The “Washington Meltdown” Edition

<p>This week, Alan, Quinta and Scott flew solo as they talked through the week's big national security news stories, including:&nbsp;</p><ul><li>“Our Gun Epidemic.” Last week’s horrifying school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, is only the latest high-profile incident in a <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/23141964/america-gun-violence-epidemic-chart" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">wave of gun violence</a> that is sweeping the United States. But most experts maintain that there is almost no chance Congress will pursue any serious substantive response. Why do guns play such a central role in American culture? And how do we make progress on combating gun violence in spite of it?</li><li>“Feenluond und Sveeden ond borgen NATO, si Erdogan needou torgin bi borgen. Bork bork bork.” Sweden is moving closer every day to joining NATO, as is its neighbor Finland–if, that is, their applications are not <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/30/us/politics/turkey-nato-russia.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">derailed by Turkish President Erdogan</a> or another objector within the alliance. What are the pros and cons of NATO expansion in these cases? And where should it go next?</li><li>“Revenge is a Dish Best Served Covered in a Tacky Amount of Gold.” Former President Trump’s revenge campaign against Republicans who openly accepted his defeat in the 2020 election <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/25/trump-georgia-five-takeaways-primary-2022-00035017" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">ran aground in the state of Georgia</a> last week, as a slate of Trump-backed candidates lost in Republican primaries to the incumbents who certified his election loss. Next on his target list appears to be Rep. Liz Cheney, who is facing a hard primary fight in Wyoming. What should we make of this campaign–and what might it mean for the rule of law and election security moving forward?</li></ul><p>For object lessons, budding BBQ hobbyist Alan gave a strong endorsement to the "<a href="http