Political Musing
Never Trump Isn't a Conversion. It's a Business Model
The people who claim to be saving democracy have made a very comfortable living not quite doing that.
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
They Built the Swamp, Part Two: Why the Other Side Can't Build This
Murdoch funded a network. The Kochs funded infrastructure. Musk owns the pipes. That's not a difference of degree — it's a difference in kind, and the left has no answer for it.
Political Musing
They Built the Swamp, Part One: The Machine
In 1987 Reagan killed the Fairness Doctrine. A year later Rush Limbaugh went national. Roger Ailes had been planning Fox News since 1970. None of this was an accident. They wrote it down.
Political Musing
The Never Trumpers Discover Their Ass With Both Hands (And Still Get It Wrong)
Texas Republicans chose a walking rap sheet over a 24-year incumbent -- by nearly 2 to 1. The Never Trump brain trust's response? Maybe Democrats should flirt with chemtrail theories. Stunning. Brilliant. Completely fucking wrong.
Political Musing
The Long Diminishment
Everyone reaches for Weimar eventually. It's not wrong. It's just not the whole story, and the part it leaves out is the part that actually keeps me up at night.
Political Musing
The Permission Slip
Milton Friedman didn't invent greed. He did something more useful: he gave it a theory, a Nobel Prize, and fifty years of intellectual cover. The rest took care of itself.
Too smart to organize, now it's too late
Übermensch in a Cubicle Farm - Post 2: The Valley Mythology Machine
The white collars met management with a twist of No California wackiness, and the die were cast.
Political Musing
The Tribute Band Primary
Every candidate on this list is auditioning to inherit a coalition built entirely around one man's specific id. That's the tribute band problem. Tribute bands don't sell out stadiums.
Political Musing
The Ratchet Only Clicks One Way
On the doom loop, the Never Trump optimists, and the uncomfortable maths of where we actually are
Political Musing
The Billboard Won't Save You
Sarah Longwell is among the sharpest political operators working today. She is also, on this particular question, wrong. Dead wrong. Part 1 of a three episode arc
Political Musing
They Forgot to Outlaw Shamelessness
The $1.7 billion slush fund isn't just corruption. It's proof that the founders' whole architecture rested on something they assumed would always be there and isn't anymore.
Political Musing
The Wave, the Wall, and the 40 Percent
The pundit class' insistence that 2026 will be a wave year, and that Trump's flagging approval is a lock is not that comforting.