6 days agoMember-onlyShow of Hands: Camilla Nielsson’s “President”In Zimbabwe, a textbook case of election theft that should be a cautionary tale for us all. How bad was life in Zimbabwe under Robert Mugabe, the brutal kleptocrat who held power in that sorrowful nation for almost 40 years? This bad: When the British mercenary Simon Mann tried to…Zimbabwe13 min read
Jul 20Member-onlyThe Atomic Bomb of Election Subversion, Part 2Part two of Moore v. Harper, the case that could wipe out American democracy for good. Will the Supreme Court let it? Just kidding. Of course it will. Last week in part one of this essay, we examined Moore v. Harper, the North Carolina case that the Supreme Court will…Politics13 min read
Jul 16Member-onlyThe Atomic Bomb of Election SubversionAs summer winds on and the House Select Committee on January 6th continues to lay out its evidence against the disgraced, twice-impeached 45th president of the United States, any doubt that Donald J. Trump attempted to defraud the US by trying to overturn a free and fair election is being…Politics17 min read
Jul 2Member-onlyThe High Cost of Letting People Off the HookIt’s been a blockbuster week, from the overturning of Roe (imagine if we hadn’t been warned) to the explosive testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson, former aide to Trump’s fourth and final chief of staff Mark Meadows. …Politics15 min read
Jun 24Member-onlySmoking CannonAs the January 6 hearings commenced, an old and trusted friend commented to me that he thought only the production of a smoking gun would be likely to change any minds in our current calcified, hyperpartisan political climate. Many pundits have echoed that opinion. Yes and no, say I. We…Politics17 min read
Jun 5Member-onlyGod, Guns, and GoldIn the immediate wake of the horrific events in Texas eleven days ago, a friend said to me, “I take it you’re going to write about Uvalde this week.” I said, “Why don’t I just re-run my essay from the last mass shooting?” (There are several.) …Guns16 min read
May 19Member-onlyThey Don’t Want It to StopWhere would you like to begin with the horrific events in Buffalo last week? Let’s start with the most obvious and urgent aspect. There is an epidemic of right wing domestic terrorism in the United States — especially against people of color — one with no analog anywhere else on…Racism12 min read
May 13Member-onlyZebras Not Horses: The New American NormalFunny story. Early one morning last week, the wife and I were awakened around 6am by what sounded like an enormous explosion, followed by a burst of light. …Politics11 min read
May 4Member-onlyThe Very Worst Person We Should Have Let Decide Our Abortion PolicyThe New York Times’s Peter Baker called this week’s leak of an Alito-penned draft decision overturning Roe v. Wade “one of the biggest earthquakes in American domestic politics in a generation.” (Josh Gerstein and Alexander Ward of Politico broke the story.) No doubt about that. It’s early days to say…Abortion15 min read
Apr 20Member-onlyViolence and the Heroic ImpulseWhen last we met, I was pondering whether Vladimir Putin was rational enough to recognize his losing situation in Ukraine, and — given his almost total control of the information available to the Russian public — simply declare victory and go home. The question was partly rhetorical. He has not…Politics15 min read
