Being a metaPhysician<\/p>\n
One brief shining: Seared the thick pork loin chops on high in a large cast iron skillet, put the skillet in the oven while I gathered sauerkraut, cherry Tomatoes, a plate, some aluminum foil to cover the two chops, letting them rest, continue cooking a bit, juices gathering. Ah.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n I subscribe to Nate Silver’s Silver Bulletin. He included this image in his commentary above the reposting of his tweet:<\/p>\n Silver leans left, even acknowledges his affection for the world Richardsonism wants as suggested in the chatgpt image he produced above. And, yet.<\/p>\n He’s also the consummate political realist, steeped in the world of polls, analytics, and hard-nosed how do you really win strategy. So. While he may admire Richardsonism as a political ideal, he sees it as a naive approach electoral politics.<\/p>\n Silver admits that Richardson did not set out to create what he considers the third of three major divisions in the Democratic Party. But he thinks she has. Here in his\u00a0 own words are the three factions:<\/p>\n “First, there\u2019s the Capital-L Left<\/strong>: populist, deservedly\u00a0feeling recharged by the success of Zohran Mamdani\u00a0and a backlash to the\u00a0increasingly politically assertive billionaire class.<\/p>\n Next, there\u2019s what you might think of as the\u00a0Abundance Libs<\/strong>: technocratic,\u00a0more willing to find common ground with Republicans, and more sympathetic to market-based solutions.<\/p>\n The third faction\u00a0Richardsonism<\/strong>\u00a0or a term I\u2019ll treat as synonymous with it:\u00a0#Resistance Libs<\/strong>. They\u2019re\u00a0older, with extremely high educational attainment, predominantly female, and very highly politically engaged. This is the audience for a cluster of political activism encompassing things such as the\u00a0No Kings protests\u00a0and some highly popular anti-Trump Substacks\u00a0along with certain prominent podcasts and much of Bluesky.”\u00a0 Silver Bulletin, Dec. 16, 2025<\/p>\n Though I love Richardson’s substacks and usually agree with her analysis, you’ll find me firmly in the Capital L-Left Camp. That is, when forced to choose, as electoral politics forces us to do, I’m an economic justice guy tinged with more than a little retail political realism.<\/p>\n That happens to be Silver’s main point about Richardsonism and the Tea Party. The politics of purity collides with realpolitik. It does so by using its pure ideas, its dreams as a basis for choosing policies, candidates, and strategy. In other words it gets out over its skis by privileging ideas over the actual sentiments of the electorate. Result: Trump in office.<\/p>\n Final note: Though Silver and I both want a Richardsonian America, we recognize true political change as incremental. Yes, in spite of Trump’s appearance to the contrary. Take the Affordable Care act as a for instance. It got as close to universal health care as the realpolitik would allow. Yet it is now firmly lodged in the craw of even the most diehard MAGA congressman and only awaits a shift in the political winds to go deeper and more broadly towards its goal.<\/p>\n As Unitarian minister Theodore Parker said: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Samain and the Shadow Moon Wednesday gratefuls: Shirley Waste. Mark, the mailman. Gifts assemble! For Hanukkah. Ruth and Gabe. Winter, wherefore art thou Winter? Climate changes. Stronger Hurricanes. Sea Level Rise. Ocean temperature rise. Coral bleaching. Polar and Glacial Ice melting. And so much more. The Great Work. Mother Earth and her strength. Humanity and … Continue reading Richardsonism<\/span> ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/heather-cox-richardsonism.jpg\")
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