Zelensky’s U.S. Visit: Signs of Hope and Danger
Zelensky’s U.S. Visit: Signs of Hope and Danger
Plus: The Clashes at ‘National Review’ Before Conservatives Took Over the Republican Party
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CATHY YOUNG: Zelensky’s U.S. Visit: Signs of Hope and Danger
UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY is in the United States to address the U.N. General Assembly in New York, visit an American munitions factory in Pennsylvania, and meet with several world leaders, including President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. However, a meeting with former President Donald Trump is apparently not happening, and Trump has ratcheted up his anti-Ukraine, anti-Zelensky rhetoric, pushing a narrative of Ukraine’s certain defeat. With American aid still essential to the Ukrainian war effort, Ukraine’s position in American domestic politics has never been more uncertain.
Meanwhile, how is Ukraine faring in that war effort? The reality on the ground is complicated, but it does not support the defeatist narrative.
PETER C. MEILAENDER: Law and Order, Magic and Murder in Kyiv
IN “THE SIMPLE ART OF MURDER,” HIS CLASSIC ESSAY on detective fiction, Raymond Chandler described the typical atmosphere of the “realist” detective novel: it is “a world in which gangsters can rule nations and almost rule cities . . . where no man can walk down a dark street in safety because law and order are things we talk about but refrain from practicing; a world where you may witness a holdup in broad daylight and see who did it, but you will fade quickly back into the crowd rather than tell anyone, because the holdup men may have friends with long guns, or the police may not like your testimony.” If Chandler thought that danger and corruption were endemic to the Los Angeles roamed by his detective Philip Marlowe, he should have taken a look at Kyiv.
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Bulwark Podcast with Tim Miller: Pete Buttigieg and A.B. Stoddard: Talk Is Cheap [YouTube]
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JOSHUA TAIT: The Clashes at ‘National Review’ Before Conservatives Took Over the Republican Party
HOW SHOULD PRINCIPLED CONSERVATIVES, committed to conservative ideals and their realization, relate to the grubby political world and the demands of winning votes and making necessary compromises? Today the dilemma is an acute one. But it’s not new. Ever since conservatism in the United States first emerged as a conscious movement, its leading activists and intellectuals have struggled with this question, especially regarding their relationship with conservatism’s imperfect political vessel, the Republican party. Presidential elections are particular flashpoints; during these quadrennial clashes, the imperatives of ideological purity are brought into direct conflict with political and electoral realities. This dynamic played out starkly and articulately at National Review during its first decade, in behind-the-scenes debates about whether the flagship conservative magazine should endorse the GOP’s presidential nominees.
MATTHEW D. TAYLOR: How ‘Left Behind’ Got Left Behind
“I WISH WE’D ALL BEEN READY.” The Late Great Planet Earth. A Thief in the Night. The Left Behind series. If any of these rings a bell for you, you may be familiar with one of evangelical Protestantism’s unique contributions to the American imagination: an apocalypse heralded by the sudden disappearance of millions of people from all over the world. I’m talking, of course, about “the Rapture.”
🚨OVERTIME🚨
Happy Thursday! It appears Cincinnati’s drought might be coming to an end. And not because of Hurricane Helene, which we’re watching anxiously for our family, friends, and readers in Florida and affected states. Stay safe and follow the evacuation orders!
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Move the Fulcrum… Holly Berkley-Fletcher remembers a friend.
Sent by God… “They’re gathering by the thousands. They’re growing fast. They believe that Democrats are possessed by demons—and that Donald Trump must be president again at any cost.” Slate’s Molly Olmstead attends a Trump revival.
Confessions of a (Former) Christian Nationalist… Must-read Rev. Rob Schenk in Mother Jones.
"I said you guys go out there, get a hold of these people and arrest them. Bring them. I’ll figure out if they’re legal,” Shelby County, Ohio Sheriff Jim Frye, at a public meeting on the topic of Haitian immigrants in western Ohio. (Sidney Daily News)
Some sad news… in my old neighborhood, and literally on my old street in the Huntington neighborhood, as former NBA player Delonte West, who has struggled with addiction, was spotted outside an ABC store begging. Say a prayer for this guy. He needs help.
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