One-third of the Republican party is in the MAGA cult. That means there are only two ways 2024 can go. — Dozens of polls conducted over the past two years show generally the same thing. Donald Trump has the unshakable support of about a third of the GOP. One can scarcely imagine anything he could do at this point that could alienate that core. Interestingly enough, when given only one alternative…

Part II: Tactical Options — Now that we have laid out the order of battle for this year’s Red vs Blue off-season skirmish, let’s take a closer look at what could happen. What is the best move each side could make? What are their best defenses? …

It’s like a master class in corporate dysfunction — Starbucks is one of those nice little rise stories where this small idea comes along at just the right time and ends up being transformative and hugely successful. The real kicker though, is usually that idea is simple, almost obvious in retrospect. For Starbucks, it was anticipating the demand for…

Both sides appear precarious but only one truly is — As the 2022 election is now in the rear-view mirror and the sad, tepid waters of the Red Ripple are receding, now is an excellent time to take stock of where the American political armies are stationed, where their strengths and weaknesses are most pronounced, and what we can expect…

A (small) scorecard of predictions I made in 2022 — Generally, the hard numbers people did pretty well. NATO intelligence predicted the Russian invasion of Ukraine practically to the day and anticipated many of the Kremlin’s cyber and propaganda attacks, largely blunting them. …

We bring people home — Seriously, this is how it is done. International relations are tricky. Prisoner swaps are delicate. Putin is a spy and a thug who has his own agenda, and there is a good reason why domestic politics used to stop at the water’s edge: because you can accomplish much more in…

What the Democrats could do, should do, and what they’ll probably settle for — As Congress wanders back into D.C. for the strange interregnum known as the lame duck session, where nobody knows who is going to be in charge next year and a bunch of their coworkers are in strange laid-off-but-still-there mode, numerous possibilities present themselves. Back in the olden days, when we…

While the future is murky, a few things are almost certain — The Democrats will win the Georgia runoff Trump-backed candidates did very poorly in swing states this cycle. Republicans no longer have the chance to take the Senate, and therefore less riding on this race. Furthermore, the Republican state apparatus in Georgia is hostile to the former president and already won their big races. They gain nothing exerting…

How do you say “Opposite Day” in Russian? — The Russian nee Soviet army has rarely been a truly effective fighting force. It was, arguably, most effective in 1944 when crushing the Nazi war machine (though at a staggering cost) and least effective in 1986 when it became clear the Red Army could not pacify Afghanistan. For past articles…