Thanks Justin for providing such a timely reminder that no, not everyone is corrupt, self-serving, or even evil.
Unfortunately, it seems that much "Nevertrump" discourse on the Right, has become a variation of two themes that I really don't want to believe.
One is the "we thought the liberals were the evil ones, and that we conservatives were the good ones, but it turns out it was the other way around", which is the sentiment of many at the Bulwark, as well as others who have basically switched teams.
But these days, what actually depresses me more, is the idea that "we thought the liberals were the evil ones, and that we conservatives were the good ones, but it turns out everybody is evil, on both sides, except for a tiny Remnant that is doomed to be crushed by the evil forces".
That unfortunately seems to be the growing sentiment of many at the Dispatch, especially in their recent podcasts. Even the AO hosts seem at times resigned to the idea that the post-filibuster federal judiciary will eventually degenerate into a bunch of political hacks who are more interested in climbing the career ladder by pandering to Senators on "their side" by being partisan hacks, than actually following a consistent or even coherent judicial philosophy.
Either way, the discourse is quite negative and just tiresome. At times when reading/ hearing such content I feel like throwing up my hands and screaming,
"So what's the point of even trying to do the right thing, anyway? Trump is probably going to be the GOP nominee again. If not him, it will be Desantis, who is getting Trumpier by the day. Meanwhile, Biden is borderline senile at best and if he passes on a second term we probably get the vapid Harris or someone just as mediocre. Chances are we eventually leave Ukraine in the lurch, just as we did Afghanistan, and we probably let China take Taiwan, too. Congress will continue to happily give away power to other branches and preen for the cameras and be Twitter trolls instead."
(Mike Lee recently going the Twitter troll route has really soured me, as has Ben Sasse leaving the Senate and Mitch Daniels passing on.a Senate bid.)
Sometimes it seems the US will just continue to decline away from superpower status, and we'll eventually go bankrupt from all the excessive spending on both sides.
I admit that even reading your article today, didn't really refute any of my recent doom and gloom thinking. But at least you gave me a tiny bit of hope. Thanks for that.
Like you, Aylene, I’m a big fan of the Dispatch and I’m sometimes dismayed by the pessimism. Nick Catoggio, who is otherwise a talented wordsmith, annoys me with his glib pessimism. But I’ve always disliked it on the podcasts when they go around and Sarah and Steve and Jonah make sarcastic comments about cutting themselves and how depressing the news always is etc. - which always felt to me like fish not knowing they were swimming in water. Scott Lincicome is an inveterate optimist, though, so he balances things out a little! I think the younger Dispatchers are also less pessimistic.
For what it’s worth, I think we’ve passed peak crazy. Trump has been gradually losing his grip for a couple years now and peak woke has passed. It may take a long time to get to a better place, but I’ve begun to be hopeful about the future of America (except for a debt crisis maybe). 2022 was a good year for the free world (Ukraine especially) and a bad year for authoritarianism (Russia especially).
It seemed just as bad or worse in 1979 as it does now. History isn’t a story of inevitable decline (or progress).
Being a pessimist bordering on cynic is NCs brand these days, although I don't recall him being quite as dark in his former Allahpundit incarnation, but then again, his Twitter avatar is a man drinking poison, so I guess it's not really new. Same for KDW, who has made being a misanthrope part of his brand for a while.
To be fair, Jonah is still pretty cheery and capable of pulling back and taking a forest view and appreciating things as well. Steve is hard to read but I don't get the impression he's a pessimist by nature.
As for Sarah, I recall I once called a take of hers cynical, and she replied to me, apparently sincerely confused as to how I got that impression. A real "a fish doesn't know water is wet" moment.
Anyway, I get the impression she sincerely cares and has principles about a handful of topics that affect her personally, but sees everything else that people fight over in politics, as essentially just a game. Her naming her newsletter "The Sweep" as a reference to curling, really reinforced that to me.
I also understand that Jonah and Steve (and even Sarah) really did think for a few weeks, that 1/6 was the end of Trump politically. When they turned out to be wrong, then Jonah and Steve got disappointed and gloomy, and Sarah seemed to reconsider her earlier rush in the wake of 1/6 to totally repudiate MAGA.
However, interestingly, I don't think David French ever thought that, probably because he actually lives in MAGA country and quickly realized Trump's base wasn't leaving him. So he didn't suddenly go from "Yesssss the monster is dead" jubilation to "Oh cr@p the monster rose from the dead". (I am also sure he's watched more monster movies than the others.)
Unfortunately, after his departure I do think TD has taken on an overall darker, more negative tone. Agree that the young uns are much more optimistic, and I hope they don't get too jaded.
PS: Although hopefully an outlier, the Nate Hochman thing was quite a bummer, although I also think TD overreacted a bit to his apostasy. Almost felt like they were taking out a lot of their frustrations about other, much more powerful NatCon types, who they couldn't hurt or punish, on one guy they could.
And come to think of it, that episode really was when I first started to get a tad concerned about TDs direction. Because actively trying to get a guy cancelled and lose fellowships, etc., struck me as the kind of petty vengeful thing I would expect Trump to do. Not people who claim to oppose Trump.
That all makes sense. I would agree with your assessment. Other than David talking about how exhausted he was, he’s always been a bit of a happy warrior. I guess it could be that after being in Iraq, everything else seemed tame. Still, he had some dark takes about the right sometimes that I felt were overly colored by the fact that he sees the Trumpiest elements and he’s had the most racist elements shoved in his face in horrible ways on Twitter.
But on the other hand JG doesn't strike me as an especially devout person but is a positive guy (Jay Nordlinger once had him on his podcast and titled it "the Joy of Jonah"), and KDW is a serious Catholic, so religious faith doesn't necessarily line up with a sunny disposition, either. And certainly, when David *does* get gloomy/ negative it's usually quite understandable.
As for the rest of my rant yesterday; I think that although it's less of a problem at the Dispatch than the Bulwark, there's a danger to a "we are the righteous remnant" mindset, because that implies everyone else isn't righteous, and that can justify treating them pretty badly.
That being said, I also don't blame them for the mentality. It's pretty depressing to find out that at FNC, even "news people" like Baier and McCallum were afraid to upset the audience by calling Trump's loss too quickly in 2020. To be fair, doesn't seem either went as far as supporting the narrative of actually denying he lost at all. They just wanted to soften the blow. But it wasn't just the opinion side that was corrupted.
Yeah I agree with all that. I’m not a big fan of the Bulwark and like the Dispatch much better. Honestly, I doubt even Kevin is personally put out much by his bleak assessment of things. He and Jonah and most of the rest are the kind of people who can say, “Yeah everything is terrible,” with a smile on their face and not feel any personal anguish. I’m like that, too. I don’t get personally down about bad things that happen in politics.
Also, Jonah just gave me hope on the recent Ruminant that there’s a chance Rupert Murdoch will do a Red-Wedding style ruthless firing of Tucker and Hannity and all the rest and replace them with Paul Ryan! Probably not going to happen, but one can hope. I’ll admit, I would probably indulge in shadenfreude if that happened.
I love High Noon. It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen it, so thanks for the reminder to go see it again.
“ People blessed with peace and prosperity, thanks to the sweat, blood, and tears of those who came before, often demonstrate a distinct lack of gratitude for what they have and a cowardly unwillingness to defend the things they take for granted.”
Something we see on both right and left these days.
“ Indeed, we are so awash with cynicism and nihilism in cinema, in anti-heroes and villains who are “just misunderstood,” that what stands out are those rare moments of stark black and white (derided as campy or too uncomplicated by critics).”
Well said.
All in all a good piece. History is neither a story of inevitably progress or inevitable decline, and sometimes those of us who seek to preserve “the old and tried, against the new and untried,” (to quote Lincoln) will stand alone. But human nature contains within it both folly and the possibility of redemption, so there is always hope.
Thanks Justin for providing such a timely reminder that no, not everyone is corrupt, self-serving, or even evil.
Unfortunately, it seems that much "Nevertrump" discourse on the Right, has become a variation of two themes that I really don't want to believe.
One is the "we thought the liberals were the evil ones, and that we conservatives were the good ones, but it turns out it was the other way around", which is the sentiment of many at the Bulwark, as well as others who have basically switched teams.
But these days, what actually depresses me more, is the idea that "we thought the liberals were the evil ones, and that we conservatives were the good ones, but it turns out everybody is evil, on both sides, except for a tiny Remnant that is doomed to be crushed by the evil forces".
That unfortunately seems to be the growing sentiment of many at the Dispatch, especially in their recent podcasts. Even the AO hosts seem at times resigned to the idea that the post-filibuster federal judiciary will eventually degenerate into a bunch of political hacks who are more interested in climbing the career ladder by pandering to Senators on "their side" by being partisan hacks, than actually following a consistent or even coherent judicial philosophy.
Either way, the discourse is quite negative and just tiresome. At times when reading/ hearing such content I feel like throwing up my hands and screaming,
"So what's the point of even trying to do the right thing, anyway? Trump is probably going to be the GOP nominee again. If not him, it will be Desantis, who is getting Trumpier by the day. Meanwhile, Biden is borderline senile at best and if he passes on a second term we probably get the vapid Harris or someone just as mediocre. Chances are we eventually leave Ukraine in the lurch, just as we did Afghanistan, and we probably let China take Taiwan, too. Congress will continue to happily give away power to other branches and preen for the cameras and be Twitter trolls instead."
(Mike Lee recently going the Twitter troll route has really soured me, as has Ben Sasse leaving the Senate and Mitch Daniels passing on.a Senate bid.)
Sometimes it seems the US will just continue to decline away from superpower status, and we'll eventually go bankrupt from all the excessive spending on both sides.
I admit that even reading your article today, didn't really refute any of my recent doom and gloom thinking. But at least you gave me a tiny bit of hope. Thanks for that.
Like you, Aylene, I’m a big fan of the Dispatch and I’m sometimes dismayed by the pessimism. Nick Catoggio, who is otherwise a talented wordsmith, annoys me with his glib pessimism. But I’ve always disliked it on the podcasts when they go around and Sarah and Steve and Jonah make sarcastic comments about cutting themselves and how depressing the news always is etc. - which always felt to me like fish not knowing they were swimming in water. Scott Lincicome is an inveterate optimist, though, so he balances things out a little! I think the younger Dispatchers are also less pessimistic.
For what it’s worth, I think we’ve passed peak crazy. Trump has been gradually losing his grip for a couple years now and peak woke has passed. It may take a long time to get to a better place, but I’ve begun to be hopeful about the future of America (except for a debt crisis maybe). 2022 was a good year for the free world (Ukraine especially) and a bad year for authoritarianism (Russia especially).
It seemed just as bad or worse in 1979 as it does now. History isn’t a story of inevitable decline (or progress).
Being a pessimist bordering on cynic is NCs brand these days, although I don't recall him being quite as dark in his former Allahpundit incarnation, but then again, his Twitter avatar is a man drinking poison, so I guess it's not really new. Same for KDW, who has made being a misanthrope part of his brand for a while.
To be fair, Jonah is still pretty cheery and capable of pulling back and taking a forest view and appreciating things as well. Steve is hard to read but I don't get the impression he's a pessimist by nature.
As for Sarah, I recall I once called a take of hers cynical, and she replied to me, apparently sincerely confused as to how I got that impression. A real "a fish doesn't know water is wet" moment.
Anyway, I get the impression she sincerely cares and has principles about a handful of topics that affect her personally, but sees everything else that people fight over in politics, as essentially just a game. Her naming her newsletter "The Sweep" as a reference to curling, really reinforced that to me.
I also understand that Jonah and Steve (and even Sarah) really did think for a few weeks, that 1/6 was the end of Trump politically. When they turned out to be wrong, then Jonah and Steve got disappointed and gloomy, and Sarah seemed to reconsider her earlier rush in the wake of 1/6 to totally repudiate MAGA.
However, interestingly, I don't think David French ever thought that, probably because he actually lives in MAGA country and quickly realized Trump's base wasn't leaving him. So he didn't suddenly go from "Yesssss the monster is dead" jubilation to "Oh cr@p the monster rose from the dead". (I am also sure he's watched more monster movies than the others.)
Unfortunately, after his departure I do think TD has taken on an overall darker, more negative tone. Agree that the young uns are much more optimistic, and I hope they don't get too jaded.
PS: Although hopefully an outlier, the Nate Hochman thing was quite a bummer, although I also think TD overreacted a bit to his apostasy. Almost felt like they were taking out a lot of their frustrations about other, much more powerful NatCon types, who they couldn't hurt or punish, on one guy they could.
And come to think of it, that episode really was when I first started to get a tad concerned about TDs direction. Because actively trying to get a guy cancelled and lose fellowships, etc., struck me as the kind of petty vengeful thing I would expect Trump to do. Not people who claim to oppose Trump.
That all makes sense. I would agree with your assessment. Other than David talking about how exhausted he was, he’s always been a bit of a happy warrior. I guess it could be that after being in Iraq, everything else seemed tame. Still, he had some dark takes about the right sometimes that I felt were overly colored by the fact that he sees the Trumpiest elements and he’s had the most racist elements shoved in his face in horrible ways on Twitter.
Obviously DF gets a lot of hope from his faith.
But on the other hand JG doesn't strike me as an especially devout person but is a positive guy (Jay Nordlinger once had him on his podcast and titled it "the Joy of Jonah"), and KDW is a serious Catholic, so religious faith doesn't necessarily line up with a sunny disposition, either. And certainly, when David *does* get gloomy/ negative it's usually quite understandable.
As for the rest of my rant yesterday; I think that although it's less of a problem at the Dispatch than the Bulwark, there's a danger to a "we are the righteous remnant" mindset, because that implies everyone else isn't righteous, and that can justify treating them pretty badly.
That being said, I also don't blame them for the mentality. It's pretty depressing to find out that at FNC, even "news people" like Baier and McCallum were afraid to upset the audience by calling Trump's loss too quickly in 2020. To be fair, doesn't seem either went as far as supporting the narrative of actually denying he lost at all. They just wanted to soften the blow. But it wasn't just the opinion side that was corrupted.
Yeah I agree with all that. I’m not a big fan of the Bulwark and like the Dispatch much better. Honestly, I doubt even Kevin is personally put out much by his bleak assessment of things. He and Jonah and most of the rest are the kind of people who can say, “Yeah everything is terrible,” with a smile on their face and not feel any personal anguish. I’m like that, too. I don’t get personally down about bad things that happen in politics.
Also, Jonah just gave me hope on the recent Ruminant that there’s a chance Rupert Murdoch will do a Red-Wedding style ruthless firing of Tucker and Hannity and all the rest and replace them with Paul Ryan! Probably not going to happen, but one can hope. I’ll admit, I would probably indulge in shadenfreude if that happened.
I love High Noon. It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen it, so thanks for the reminder to go see it again.
“ People blessed with peace and prosperity, thanks to the sweat, blood, and tears of those who came before, often demonstrate a distinct lack of gratitude for what they have and a cowardly unwillingness to defend the things they take for granted.”
Something we see on both right and left these days.
“ Indeed, we are so awash with cynicism and nihilism in cinema, in anti-heroes and villains who are “just misunderstood,” that what stands out are those rare moments of stark black and white (derided as campy or too uncomplicated by critics).”
Well said.
All in all a good piece. History is neither a story of inevitably progress or inevitable decline, and sometimes those of us who seek to preserve “the old and tried, against the new and untried,” (to quote Lincoln) will stand alone. But human nature contains within it both folly and the possibility of redemption, so there is always hope.