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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   24832 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of November 17, 2025

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FYI I'm not American if you mean that as a personal 'you'. I'm just observing what I see in Anglo countries more generally. But of course many Americans have their own ideas of what it means to be an American!

I did intend that more in royal-you kind of way, not necessarily you specifically. I appreciate the clarification.

Most of the time, more people think this way. But there is a window - broader than the Overton window - that you have to stay inside, or you lose the Mandate of Heaven.

I assert that:

The judiciary must, most of the time, make decisions that people broadly agree with and produce outcomes that they broadly like. This is a fundamental and unappreciated requirement of the Rule of Law.

Perhaps I should take a different tact. My impression, based on polling, is that Trump's deployment of the National Guard to DC is not just unlawful, it is also unpopular. Here is a Quinnipiac poll from August finding voters disapprove 56-41. Here is an NPR-Ipsos poll from late September showing a disapproval of 47-37 for DC that rises to 52-34 when the question is about National Guard deployment to "your local area." To the extent Trump's resistance to the judiciary is premised on having popular support over them, I do not think that is the case with this issue.

I find this essay very revealing on the topic. It mentions at one point an interview with Captain Preston, a minuteman who had fought against the British.

Thanks for the article! I'm enjoying it so far.

My impression, based on polling, is that Trump's deployment of the National Guard to DC is not just unlawful, it is also unpopular. Here is a Quinnipiac poll from August finding voters disapprove 56-41. Here is an NPR-Ipsos poll from late September showing a disapproval of 47-37 for DC that rises to 52-34 when the question is about National Guard deployment to "your local area."

It's unpopular in the sense of the majority not liking it - but these numbers show that there is a fairly solid base who wants it too. I don't know if we can necessarily say it's unpopular when 1/3 of the population is saying "yes please". Like, yes, it's not a democratic majority, but when has that stopped a government before?

I did intend that more in royal-you kind of way

Allowing the informal/singular you (thou) to die was unironically a huge mistake. If wonder if the French have the same problem with polite 'vous' and plural 'vous'...

[Polls]

Interesting and worthy of thought, thanks.

Thanks for the article! I'm enjoying it so far.

Good! He's one of the only really good bloggers I'm aware of, without any particular crankish tendencies.

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