13 Comments

Maybe I'm unlike your other commenters in that I don't dislike Andrew's writing and typically find his pieces insightful or at least thought provoking. But when it comes to Trump and the election in November he most often sounds like a battered spouse imploring his children to behave better so father doesn't get drunk and beat them again. The far left has so thoroughly infected every institution that the Democrats and the media are barely recognizable to moderates and centrists any more. This has been a long time coming, long before Trump. But rather than stamping it out, Andrew advocates appeasement. Far from returning us to the center, a Biden election will cement the extreme left. Trump is a hard guy to vote for, but anything -- even Trump -- is better than voting for today's version of the Democrats.

Expand full comment

Sullivan is very good on opposing the worst of the left, critical theory etc. But he has an absolute blind spot when it comes to Trump. It's not that he opposes Trump but that he is obsessed with Trump just like the left that he otherwise opposes.

Expand full comment

I like some of Sullivan's points; I dislike others. He is not always consistent. So what? He's just human.

I think a Biden/Democrat landslide (taking the senate too) would be a disaster. The Dems are already talking about how much they want to do. They will run riot for 2 years then get pasted in 2022 (maybe losing the House but probably not the Senate).

My fear is that the Dems could go beyond granting amnesty...they could allow non-citizens the ability to vote in Federal elections. That was legal in the past; they don't need to pack the Supreme Court for that. But some of their other likely actions will need an activist court to survive. They could mandate easy voter registration and outlaw purging voter registration lists. They could mandate ballot harvesting. They could pass laws to restrict political activities and fund raising by disfavored groups (and rely on the establishment bureaucracy to ignore violations by Dem groups). If they succeed, they will turn the US into a one party state.

Expand full comment

A Biden landslide could begin a process of isolating or undermining the loonier and more extreme elements of the Republican Party. “You had your run, the country decisively rejected it etc etc”. Were moderates in the R party given some such cover, actual legislation might even be passed. The Democratic Party left wing would mistakenly take any landslide as their own mandate and first Biden, then Harris, Pelosi & other voices of sanity will have the task of cooling them out. That AOC wing, too, could eventually be isolated if enough moderately progressive reforms and policies are enacted. Strengthen the middle class and both extremes are neutralized.

Expand full comment

What "mass immigration"?

Expand full comment

You're new here, aren't you?

Expand full comment

Yes, I am. Seems like the whole critique of Andrew boils down to Mickey's "mass immigration" worries. As far as I can tell from the statistics there is no mass migration so am wondering where this comment comes from.

Expand full comment

The US currently takes in 1 million legal immigrants per year, more than any other country. Most of these are chain migration---relatives of existing legal residents or citizens beyond nuclear family. In addition, while official "refugee" numbers are down, the use has given Temporary Protection Status to large groups of foreign citizens and until Trump, continuously renewed it for over 20 years. Illegal border crossings have creeped up to 1,000-1,500 per day. A lax asylum policy let most of them enter and settle in the US for years, have children, and end up never having to leave.

Expand full comment

I'm not seeing that data to back up the illegal border crossings. The data here https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats does not support this.

Expand full comment

Writing about Andrew Sullivan is like complaining about the traits of ten year old fruitcake. Nobody wanted to eat it ten years ago, and it hasn't improved with time.

And The Atlantic is an absolute sewer today, toxic af towards everyone.

Expand full comment

Glad to see that others have notices Andrew's inconsistencies in the column. Andrew needs to spend more time crafting his opinion column and far less time looking out windows.

Expand full comment

Sullivan has long since passed his sell-by date, and what he writes about nowadays is completely void of the nuance, historical awareness, and broad thoughtfulness found in much of his earlier work.

He has turned out to be just another garbage woke leftist that, like his employer (The Atlantic), will be appropriately left in the rubbish heap after the upcoming Trump landslide in November, and the long-overdue efforts to destroy -- oops, I mean "reform" -- the despicable, toxic, venal fake-news press in the 4 years afterwards.

Expand full comment

You must be reading a different Sullivan than I am. You're being silly.

Expand full comment