Politics

  • Six Flags White House

    Kevin D. Williamson writes for The Dispatch about the spectacle of setting up a UFC match on the White House lawn.

    It does not matter whether you live in a trailer park or a brick ranch house or something more grand and getting grander, it is all the same: Tornado bait is tornado bait. When the Trump administration announced that it was staging a UFC fight on the South Lawn of the White House, I knew what I was seeing. It is as familiar to me as the taste of canned Ranch Style Beans on cornbread or the smell of cigarette smoke soaking into Dacron-upholstered office furniture and slick tallowy well-yellowed linoleum in the grim waiting rooms outside those weepy Al-Anon meetings my mother dragged me to for a while because she couldn’t afford a babysitter. I know my people. My people know what they like. And they will have what they like even if it harelips the pope—especially if it harelips the pope.

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  • A Show of Respect

    Whether marching for a Sikh holiday, visiting a Jewish children”s center or attending Divine Liturgy, I’ve never seen a politician put so much effort into respecting the faith traditions of others as Zohran Mamdani. New York is such a diverse city and you truly get the impression that the mayor sees the strength of this. In the words of one commenter, he really knows how to make people feel seen.

    Today marks 205 years of Greek independence. I was grateful to stand in solidarity with Greek Orthodox New Yorkers at the Divine Liturgy, commemorating this triumph of self-determination.

    Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@mayor.nyc.gov) 2026-04-26T22:24:58.761Z

    It’s exciting to keep up with what Mamdani is doing in New York. His agenda feels like a sea change in political priorities. I hope to see positive effects coming from the work his adminstraction is engaged in. 

  • Locked Down Media

    Bandcamp sent an email this week on the impact of tariffs to bands that sell physical media via the site.

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    Fediverse reactions
  • The Democratic Joe Rogan

    I find myself a bit amused by all the talk about creating a “Democratic Joe Rogan.” As David French said on an episode of the SkyePod podcast in March, there was a Democratic Joe Rogan. His name was… Joe Rogan. However, like many others, Rogan was hectored by his tribe for every little transgression of progressive protocols. As French goes on to point out in the episode, people go where they are wanted.