Watching Trump struggle, his constant assurances that everything is much better, remind us Herbert Hoover. "More Dickensian is Hoover’s insistence that the Federal Government should play little or no role in aiding the individual who falls into destitution." 3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily...

With tomorrow the 84th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, hoping @hcrichardson.bsky.social might add some context to what a great nation does when faced with an existential challenge--and leadership needs to step up.

So, he begins to fail, becomes a man apart, so committed to his credo, so dismissive of alternatives, that he appears detached and unfeeling, and finally tone-deaf. All he has left is the authority of his office and his sense of virtue mixed with grievance. 3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily...

As the anniversary of the Gettysburg address approaches, the cause of the war remains relevant. Lincoln's election triggered secession, but what options did he have besides either surrendering his Presidency or surrendering the principles that got him elected? 3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily...

What can happen when institutions (and people) fail to foresee/adapt/take seriously 3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily...

"It was crazy. Republicans had some hard-boiled talkers amongst them—shock-jocks like Rush, serious men like Pat Buchanan, but this was the team that usually nominated accomplished, mainstream adults. That fling with Goldwater in 1964 was … a summer thing..." 3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily...

"Trump I was gaudy and messy, but until January 6th...didn’t seem to be life-altering. Trump II, well, “Cry ‘Havoc!’ and let slip the dogs of war.” 3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily...

"Trump I was gaudy and messy, but until January 6th (soon to be a major motion picture with a semi-fictional Horst Wessel figure) didn’t seem to be life-altering. Trump II, well, “Cry ‘Havoc!’ and let slip the dogs of war.” 3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily...

A few thoughts about certain level of courage. 3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily...

"That people lust for the Presidency, that they reach as hard as they can for it, doesn’t necessarily make them able, or the better choice—even if they take the prize. The responsibilities of the office come at you fast." 3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily...

A word (or three) from the author of the Declaration 3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily...

One more....John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, President and Vice-President, have reasons to disagree 3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily...

A few words from Thomas Jefferson. Not always a Unionist. 3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily...

What do you do after the parades are over? 3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily...

Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/09/o...

Eighty-one years ago today. 3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily...

When too much power is welded to too little common sense. 3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily...

Keep in mind. Trump isn’t giving all these ICE Agents directions individually. They are choosing to do this. Stealing money. Making girls stand in the rain in their underwear. That’s their choice. Because people who chose to be ICE Agents chose it for pain it causes.

Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/26/o...

When you look at the challenges they faced.... 3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily...

Random contribution to understanding a bit about how the 25th Amendment came to be ratified. No modern politician was hurt in the drafting of this. 3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily...

Worth reading from @akimdr.bsky.social 3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily...

From @center4politics.bsky.social centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/...

I'm not quite as pessimistic as Axios this morning, but... 3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily...

Chief Justice Roberts pushes back against Trump's demand that non-compliant Judge be Impeached. A little history: Justice Samuel Chase, cranky, possibly even a little partisan, but an excellent test-case that "good behavior" doesn't mean "whatever the President says" 3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily...

Worth reading. Now it's more than a war on DEI and Musk rummaging around in your personal information. National security... Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/04/o...

@hcrichardson.bsky.social on the mess being left by the Demolisher-in-Chief March 6, 2025 open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...

Never too early to think about the Midterms. Kyle Kondik shows history says they should be kind to incumbent Democratic House members. But...these are Democrats we are thinking about, so....

I have to admit reading @hcrichardson.bsky.social gave me a greater appreciation for Eisenhower--and then I got a tip about a short speech he gave 70 years ago. This month's 3 Quarks Daily 3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily...

It's President's Day, and a perfect time to be historical and not political. The Indispensable Man. George Washington. 'His prestige was immense, his character considered unimpeachable, and his words carried enormous weight.' Easily could have had a 3rd Term. 3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily...

Before night falls on Lincoln's Birthday, perhaps his greatest speech, the magnificent Second Inaugural. Deeply introspective while at the same farsighted, tempered by hard experience..."And the war came." 3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily...

Celebrate Abraham Lincoln's birthday and remind ourselves why Mount Rushmore is for the greats. At Cooper Union, he becomes a national figure “Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it.” 3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily...

On Lincoln's Birthday, time for reflection "Richard Hofstadter makes a crucial point, “Before Lincoln took office, the issues upon which he was elected had become obsolete-The great question was no longer slavery or freedom in the territories, but the nation itself.” 3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily...

Democracy can self-correct, but we must worry about those who would sell us. I worry about: Bezos, Cook, Zuckerberg, Pichai, Altman, Chew and Musk.They have a dominant say in what we read and see, what groups we sort ourselves into, what “truths” are presented to us. 3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily...

Interesting, worthwhile from @akimdr.bsky.social 3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily...

"Warren Harding had a big appetite: for food, for whisky, for cigars and cards and hanging around with his cronies. For spittoons and smoke-filed rooms. For another man’s wife —Carrie Fulton Phillips, with whom he carried on (sorry) for about 15 years. 3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily...

In case you thought corruption at the highest level of government was something we just don't do in America. Teapot Dome in all its glory--and a few questions for our time. 3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily...

Good morning. January 27, 1838, a young man, tall, gangly, spoke to the Young Men's Lyceum. Begins an arc that leads to the White House... 3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily...

Saw Tosca at @MetOpera Nosebleed section! Sondra Radvanovsky, Bryn Terfel & Brian Jagde. She's got serious chops, Jagde played 3rd fiddle well, and Terfel can still bring the heat and darkness. In the end, like many operas, no one lives. That's as political as I get today. Stay balanced.

Worth reading from @kkondik.bsky.social centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/...

Humor me. Humbling but funny moment this morning. At coffee cart, let someone go ahead of me. As he finishes he tells the coffee guy to "Take care of Pops." I know I'm more winter than spring chicken, but the guy calling me Pops....had a white beard. I couldn't stop laughing.

I wrote most of this before Elon, Vivek, and the extraordinarily...something known as Laura Loomer. Check out the image. 1920, and not some fringe site.... 3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily...

Detailed recap from @kkondik.bsky.social for Larry Sabato's UVA Center for Politics. Uniform in direction movement towards Trump, increasing divergence between Red and Blue with further ideological drift. EV College problem in 2032 for D's as Red States gain centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/...

Why you should read @hcrichardson.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...

William Howard Taft, President, Chief Justice, Father of Robert A. Taft, "Mr. Republican" once said “Too many people don’t care what happens so long as it doesn’t happen to them.” We are about to experience that. 3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily...

From Axios this morning, and one has to ask how many more binged and now worry about the hangover: "Many in the meatpacking industry were happy to see Donald Trump reelected — but are also fearful it won't be able to operate without the workers he may try to deport."

Happy Boston Tea Party Day.

Time to take our heads out of the atmospherics and look at some hard data. J. Miles Coleman does it. centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/... @jmilescoleman.bsky.social

Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/09/o...

Democrats chances of controlling the Senate at any time in the near future took a hit with Red State wipeouts. Read @kkondik.bsky.social centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/...