Archive - Notes from the Middleground

It’s the Fall That’s Gonna Kill You

The second Trump administration turns American governance into an act of collective self-harm

Feb 21 •

Governing in the Dark

On the foolish irresponsibility of the Trump administration’s hostility to scientific thinking and research

Feb 17 •

What Is to Be Done?

Critical comments from one of my subscribers inspire some self-reflection about the state of the country and the work I do at “Notes from the…

Feb 14 •

Endings and Beginnings

Is the second Trump administration a passing storm we just need to ride out? Or might it be the first chapter in a new story whose meaning we can't yet…

Feb 10 •

Three Observations from the Midst of the Maelstrom

The anti-system realignment, a superpower commits suicide, and Trump’s risible Gaza gambit

Feb 7 •

The Trump Executive Orders as “Radical Constitutionalism”

Much more than “test cases” may be at stake in Trump's aggressive claims of presidential authority

Published on Executive Functions • Feb 4

Deliberately Degrading American Government

What we learn by thinking about Trump’s tariffs and Elon Musk’s acts of administrative sabotage as one

Feb 3 •

January 2025

Life as a Vocation

A wonderful new essay raises deep questions about how and why we’ve ended up in our present political predicament

Jan 31 •

The End of the Cordon Sanitaire

Without a broad and stable center, everyone has no choice but to work with the extremes

Published on Gideon's Substack • Jan 29

The Limits of Legitimate Presidential Defiance

Reflections on Week 1 in a harder-right America

Jan 27 •

Who Is Russell Vought? Probably the Most Important Person in Trump 2.0

My latest Guest Essay in the New York Times

Jan 23 •

"The Golden Age of America begins right now"

Another face of National Greatness Conservatism

Jan 20 •

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