Peculiar Institutions

Lessons Not (Yet) Learned

William Timberman4 Comments

When in the course of human events, the government of the United States becomes the exclusive province of overfed white men trained by ossified institutions, funded in their ambitions by a viciously irresponsible oligarchy, and certified by a ritualized political system severed from anything resembling a natural constituency, this is apparently what we can expect:

from the center left, the Vietnam war,

from the center right, the Iraq and Afghanistan wars,

from the fascist right, the Iran war.

There’s an implied progression here. Predicting what comes next in the sequence isn’t quite as certain as predicting the next number in a sequence of primes, but if you’re betting on anyone in a suit Making America Great Again, I suggest you consider upping the dosage of your favorite nepenthe.

Unbidden Bits—December 9, 2025

William Timberman

The US Supreme Court majority, in an excess of misbegotten sanctimony, seems determined to turn our entire government over to a coprophile-in-chief and his legion of wannabe Nazi camp followers. Decent people, however, look forward to the day when all six of these black-robed poseurs find themselves plunked down next to the Trumps, the Vances, the Millers, et al., in the prisoners’ dock of a long overdue re-run of the Nuremberg Trials.

Deus vult, it turns out, doesn’t especially care who does the invoking, as long as its divine need for victims is respected.

Rum, Buggery, and the Lash

William Timberman

Judging by his extended prance before the nation’s grand assembly of military poobahs this past Tuesday, Secretary of Cosplay Hegseth seems to have decided that Britain’s 18th century royal navy had developed almost the perfect formula for military effectiveness.

He did, however, trim the original just enough to take all the fun out of it. This may have seemed a bit weird for someone reputed to be both a drunk and a misogynist, but it was perfectly in tune with the Trump administration’s oft expressed infatuation with ignorant belligerence. Oorah! Semper Fi!

Trumpism’s Unspoken Antecedents

William Timberman2 Comments

Joachim von Ribbentrop for foreign policy
The East India Company for economic policy
Joseph Stalin for scientific policy
The Taliban for social policy
The Spanish Inquisition for jurisprudence
Louis XIV of France for taxation
The Eastern Roman Empire for internal staffing and administration

Im Westen Nichts Neues

William Timberman

Judging by the chaos engendered by our Orange Furor’s decree cutting off all aid to everybody everywhere, it’s a good thing our cut-rate Nazis weren’t trying to invade France. And will somebody please tell Stephen Miller that even if he shaves his head, squints malevolently, and shouts a lot, people will still know he’s a Jew, and will still find a Jewish Goebbels unseemly.

Why We Can’t Have Nice Things

William Timberman

Apple is certainly guilty of at least some of the transgressions it’s been accused of by Margrethe Vestager, the principal finger-wagger of the European Commission. Arrogant corporate behemoths are a tax on the general welfare, right enough, but so also are vengeful bureaucrats whose principal complaint seems to be that Americans got to the future before the French and Germans had a chance to certify it.

There are lots of smart people on both sides of this unfortunate culture clash, so I suppose it’s possible that some sort of quasi-equitable justice will eventually be done, but I’m not optimistic. I mean, c’mon people, really—does anyone at this late date actually want a cell phone designed by the European Commission?