Jon Rauch
Journalist, writer, unlicensed epistemologist. Brookings and The Atlantic. Please be sane, BlueSky.
- The art of the pretend deal. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
- Reposted by Jon RauchCheck out AVC's new podcast episode with @jonrauch.bsky.social. Jesus and James Madison news.americanvalues.org/p/jesus-and-...
- "House Republicans recently sank numerous Democratic efforts to investigate President Donald Trump’s administration." Does anyone care? www.understandingcongress.org/2025/05/12/h...
- "There is nothing generative about Trumpism; it carries no seeds of renewal. Look back through history and tell me: When has a brighter future ever arrived in a cloud of chaos, corruption, cruelty, and lies?" Brilliant from Brink Lindsey @theunpopulist.net www.theunpopulist.net/p/the-postli...
- "Bilateral trade deals introduce large distortions in resource allocation and thus lower global income." This is as well established a principle as exists in economics. How come so many people are forgetting it? wcoats.blog/2025/05/08/a...
- This is for you if you've been warned too often against Nazi comparisons. (Turn on subtitles.) www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvgZ...
- Report from Europe by investment analyst Chris Smart: "clearly puzzled, deeply disappointed, and more than a little angry." leadingthoughts.substack.com/p/theyre-rea...
- Hey, better consult your lawyer before investing in Trump's memecoin or crypto. You're probably breaking the law. www.lawfaremedia.org/article/the-...
- File under "they're not falling for it." Public thinks the main reason the administration is attacking universities is politics...not antisemitism. www.brookings.edu/articles/pol...
- Here's the most interesting thing about the I've encountered today: 2012 lecture by scholar Erica Chenoweth that explains how ordinary citizens can stop authoritarianism. youtu.be/EHkzgDOMtYs?...
- More than any other writer, Stephen Bradford Long helps me understand what it's like to live with a serious mental health challenge (bipolar). Everyone should read this harrowing and insightful account. open.substack.com/pub/sacredte...
- From Larry Diamond, an expert on democratic backsliding. "I think people should be seriously worried about the United States descending into the kind of electoral authoritarianism that Hungary has become." www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
- Folks are not paying enough attention to the capital flight and economic meltdown that may occur because of Trump's attacks on the rule of law..."with terrible consequences." Must-read from Rob Shapiro. www.sonecon.com/trumps-perfe...
- Reposted by Jon RauchCan't recommend this podcast at @theunpopulist.net w/ @davidfrenchjag.bsky.social by @tracinski.bsky.social enough. David brilliantly notes how Trump's attack on Harvard, law firms and due process is authoritarian creep that only moral leadership (not brainiacs) can defeat. shorturl.at/qR8i1
- This article by Pastor Chris Davis from 2016--just republished--is eerily prescient and strongly influenced my thinking about a truly Christian approach to politics. (Spoiler: it looks not at all like the approach that many white evangelicals have taken.) revchrisdavis.substack.com/p/trump-appe...
- This article should be sobering to Americans. Europeans believe that the only consistent element of US foreign policy is our unreliability. open.substack.com/pub/billemmo...
- I've done many conversations about Christianity's role in democracy's crisis; this was one of the truly special ones. I, moderator Tom Gjelten, and the audience felt moved by the experience. www.youtube.com/watch?v=6v_2...
- Reposted by Jon Rauch[Not loaded yet]
- Hungary is happening here. Now. www.mediaite.com/tv/60-minute...
- "There is no historical parallel for this. Never has a single American official created so much chaos and imposed so many self-inflicted wounds on the U.S. economy in so short a time." Economist Harry Holzer. thehill.com/opinion/5269...
- Who could have predicted that a TV guy who only ever ran two small nonprofits would flame out in the hardest job in government? www.politico.com/news/2025/04...
- Reposted by Jon RauchIt doesn't matter what the rest of the sentence says, the opening 10 words in themselves are the scandal: "President Trump on Thursday directed the Justice Department to investigate ... "
- Yeah, yeah, but WHAT ABOUT HILLARY'S EMAILS? apnews.com/article/hegs...
- Insider tip from Yale Univ. Press (my publisher): 50% off all physical books in May! Get yours (well, get mine) now! yalebooks.yale.edu/2025-may-sale/
- Reposted by Jon Rauch
- Finally! Attention is being paid to the gay guy. One fears the worst. Thank you, Dems. open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...
- Bari Weiss is the best interviewer of her generation. Rich, searching interview on the role of religion and Christianity in American life. www.thefp.com/p/can-americ...
- "The Trump tariffs have disrupted world trade and set off turmoil in financial markets, damaging growth prospects that had looked promising at the start of the year." www.brookings.edu/articles/apr...
- "Data sharing is a potent weapon—or, rather, a key tactic in the weaponization of bureaucratic agencies as ideological enforcers." open.substack.com/pub/persuasi...
- Steve Bannon thinks Elon Musk is...Satanic. From Paul Starobin's profile of Bannon in Business Insider.
- "Netanyahu still has not laid out any post-Hamas vision for the territory, making a prolonged Israeli military occupation the most likely outcome. Israel is getting sucked in deeper, with no exit strategy in sight." www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
- An appreciation of the late, great pope by my friend Fr. Tom Reese. In my almost 65 years, he is the first Pope who struck me as truly Christ-like. Requiescat. religionnews.com/2025/04/21/p...
- How Trump's FCC chairman is moving quickly to turn the agency into an engine of White House coercion. (It's not subtle.) www.lawfaremedia.org/article/the-...
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- Slowly but surely, Trump and Vance have helped Putin erase the Ukraine invasion in Republicans' opinion toward Russia. (Dems remain stalwart.) New from Pew. www.pewresearch.org/2025/04/17/h...
- The Trump administration has a strange way of dealing with mistakes. It makes them (and how)...acknowledges making them...then doubles down on them. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/18/b...
- Europe's resolve on Ukraine is one of the few real bright spots out there. open.substack.com/pub/billemmo...
- Peeps, we gotta not pretend this isn't happening. It's not just primaries. They're worried about harassment and the personal safety of themselves and families. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/17/u...
- Reposted by Jon RauchIt's all about cruelty. They get a kick out of malice.
- Even Nixon's IRS leader shelved many White House demands to target foes. "Transforming the I.R.S. and its tens of thousands of employees into political enforcers for the president would shake a foundation of American civic life." www.nytimes.com/2025/04/18/u...
- We know what MAGA will do because HUAC did it before. Here's what took HUAC down. www.lawfaremedia.org/article/proc...
- Judge Boasberg can't turn planes around. But he can expose and document the Administration's lawlessness. www.lawfaremedia.org/article/the-...
- In case you thought tariffs aren't going up much...ditto inflation...
- "This is not about what a body of water is called. It has never been about that. It’s about the White House wanting to control what news media do and then punishing them when they don’t treat Trump’s word as gospel." www.poynter.org/commentary/2...
- "A guy already accused by Trump insiders of improper influence peddling is the guy offering these kickback settlements to white shoe law firms." Boris Epshteyn? Seriously? www.emptywheel.net/2025/04/15/o...
- Can Christianity save U.S. democracy--and itself? Join me and Tom Gjelten at Georgetown U. on April 24 (10am) for what's bound to be an absorbing fireside conversation. berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/events/can-c...
- Most presidents try to bring home legal US residents who are wrongly held in foreign prisons...not smirkingly entomb them there. Ben "The Estimable" Wittes explains Judge Xinis's options to bring Kilmar Abrego Garcia home. (TLDR: it won't be easy.) www.lawfaremedia.org/article/the-...
- Do not breathe that sigh of relief. "The danger has not gone away. The biggest danger lies not in the wild movements in equity markets that Trump’s trade war has caused, but in a loss of faith in US government debt." billemmott.substack.com/p/in-trump-w...
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- Um...shouldn't it be news if Trump privately says he lost the 2020 election? www.mediaite.com/tv/bill-mahe...
- "Nice little law firm you got there..." These extorted "settlements" (really just protection money) continue to be the most sinister thing Trump/MAGA are doing. The law firms must know they are only inviting more bullying...for themselves and others. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/11/b...
- Loyalty replaces experience and competence at the NSA, one of the government's most complex and important agencies. Patrimonialism strikes again. www.lawfaremedia.org/article/maga...
