross Douthat, Michelle Goldberg and David Leonhardt, the hosts of "The Argument" podcast, for an evening of spirited conversation and debate in Boston on Wednesday, May 29. Tickets are available here.