Author: Jim

*** I’ve Watched America and Ukraine Switch Places

“Take it from a member of the generation of Ukrainians who successfully defended democracy: To capture a state requires not just a strong leader but an apathetic society,” @ngumenyuk writes:

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2024/11/message-america-ukraine/680597/?gift=yGKGqaI9BMfIDuch_TrGYd7zaFdM6wRpQKurvROxyEw&utm_source=email&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social

***** The Case Against Pessimism

“Faced with the greatest challenge to our values and our interests in our time, the democratic world is starting to wobble. Many wish the fighting in Ukraine would somehow, magically, stop,” @anneapplebaum writes.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/10/russia-ukraine-democracy-applebaum/680318/?gift=yGKGqaI9BMfIDuch_TrGYexxHY9QVIcFANnJqYfwQeg&utm_source=email&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social

***** Putin Isn’t Fighting for Land in Ukraine

Trump vowed to end the Ukraine war. But Vladimir Putin “wants to show that America, NATO, and the West are weak and indecisive, regardless of who is president, and that his brutal regime represents some kind of new global standard,” @anneapplebaum writes.

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2024/11/biden-trump-ukraine/680632/?gift=yGKGqaI9BMfIDuch_TrGYUqPDjFBBFJvDamK0NKuJ0o&utm_source=email&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social

***** Helping Ukraine Is Europe’s Job Now

“If the United States abandons Ukraine, European states can start taking steps that the Biden administration, in its excess of caution, did not allow,” @PhillipsPOBrien writes.

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2024/11/trump-ukraine-survive-europe/680615/?gift=yGKGqaI9BMfIDuch_TrGYQZy6eoBRtRwDZlfdeic5VY&utm_source=email&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social

************* Are We Living in a Different America?

In the last months of his campaign, Donald Trump was open about his dictatorial impulses. On “Radio Atlantic,” Anne Applebaum and McKay Coppins speak with Hanna Rosin about whether his win means he will assume a mandate to act on them:

https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/archive/2024/11/are-we-living-in-a-different-america/680565/?gift=yGKGqaI9BMfIDuch_TrGYRdYMPjnr10Ibxz2ZLDDQrM&utm_source=email&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social

The Democrats Are the HR Department of Political Parties

“The Democrats are officially the party of norms, procedure, bureaucracy, DEI initiatives, rule following, language policing, and compliance,” @pescami argues.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/11/democrats-are-the-hr-department-of-political-parties/680634/?gift=yGKGqaI9BMfIDuch_TrGYXXtBOZCtTpc3pgdvplRgsQ&utm_source=email&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social