A version of the following appeared in my last post right before the election last fall. It isn’t new news, but it wasn’t easy to find either so I thought I’d bump it. I considered running this magazine as an editing co-op, but there wasn’t enough enthusiasm behind the scenes…

Just like in 2016 — something that should sound ominous to the independents and Blues — some large swath of the population perceives that they are being ignored. Also like 2016, this perception motivates voters. The Blues, and to a lesser extent the independents, do not see this motivation because…

Taking a pause. I want to get off this merry go round. — From this Sunday’s Collection, my last for a while. My heart is heavy. I’ve been watching the Kavanaugh debacle unfold, as stunned at the early dismissal of allegations before any investigation as at some watchers’ inability to understand why Kavanaugh might have been so angry. I don’t know, maybe you’d…

Blue dominance of urban government has been a practical phenomenon — and the practical realities have just changed — Most right-leaning commentary on urban government is insipid. Conservatives largely ignore urban, local issues and focus on DC — well most Americans do that, but it is particularly odd that conservatives do it. Even benign neglect of local issues is inconsistent with classic liberal ideals that are usually part of…

Living in a state of constant contempt — Shared in honor of a post from Lydia Sohn, “I’m Normal, I Swear.” A letter from November, 2011 Comrade C and his family came to London. As my usual habit for friends visiting, I took them to tea at my favorite location: the hotel with the nude shabby chic mosaic. That’s a distinguishing feature of…

A few times a year, I revisit some collection commentary, and Facebook has been a topic of discussion a few times in the past months. In honor of the company’s recent news, I re-present a few pieces of Facebook commentary. …

We hear all about fertility technology advances, but precious little about their results — I originally wrote this for The Collection in February (2018), when the where-are-they-now? style story ran in the Washington Post. It was a follow up to the rah-rah egg freezing articles from a few years ago, but unlike the earlier articles, it received relatively little fanfare. At the time, I…

Observations from taking the Life in the UK test — Karol Markowicz made a case for assimilation in response to an op-ed in the Washington Post that called for an end to birthright citizenship. And she’s correct, birthright citizenship and our ability to assimilate newcomers has been one of the primary sources of America’s success. …