Review of two books about the crisis of liberal democracy. One of them is a tour de force. (It's not the one by the Nobel Prize winner.) open.substack.com/pub/theunpop...
open.substack.com
Jon Rauch
@jonrauch.bsky.social
Journalist, writer, unlicensed epistemologist. Brookings and The Atlantic. Please be sane, BlueSky.
Just a reminder, while Trump builds his arch...this is the only memorial that Franklin Roosevelt said he wanted.
Trump's audacious plan to remake civil society has failed. Here's why. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/19/o...
Opinion | Trump Has Finally Lost the Plot
It is now apparent that many Americans — probably enough Americans — are determined to live within the truth rather than the lie.
nytimes.com
More evidence that the radicalization of the Democratic Party is a myth. Socialists aren't winning and they're mostly not running in primaries in competitive districts. Mainstream candidates dominate. www.brookings.edu/articles/ele...
Electability over ideology: Takeaways from the 2026 primaries | Brookings
Elaine Kamarck and Jordan Muchnick analyze the 2026 primaries, revealing what candidates addressed—and avoided—ahead of November.
brookings.edu
Good idea: universities that want to favor progressive ideologies should just say so. Put it right there in the catalog. Truth in labeling! www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
Opinion | Dear universities: Don’t want to be neutral? Admit it.
Plenty of schools have their own lenses. No need to hide the ball.
washingtonpost.com
That DSA wave you've heard about? Yes in a few high profile races. But the numbers tell a different story. There are few DSA candidates; they usually lose; where they win is mostly in deep blue places. www.brookings.edu/articles/dem...
Democratic socialist candidates show gains but limited reach in 2026 | Brookings
This analysis examines the DSA’s high-profile 2026 primary wins and what they reveal about the movement’s influence in the Democratic Party.
brookings.edu
How white evangelicals took the deal that Jesus rejected - new podcast conversation with Eric Pratum on MAGA, Christianity, and our imperiled democracy. www.youtube.com/watch?v=B39-...
Did MAGA Take the Deal Jesus Refused? | Jonathan Rauch
YouTube video by Inbound & Agile
youtube.com
Are liberals still not reckoning with our failures? Or are we navel-gazing too much? Or maybe...both? Conversation with Brink Lindsey goes deep and runs the gamut. brinklindsey.substack.com/p/jonathan-r...
Jonathan Rauch on responding to the crisis of liberalism
Liberal values and institutions now face aggressive challenges from both right and left extremism, so how should defenders of the embattled liberal center respond?
brinklindsey.substack.com
An important essay by a thirty-something gay kinkster on why he isn't "queer." And why "queer"might not mean what you think...if it means anything at all. sacredtension.substack.com/p/queer-what...
Queer, What Art Thou?
Why I, too, am gay, not queer.
sacredtension.substack.com
David Frum nails it (as usual). "Trump’s record of dishonesty, callousness, and selfishness during the pandemic is a documented reality. The imputations against Fauci are mostly fantasies." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Anthony Fauci Is Not the Villain in This Story
The doctor was thrust into his pandemic-leadership role because of Trump’s deadly dereliction of duty.
theatlantic.com
Isn't there a word for stopping ships on the high seas and demanding money at gunpoint? Isn't that word "piracy"? (Is it really possible we're even having this conversation?) www.cnbc.com/2026/07/13/i...
UN maritime agency opposes Hormuz transit fees after Trump demands protection money
The security situation in Hormuz has deteriorated since Iran attacked multiple commercial ships transiting the strait over the past week.
cnbc.com
We're now at war with Iran over control of the Strait of Hormuz...something that was not even in question in January. I'm tired of so much winning. apnews.com/article/iran...
Trump says US will blockade Iran in the Strait of Hormuz and will charge ships for safe passage
U.S. President Donald Trump says the United States is “reinstating” a blockade on Iran in the Strait of Hormuz and will charge other ships for safe passage.
apnews.com
What's wrong with OMB's new proposed rules for federal science grants? Practically everything, according to Anna Krylov (a brilliant and brave ex-Soviet scientist who knows whereof she speaks). hxstem.substack.com/p/public-com...
Public Comment on the Office of Management and Budget Proposed Regulation on Federal Financial Assistance
This is the comment I submitted in response to the OMB call for public comments on the proposed rule on federal financial assistance.
hxstem.substack.com
SCOTUS's birthright citizenship decision was a closer call than most people realize...and opens the door to future mischief. www.theunpopulist.net/p/there-is-n...
There Is No Originalist Rationale for Denying Citizenship to the US Born
So the conservative dissenters on the Supreme Court ditched their own preferred approach in the recent birthright ruling
theunpopulist.net
This is the first and only email I have ever received from the Social Security Administration. I didn't even know they have my email address. Your tax dollars at work!
The greatness of George Washington. On the occasion of the 250th, read and weep. teachingamericanhistory.org/document/let...
Letter from George Washington to Catherine Macaulay Graham (1790)
“From George Washington to Catharine Sawbridge Macaulay Graham, 9 January 1790,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://teachingamericanhistory.org/zg52. Madam: Your obliging letter, dated in Oct...
teachingamericanhistory.org
Here's a reality check for Mamdami et al. TL;DR: "Neoliberalism" never happened, Sweden isn't socialist, and economic populism is a stagflationary failure. essays.victormenaldo.com/p/the-old-di...
The Old, Discredited Left in New Clothes
America’s democratic socialists aren’t Scandinavian. They’re resurrecting a flawed paradigm buried by stagflation — and the “neoliberalism” they think they’re overthrowing was never really a thing.
essays.victormenaldo.com
A shrewd assessment by Peter Berkowitz (Trump 1 State Dept senior official). TL;DR: Tehran took Trump and Vance to the cleaners. www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/202...
realclearpolitics.com
The same government that the US and Israel went to war to overthrow is now claiming, and effectively controlling, the world's most important waterway. I'm tired of so much winning! apnews.com/article/iran...
Iran attacks Bahrain and Kuwait following US strikes and threatens to halt talks
Iran has again launched drone and missile attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait in response to new U.S. airstrikes.
apnews.com
Smart and refreshing: Europe should stop appeasing Trump. He needs NATO more than Europe needs him. open.substack.com/pub/billemmo...
The purpose of NATO is to guard against Russia, not to appease Donald Trump
English original of article published this morning in Italian by La Stampa
open.substack.com
NEW: A stunning new project from @lawfaremedia.org's @katherinepomps.bsky.social finds that 97 Jan. 6ers who received clemency for their role in the Capitol riot then got arrested, charged, and/or convicted with subsequent crimes—a number much higher than previously reported.
Is America about ideals, or identity? Mitt Romney or JD Vance? It's emerging as the great ideological division of the future, especially on the Right. Join me for an exciting conversation @brookings.edu on June 23... www.brookings.edu/events/what-...
This dismissal for vindictive prosecution is how a judge sounds when he's shouting from the rooftops that an administration is corrupt. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Judge drops criminal case against Kilmar Abrego García, ruling it vindictive
The Maryland man was charged with human smuggling after a high-profile legal fight in which courts ruled he had been illegally deported to El Salvador.
washingtonpost.com
This is what friends of law and liberty are projecting on the DOJ's Trump banner right now:
We should have seen it coming. www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/dem...
Democracy’s Troubles Should Be No Surprise | Journal of Democracy
Democracy’s present difficulties were predictable. History and older theories of democratic stability should have prepared us for both democratic backsliding and the vulnerability of Western democracy...
journalofdemocracy.org
The Supreme Court is about to give the president authority over the executive branch that's undreamt-of by the founders. www.aei.org/op-eds/a-thr...
aei.org
While Israel is spit-roasted for a genocide it didn't commit, crickets about Hamas's use of Gaza's population as human shields. www.lawfaremedia.org/article/the-...
The Dangerous Failure to Hold Hamas Accountable for Using Human Shields
How international institutions’ silence on Hamas hiding behind civilians incentivizes human shields use, and distorts law and accountability.
lawfaremedia.org
The Declaration hinges on "consent of the governed"...but what does it actually mean? And are we losing it? www.brookings.edu/articles/is-...
Is ‘consent of the governed' possible amid polarized politics? | Brookings
The Declaration of Independence declared that legitimate government rests on the “consent of the governed.” Where does the social contract between Americans and government stand today? In this episode...
brookings.edu