Feb 14Member-only“That Makes Me Corrupt”There is a lot to talk about since we last spoke. The US Air Force establishing air superiority over latex balloons. The special counsel’s subpoena of Mike Pence. The wanton hypocrisy of Ron DeSantis when it comes to firearms. The inability of the American people to recognize when an administration…Trump14 min readTrump14 min read
Jan 24Member-onlyO Lucky ManBiden’s gift to Trump jeopardizes what seemed like a slam dunk. As many many observers have noted, Donald Trump is the luckiest motherfucker on the planet. Born into obscene privilege, he has led a life cosseted in unearned wealth and power, exempting him from consequences for 72 years of unrelentingly…Biden21 min readBiden21 min read
Jan 9Member-onlyThe Rise of Republican NihilismThe infantile gainsaying of the GOP. The Big Lebowski is not my favorite Coen Brothers film. (That would be Raising Arizona. Second place: three-way tie between Miller’s Crossing, Fargo, and A Serious Man.) …Politics9 min readPolitics9 min read
Dec 19, 2022Member-onlyRon’s Retro-COVID DenialismA disturbing and deceitful narrative arising around Ron DeSantis. I noticed it as soon as Ron DeSantis emerged from the midterms as the Republican Party’s new flavor of the month. It was a casual assertion — so casual, in fact, that you might easily have missed it — but presented…Ron Desantis12 min readRon Desantis12 min read
Dec 5, 2022Member-onlyThe Tragedy of BrazilAutocracy taints Brazil’s beautiful game, and the world’s joy in watching it. The chatter surrounding the World Cup — sorry, the FIFA World Cup — has largely centered on the corruption and absurdity of holding the tournament in the dead of winter in the obscenely rich (and just plain obscene)…Soccer11 min readSoccer11 min read
Nov 11, 2022Member-onlyWhat Will Republicans Learn from the Midterms?The midterms prove that sanity is still alive in America, barely. But Republicans will now work overtime to kill it. It is axiomatic that, in war, the losers learn more than the winners. Given how much reckless talk of actual civil war is in the air, I am hesitant to…Politics14 min readPolitics14 min read
Oct 30, 2022Member-onlyJames Carroll’s “Revelations of the War in Ukraine”What the war in Ukraine tells us about the unabated danger of nuclear weapons. For the past 40 years, there has been no more eloquent or passionate opponent of the madness of nuclear weaponry than James Carroll. A child of the duck-and-cover era and son of a three-star Air Force…Nuclear Weapons16 min readNuclear Weapons16 min read
Oct 21, 2022Member-onlyIs Democracy a Luxury?The absurdity of anyone voting Republican in the midterms. With the 2022 midterms only 19 days away, the oddsmakers tell us that the GOP remains favored to retake the House, while the Senate is a razor thin contest that could go either way. This, after Democratic hopes rallied in late…Politics11 min readPolitics11 min read
Oct 1, 2022Member-onlyOf Tehran and TucsonMisogyny knows no borders. Last month, Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman from the provinces of Iran, was visiting Tehran when she was arrested and jailed by the country’s so-called “morality police” — the “guidance patrol,” as they call themselves — for wearing her head covering too loosely. Three days…Iran11 min readIran11 min read
Sep 24, 2022Member-onlyBeware a Rat Being CorneredThe justice system roars back, carrying us into a fraught new phase…. Last week in these pages, I wrote about the longstanding and exceptionally dangerous campaign by the Republican Party to co-opt the American judiciary such that it functions as a column in that organization’s brazen march toward authoritarianism in…Politics16 min readPolitics16 min read
