Here's one of the problems with righting the national ship as I see it.
The recent movement on the right around establishment Republicans has been populist, even when improbably led by billionaire populist Trump. Populist movements, almost by definition, require outside candidates.
But if the real problem happens to be a nonpartisan administrative state, an external populist movement becomes little more than a fashion show.
What one then needs instead is a reform movement, one specifically dedicated to digging out the pathological ticks.
But an outside populist ends up invariably being naive about the ecology of the tick infestation, which was one of the poignant hallmarks of the Trump administration.
What one ends up needing, then, is a Washington insider, reform candidate who knows the players and their deeds and thus which ones to most effectively fire and replace while bending his populist support to the specific material effort of governmental reform.
Unreformed government will simply shake off populism the way a Lab shakes off water.
Mr. Smith can't go to Washington; Mr. Smith must come from Washington, but I can't for the life of me tell you who that hypothetical Diogenes' honest man might be.
The recent movement on the right around establishment Republicans has been populist, even when improbably led by billionaire populist Trump. Populist movements, almost by definition, require outside candidates.
But if the real problem happens to be a nonpartisan administrative state, an external populist movement becomes little more than a fashion show.
What one then needs instead is a reform movement, one specifically dedicated to digging out the pathological ticks.
But an outside populist ends up invariably being naive about the ecology of the tick infestation, which was one of the poignant hallmarks of the Trump administration.
What one ends up needing, then, is a Washington insider, reform candidate who knows the players and their deeds and thus which ones to most effectively fire and replace while bending his populist support to the specific material effort of governmental reform.
Unreformed government will simply shake off populism the way a Lab shakes off water.
Mr. Smith can't go to Washington; Mr. Smith must come from Washington, but I can't for the life of me tell you who that hypothetical Diogenes' honest man might be.
@iskandrian have you any thoughts on Gabbard?
@skells Every time I've seen her she's struck me as an honest gal.
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@iskandrian the rabid opposition from the standard hacks ticks the right boxes too
