A metaphor for a nation that has the strongest economy in the world, and the most dynamic private sector, but a political class who have lost their minds.
asserted
who → have → minds
Look at Vivek Ramaswamy’s deployment of the mother of an opponent who was abused as a child.
asserted
who → look → child
It’s about a great nation being dragged from its ethical moorings by the excesses of one side feeding the excesses of the other in a bizarre waltz that will astound future historians.
asserted
that → ’ → historians
I mean, look at how every election over the last decade and more has been a vote not for anything constructive but against whatever lunacy has been enacted in the asylum called Washington.
asserted
lunacy → mean → asylum
We had the woke overreach of the Dems in which biological men became women, leading to the first MAGA wave of Trump — a president who later denied the result of a free election and pardoned those who assaulted law-enforcement officers.
asserted
who → have → officers
The Democrats under Biden thought the best way to deal with this lurch was to throw open the borders, a position supported by nobody except those whose minds have been deranged by progressive ideology.
asserted
minds → think → ideology
This, in turn, created the conditions for Trump 2.0: a tariff-hiking, Iran-invading, crony-enriching spasm — which has now birthed perhaps the most radical Democratic slate in history.
asserted
which → create → history
Newton said that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
asserted
Newton → say → action
American politics is offering a new twist: for every insanity there is an ever more extremist version on the other side.
asserted
politics → offer → side
I have no doubt that social media sits near the epicenter of this dynamic, even if not explaining it fully.
asserted
media → have → it
The mathematical structure of these algorithms mirrors almost perfectly the gyrating psychosis in American politics.
asserted
structure → mirror → politics
Grifters on the MAGA right know that by making ever more incendiary claims they will gain virality, inciting the more extreme hyperliberals to respond in turn, transforming the middle ground into the political equivalent of no-man’s-land.
uncertain
they → know → land
And who is celebrating this carnage?
asserted
who → celebrate → carnage
That’s right: China, Russia, North Korea and the rest of the democracy-hating totalitarian axis.
asserted
That → ’ → axis
This is why their growing army of bots keep inflaming the hostilities and stoking conspiracy theories.
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army → grow → theories
The old communists of the Soviet Union used to call their naïve Western supporters “useful idiots.”
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communists → use → supporters
It’s the perfect phrase when you look at the army of keyboard warriors making ever more wild claims about their fellow Americans — Josh Turek is a communist, J.D. Vance is a fascist.
uncertain
Vance → ’ → Americans
But most definitely a way of monetizing YouTube if you are a charlatan like Candace Owens or Hasan Piker, who will demonize almost anyone for clicks.
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who → monetize → clicks
Both have lost all contact with perhaps the most important value in a free society: truth.
asserted
Both → lose → society
The wokesters equate feelings with facts while the MAGA ultras think that by saying something often and loudly enough — we won in 2020! — people will believe them.
asserted
people → equate → them
The American people smell bulls–t.
But there’s a golden opportunity here.
asserted
people → smell → bulls
America has a strong economy, even if inflamed with high prices.
asserted
America → have → prices
Growth at 3.4% is something Europe would die for.
asserted
Europe → die → %
This dynamism is being driven not by Washington, but in spite of it.
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dynamism → drive → it
It is down to the people who actually go out and do things, rather than sitting on social media inflaming things.
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who → go → things
Just think how much stronger the American economy would be if Washington were not so deranged, distracted and corrupt.
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Washington → think → ?
And this is why it’s time for both sides to end the madness by calling out the loons on their own side.
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sides → ’ → side
I kept hearing from Democrats before the 2024 election that if Trump won, it would be the last election in America — because if his party lost in 2026, he would instantly deny the result and send in ICE, the military or perhaps an AI robot army.
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he → hear → ICE
This isn’t analysis; it is Russian bot-fueled paranoia.
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it → fuel → ?
But I heard the same nonsense from MAGA, too.
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I → hear → MAGA
That if the Dems win the midterms, the nation will no longer be America.
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nation → win → midterms
Sure, the democratic socialists pose a risk to the American way of life, but they have momentum only because of the extremism that has wrenched political debate away from the patriots and rationalists that have always existed on both sides, and hopefully always will.
asserted
that → pose → sides
This is what China fears most, by the way.
asserted
China → fear → way
An America whose eyes are trained not on conspiracy, deceit and ephemera but the true enemies of freedom.
asserted
eyes → train → freedom
An America that rids itself of bad-faith attacks — whether red on blue or blue on red — and glimpses something far more important: the greatness of red, white and blue.
asserted
that → rid → red
This indispensable nation that soars highest with some degree of bipartisan consensus across the aisle.
asserted
that → soar → aisle
I’ve mentioned the autocratic axis a couple of times, and you may be wondering why nations so far away matter.
uncertain
nations → mention → times
Well, permit me to note that the phone in your pocket was likely assembled in China, by a regime that can shut factories at will.
asserted
that → permit → will
Beijing’s hackers, US officials say, already lurk in the networks that run our power, water and transport, and have broken into the carriers handling our calls.
asserted
that → lurk → calls
These regimes answer to no voters, no courts, no free press.
asserted
regimes → answer → voters
…and 3 more, not listed.
The Aporia
