Category Archives: Politics

The Overton Window of Deviance

Amanda Marcotte on how Christians seem not bothered by the immorality of Trump nor his Cabinet picks; Bret Stephens on defining deviancy down; Timothy Snyder on how Trump is actually a fascist — and how fascists use narratives; David French … Continue reading

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Shocked, Just Shocked

The broad trend, perhaps, is the discomfort of tribal human beings living in multicultural liberal democracies. How some people (who weren’t paying attention) are shocked that Trump is actually setting out to do what he promised to do; How Trump … Continue reading

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Continuing Our Studies of Human Nature…

Today’s evidence. How MAGA is a gang mentality for white men who feel powerless; Adam Gopnik considers the difference between a mob and a righteous protest; (And I wonder about the American revolutionaries); Short items about Robert Reich and overereaching … Continue reading

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A Little Knowledge… Is a Dangerous Thing

Imagine that you work for a company that does any kind of specialty work, anything at all — urban planning, furniture making, aerospace design — and for some reason the company’s owner dies and his aunt inherits the entire company … Continue reading

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Politics and Psychology

Politics is as much about human psychology as about policy or ideology. Politics succeeds via simple sound-bites, “feels,” not policies or facts; It’s all about perception; How what has led evangelical Christians to follow Trump is rooted in racism; And … Continue reading

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There Is Always Long Term Progress and Short Term Retreat

An essay that proposes that the idea of progress is a myth; I disagree; Quick takes on politics, and crackpots. OK, I can’t help but follow the political news, but for today’s post I’m sinking links about that to the … Continue reading

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Rogue’s Gallery

A Fox News host for Secretary of Defense. Stephen Miller. Matt Gaetz for…. anything. We shouldn’t be surprised. Evidence that Russia is playing Trump; Trump’s picks for his cabinet are surprising even many Republicans; Why does it take two guys … Continue reading

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This Is What Dictators Do

Many topics today. Trump plans to fire generals who are not “yes men”; RFK Jr. plans to fire scientists who do not subscribe to his anti-scientific ideology; Federal scientists anticipate firings, and the parallel with the Soviet Union and Lysenkoism; … Continue reading

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Other Shoes Falling

The pundits (and the Democrats) have been warning people about the potential consequences of Trump’s planned policies for months, if not years. Most people see higher grocery prices and don’t care about all those theoretical consequences. Paul Krugman explains why … Continue reading

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The Parochial and the Cosmic

Our mistake was thinking we lived in a better country than we do; The US has lost faith in the American dream; Connie Willis’s detailed daily political summaries are now at CW Daily on Facebook; With today a dozen or … Continue reading

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