FRIDAY, JULY 15, 2022Lawrence / Joe / Mika seemed sure: Last evening, Lawrence was totally sure.He opened his show with one of his rants. The Secret Service had conducted a fraud!Eight hours later, Joe and Mika were also sure—and Willie chimed in too. The Secret Service was in th … | Continue reading
FRIDAY, JULY 15, 2022We were too soft to push back: How crazy was American upper-end journalism as of 1999?To what extent had The Crazy extended its reach into the world of our own blue tribe? To what extent had The Crazy invaded our own tribe's culture—and thereby our national c … | Continue reading
THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2022...it doesn't seem to have taught us this: "If history has taught us anything," Al Pacino once famously said.Pretending to be a mob boss, he continued his famous statement. With apologies for the ugliness of the sentiment he expressed, here is the fuller qu … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, JULY 13, 2022...concerning those rather brisk edits: A year or so back, the Washington Post added midwestern conservative Gary Abernathy to its roster of pundits.We rarely agree with Abernathy. That said, here's his report card for Donald J. Trump, as seen in his lates … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, JULY 13, 2022Tapper, Gangel get it right: Did Donald J. Trump know that violent groups were going to invade the Capitol Building on January 6? Had that been a part of the plan?Way back when, we identified that as the one question which remains concerning Trump's behavi … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, JULY 12, 2022Life within our failing tribe is like a box of chocolates: Early this morning, we started to comment on the Jill Biden "tacos" tempest, via the incurably stupid Daily Beast.(Headline: "Jill Biden Compares Hispanic Community to Breakfast Tacos." Warning: You … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, JULY 12, 2022We expect to have fish tomorrow: We didn't have any fish today. We expect have fish tomorrow.We thought the January 6 committee was a bit short on fish today too. Links between Trump and violent groups-wise, we would have thought that they'd be able cast the … | Continue reading
MONDAY, JULY 11, 2022Took it but seem to have failed: To us, it felt like a four-day weekend. Also, the weather in the Baltimore/Washington area was unseasonably superb.Under the circumstances, we did what anyone else would have done over the recent July 4 weekend. We gifted ours … | Continue reading
MONDAY, JULY 11, 2022A look at all we have: In this morning's New York Times, opinion columnist Pamela Paul shows us what we're left with at this very late date. Her column appears beneath this headline:If Only John Roberts Would RetirePaul pictures a better world in which the Ch … | Continue reading
FRIDAY, JULY 8, 2022Gellman reports from the front: In a new piece for The Atlantic, Barton Gellman asks what may be a very good question:"What happened to Michael Flynn?"As Gellman notes in some detail, Flynn was once a highly-regarded two-star general, serving in Special Opera … | Continue reading
FRIDAY, JULY 8, 2022We'd say the errors were general: Even at the age of 46, Ben Smith has had a long career in and around the upper-end mainstream press corps.According to the leading authority on the subject, he recently left the New York Times for the following reason:In earl … | Continue reading
THURSDAY, JULY 7, 2022Insulting comments appear: A few weeks ago, we offered an award-winning report which carried this tough-talking headline:Who lost Uvalde County?We noted the fact that Uvalde County, Texas is very heavily Hispanic—but the county voted for Donald J. Trump in … | Continue reading
THURSDAY, JULY 7, 2022...in search of some comic relief: Provisionally, we issue a promise!We promise that, on the morrow, we'll return to this week's supposed project.On Tuesday, we said that we would be suggesting that our own tribe's very occasional, tiny/small errors might h … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2022Today we have sputtering parts: Yesterday, we stated a premise. We said we'd start to answer a question about this recent piece of bad news:ZENGERLE (7/3/22): In May, CNN asked 1,007 American voters for their opinions on the country’s two major political p … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, JULY 5, 2022But did they succeed in their quest?: To their credit, against all odds, they took The Gödel Challenge.That said, did they succeed in their attempts—in their attempts at the Gödel Challenge as we will define it? It seems to us that the answer is no. But to th … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, JULY 5, 2022We can think of three possible reasons: Last week, David Frum wrote an interesting article for The Atlantic.In his article, Frum drew some connections between the long drive to outlaw alcohol (Prohibition) and the long drive, recently concluded, to repeal Ro … | Continue reading
SUNDAY, JULY 3, 2022Still hazy after all these years: No, it doesn't exactly matter. That said, just how old is Cassidy Hutchinson, the former Mark Meadows aide?In Saturday's print editions, the New York Times continued to say that she's now 26. But in the featured front-page rep … | Continue reading
SATURDAY, JULY 2, 2022Two out of three ain't half bad: Back in 1973, was Roe v. Wade correctly decided?Inevitably, that calls for a subjective assessment. We don't have the expertise to speak to that point, which has been widely debated.Let's move to a second question. Given the … | Continue reading
FRIDAY, JULY 1, 2022Who killed Roe v. Wade: On Tuesday afternoon, a new arrival on the front knocked Dobbs out of the news.The previous Friday, there had been a different arrival on the front. On that day, the new arrival on the front had been the Dobbs decision itself. The Dobbs … | Continue reading
THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022New Court, new political tasks: Returning to our sprawling campus, we learned that the new Supreme Court had done it again.We'll characterize the new Supreme Court, and how we got it, on some other occasion. For now, we'll go with this statement by Chief Ju … | Continue reading
THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022Will post this afternoon: Rather thoroughly, Tuesday's "new arrival on the front" has replaced the overthrow of Roe v. Wade as the "topic of general conversation."(We're quoting Chekhov on the subject.)We plan to complete our series on the overthrow of Roe— … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29, 2022Dr. Dodes discusses Trump: Over at Salon, Chauncey DeVega had heard just about enough.In fact, DeVega had heard more than enough! For that reason, he decided to interview Dr, Lance Dodes, a retired assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medi … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29, 2022A chance to rethink how we got here: Yesterday afternoon, it happened again.In truth, it seems to happen with great regularity now. Yesterday, "The appearance of a new arrival on the front...became the topic of general conversation" and rerouted the discou … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, JUNE 28, 2022Recalling Groucho Marx: Has today's mystery guest been revealed? According to both the Post and the Times, the mystery guest will be Cassidy Hutchinson.If so, it's hard to know what the mystery will turn out to be, let alone the bombshell. That said, it's al … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, JUNE 28, 2022Perhaps through a bit of Kung Fu: "Grasshopper," the visitor said—and it must be said that he looked a great deal like the late actor Keye Luke. Or possibly even Dean Jagger!"Grasshopper," our visitor said. "The light we see from distant stars is actually ve … | Continue reading
MONDAY, JUNE 27, 2022Kevin Drum cites Dahlia Lithwick: On balance, we tend to agree with Kevin Drum's recent posts, though we also spot a bit of irony in the nature of the agreement.On what subject do we tend to agree? Let's take this in two awful steps:In his most recent post, D … | Continue reading
MONDAY, JUNE 27, 2022The downfall / defeat of our tribe: Last Friday morning, our blue tribe absorbed a terrible political defeat.In response, MSNBC scheduled a special two-hour broadcast of its regular weeknight program, The 11th Hour.The program debuted in September 2016, hoste … | Continue reading
SATURDAY, JUNE 25, 2022Counting to six can be hard: The statement is bannered across the top of this morning's New York Times.Counting to five (or to six) can be hard! As you can see by clicking here, the Times banner headlines say this:ROE OVERTURNEDA 6-to-3 Ruling Ends Fifty Ye … | Continue reading
FRIDAY, JUNE 24, 2022Some reasons for saying yes: Yesterday's presentation by the January 6 committee focused on a remarkable meeting in the Oval Office.The meeting occurred on January 3, 2021. For the record, the information presented yesterday wasn't exactly new.The Washington … | Continue reading
THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 2022Home Improvement resumes tomorrow: We've been called away from our campus this morning. For that reason, the next installment in our Home Improvement series be postponed till tomorrow.Later today, our afternoon explorations will continue. We'll continue wit … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22, 2022Drums along the Styx: We should have known that Kevin Drum would stab us in the back!We'd selected Kevin to serve as judge of those who took The Gödel Challenge. Under the rules, contestants would send him their attempts to explain Gödel's incompleteness t … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21, 2022Respect for the viewpoints of Others: Rusty Bowers was the first witness at yesterday's meeting of the January 6 committee.Bowers is the conservative leader of the Arizona House. For us, his frontier-adjacent, spare speaking style seemed to recall the late … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, JUNE 21, 2022This is what he did: As we noted yesterday, he's one of the three most significant logicians in the history of the western world. Or at least, that's pretty much what the leading authority on the widely-ignored topic says.We're discussing a time span of rou … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, JUNE 21, 2022"We are not enemies, but friends:" In the 2020 presidential election, quite a few people voted for Donald J. Trump.In fact, he racked up more than 74 million votes. Nationwide, the final tally is officially said to have looked like this:2020 presidential ele … | Continue reading
MONDAY, JUNE 20, 2022Political tribe, consider improving thyself: "The appearance on the front of a new arrival...became the topic of general conversation."In those days, the new arrival was "a lady with a lapdog"—or at least, so Chekhov reported. This morning, the new arrival on … | Continue reading
SATURDAY, JUNE 18, 2022Sherrill pours it on: President Abraham Lincoln had a peculiar idea. Peculiar though his notion was, its premise lies at the heart of a very large nation's ability to function. He stated his idea at the very end of his first inaugural address:LINCOLN (3/4/6 … | Continue reading
FRIDAY, JUNE 17, 2022Just for the record, two estimates: On January 6, did Donald J. Trump know or believe that Mike Pence's life was in danger, or that his life might be in danger?We don't know how to answer that question. We will say that many people seem to have taken that imp … | Continue reading
FRIDAY, JUNE 17, 2022Our need for a federal indictment: Last evening, late in The 11th Hour, a rising pundit, Juanita Tolliver, said the quiet part right out loud.Presumably based upon her fees as a political strategist, Tolliver seems to live in the palace at Versailles. (We bas … | Continue reading
THURSDAY, JUNE 16, 2022American systems break down: On this most glorious Bloomsday, we're headed off for our latest look inside the American health care system.We won't post further until this afternoon, if then. Before we leave, though, this:Yesterday, we linked to this report … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 15, 2022When our tribe's only tool is a hammer: In the course of his crackpot attempts to challenge the outcome of the 2020 election, did former president Donald J. Trump commit any serious crimes?If he did, should he be indicted for those crimes? Yesterday, Neal … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 15, 2022Previous concerns disappear: For a good example of imperfect journalism, consult today's New York Times.This news report previews tomorrow's presentation by the January 6 committee. Headline included, the news report starts like this:Jan. 6 Panel Hints at … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, JUNE 14, 2022Also, will the nation survive: Years ago, we made an announcement:"It's all anthropology now," we memorably said.By that, we meant that our nation's systems (such as they were) had fallen apart to such an extent that there was little hope for recovery. All t … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, JUNE 14, 2022So too with our upper-end press corps: BREAKING! In certain highly specific circumstances, members of our upper-end "press corps" are willing to refer to "mental illness."We know this because of the latest "Conversation" between Gail and Bret (Collins and St … | Continue reading
MONDAY, JUNE 13, 2022Journalists struggle with meaning: The January 6 committee has completed its second day of hearings.In our view, today's second hearing was much more impressive than last Thursday night's first. For now, we'll only ask you to consider something William Barr s … | Continue reading
MONDAY, JUNE 13, 2022But so does Laurence Tribe: Yesterday morning, Jesse was the moderator for C-Span's Washington Journal. At 7 A.M., he started the program's daily, hour-long "Viewer Calls" feature.In all honesty, the question for the day was a bit non-specific. It went exactl … | Continue reading
SATURDAY, JUNE 11, 2022Watching America fail: If MSNBC followed CNN's practice, what a wonderful world it would be!Speaking extremely frankly, it's a bit like Goofus and Gallant. Here's what we mean by that:CNN produces transcripts of all its shows, and it does so in timely fashi … | Continue reading
FRIDAY, JUNE 10, 2022It may look something like this: Unless you read the paper on-line—more on that below—the New York Times offered a lengthy report yesterday about Donald J. Trump's road to January 6.In print editions, the lengthy report was promoted on page A1 through the use … | Continue reading
FRIDAY, JUNE 10, 2022The instincts of our own tribe: The January 6 committee has launched. More such presentations will follow.To what extent will this committee's efforts affect the way the events in question are viewed by the public? That, of course, remains to be seen, and it … | Continue reading