Pause for Perspective
Things are getting crazy, so let's take a step back
Many months ago, when I planned a late summer (early autumn?) vacation for the first week in October, I recognized there was a chance we could be facing a government shutdown and lots of insurrection-related legal activity while I was away. It’s not an opportune moment to be out of contact, but considering there hasn’t been a quiet news cycle in the past eight years, I don’t think it’s possible to find a time to be away without missing something.
I will continue to post on my regular Monday and Friday schedule while I’m out of the office by returning to essays I published over the last two years that still have relevance in light of recent events. The Wolves and Sheep community has more than quadrupled in size since Labor Day, so if you’re a new reader, these essays will give you a sense of why longtime readers aren’t surprised to see the swirl of shutdown chaos, impeachment threats, and Trump legal jeopardy we’re experiencing now.
And for longtime readers, I hope you find new resonance in vintage writing. I think the chaos of the moment can feel a bit less unsettling when we focus on the underlying constants of our political era and realize they are keeping us on a predictable—albeit harrowing—course.
I’ve also arranged to provide new material while I’m away. The third Wolves and Sheep podcast will drop on schedule next Wednesday. It will feature a guest who has been instrumental to my understanding of how generational and life-cycle events influence longterm political trends. He is also my once and future co-author.
For new readers in particular, let me direct your attention if I might to the permanent essays residing in the navigation bar at the top of the website.
The piece you’ll find if you click on the Our Perspective link details eight propositions for how we look at politics at Wolves and Sheep, including how a generational realignment is driving our political chaos, why democracy is worth saving, and the importance of accountability if we’re going to save it.
There’s also a brief diatribe against Washington conventional wisdom (remember this as we work our way through the tired but predictable Biden-should-step-aside-for-some-unspecified-nonexistant-alternative-because-he’s-too-old phase).
What’s the alternative to conventional wisdom? Unconventional wisdom, of course! You can read what I mean by that by clicking the link of the same name.
The Road Divides digs deeper into the concept of generational realignment. I contend that while the Reagan era is over—a casualty of massive generational change in cultural attitudes and political preferences—we remain in a protracted political war over what will replace it, as Millennials and Generation Z grow in numbers and political strength.
Finally, there are three articles that try to ground the immediate moment in historical context.
Where We Are reposts my 2022 year-end message of cautious optimism for the election cycle we’re now in after the “red wave” all of Washington expected didn’t materialize.
How We Got Here revisits January 6 and looks at how Republican efforts to bend the system to their advantage when they could no longer win elections on a level playing field led to today’s attempts to outright break it.
Where We’re Going presents the concept of the post-Trump era as a play in three acts. Act I was the partial restoration of guardrails broken by Trump during Biden’s first two years. Act II is the one we’re in now—where we deal with the tantrums of a dysfunctional House majority and the start of legal accountability for Trump, leading up to . . . whatever the 2024 election brings. That’s the third act, and it will determine if the democratic experiment survives.
I’ll be away as we approach the government shutdown deadline, Republicans debate again, and Joe Biden issues the first of what will likely be many calls to make 2024 about democracy itself.
If anything dramatic happens, I’ll post a quick take about it for paid subscribers.
When I return, I’ll recap what transpired in the budget conflict, the impeachment conflict, the race for second place in the Republican presidential contest, and Trump’s ongoing legal turmoil. Then we’ll continue moving forward together through the white-water rapids of unprecedented developments that define our political age.