This is a response to the 2/4 Secret Podcast, but I didn’t know where else to share it. Sarah’s crazy story re: the bat in her hotel room reminded me of an equally insane story about my husband, a shoe and a small furry mammal (but no rabies shots, thank goodness!).
Years ago we used to walk to Sunday mass every week—a beautiful 4+ mile walk from our house to the cathedral. My husband has enormous feet (size 15 in athletic shoes) and some neuropathy (both important factors in this story). One Sunday, after we had walked to mass, sat through the full mass, and stopped for coffee afterwards, we were sitting at the bus stop waiting for our bus home when my husband mentioned that it felt like there was something in his shoe. He took it off to check for a bunched up sock or whatever, and—lo and behold—there was a tiny mouse in his shoe! Somehow miraculously alive, too!
There is no need to create Liberal Nationalism It is the Bernie Sanders wing of the Democratic party and since 2016 it dominates over the internationalist wing of the party, much like the internationalist have been run out of the Republican party.
IMO, Halpin built a strawman then used standard Democratic Left talking points for his solution.
I have been following Robert Hubbell for at least four years now. We have mutual friends. I also follow Heather Cox Richardson. What I like about Robert is that he not only brings hope to the table, he tells you how to get to work! His sterling legal background also brings the legal perspective to his position which is especially important given the threat to our democracy as well as a lop-sided Supreme Court.
I read John Halpin's piece, and like his optimism and naturally, his rejection of identity politics as the touchstone for everything. But at least so far, he betrays the same weakness of most constructive pieces I read from the Left: his notion of progress, which he defines mostly as economic progress, assumes that certain fundamental arguments are settled, and settled his way, rather than being discussed. That just won't work.
There are many such arguments, all of which could be addressed more constructively without the poison of identity politics, but removing that alone won't solve them. The three biggest ones that he passes over as if they were already resolved are:
1. The proper role of Government, and the proper distribution of that role between the States and the Union;
2. A just Immigration System that serves our national interests and meets our international obligations, in terms of refugees under international law;
3. Our level of societal responsibility to shelter individuals from the consequences of their own bad decisions, as opposed to natural or human-caused disasters, or current and past discrimination.
Advice to abandon identity politics but that then just wishes these (and other real issues) away is nice, but it's not really actionable.
Having subscribed to 2 of today's 3 letters, you're close but not quite on the mark. Hubbell's letters appeal to reasonable people regardless of political affiliation or lack thereof and the hope is based on the idea that there are more of those than of the irrational on either side.
The strong point in the Liberal Patriot is Ruy Teixeira who adds experiential depth to Halprin's comments. Both are well worth reading.
The notion of liberal nationalism, at least as you describe it, sounds like a tightrope from which it is all too easy to fall, either to the right or to the left. As polarized as we are in this country, I don't see much of an audience for this.
I think Macron is trying to do something like this in France, but I don't think anyone can call his project a success. Even though it's helpful to have Le Pen/Zemmour to his right and Melenchon, to his left, he has a hard time persuading voters that he isn't either too pro-immigrant for the right and too pro-business for the left. If Macron wins reelection it will probably be because of a strong economy, progress against the pandemic, and unacceptable opponents. I don't see that calculus working here.
Jonathan, I deeply appreciate your kind mention of my newsletter. As someone who stumbled into writing a newsletter, it is an honor to be mentioned by a consummate professional who is leading the fight to preserve democracy. I am a big fan of The Bulwark and regularly feature articles by your contributors in my newsletter. Philip Rotner has been on a hot streak recently, and I hope you can pull Richard North Patterson back into the fold from his other ventures. Thanks for all you do! With warm regards and great respect, Robert Hubbell, Today's Edition Newsletter.
I'd try to sneak "economic" into "liberal nationalism". Last night's Bill Maher show featured an interview with Ro Khanna, Representative (D-CA 17th District). I don't know Khanna's platform in any detail, but he certainly had the right attitude. The US is an economic powerhouse but we're blowing it in holding our place in the world against China and the rest. We're squandering our lead in education, innovation, and cultural supremacy. We need to encourage all citizens to fix these problems and reap the economic rewards by reestablishing our leadership.
Robert Hubbell is the sanest touchstone I have had the good fortune to discover in the past several years. He deserves the Congressional Medal of Honor for community service.
Re: The Liberal Patriot. Have followed Halpin et. al. for a while and, as with most such enterprises I follow, there is usually something of value to be found there. But "liberal nationalism" as the glue to bind the half (a reasonable estimate, I think) of the country together that is only nominally aligned due to its lack of investment in the identity politics being hustled by the outer wings on either side of the political divide? Well, it may work in theory, maybe, yes. But, having spent 5 decades looking at blueprints for intricate machines and the parts for them that my job entails making, I've seen plenty of stuff that looked "good on paper" but didn't work worth a damn when actually assembled and the "on button" was pushed, leaving the designers scratching their heads and scratching for solutions.
But, for the sake of argument, let's be optimistic and say that some sort of liberal, civic nationalism was "built" and resulted in half the country becoming more strongly aligned, a too optimistic figure I believe, but let's just say that it happens. What have you got? Half the country, perhaps a bit more united, but still standing toe to toe in opposition to, and slugging it out with, the other half, swinging in front of themselves and behind as well. A slightly better position than we currently find ourselves in perhaps, but not by much.
Unless and until the idea takes hold in this country that being an "American" means being many different things, and that minding one's own life and one's own business well is the surest way to mind the country's life and the country's business well, no "isms" of any sort will pull this nation together to the point that it can do any more than simply "muddle through". And we'll be damned lucky to even do that if someone, somewhere doesn't soon step up to the role of true national leadership, with the moral wherewithal to cast aside personal aspirations, political or otherwise, and simply speak the truth of that premise loudly, clearly and with conviction.
The pandemic and the MAGA group are extra stress. Add Putin and Xi, the topping of the despair tree. My father was on the USS Rigil in Pearl Harbor on Dec 7 1941 so I persevere and follow his lead.
Finally have a chance to read through last week's posts. Thanks again for doing these, JVL.
This is a response to the 2/4 Secret Podcast, but I didn’t know where else to share it. Sarah’s crazy story re: the bat in her hotel room reminded me of an equally insane story about my husband, a shoe and a small furry mammal (but no rabies shots, thank goodness!).
Years ago we used to walk to Sunday mass every week—a beautiful 4+ mile walk from our house to the cathedral. My husband has enormous feet (size 15 in athletic shoes) and some neuropathy (both important factors in this story). One Sunday, after we had walked to mass, sat through the full mass, and stopped for coffee afterwards, we were sitting at the bus stop waiting for our bus home when my husband mentioned that it felt like there was something in his shoe. He took it off to check for a bunched up sock or whatever, and—lo and behold—there was a tiny mouse in his shoe! Somehow miraculously alive, too!
There is no need to create Liberal Nationalism It is the Bernie Sanders wing of the Democratic party and since 2016 it dominates over the internationalist wing of the party, much like the internationalist have been run out of the Republican party.
IMO, Halpin built a strawman then used standard Democratic Left talking points for his solution.
Oh well.
Your response to Hubbell is even darker than I might have expected, but I agree with you.
Thank you for alerting me to Robert Hubbell. I am a Democrat who’s into hope, so I subscribed.
I have been following Robert Hubbell for at least four years now. We have mutual friends. I also follow Heather Cox Richardson. What I like about Robert is that he not only brings hope to the table, he tells you how to get to work! His sterling legal background also brings the legal perspective to his position which is especially important given the threat to our democracy as well as a lop-sided Supreme Court.
I read John Halpin's piece, and like his optimism and naturally, his rejection of identity politics as the touchstone for everything. But at least so far, he betrays the same weakness of most constructive pieces I read from the Left: his notion of progress, which he defines mostly as economic progress, assumes that certain fundamental arguments are settled, and settled his way, rather than being discussed. That just won't work.
There are many such arguments, all of which could be addressed more constructively without the poison of identity politics, but removing that alone won't solve them. The three biggest ones that he passes over as if they were already resolved are:
1. The proper role of Government, and the proper distribution of that role between the States and the Union;
2. A just Immigration System that serves our national interests and meets our international obligations, in terms of refugees under international law;
3. Our level of societal responsibility to shelter individuals from the consequences of their own bad decisions, as opposed to natural or human-caused disasters, or current and past discrimination.
Advice to abandon identity politics but that then just wishes these (and other real issues) away is nice, but it's not really actionable.
Having subscribed to 2 of today's 3 letters, you're close but not quite on the mark. Hubbell's letters appeal to reasonable people regardless of political affiliation or lack thereof and the hope is based on the idea that there are more of those than of the irrational on either side.
The strong point in the Liberal Patriot is Ruy Teixeira who adds experiential depth to Halprin's comments. Both are well worth reading.
The notion of liberal nationalism, at least as you describe it, sounds like a tightrope from which it is all too easy to fall, either to the right or to the left. As polarized as we are in this country, I don't see much of an audience for this.
I think Macron is trying to do something like this in France, but I don't think anyone can call his project a success. Even though it's helpful to have Le Pen/Zemmour to his right and Melenchon, to his left, he has a hard time persuading voters that he isn't either too pro-immigrant for the right and too pro-business for the left. If Macron wins reelection it will probably be because of a strong economy, progress against the pandemic, and unacceptable opponents. I don't see that calculus working here.
Another good thing about Hubbell is that if you listen to him read his newsletter, you will see that he has the most soothing voice, to boot!
Jonathan, I deeply appreciate your kind mention of my newsletter. As someone who stumbled into writing a newsletter, it is an honor to be mentioned by a consummate professional who is leading the fight to preserve democracy. I am a big fan of The Bulwark and regularly feature articles by your contributors in my newsletter. Philip Rotner has been on a hot streak recently, and I hope you can pull Richard North Patterson back into the fold from his other ventures. Thanks for all you do! With warm regards and great respect, Robert Hubbell, Today's Edition Newsletter.
I'd try to sneak "economic" into "liberal nationalism". Last night's Bill Maher show featured an interview with Ro Khanna, Representative (D-CA 17th District). I don't know Khanna's platform in any detail, but he certainly had the right attitude. The US is an economic powerhouse but we're blowing it in holding our place in the world against China and the rest. We're squandering our lead in education, innovation, and cultural supremacy. We need to encourage all citizens to fix these problems and reap the economic rewards by reestablishing our leadership.
Robert Hubbell is the sanest touchstone I have had the good fortune to discover in the past several years. He deserves the Congressional Medal of Honor for community service.
Re: The Liberal Patriot. Have followed Halpin et. al. for a while and, as with most such enterprises I follow, there is usually something of value to be found there. But "liberal nationalism" as the glue to bind the half (a reasonable estimate, I think) of the country together that is only nominally aligned due to its lack of investment in the identity politics being hustled by the outer wings on either side of the political divide? Well, it may work in theory, maybe, yes. But, having spent 5 decades looking at blueprints for intricate machines and the parts for them that my job entails making, I've seen plenty of stuff that looked "good on paper" but didn't work worth a damn when actually assembled and the "on button" was pushed, leaving the designers scratching their heads and scratching for solutions.
But, for the sake of argument, let's be optimistic and say that some sort of liberal, civic nationalism was "built" and resulted in half the country becoming more strongly aligned, a too optimistic figure I believe, but let's just say that it happens. What have you got? Half the country, perhaps a bit more united, but still standing toe to toe in opposition to, and slugging it out with, the other half, swinging in front of themselves and behind as well. A slightly better position than we currently find ourselves in perhaps, but not by much.
Unless and until the idea takes hold in this country that being an "American" means being many different things, and that minding one's own life and one's own business well is the surest way to mind the country's life and the country's business well, no "isms" of any sort will pull this nation together to the point that it can do any more than simply "muddle through". And we'll be damned lucky to even do that if someone, somewhere doesn't soon step up to the role of true national leadership, with the moral wherewithal to cast aside personal aspirations, political or otherwise, and simply speak the truth of that premise loudly, clearly and with conviction.
The pandemic and the MAGA group are extra stress. Add Putin and Xi, the topping of the despair tree. My father was on the USS Rigil in Pearl Harbor on Dec 7 1941 so I persevere and follow his lead.
The Daily Coach is a good Column.
Love the title. I think it will be my mantra for all things political for at least the coming election cycle.