The Talisman

When any startling piece of war-news comes, it keeps repeating itself in our minds in spite of all we can do. The same trains of thought go tramping round in circle through the brain, like the supernumeraries that make up the grand army of a stage-show. Now, if a thought goes round through the brain a thousand times in a day, it will have worn as...

In the end, after the past week of watching this take and that take, but mostly just avoiding any real bothering with any takes at all, about how the election went the way it did, I’ve settled in the only place that makes any sense to me. Whatever the perceived self-interest of any given Mine Furor voter—be it caste allegiance or aspiration,...

Ashley Fairbanks: Let me share my lifelong dream for the left: taking over fraternal organizations (Moose, Oddfellows, Etc.) They are 501c8s, which is basically impossible to get now. Most of them own property, they often have liquor licenses that are grandfathered in. We could have clubhouses! This morning, via Rob Horning, I saw Henry Farrell...

Apparently my family back east has been arguing late into the night about Israel and Gaza, and I’ll get to the actual point in a minute but I just need to say that this goes in the column against moving out there some day and losing all my independence (you know, the thought that gives me vague and uncomfortable ideations), because holy hell...

As I was catching up on some reading while being subjected to yet another bout of morning insomnia after feeding the cat at eight o’clock, I caught Dave’s list of Democratic mistakes. Take a hard look at what he deems their fourth such. Men’s votes need to be sought and welcomed, specifically. So much has been done to alienate male voters, which...