Another Piece

10:24 Thursday, 9 April 2026
Current Wx: Temp: 50.76°F Pressure: 1027hPa Humidity: 43% Wind: 16.26mph
Words: 74

It's supposed to get up to 60° today, but the wind is making it colder than the 50° the thermometer is showing, so I spent some more time on the NY Times.

I don't write as much about Trump and Hegseth and their abuse of the military because it's terminally frustrating. And, frankly, I don't read as much about it as I'd like to see either.

So this piece from David French was welcome.

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Ben Sasse Interview

09:42 Thursday, 9 April 2026
Current Wx: Temp: 47.35°F Pressure: 1029hPa Humidity: 49% Wind: 16.26mph
Words: 254

I'm a bit conflicted on this, because I have little regard for Ross Douthat and I'm not sure that Sasse's confrontation with his own mortality is as ennobling as this interview might make it appear. To be fair, I don't believe that Sasse feels that his experience, or this interview, is ennobling. I think Douthat feels that way. (Free link. These expire after thirty days. I don't make the rules.)

For example, here's a quote:

I think the grand divide that is coming, sociologically or demographically, is not chiefly a class divide. I think the grand divide that’s coming is about intentionality and what you do with your affections and these supertools.

"The divide that is coming..."

"That is coming..."

This from a dude who spends time flying around to cancer centers, and who has an "executive doc," whatever that is.

The divide is here, but he doesn't see it, apparently.

And it is that class divide, that economic chasm, that bars the very people he's speaking about from spending time and cognitive resources reflecting on "intentionality," or "what you do with your affections."

But there is a lot that is worthwhile in this interview. Food for thought. And I'm genuinely sorry that Ben Sasse and his family are going through this.

It's a very long read. Douthat's comments are often of no added value, in my opinion, but Sasse's responses are worthwhile for many reasons.

A lot of religion in this piece, as a content warning to those for whom faith is anathema.

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