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Culture War Roundup for the week of January 27, 2025

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you would jump online to tell me it was the obvious way to revitalize struggling American neighborhoods.

No, but I would ignore it, so you're directionally correct. I'm not interested in making problems for Trump, there are plenty of people perfectly willing to do that on their own.

It's especially funny that Biden was practically in diapers himself due to his physical and cognitive decline, and in fact it was the mainstream media telling me for years on end that he wasn't, and that he was doing fine.

Is there anything he’s done that you don’t actually like?

Amy Barrett. Gorsuch was shockingly great, despite his ruling in Bostock, so I suppose I can't expect that level three times in a row. Kavanaugh seems like a squish, but he's not as bad as Barrett.

As for this term? Nothing yet. A+, keep up the great work.

In general, I dance with the girl that I came with, and fight with the sword in my hand. This is what I've wanted to have happen for years. I wanted an outsider in the white house. I wanted the deep state to be destroyed. I wanted an Andrew Jackson, slay-the-banks type figure. I'm not going to nitpick the details now. Slash the budget, burn the institutions, repeal the income tax, throw up huge tariffs.

You know, drain the swamp.

I didn't vote for Trump in 16 or 20 because I didn't trust him and he didn't deliver much, but after seeing the Biden administration I regret that. I learned my lesson, and so this first week has been exhilarating. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect Trump to hit the ground running like this.

Amy Barrett. Gorsuch was shockingly great, despite his ruling in Bostock, so I suppose I can't expect that level three times in a row. Kavanaugh seems like a squish, but he's not as bad as Barrett.

By what metrics are Kavanaugh and Barrett bad?

How much I like their rulings, of course, and their willingness to stand on principle, bite bullets, and fix wrongs that are long-overdue rather than maintain status quo.

Basically, I think they're too much like Roberts, who I hold in contempt. Kavanaugh, especially, looks like he's in the mold of Roberts. Barrett simply looks like O'Connor, and in ten years she'll be siding with the D appointees more often than not.

Gorsuch gets my respect because he says, "but for sex," and, "the treaty says all of Oklahoma belongs to the Indians." He doesn't narrowly rule to avoid disruption, he rules on principle and the actual laws as they are written. His willingness to bite bullets is a sign of principle and courage, characteristics I do not perceive in Kavanaugh or Barrett.

Can you give some examples of "bad" opinions by Kavanaugh and Barrett and elaborate on how Barrett and O'Connor are worse than Kavanaugh and Roberts? Gorsuch seems to be generally respected by his ideological allies and loyal opposition, alike, for the reasons you cite and more, but opinions of Roberts and O'Connor are more complicated (I can't remember anyone saying O'Connor was outright bad...), and Kavanaugh and Barrett are relatively new and lacking in major decisions.