Hopeful Skeptic: Reflections on politics and more
-
Further thoughts about how we select our leaders
I haven’t seen much occasion to write for this blog in the last month. Each day seems to bring reports of new frightening (or sometimes merely foolish) moves by the Trump Administration and their enablers in Congress and in State governments. At the same time, each day also brings reports of another setback for the…
-
Just sharing
Rachel Bitecofer Rachel Bitecofer cites a new Economist/YouGov poll that finds approval for Trump among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents down to 72 percent . Not sure I believe that it’s that low, but whatever, what she writes following that does not depend on the exact number and I think it is very much on target:…
-
Pessimism and Hope
It’s been more than a month since my last post. I am no more confident than I was on March 1 about how the ongoing national crisis will turn out, but I feel like the least (as well as the most) that I can do is to articulate reasons to be skeptical of anyone who…
-
Thinking aloud
I’m wondering, does it make sense to anyone else to think of the American “body politic” as if it/we had somehow developed something like a severe immunodeficiency disease? Many people go on about how many of today’s voters are stupid or evil, but it seems unlikely to me that people are that much more stupid…
-
Arguments for opposing Trump (for your friends who are conservative or “not political”)
I live in something of a “bubble” and am rarely if ever in a position to converse about politics with someone who supports Trump or even someone who is neutral about him. Nonetheless I have thought a fair amount about what arguments for opposing him might be persuasive to those who do not share my…
-
What might Smart Resistance look like?
The historian Yuval Harari writes that most of our social institutions and the rules that we follow are “intersubjective” — they exist and have power because people agree that they exist. Certainly the power of the Presidency fits this. Donald Trump has power because people do what he tells them to because he is “The…
-
JD Vance says that the President can ignore court orders
********************************************** From POLITICAL WIRE, SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2025 Vice President J.D. Vance suggested Sunday courts “aren’t allowed” to overrule President Donald Trump and his executive orders, Forbes reports. Said Vance, on X: “Judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power.” Vance also shared a post from legal scholar Adrian Vermeule, who claimed: “Judicial interference with legitimate acts of state,…
-
A fraught moment in history
Reading the news this morning, in particular the reports of Elon Musk and Donald Trump blandly announcing an intention to “shut down” a government agency without input from Congress, it seems clearer than ever that we are at a moment of crisis with no real parallel in American history. While there are far too many…
-
Sharing a post by a friend
I’m not ready to offer another post of my own today, but I do want to share a blog post by a friend in Texas who has some thoughts about how we should be thinking about and responding to the current crisis, as well as some excellent suggestions for information sources. I myself am inclined…
-
How Can We Go Forward? (Part 1 of 3)
The outcome of America’s most recent election and Donald Trump’s return to the Presidency leaves me thinking that the political system that we have been working under is actually pretty terrible as a system for choosing qualified national leaders. Trump’s initial nomination and election in 2016 was shocking, but could perhaps be seen as a…
Got any book recommendations?