A Conversation with Martin Gurri (Part 1 of 2)
The analyst and author talks to Daniel P. Schmidt and Michael E. Hartmann about philanthropy as an elite institution that should be as “on the defensive” against populist discontent as…
Donald Trump
A Conversation with Martin Gurri (Part 2 of 2)
The analyst and author talks to Daniel P. Schmidt and Michael E. Hartmann about philanthropy’s reaction to popular discontent with elites, contemplates the populist future of conservatism, and considers some…
Donors’ Distance in Decades of Decadence
“[T]he gulf between the Republican party’s donors and voters has never been greater, and ultimately (and thankfully), the voters hold the power,” according to U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida…
Waging a Good War: Tortured Thesis
Those with little or no background in that history can gain it from Waging a Good War. The writing isn’t awful when it sticks to the story, rather than the…
Waging a Good War: He Is Writing This Because . . .
Rick's military history approach comes off as just a vehicle to score some historical and contemporary points. For example, he wrote, “The same antidemocratic faction of American life that opposed…
Waging a Good War: The Army of One
The clumsy military clichés and analogies in Waging a Good War also caused Ricks to veer into incongruous criticisms of the individuals who waged the good war. In one example,…
The Twitter Files, Trump, and the Corporate Media’s King Kong Problem
Donald Trump is a media creation based in large measure on this outsized Twitter presence that the media couldn’t get enough of and profited mightily from. Even now, as he…
Getting Close to Bad People: Episode 5 of Showtime’s The Lincoln Project
Outside of the pedantic rehash of 2020 election denial, the big reveal in Episode 5, and the reason why it is still well worth watching, involves coverage of the John…
The Outrage Machine: Episode 4 of Showtime’s The Lincoln Project
Showtime’s The Lincoln Project (full series) Introduction | Episode 1 | Episode 2 Episode 3 | Episode 4 | Episode…
The Trump Projection: Episode 3 of Showtime’s The Lincoln Project
An ill-fated family intervention occurred in episode 3 of Showtime’s The Lincoln Project. Much else that the cameras captured reveals selfish behavior and self-inflicted distractions rivaling and often exceeding the…