Political Musing
There is no "Buckley Moment" Coming
History has three ways this ends: the extremists win, the party dies, or everyone pretends to make up and don't. Pick your favorite, because 'grow a spine' isn't on the menu.
Political Musing
Where I spend way too much time reading about, thinking about, and writing about politics. It is just a reflection of how fucked up American politics is at the moment. Perhaps one day I will be able to write about Guitars again. I am not holding my breath though
Political Musing
Magic Blood, Magic Dirt, and the Party That Never Says Sorry
David French gets oh so close, but then he has to put his blinders on. But the real gem comes from the comment section.
Tech
The Hate Was Never New, Just the Bandwidth
Kathy Sierra got doxxed and death-threatened in 2007, seven years before Gamergate, with none of today's algorithmic muscle. The hate wasn't invented later. Someone just built better plumbing for it, and found out outrage pays the bills.
Political Musing
Will Win vs. Can Win
Ron Johnson tried to hand fake electors to Mike Pence. The Democratic establishment's real fear that cycle? Mandela Barnes's parking tickets. The electability model doesn't need to be right. It just needs to never be tested.
Political Musing
The Protection Racket
The consultant class are the Capos. Never Trump are the enforcers. The donor class is in the back of the restaurant. And your midnight ActBlue email? That's the vig. Welcome to the protection racket.
Political Musing
The Architects of the Rubble
How the Never Trump Brain Trust Built What They're Now Selling You Protection From
The Long Arc, a journey of political weight
The Broken Mirror and the Empty Toolkit
Series: The Closed Loop, Part 1
Political Musing
The Wrong Voters (or why Rural voters are unreachable)
Thirty years of Real American outreach has produced one durable result: a very comfortable living for the people doing the outreach.
Political Musing
Performed Piety, Practiced Bullshit - Douthat v. Vance
JD Vance converted to Catholicism five years into his marriage to a woman who hasn't. Ross Douthat interviewed him about his faith and forgot to notice. Here's what legitimacy laundering looks like.
Political Musing
Unable, Unwilling, or Just Playing a Rigged Game?
Series: The Boys Are Not Alright — And Nobody's Fixing It, Part 3
The Boys are not Alright
The College-For-All Catastrophe
Series: The Boys Are Not Alright — And Nobody's Fixing It, Part 2 - College isn't really for everybody, but somehow that became the mantra.
Political Musing
The Art of the Deferral: Trump's Iran "Deal" and the Pattern He Can't Quit
Trump's Iran deal: photo op in Geneva, enrichment program in Tehran, blame pre-loaded onto Vance. The only thing missing is a Phase 2.