I can't get to the comment section fast enough to thank you for this! The capture of so many allegedly smart and thoughtful people by the corporate class can be demoralizing. I have deep appreciation for the quality of your writing and clarity of moral purpose. May you thrive.
“Platner in the same moral political category as Trump “
Are you kidding ? Putin perhaps but Platner?
“ His character is too compromised for a seat in the senate ‘. Really ? Once you clean out the liars , grifters , Epstein cling ons & soon to be octogenarians your senate will be giving seats away .
Remember
Albert Einstein once said, "The measure of intelligence is the ability to change." It's a phrase that feels simple, but within it lies a profound truth: real intelligence is not about clinging to what we know, but about having the humility to unlearn, to relearn, and to evolve “
Happily, in this moment a hefty majority of democratic and independent votes are on to this game and are not buying what those oh-so-reasonable laundry operators are selling.
The trans community has been the canary in the coal mine for a lot of this stuff for a looong time now, and we saw the disingenuousness of the NYT editorial page way back when. David French is just one of many—David Brooks, Pamela Paul, Bret Stephens, etc. All the “reasonable voices” that preached a kinder, gentler form of hatred and exclusion. It’s quite sickening how much water they carry for the right in so many “innocent” ways.
Platner seems to be someone who has gone through some changes and come out the other side a better man . His ego allows him to speak of those changes in an unabashed honest way . Why I think he is a kind of miracle candidate
It is interesting that you note that both side agree that the ladder is broken, they just look at the broken ladder from different perspectives:
"They may have different stories about the ways it is not open — the right-coded story names cultural decline, immigration, identity politics, the bureaucratic state; the left-coded story names corporate consolidation, wealth concentration, capture of regulatory bodies, the closure of meaningful labor power — and the difference in stories is what produces the partisan divide."
The ladder ... a powerful metaphor both sides of the political spectrum may agree upon.
When I was a subscriber to the NYT, I didn't like David French. I'd read a column, think "Why didn't I like this guy? He sounds pretty reasonable." Then I'd read the next one and think, "Oh, yeah, this is why." I don't remember any specific things he said, but every few pieces he'd say something that sounded sneaky or weasely, and it would make me mad. He wasn't someone I'd read a lot of, like Paul Krugman, so his stuff didn't stick in my mind, but he was a weasel.
Really good piece. One question though—do you mean to say that if the ladder were open that would change the lives of the working class people who do not climb and whom society relies on to do the work of what used to be production now service? Or is it the problem the opposite—life should be just as good for those who do that work but it sure is not? Even real meritocracy claims the right to deny that life to those who don’t escape the working class does t it?
Hi Mike. You're hitting it out of the park. I live in Maine these days and I have been doing everything I can to support Graham's campaign. It'll be a challenging campaign, but he will defeat Susan Collins and become Maine's newest U.S. Senator. (The French opinion piece was a disaster, deeply flawed for many of the reasons you mentioned.)
And say hi to Anthony; we were law school classmates.
"The David Frenches of the world are not consciously running cover for an oligarchy." What is the most charitable explanation for that? That defending the current arrangement feels to them like defending merit and opportunity? Is the conclusion that the elite consensus that things are just fine will continue for a long time to come?
Yeah It’s the anti black and SA comments that turns me off about Planter . There are other Democrats running like Lafamme and Collins running who have the background and experience. Why endorse a Nepobaby black ops asshole who will be a Machin or Sienna? Let’s get together the economy is tanking I just paid 40 dollars in gas when it used to cost me 25 that’s monthly . We can’t afford to fuck one seat up in the senate . We deserve a blue house and senate to stop the madness.
I can't get to the comment section fast enough to thank you for this! The capture of so many allegedly smart and thoughtful people by the corporate class can be demoralizing. I have deep appreciation for the quality of your writing and clarity of moral purpose. May you thrive.
“Platner in the same moral political category as Trump “
Are you kidding ? Putin perhaps but Platner?
“ His character is too compromised for a seat in the senate ‘. Really ? Once you clean out the liars , grifters , Epstein cling ons & soon to be octogenarians your senate will be giving seats away .
Remember
Albert Einstein once said, "The measure of intelligence is the ability to change." It's a phrase that feels simple, but within it lies a profound truth: real intelligence is not about clinging to what we know, but about having the humility to unlearn, to relearn, and to evolve “
Happily, in this moment a hefty majority of democratic and independent votes are on to this game and are not buying what those oh-so-reasonable laundry operators are selling.
“All saints have a past. All sinners have a future.” — Bishop of Providence
David French thinks Platners character is too compromised for the senate?
Is he joking???
Look at the Oval Office. Look at the cabinet. Look at the THEIR ACTIONS.
Look how they protect a pedophile.
And PLATNER’S character is too compromised???
Whatever French was smoking, can I have some ?
The trans community has been the canary in the coal mine for a lot of this stuff for a looong time now, and we saw the disingenuousness of the NYT editorial page way back when. David French is just one of many—David Brooks, Pamela Paul, Bret Stephens, etc. All the “reasonable voices” that preached a kinder, gentler form of hatred and exclusion. It’s quite sickening how much water they carry for the right in so many “innocent” ways.
Platner seems to be someone who has gone through some changes and come out the other side a better man . His ego allows him to speak of those changes in an unabashed honest way . Why I think he is a kind of miracle candidate
Perhaps he should be cloned not badmouthed .
It is interesting that you note that both side agree that the ladder is broken, they just look at the broken ladder from different perspectives:
"They may have different stories about the ways it is not open — the right-coded story names cultural decline, immigration, identity politics, the bureaucratic state; the left-coded story names corporate consolidation, wealth concentration, capture of regulatory bodies, the closure of meaningful labor power — and the difference in stories is what produces the partisan divide."
The ladder ... a powerful metaphor both sides of the political spectrum may agree upon.
David French has always seemed phony to me. Thank you for calling him out.
When I was a subscriber to the NYT, I didn't like David French. I'd read a column, think "Why didn't I like this guy? He sounds pretty reasonable." Then I'd read the next one and think, "Oh, yeah, this is why." I don't remember any specific things he said, but every few pieces he'd say something that sounded sneaky or weasely, and it would make me mad. He wasn't someone I'd read a lot of, like Paul Krugman, so his stuff didn't stick in my mind, but he was a weasel.
Really good piece. One question though—do you mean to say that if the ladder were open that would change the lives of the working class people who do not climb and whom society relies on to do the work of what used to be production now service? Or is it the problem the opposite—life should be just as good for those who do that work but it sure is not? Even real meritocracy claims the right to deny that life to those who don’t escape the working class does t it?
Hi Mike. You're hitting it out of the park. I live in Maine these days and I have been doing everything I can to support Graham's campaign. It'll be a challenging campaign, but he will defeat Susan Collins and become Maine's newest U.S. Senator. (The French opinion piece was a disaster, deeply flawed for many of the reasons you mentioned.)
And say hi to Anthony; we were law school classmates.
"The David Frenches of the world are not consciously running cover for an oligarchy." What is the most charitable explanation for that? That defending the current arrangement feels to them like defending merit and opportunity? Is the conclusion that the elite consensus that things are just fine will continue for a long time to come?
Yeah It’s the anti black and SA comments that turns me off about Planter . There are other Democrats running like Lafamme and Collins running who have the background and experience. Why endorse a Nepobaby black ops asshole who will be a Machin or Sienna? Let’s get together the economy is tanking I just paid 40 dollars in gas when it used to cost me 25 that’s monthly . We can’t afford to fuck one seat up in the senate . We deserve a blue house and senate to stop the madness.