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I’d like to introduce you to my father, because he’s the reason I had the hubris to believe I could analyze American politics today against Germany a century ago and even ask the question: are we living in a Nazi state? My father was Lt. Col. Graham Labin Bleiler. As a captain in World War II, he flew B‑17s and later B‑29s in the Pacific theater, notably over “the Hump”—the eastern end of the Himalayas, where American crews flew precarious missions from India into China to re

The title came from an insult a total stranger slung at me on social media last winter. I don’t remember what the thread was about, but I remember the word he used: “snowflake.” The details of the argument are gone; the insult stuck. I’ve been called worse. Still, insults linger longer than the rare, precious compliments. The better comeback didn’t arrive until later, when I was looking out at about a foot of snow on the ground. I thought about how each of those flakes had fa

Chuck Schumer met with MS NOW, as reported by Ali Vitali this past week, as he came out of meetings where Democrats had been workshopping “doomsday” midterm election scenarios, ranging from misinformation to physical interference at the polls. That’s admittedly chilling. Vitali’s report spoke to the worry that Democrats have that there is a balance to strike: to plan for worst-case scenarios but not scare people away from voting. I share that fear, but the very fact that the

Why did the President of the United States get in front of cameras in the East Room of the White House in primetime and decide to pontificate about foreign interference in the 2020 elections? Why did he choose that topic on that night when so many of us are struggling to afford to pay our bills and canceling vacation plans because of gas prices? When we’re at war? When there have been two murders at the hands of ICE officers on American streets this month? Well, there are psy

I couldn’t do it. After literally two decades of being a loyal fan of anything Westeros, I could not get through the first episode of the new season of House of the Dragon (the last season of the OG Game of Thrones being somewhat of an exception). I haven’t even tried past that. Was it the violence I’d lost my taste for? It’s true, I don’t much care for animals dying, even mythical dragons, but I ruled that out when I had Alien: Romulus on in the background a couple of night

@agodissart went on Threads on the 4th of July and posted, “DemoRATS stay home! No watching fireworks or eating a hot dog off the grill. These activities are for patriots only!” When I see those sorts of provocative posts, I often assume they were bot generated “rage-bait,” and I looked at this user profile, and I can’t really tell if that is the case here or not, but whatever it is or isn’t, it’s echoing something I’ve heard many times before, dating all the way back to when

What a strange time to be celebrating America’s 250th birthday. Many of us aren’t in the mood for a party. The American promise seems further away than ever right now. While it may seem bizarre for the country to be so obsessed with the disaster at the Reflecting Pool considering everything else going on in the world, I get it: it just encapsulates the state of the country right now. Yet did our 200th birthday come at a better time? I was a teenager living in a small town, so

I took my grands to the pool on Saturday. It was a pretty lowkey experience in all: the pool wasn’t too crowded, the weather was mild and everyone was enjoying themselves. It didn’t occur to me until afterwards how freeing it felt not knowing anything about anyone’s political affiliation who was there. For a while, that topic was totally off the table. No one came in wearing a MAGA red cap, or the opposite for that matter. No one had anything provocative on a t-shirt. We all

Why try to write a book that revolves largely around the current administration while it’s still in power—especially given the chaos around it? I won’t lie: it was a challenge. But I felt a sense of urgency, and a fear that waiting might sell our chance to take back American democracy short. You may be thinking the current president is now in his 80s, so we just need to wait it out and this will all be over. I fear it’s not that simple. The party that brought him to power and