2020

F&L: Going Into Super Tuesday

It’s here.

Tuesday’s vote will decide who stays in the race and who goes home.  It may decide who comes out of July’s convention as the final candidate.  In that sense, it’s quite possible it may determine our next president.  I cannot overstate the importance of this primary event.

On the other hand, common wisdom has it that, as always, The Fix Is In.  There’s (more…)

F&L: What To Watch In South Carolina

This may seem like a minor state contest, but in the greater scheme of things it’s vital.  The entire D.N.C. conceit of identitarian politics is being tested today, and we’ll get to watch in real time. (more…)

So, Yes, It’s Russia Again — But.

First, the Post reveals that Russia is helping both Sanders and Trump this time around (conveniently just in time for the Nevada Caucuses).  Then CNN tells us the threat is greatly exaggerated.  Now we’re being told by Fox News that DoD says there’s actually no Russian activity at all, and it’s all a big hoax.

A reasonably intelligent person might well (more…)

Fear & Loathing: Yes, Nevada Is A Caucus

What you need to know going into today:  Nevada is a caucus state, but different from Iowa.  Every state is different, of course, but Nevada is very different.  And I’m not just talking about the prostitution laws, although that does hit politicians very close to home; no, they do everything differently here in the Sagebrush State.

To begin with, it’s a closed caucus; only registered party members can vote.  Which would matter (more…)

Vignette: Supreme Pizza, Exeter N.H.

When we roll into Exeter, N.H. a good hour ahead of schedule, there’s already people lined up around the block waiting for Amy to show up at the Old Town Hall.

Now Exeter is a fine town, home to Phillips Exeter Academy, a marvelous downtown, and some truly friendly people.  But one thing Exeter is not known for is its parking.  Another is the capacity of its meeting venues.  Neither is in copious supply.

We keep driving.  I need some space (more…)

Fear and Loathing 2020: Some 4 A.M. Thoughts On Mike Bloomberg

NOTE:  The following transcription has been heavily edited to reduce profanity.  Nevertheless, reader discretion is advised.

The cesspit that is modern politics has surpassed itself.

Scene:  It’s the middle of the night and I just now finished fixing my writeup on Sanders and Yang after a couple of hours of desperately needed sleep.  Some of that was not fit to read; glad I got to it.  Sleeplessness and politics should never mix; this is how we got Eagleton in ’72, after all.  I’m just about to go back to bed when (more…)

F&L: Warren Out West, Lebanon N.H.

It’s easy to forget, but there’s a big chunk of New Hampshire that exists cheek-by-jowl with Vermonters that live on opposite sides of the Connecticut River valley.  It’s a demographic the state doesn’t quite know what to do with; the urban centers (such as they are) are lumped in with mountain recluse compound-dwellers to form the Fifth State Senate District.  Fifty thousand people live right along here; two thirds are Pantsuit Nation loyalists and the rest vote MAGA.  There might be a moderate somewhere but if so he’s in hiding.  The only reason there isn’t open war is only the MAGA faction is armed — and they just want to be left the hell alone.

You couldn’t pay me enough to canvass for a Democrat outside city limits. (more…)

F&L: Tulsi at the VFW / Tulsi Revisited

It’s a miserable night in a way only New Hampshire can provide.  Water is falling out of the air not as snow or ice but in actual lumps of slush.  I can hear it going *splat* all around me as we slip and slither up to the door of the VFW hall where Tulsi is scheduled to speak.  We’ve tried for her and missed twice now; as I understand it her defense committee needed her on the Hill — but of course the campaign doesn’t talk about that sort of thing; I had to (more…)

Fear and Loathing 2020: A Step Back

I’ve got upwards of 37,000 words assembled thus far and there’s an end in sight.  So far so good, right?  Time to take a quick step back from the task and survey the whole, to see if there’s any major adjustments that ought to be made before it goes too far to recover.  On any other project I might instead be looking to see if it’s worth finishing, but this one’s gone too far for that.  It’s got momentum of its own, and I wouldn’t dare try to stop; the book would devour me.

Which is a problem, because I’m thinking book, and events are going too fast (more…)