executive editor, barbell quarterly: i have very little interest in reading anything written by a fascist because 1) they can't write for shit 2) they have no new ideas and 3) when they do write, all they do is lie anyway

I actually don't mind being challenged by honest disagreement, even from conservatives. so if the times ever finds an honest conservative opinion writer who can write worth a damn, that'd be fine. what i cannot abide is people who lie in the newspaper.

Just took a Times survey. This looks like them trying to justify the strategy of the opinion section: 'We're challenging you with bullshit opinions from noxious people because we want to make you stronger.' Or maybe, as it continued, they are thinking of starting an adventure travel business....

i have very little interest in reading anything written by a fascist because 1) they can't write for shit 2) they have no new ideas and 3) when they do write, all they do is lie anyway

It’s true. The most famous fascist poet is Ezra Pound and his shit is fucking TRASH

Mishima! Mishima could fucking write.

Mishima had the courage of his convictions, if nothing else

I wish more of them did, in Mishima's fashion.

Getting heckled by bored soldiers followed by some amateur bowel surgery? I guess it's easier if you know you have a guy there with a sharp sword to make sure it'll be over soon.

From what I recall, it wasn't very sharp and he wasn't very good.

There are of course great writers who were fascist or fascist adjacent. You may or may not like Pound's poetry but he has a lot of new things to say and was highly influential on writers across the political spectrum. T.S. Eliot and Yeats are two great poets that come immediately to mind.

Were these guys actually like Mosley heads or did they just take a cautiously approving view of Benito or Adolf at first I score people more gently if they were ignorant or clearly disapproved but did not realize Hitler was, you know, Hitler (because he hadn't done it yet)

The people being called fascist on this thread are not actual members of the fascist party, either. Yeats was affiliated for a while with the Irish fascist movement, Eliot and also Virginia Woolf were antisemitic. There is no direct relation between literary talent and political affiliation.

and there are of course many poets who are better than Ezra

Boooooo

aw cmon, that was a Good pun

*applauds*

WAH-HAH

I did include one of Pound's poems in my "make a book with five poems you wrote and twenty by other people" assignment for English class when I was in high school, but in my defense, I was in high school.

Hey man totally get it for high school and college, you read what you’re given, etc etc. I was a big Eliot fan for a while and then wised up

I can say i will happily read a fascists good-faith explanation of their beliefs because the likelihood of such a work existing is about the same as me spontaneously quantum-teleporting through the floor.

But also they’re so boring most of the time. Such squares like at least *try* be entertaining instead of cringy

I watched a interview with Ross Douthat on the Bulwark, not exactly a bunch of leftists, and it's shocking how fucking bad he is at just holding a coherent opinion the moment it comes into contact with any kind of pushback. youtu.be/VGS012F2MbU?...

Could a Brave GOP Have Kicked Trump to the Curb? (w/ Ross Douthat) | Bulwark Podcastyoutu.be Trump wins voters who don't read The New York Times or listen to The Bulwark Podcast, and elite opposition may not be enough to defeat him. Ross Douthat joins Tim Miller for a spirited debate about what the conservative movement gave away in sacrifice to Trump on world leadership, abortion, and democracy. Show Notes: Douthat's recent piece on the pro-life movement: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/10/opinion/trump-abortion-pro-life.html Send your mailbag questions here: [email protected] Join Sarah, Tim and JVL for a Bulwark Live event in Philly on May 1 and May 15 in D.C. with the George Conway. For information and tickets head to TheBulwark.com/events 0:00 - Intro 1:55 - Speaker Mike Johnson Trying to Pass Foreign Aid Packages 13:46 - Republicans Back Tracking on Abortion 23:31 - How Trump Has Changed Republican Party 33:31 - Upcoming Bulwark Events 34:39 - Douthat’s Ranking of Last Four Presidents 42:07 - Potential Threats from Second Trump Term 🔥 Get 30 days of Bulwark+ absolutely free: https://thebulwark.com/freetrial ------ 🚨 Want to listen without ads? Join Bulwark+ for an exclusive ad-free version of The Bulwark Podcast. For a limited time, we're offering 30 days completely free: https://thebulwark.com/freetrial The Bulwark Podcast: Tim Miller and guests discuss the latest news from inside Washington and around the world. No shouting, grandstanding, or sloganeering. Conservative, conscientious, and civil. Browse episodes and add The Bulwark Podcast to your podcast client of choice: https://www.thebulwark.com/podcast/the-bulwark-podcast/

I appreciate that when asked to rank the presidencies of W, Obama, Trump, and Biden, he immediately assesses Bush as the the most catastrophic by far, and then starts casting about for a reason to put Trump ahead of either Democrat.

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