MRN’s hardworking staff, which had been hoping for a leisurely holiday weekend, is wondering why Robert Mueller had to release his latest big indictment on a Friday. Meanwhile, we offer you a summary of the week’s (ample) Trump-related news, then some reflections on responding mindfully to tragedies like the Florida school shooting, then a lot of backgrounds links, then some news you can use, and then, finally: the latest addition to our Most Beloved Readers list.
–Robert Wright
In this week’s newsletter, after our brisk summary of another action-packed seven days of Trump-related news, I use the military-parade brouhaha (or was it just a kerfuffle?) as an excuse to address the perennial question about Trump: Crazy or crazy like a fox? We then provide links to lots and lots of background reading and close with a feel-good email from a reader. (At least, it made us feel good—good about putting out this newsletter.)
–Robert Wright (@robertwrighter)
If we have many more weeks as full of Trump-related news as this one, the hardworking MRN staff may have to take a week off and head down to Mar-a-Lago for some R and R. But for now we’re soldiering on! This week, after a concise-yet-pretty-thorough assessment of the famous “Nunes memo,” we move on to other news and then stop and dwell on the political significance of last week’s Grammy Awards. Then we bring you an array of background links, plus some News You Can Use. And all of this is preceded by the usual encouragement/plea to share the newsletter, or parts thereof, on social media or by email.
–Robert Wright (@robertwrighter)
In this week’s newsletter, after we review the week’s events, and before we give you some links to background reading, I try to mindfully and systematically address this question: “How horrible is Chuck Schumer?” Sorry, no plot spoilers—you’ll have to read the piece if you want to find out how horrible Schumer is or isn’t. Meanwhile, in other news: If you value the newsletter and want to support its continued publication, you can do one of two things: (1) give us all your material assets; (2) use our social media icons (craftily designed to let you share either the whole newsletter or its sections) to spread the word about MRN. Once you’ve thought about (1), doesn’t (2) seem pretty painless?
–Robert Wright (@robertwrighter)
In this week’s MRN, after analytically summarizing another eventful week of Trump-related news, we respond to a few reader emails and then proceed to offer links to background reading on such subjects as left-wing conspiracy theorists, the electoral implications of the #MeToo movement, why blue states turn red, and a micro-secession movement in California that, if it succeeded, would create a micro-red-state. Then, in response to reader demand (or at least reader request), we inaugurate a new section: News You Can Use.
–Robert Wright (@robertwrighter)
In this week’s MRN (that’s cool-person talk for Mindful Resistance Newsletter), after our review of the week’s main events, I report on the results of our RFI (Reader Feedback Initiative) and announce a new RIF (Reader-Inspired Feature) that will DNW (debut next week). Then we offer links to resources that illuminate such things as: Breitbart’s declining distinctiveness; the connection between workplace robots and support for Trump; evidence of declining support for Trump among blue collar voters; evidence that Trump’s national security adviser is dangerously hawkish on North Korea; and evidence that many of Trump’s tweets are quasi-dictated by his friends at Fox.
–Robert Wright (@robertwrighter)
This week we welcome more than 1,200 new subscribers to the Mindful Resistance Newsletter. Most of these people signed up after hearing the wonderful Brooke Gladstone discuss mindful resistance with me on this edition of WNYC’s On The Media. At least, that’s the conclusion of our crack data analytics team. Then, again, our crack data analytics team’s motto is “Correlation means causality.” But regardless of why you’ve signed up to receive the newsletter, here is your three-part orientation guide: (1) You can get more background on the idea of mindful resistance here. (2) You can read last week’s heartfelt appeal for reader feedback here. (3) If you’re wondering what you can do to help out—aside from just reading the newsletter and providing feedback, both of which are deeply appreciated—the answer is: use the newsletter’s Facebook and Twitter icons to spread the word. And note that you can use them to share either the entire newsletter or any of the newsletter’s three sections: our opening analytical summary of the week’s Trump-related news; some ruminations by me; and links to background reading. For this nuanced social-media-sharing functionality we thank our crack tech team (which, as it happens, is also our crack data analytics team).
–Robert Wright(@robertwrighter)
With this issue of the newsletter we introduce, on an experimental basis, a new feature. It’s called: Go ahead, kvetch! Actually, no, that sounds too negative. It’s called: Go ahead, contribute to the betterment of the Mindful Resistance Newsletter! Here’s how it works:
1) You tell us about some aspect of the newsletter you don’t like, or something you’ve never seen in the newsletter and would like to see—or, if you’re feeling charitable, something you’ve seen in the newsletter and liked and wish you’d see more often. Or, if you want to get philosophical, you can ask deep and probing questions about what the point of this newsletter’s existence is.
2) Then, after this feedback rolls in, I’ll address much, and possibly most, of it in a video that we’ll link to in a future issue of the newsletter.
You can give us this feedback either by email (feedback@mindfulresistance.net) or by clicking the button right below this paragraph. And don’t worry about developing a reputation as a whiner: When I respond to the feedback, and refer to the people who provided it, I’ll stick with first names only (assuming you’ve given us your name, which is optional). So go ahead—make our day: help shape the Mindful Resistance Newsletter’s evolution and thus do your part to rid the world of the scourge of Trumpism.
–Robert Wright
This is the 20th issue of the Mindful Resistance Newsletter, and we’re celebrating our 20-week anniversary by… doing what we usually do: (1) pithily and analytically summarizing The Week in Trump; (2) pointing you to background reading relevant to the week’s developments or to understanding or fighting Trumpism in some larger sense; (3) sandwiching, in between (1) and (2), some thoughts by me. This week my thoughts turned to the question of whether I was too hard on famed neoconservative Bill Kristol in this newsletter a few weeks ago—after which they turned to the question of whether I wasn’t hard enough on him. Feel free to weigh in on these or any other questions raised in this newsletter by emailing us at feedback@mindfulresistance.net. And Merry Holidays!
–Robert Wright
This week, after our summary of Trump-related news (which ranges from unusually encouraging to unusually ominous), and before our rich array of background links, I weigh in on the suddenly topical subject of white women in Alabama. If you disagree with my take—or agree with it, or for that matter have any negative or positive feedback about anything you see in this newsletter—feel free to email us at feedback@mindfulresistance.net. We can’t respond to emails individually, but we read every one carefully and sometimes respond to them in the newsletter. And, if you have positive feedback but don’t have time to write a whole email, here’s another thing you can do with positive energy: use our Twitter and Facebook icons to share sections of this newsletter or the whole thing.
–Robert Wright
