How Populism Turned To The Right

The Lexington column in The Economist is always worth reading for its wry insight into close-up American politics, but I am especially grateful for the recent explanation of how and when the long-enduring strain of political opinion called Populism switched from being a device employed by both left and right sides of the spectrum, and became an exclusive tool of the Republican party.

If you like clues, and wonder whose presidency this occurred under, you’ll love the title of September 18th’s column, Richard Milhous McCain. And the subtitle reads, “Americans cannot escape from the shadow of Tricky Dick.”

Boomers, Alive or Dead?

At dinner last night a younger friend mentioned the baby boomers, and noted in passing how odd it was that “they all became Yuppies.” The conversation rolled onward with its larger themes and this small point was left unanswered. I thought about it today, and wished I could have mentioned, equally in passing, that many of the boomers did no such thing as becoming worldly and closed-down. Many, many of them I think simply retired from the field of battle with broken hearts.