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This weekend’s edition of the Ruminant is a little bit like Christopher Hitchens’ D.C. apartment: ...

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This weekend’s edition of the Ruminant is a little bit like Christopher Hitchens’ D.C. apartment: a little bit of one thing right next to a little bit of the complete opposite thing. There’s a lot of ground covered in this, a practically record-breaking long episode of the podcast in which Jonah discusses his dad’s work for the wonderfully-acronymed NANA (North American Newspaper Alliance), dynamic scoring (a system in which this episode gets an A+), the necessity of telling the truth at a time in which even committed conservatives have a legitimate temptation to abandon their principles, the request from a listener for Goldberg Story Time, and much, much more.

Show Notes:

–      Tim Russert interviews Bob Kerrey

–      John Edwards’ bizarre stem cell comments

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  1. Jason Runyan

    Oh my gosh! I knew Jonah's dad was a big wheel, but I had no idea his mom was also famous! I was reading about her and it hit me why Jonah is so smart and often talks about deep philosophy stuff that I know nothing about (until listening to these podcasts) all the time! I just imagine young Jonah, ca. 13 years old, with his parents at dinner with a cigar and snifter of brandy debating Hayek or Sartre (two names I heard him say before) and the purpose of man. Makes a lot of sense now. I hope he does talk more about his parents. He should do an "adults only" no bullcrap episode where only the non uptight people listen. I'd sign up for that!

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      C C Writer

      I see signs in Jonah that his parents brought him up to have values. He doesn't talk about those aspects; perhaps in hat area he is a fish who doesn't know he's in the water, or else thinks the subject of water as such might bore people. But as I get older I have learned to spot the effects of having been brought up to have values, or not. Of course that doesn't mean one can't also have an interest in adult talk, adult beverages, adult views on stuff. And it doesn't mean people don't make mistakes or have quirks. But values do give you a perspective and a discipline.

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      1. Jason Runyan

        I agree. That is one of the core reasons I believe he has the views on Donald Trumo that he has. Seems to me the republican party has split between those who believe character and integrity are values we should promote in ourselves and our leaders, which used to represent the majority of the party, vs those that don't, or no longer, believe that.

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    Richard Grebenc

    A joy to listen to. I look forward to these podcasts. Keep it up, Jonah!

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    The Bell Tower

    Team liberalism one hundred percent. Democracy is a critical component of liberalism, not the end of it. Why is it critical?

    Because democracy allows the people to hold their government accountable without the need for violence.

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    DillaDonutz

    Love love love this. Dont ever stop.

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    Matthew K. Minerd

    Absolutely wonderful podcast. This kind of content and personal honesty warms my heart and always makes me glad to be a subscriber!

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  6. Cecilia

    For the record, I would LOVE to hear about Jonah's mom. I also wish Jonah would dish about Ben Wattenberg-- a topic he's been dangling in front of us for at least 5 years. Crazy boss stories are the best!

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  7. Jennifer Stanowski

    Just had to write down, '"The more dickish you are for the longer period of time, the more you increase the odds that its not going to work out for you".

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  8. KIttye

    Please give us a text version of these blogs. I absolutely hate listening but would love to read about these topics!

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    Joel Stewart

    Enjoyed this episode!

    Re: the Kristol idea: I'm a conservative Christian that was a part of the Tea Party back in the early days. I was a straight-party GOP voter, but with everything that has happened since 2015 (and especially since the 2020 election), I'm not sure I'll be able to vote for the GOP in good conscience again. There just aren't many Sasse-ian politicians in Oklahoma. With that being said, I can't conceive of a circumstance that would cause me to join the party that can't abandon it's support for policies like partial-birth abortion. I would much rather maintain my independent status and vote for candidates whose values I share. Trump being bad does not make his foes on the left good.

    With all that being said, a registered independent in Oklahoma has a lot more electoral power since the Democrat primaries are open to us. We can push the Dems to the right without having to join their ranks.

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  10. Pzimm7778

    FWIW, and one of the reasons I’ve lost all respect for him, Dan Rather continues to say the Bush story was true. It was “the process” only that was the issue and why he had to retract it.

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