Excellent piece! I agree with you about how Catholics need to stand up. I attended grad school at UD and one of my daughters graduated in 2019. I going to order your book now.
I listened with great interest to the Klein/Rufo interview myself. Klein is remarkably good at interviewing oppositional figures, as he really seeks to understand them and can press them with penetrating precision.
It feels like he caught Rufo flat footed as Rufo could come up with no better defense than"I just don't see it that way" when confronted on how he provided scaffolding for the Nick Shirley claims which he himself called out for lacking any journalistic integrity.
Clearly, Rufo just thinks he's on the right side of things and can tolerate (or in this case, promote) a dishonest narrative or two if it'll further his cause. Not unlike fellow Catholic JD Vance with his cat meme slander (non) justification.
I tend to share many of the same viewpoints as Rufo but end up feeling more kinship with Klein as he displays a greater commitment to acting with virtue. What profit a man if he gains the world but loses his soul, after all.
Anyways, plenty more here for me to think about Zach. I love the John Donne connection you're weaving in here.
Thanks, Jared. As always, appreciate and value your close and careful reading. "Clearly, Rufo just thinks he's on the right side of things." I'd say so. A dangerous place for any of us to be in. And untenable, I think, at this moment, especially for someone with as much power as he has. (And in the interview he seems to vacillate back and forth between owning having that power and discounting it.)
Excellent piece! I agree with you about how Catholics need to stand up. I attended grad school at UD and one of my daughters graduated in 2019. I going to order your book now.
Thanks so much, Cyndy! Appreciate the note, and the support. And great to know the UD connection(s)!
I listened with great interest to the Klein/Rufo interview myself. Klein is remarkably good at interviewing oppositional figures, as he really seeks to understand them and can press them with penetrating precision.
It feels like he caught Rufo flat footed as Rufo could come up with no better defense than"I just don't see it that way" when confronted on how he provided scaffolding for the Nick Shirley claims which he himself called out for lacking any journalistic integrity.
Clearly, Rufo just thinks he's on the right side of things and can tolerate (or in this case, promote) a dishonest narrative or two if it'll further his cause. Not unlike fellow Catholic JD Vance with his cat meme slander (non) justification.
I tend to share many of the same viewpoints as Rufo but end up feeling more kinship with Klein as he displays a greater commitment to acting with virtue. What profit a man if he gains the world but loses his soul, after all.
Anyways, plenty more here for me to think about Zach. I love the John Donne connection you're weaving in here.
Thanks, Jared. As always, appreciate and value your close and careful reading. "Clearly, Rufo just thinks he's on the right side of things." I'd say so. A dangerous place for any of us to be in. And untenable, I think, at this moment, especially for someone with as much power as he has. (And in the interview he seems to vacillate back and forth between owning having that power and discounting it.)