The Spectator 🇺🇸

The November 9 edition of The Spectator has gone to press, featuring: 💍 @mtracey 💍 @KeenanPeachy 💍 @DouglasKMurray 💍 @curtis_yarvin 💍 @default_friend 💍 @rogerkimball 💍 @geoffrey_cain

My husband keeps telling the wrong stories and it is driving me mad. We have a good circle of friends we have known for about 40 years. Meet-ups are usually all rather jolly so I don’t want to add a note of disharmony by halting the anecdotes in which he almost always gets the essential details wrong. Go to your local printer and have small contact cards printed saying “Do get in touch if you would like to hear the correct version of any of the anecdotes my husband may tell you today.” Distribute these as you enter houses and you can sit back and ignore your husband’s output while you enjoy the congeniality. ✍️ Mary Killen Article | spectator.com/article/dear-m…

We end our travels in Texas, where hundreds of millions of dollars were spaffed trying to keep the state red. The election night bash for Ken Paxton, the doomed Republican Senate candidate, was in a soulless hotel ballroom and felt like a sparsely attended wake even before the results came in. Exhausted campaign staff huddled in prayer as the blue wave turned into a tsunami against Trump. The Hispanic vote has been a problem here for the Republicans, however, as the realities of Trump’s mass-deportation targets bite in communities where millions have been living peacefully and working illegally for decades. ✍️ Harry Cole Article | spectator.com/article/what-t…

On November 6, the first pope from the United States will begin a tour of South America that includes some of the most anti-American cities on the planet. He will receive a rapturous reception. He made it clear that he was appalled by the so-called “Donroe Doctrine,” under which the United States employs military and financial leverage in an attempt to dominate the entire Western Hemisphere. Trump accused the pope of being “weak on crime, weak on nuclear weapons” and “catering to the radical left.” ✍️ Damian Thompson Article | spectator.com/article/pope-l…

We hear a lot from the lanyard class about the harm that misinformation and disinformation cause, from anti-migration protests to climate denialism. But they take it for granted that it is always right-wing grievances that are fueled by fake news, never left-wing ones. Now that the unrest in France has spread to the rest of the Continent, fueled by misleading claims about school cuts and Israeli genocide, I think we can confidently say that left-wing mis- and disinformation is more dangerous. But that isn’t a benefit of the doubt extended to equally contestable claims made on the right, which are routinely labeled as mis- or disinformation. ✍️ Toby Young Article | spectator.com/article/beware…

New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez seemingly aspires to be a food influencer in between House votes. Between TikTok reels and endless interviews, it was rather easy to track down her favorite dishes, snacks and restaurants across New York City. It was a little tougher to actually eat all of them. But I sure as hell tried. All told, everything was pretty good. Wildly unhealthy – but good. ✍️ Gage Klipper Article | spectator.com/article/eating…

Instead, we might picture Shakespeare as an apprentice writer, finding his voice and style by collaborating with others in a sociable, lively world. Shakespeare likely reached London in 1587, which was also the year in which two absolute bangers were written: Tamburlaine by Christopher Marlowe, and The Spanish Tragedy by Thomas Kyd. These transformed English drama, and it is not an exaggeration to see Shakespeare’s whole career as a slow-motion grapple with exactly these two plays. ✍️ Daniel Swift Article | spectator.com/article/even-s…

A 2023 state-sponsored poll claimed that the average Russian had read at least six books over the previous three months (up from four books ten years earlier), while 87 percent reported having a home library (up from 83 percent a decade earlier). A remarkable 7 percent of Russians reported having read 30 books or more in the previous year. But if literacy is essential to democracy, why do so many of these well-read Russians tolerate and even support Putin’s bellicose, mendacious and oppressive rule? ✍️ Owen Matthews Article | spectator.com/article/russia…

“The divorce evangelists are here to rescue you.” Peachy Keenan takes aim at a new class of women preaching liberation through divorce, from Alex Cooper to Elizabeth Gilbert. “Surrendering to one’s whims is not noble or powerful: it’s weakness masquerading as freedom.” ✍️ Peachy Keenan Article | spectator.com/article/meet-d…

Marco Rubio, the so-called “Secretary of Everything” in the Trump administration, has vigorously rejected the idea that he is about to resign. “I don't know where these things come from, to be honest with you,” he told the New York Times, following reports in the Independent and Bloomberg that, after the crushing midterms, he would be stepping down to work on his 2028 presidential bid. “I love the work I'm doing… And plus I always laugh when they say he's going to leave his job. I go, ‘Which one?'” ✍️ @Freddygray31 Article | spectator.com/article/is-rub…

Donald Trump chose to spend his first public moments after the midterm blowout showing reporters around the building site for his new ballroom. His wife Melania demonstrated greater message discipline Thursday: she convened Russian and Ukrainian officials in the White House's Grand Foyer for remarks about the temporary ceasefire she helped to strike in Oleshky, a small city across the Dnieper from Kherson, which has been occupied by Russia since 2022. ✍️ Cockburn Article | spectator.com/article/from-o…

Donald Trump chose to spend his first public moments post-midterm blowout showing reporters around the building site for his new ballroom. His wife Melania demonstrated greater message discipline Thursday: she convened Russian and Ukrainian officials in the White House’s Grand Foyer for remarks about the temporary ceasefire she helped to strike in Oleshky, a small city across the Dnieper from Kherson which has been occupied by Russia since 2022. Earlier in the fall, Oleshky was running out of food, and aid packages were being taken out by drones, according to the New York Times. Ukraine and Russia accused each other of operating the offending drones. The ceasefire permitted Ukrainians to evacuate. Melania strolled up to the podium in a cream Dolce & Gabbana pantsuit and said, “We have chosen humanity over war.” She recounted her role as an “exclusive intermediary” securing the temporary ceasefire: “I was involved in every stage of the plan,” she said. ✍️ Cockburn Article: spectator.com/article/from-o…

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spent much of yesterday denying reports that he plans to resign to run for the presidency in 2028. "I love the work I’m doing," Rubio said. "And plus, I always laugh when they say he’s going to leave his job. I go, 'Which one?'". But if Rubio bolts, might his replacement be Melania Trump? The notion isn't as outlandish as it might seem. For one thing, Melania wouldn't be the first émigré to occupy the post. Henry Kissinger fled Nazi Germany to become Richard Nixon's National Security advisor and Secretary of State. ✍️ Jacob Heilbrunn Article | spectator.com/article/the-er…

“It is often said that poor soil makes for rich wine.” Roger Kimball on the Earl of Rochester, a succulent chardonnay, and a 1996 Château Margaux. “It is worth the struggle.” ✍️ Roger Kimball Article | trib.al/bNVEgiH

“The jury knew who he was. We all knew who he was. He had spent 25 years telling us.” ✍️ John Sturgis Article | trib.al/NKdr02q

“Spare a thought for Pete Hegseth, the hapless himbo Secretary of War.” ✍️ @Freddygray31 Article | trib.al/D5ZC2R3

“The scent of victory is intoxicating. The odor of defeat is demoralizing.” ✍️ Peter Wood Article | trib.al/LN3axok

“The era of LAT – ‘Life After Trump’ – has dawned. The only person who doesn’t seem to recognize it is Trump himself.” ✍️ Jacob Heilbrunn Article | trib.al/ZK07b61