Archive - Notes from the Middleground

One Step Closer to Constitutional Rupture

Reflections on the meaning of Trump v. CASA

Jun 30 •

The Mamdani Model

Democrats may have finally found a young, charismatic candidate who can show the party how to campaign like populists

Jun 26 •

Trump Bombs Iran, "TACO" Hardest Hit

Ten thoughts on the president’s decision to join Israel’s war

Jun 22 •

The Ineducable GOP

How (and how much) have Republicans changed since the debacle of the Iraq War?

Jun 20 •

Our Real-World Worst-Case Scenario

Donald Trump is acting like he wants to provoke a conflagration to serve as a pretext for a seizure of dictatorial power

Jun 16 •

A Chilling Prediction by Leo Strauss

Today’s post-liberals hate liberalism but lack a coherent alternative.

Published on Persuasion • Jun 4

May 2025

What we can learn simply by describing what we see from the second Trump administration

May 30 •

A Party of Sloths

The Democrats are in serious trouble. What will it take to rouse them from their passivity?

May 28 •

What I Learned Teaching “Trump 2.0”

It wasn’t anything uplifting, I’ll tell you that

May 23 •

The Story of American Political Ideas Since 1945—Part 2

Technocratic-managerial neoliberalism and its discontents

May 20 •

The Story of American Political Ideas Since 1945—Part 1

What I taught my Penn students this past semester

May 16 •

The Evangelical Evolution

What a pair of administration policies tell us about the transformation of the religious right in the Trump era

May 13 •

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