i have never quite understood the praise for deneen's work because he honestly just seems like a crank

Deneen misrepresents liberalism’s fundamental principles and presents a warped history of liberalism that dismisses its achievements and exaggerates its weaknesses. @mattjj89.bsky.social

Would you consider supporting us at @theunpopulist.net? Since our founding, in 2021, we've made available everything we've ever done—essays, podcasts, videos—for free to all. That's not changing. But we do need your help to make all that happen. Asking for $80 for the year. Give us a look 👇

"It has become increasingly clear what unrestrained Trumpism means for the country: corruption and cruelty at home, incompetence and anarchy abroad." Turns out Americans don't love it. lnk.thebulwark.com/48TqBqY

The Trump era has forced Americans to reconsider and reaffirm first principles about our republic. The same applies to the public understanding of the liberal international order. lnk.thebulwark.com/48TqBqY

Not only is Trump personally unpopular; his shambolic and dangerous presidency is giving Americans a new appreciation for free trade, immigration, and international alliances. New from Matt Johnson: lnk.thebulwark.com/48TqBqY

Words, what do they even mean anyway?

So much has been written about PD that I wasn't eager to run another piece at @theunpopulist.net. But this essay by @mattjj89.bsky.social is a one-stop shop for everything that's wrong with the man who wants a Catholic sharia in US. So I couldn't resist. Read it. open.substack.com/pub/theunpop...

Musk and his DOGE goons didn’t just fail—they destroyed America’s most important organ of soft power. They made the world sicker, poorer, and more miserable. And it was all for nothing. My latest for @ms.now www.ms.now/opinion/elon...

It’s difficult to think of a less promising political strategy than the insistence that an unpopular and corrupt president is actually a beloved monarch who deserves to shred the Constitution and remain in power after his second term is up. My latest, no paywall open.substack.com/pub/mattjj/p...

The Free Press isn’t fearless or heterodox. It’s a slickly produced right-of-center outlet that flatters its readers’ priors about wokeness while fastidiously deflecting from the Trump administration’s effort to dismantle the institutions of American democracy www.msnbc.com/msnbc/amp/rc...

Glad to see Robby's reading MSNBC — but it's not "reductive" to cite numerous Trump administration-fed stories copy-pasted as "reporting" in The Free Press and call it "Trump-friendly." What's reductive is framing a one-off debate with a MAGA libertarian about Israel as legit ideological balance.

'The hiring of a Trump-supporting, conservative think tank veteran as CBS News' new "bias monitor" — plus the elevation of Weiss — is a clear signal he wants to steer one of journalism’s oldest, most respected institutions in a distinctly right-leaning ideological direction.' @mattjj89.bsky.social

In 2024, Bari Weiss explained why she no longer wanted to work at mainstream media organizations. She said it was a mistake to “delude yourself with the idea that you can transform them from within.” Now she’s editor-in-chief at CBS. My latest for @msnbc.com www.msnbc.com/msnbc/amp/rc...

American citizens aren’t raw material for military training, you psychopath

Michael Shellenberger, expert on climate, the environment, whales, UFOs, energy, nuclear, censorship, free speech, homelessness, urban policy, drug abuse, trans medicine, philosophy, and the intelligence community, and Chair of Censorship Hoaxes at the University of Austin, is now a 9/11 Truther.

This is it. Cancel culture, but for real. The Twitter Files, but for real. Actual, unadulterated collusion between the government and media-owning corporations to censor Americans. Shame on the MAGA libertarians and fake-heterodox civility cops who helped pave this road to authoritarianism.

The MAGA response to the Kirk killing is a “moral panic, a moment of shameless hypocrisy and opportunism, an appalling assault on free speech and a level of government overreach that should send chills down the spine of any American.” By @anthonylfisher.bsky.social www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...

These senators had every last shred of information they needed to know that Kennedy’s confirmation would be a disaster for American health. They chose to placate Trump. Suddenly they’re finding their courage when it’s too late. Absolutely pathetic and contemptible. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/04/u...

We have now witnessed Trump’s Ukraine policy in action for eight months, and the results are disastrous because his ideas about the war—and foreign policy more broadly—are anything but realistic. My latest, no paywall open.substack.com/pub/mattjj/p...

There’s no telling how long it will take the United States and its partners to rebuild the global aid infrastructure the Trump administration destroyed in a matter of months—or whether that infrastructure is gone for good. My latest, no paywall open.substack.com/pub/mattjj/p...

After all the scolding lectures on how the Trump administration was going to elevate hard-nosed “realism” over “moralistic garbage,” it turns out that those who urged Trump to maintain robust support for Kyiv were right all along.

NEW: "Trump has been forced to concede that Russia is a much greater threat than he once believed. He is discovering that his fantasies of ending the conflict in twenty-four hours were based on a fundamental misunderstanding of Putin’s war aims." www.thebulwark.com/p/as-trump-e...

Trump at least sounds like he's making a bit of a U-turn on his soft-on-Russia approach to Ukraine. His supporters aren't exactly having it. New from Matt Johnson: www.thebulwark.com/p/as-trump-e...

The fact that Laura Loomer is an influential “loyalty enforcer” in the Trump administration tells you everything you need to know @anthonylfisher.bsky.social www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...

Leaders and faculty at Bari Weiss' University of Austin (UATX) enthusiastically cheered the Manhattan Institute's call for Trump to be the judge and jury of all of America's higher education institutions. New column by @mattjj89.bsky.social‬ at @msnbc.com

Why did the University of Austin — which constantly touts its “fearless” commitment to academic freedom — declare its support for Trump’s assault on higher education? My latest for @msnbc.com www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...

Brilliant evisceration by @walterolson.bsky.social at @theunpopulist.net of this dumb and dangerous statement from what once used to be a respectable think tank. The Manhattan Institute has disgraced itself: www.theunpopulist.net/p/a-manhatta...

Vance and Gabbard have discovered the one iron law of contemporary American politics: Joining forces with Trump means discarding your deepest principles to remain in good standing with the boss. My latest for @thehill.com thehill.com/opinion/nati...

Despite the United States' recent show of strength in Iran, Trump remains committed to an America First foreign policy that mirrors authoritarian transactionalism instead of challenging it. My latest in Persuasion www.persuasion.community/p/the-real-l...

Orwell wrote about the communist intellectuals who had to radically change their stated positions from day to day depending on whatever the party line happened to be in Moscow. Trump has a similar effect on mindless drones like Kirk

The Tragedy of Elon Musk www.persuasion.community/p/the-traged...

There’s only one explanation for the enactment of Trump’s dangerous, erratic, and politically self-destructive economic policies: the Republican Party is now a cult of personality run by a capricious and incompetent authoritarian. My latest, no paywall open.substack.com/pub/mattjj/p...

Why Liberals Must Not Give Up Hope www.persuasion.community/p/why-libera...

The Trump administration’s decision to betray the Afghans who thought they were safe on American soil is an act of supreme cruelty and callousness. My latest for @msnbc.com www.msnbc.com/msnbc/amp/rc...

In a strange twist, the most protectionist president in over a century may be the one to turn the political tide back toward free trade. My latest, no paywall open.substack.com/pub/mattjj/p...

"The real scandal wasn’t the wanton creation of an economic calamity due to one man’s arrogance and incompetence—it was always the fact that he had the power to do it in the first place."

"One of the most corrosive aspects of Trumponomics is that it conditions people’s expectations and encourages the acceptance of destructive policies." Not driving off the cliff is not a win. Matt Johnson on Trump's bad China "deal": www.thebulwark.com/p/trump-usa-...

Even with Ukraine facing mounting casualties and ammunition shortages, and amid a push for negotiation with Moscow in some Western capitals, “most Ukrainians see continuing to fight as incomparably better than the terror of Russian occupation,” writes Nataliya Gumenyuk.

The Free Press is blaming "the excesses of the woke era" for right-wing racism. Fearless, independent journalism!

Trump thrives in an environment of deep social and political distrust. This is why he actively seeks to undermine trust of all kinds—in experts, the media, courts, and any institution that could serve as a check on his power. My latest, no paywall open.substack.com/pub/mattjj/p...

Bill Ackman in December: "Ebullience" on Wall St. over Trump. All sectors will rise. "Trump will do nothing that interferes with the success of the country, the success of the economy." Trump will be "very thoughtful about tariffs." youtu.be/JOBs27jckCo?...

"It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along." Trump is coming, excruciatingly slowly, to the realization that the premise of his negotiations -- that Putin wants to end the war -- is fundamentally flawed. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/27/w...

Hi I'm here from the 1970s to tell you about the coming Trump stagflation. Latest in @theatlantic.com www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

Trump’s illusions about Putin and the war in Ukraine were always bound to be shattered. Instead of changing course, he just wants to throw up his hands and abandon the negotiations altogether. My latest, paywall-free open.substack.com/pub/mattjj/p...

"It’s a sad commentary on the decay of America’s democratic institutions that the market is now the most powerful check on Trump."

We’ve come a long way from ending the war in 24 hours

As one institution after another caves to Trump, one important check remains: There’s nothing Trump can do to bend global financial markets to his will. That's a major political opportunity. Matt Johnson on the unpopularity of Trump's economic calamity: www.thebulwark.com/p/trump-econ...