It’s Not Personal, It’s Just Realpolitik

Idealistic about ends, realistic about means.

By
28

On today’s interminable Ruminant, Jonah subjects listeners to musings about the death of Henry Kissinger and the gross reveling by some. He then turns to the shortcomings of realpolitik and realism, the debate between Gov. DeSantis and Gov. Newsom, the anticipated sequel to Suicide of the West, and the presence of post-liberalism on the right. Stick around to find out why Jonah doesn’t write comedic columns anymore.

Show notes:

-G-File: Elizabeth Warren, Countess of Sandwich, Schmears the Market

-Henry Kissinger, War Criminal Beloved by America’s Ruling Class, Finally Dies

-George Will: The Conservative Sensibility

-Axios: The Trump job applications revealed

-Donald Trump poses the biggest danger to the world in 2024

-Paul Wolfowitz’s interview with Vanity Fair

-Tim Alberta on The Remnant

-Danielle Pletka on The Remnant

By
Comments (28)
Join The Dispatch to participate in the comments.
 
  1. Rex Black

    i think the quote you were looking for at the start of this podcast is this one from Lord Palmerston: https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780191826719.001.0001/q-oro-ed4-00008130
    More nuanced than the way it's almost always quoted (at least in my experience). Anyway, fascinating (as always) Ruminant, Mr. Goldberg.

    Collapse
  2. Iain.Schmitt

    Curious for a future Ruminant if you have any thoughts on Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn. I'm reading 'Libery or Equality' which takes your skepticism of the illiberal streak in democracies to a farther conclusion, and the book also does not mince words about the perils of ethnic nationalism.

    Collapse
  3. Austin from Atlanta

    Jonah, please write that book. It would be personally significant for me to read that book.

    Collapse
  4. Bloodredinabluestate

    Regarding the frame commercial, if you're a "bad last-minute shopper" does that mean you're not a last-minute shopper?

    Collapse
  5. Avatar photo
    Toog

    I couldn't agree more about lazy, unnecessary superlatives. The classic example of this was the claim that Hillary Clinton was the most qualified presidential candidate in history. It was a completely unnecessary claim. She was well-qualified (at least by 2016, though perhaps not in 2008), and Trump was uniquely unqualified. Why did she have to be the most qualified in history?

    And how could anybody make that claim seriously? Just compare her to other candidates who had been both secretary of state, and senators. Compare her to Martin Van Buren, who held the exact same Senate seat as Hillary, and was secretary of state. And vice president. And an ambassador. And attorney general of NY (and elected governor of NY, though he soon resigned to go to the state department). And a state senator. And a local official. Ah, but Hillary was a lawyer. Well, Van Buren was a famous lawyer! Hillary helped with her husband's campaigns. Well, Van Buren was one of the top backroom political operators of his generation.

    You could make similar arguments about lots of other candidates (though he held different positions, George H.W. Bush obviously had stronger qualifications than Hillary). But the key point is that it was a completely unnecessary claim, obscuring an obvious point about Trump's lack of preparation by overreaching to exaggerate Hillary's qualifications.

    Collapse
  6. Avatar photo
    Ben Connelly

    I’d definitely read another book!

    Collapse
  7. Avatar photo
    George.Skinner

    I think there's a good argument that Trump *is* the biggest danger to the world in 2024. The reason is if re-elected, he'd have the capacity to truly damage or destroy the underpinnings of a lot of the current world order, and he's indicated the intent to do so. Russia and China are revanchist autocracies, but they're held in check by liberal democracies with American leadership. Trump promises to remove that leadership and destroy vital alliances like NATO. Not only that, but a return of Trump may completely undermine American credibility that was already damaged by the first Trump turn. It would persuade other nations that Americans have completely lost the plot and can no longer be trusted. Winston Churchill once remarked "Americans can always be counted to do the right thing, after having tried everything else." With Trump and MAGA in charge, even that cynical assessment goes out the window.

    Collapse
  8. Avatar photo
    Christophe

    The worst part about Nikki Haley's anti-anonymity idea, even though she walked it back, is she just comes across as a boomer who has no idea how the internet works. Which is exactly what I don't like about her.

    Collapse
  9. Vitaly.Furman

    This is the first episode in which Jonah (I think) implicitly argues for voting for Biden. The logic to me is as follows: the left and center-left should be "horrified" by the prospect of Trump's 2nd term; and the anti-Trump conservatives should be equally disturbed because it will be very bad for the country. The problem with this argument is that I cannot see how you avoid a "popular front" mentality if you take this argument to its logical conclusion. Or, should we all just stand and watch as our country burns? I realize I may be preaching to the quire, but I really don't see how you can reach any other conclusion.

    Collapse
  10. _jen

    You forgot the episode of Family Ties where Alex names two fish Agnew and Kissinger, largely to setup the later line "bad news dad ... Agnew ATE Kissinger!"
    Maybe this is more of a GLOP topic.

    Collapse
Load More