August 8, 2026 - The Week in Review

Life was pretty busy this week, and my time to obsess over making certain I had a queue of posts lined up was curtailed.

As I posted on Monday, the recent stretch I have covered on the Civil Rights era (the lead up to it, and the bat-shit insanity that spawned forth from the Brown v. Board of Education) really gutted me. While I had that post in the bag (queued) over the weekend I dug into why the US Senate in particular was a place of no courage. That led to a short multi-part essay on how much effort we (Democrats) spend to try to appeal to Republicans, assuming that there is this reservoir of support there just on the far side of the mythical "center" to get. The first of this series dropped on Sunday.

Sunday, August 2, 2026: There are No More Republicans in the Woods:

There Are No More Republicans in the Woods

The Never Trump movement may have already persuaded nearly everyone it can. Democrats need a growth strategy, not another search party.

Sweaty's CornerGeoff Anderson

Monday, August 3: I apologize for being broken. All the digging into the fuckery across the former Confederate South really hit me hard. I knew the broad outlines, but Goddamn the details are so fucked up:

Sorry folks, I am broken.

I am broken. The latest dive into how Brown v. Board of Education really changed America, and not entirely for the better, really is why we’re where we are today.

Sweaty's CornerGeoff Anderson

Tuesday, August 4: I go more into the thread that I started on Sunday, where the Never Trump gang has this belief that even though they haven't joined the Democratic Party, that they believe they have the moral standing to dictate how the Democrats comport themselves, and who they elect (this is largely the motivation behind the 4 part series) and the Michigan primary with Dr. Abdul el Sayed facing off against Haley Stevens. If you listened to Charlie Sykes, he totally lost his shit over this (and the likelihood that Francesca Hong will win the nomination in his home state of Wisconsin).

Anyhow, I had to write on how these "Independents" feel that even though they helped steer the Republican party into the iceberg, they should be the captain of the lifeboat:

Independent, but Somehow at the Helm

They vote for Democrats, raise money for Democrats, cut ads for Democrats — and proudly insist they’re not Democrats. Fine, keep the label. But surviving the Republican shipwreck didn’t make anyone captain of this boat. Part Two of The Empty Creel.

Sweaty's CornerGeoff Anderson

Wednesday, August 5th, a bit of a tangent from the arc, but I felt that in the same vein the whole phenomenon that feeds the narrative that there is this large cadre of "serious" Republicans who are just waiting for the right moment to break with Trump, pinky-swear, is total bullshit. The evidence that the Never Trump crowd likes to banter about is all the "off the record" comments. I take that to task:

Off the Record Is Not Opposition

Republican officials have spent a decade privately recognizing the danger of Trump while publicly enabling him. Their anonymous anguish is not resistance. It is an alibi.

Sweaty's CornerGeoff Anderson

Friday, August 7th, I close out the Empty Creel with a post on how the Democrats have a fetish about jumping to the apex of political pyramid. This is how you get candidates like Platner that flame out on first contact. It is typified by Obama's speed-run from community organizer, speech at the 2004 Dem Convention, Senate seat, and finally the Presidency. That is an exception, that is not an aspiration.

The Republicans have spent the last 5 decades building from the county Dog Catcher, through local local offices, and state level before getting to the House and the Senate. As such, there are vetted, known candidates at every level (sure, many of them are odious) that run and RUN, and RUN. Too often un-opposed. Democrats need to stop swining for the grandstands, and start playing the small ball that wins.

The Empty Creel Party

The beard is not vetting. A launch video is not a governing record. And a Senate race is a catastrophically expensive place for a first background check. The finale of The Empty Creel: stop waiting for saviors and build the fucking bench.

Sweaty's CornerGeoff Anderson

This is the set of all the Empty Creel arc:

The Empty Creel - Sweaty’s Corner

When you’re out fishing, the creel is where you keep your caught fish. The current creel is being overly tilted to finding former Republicans, and the Dems are taking way too much advice from the Never Trumpers. Instead, they need to start fishing in more productive waters

Sweaty's Corner

From that other site, I did a nostalgic traipse down memory lane, my first computer, and how that era wasn't perfect, but in many ways it was a golden era:

You Don’t Want a CRT, Man. You Want to Be Twelve.

Some of what you miss is a memory trick. Some of it got taken. Knowing which is which is the whole job.

The Dude ShitpostsJeffery Lebowski

(note: the referrer tag on that causes Substack to barf. That is lame, the link is https://www.shitpostdude.com/p/you-dont-want-a-crt-man-you-want if you want to paste it into your browser.)