US onAir Curators
A Letter To Elon Musk, Francis Fukuyama
Francis Fukuyama explains how to actually make government more efficient.
So here’s the deal. You will never be able to run the government the way you run your companies. But you can do a lot to make it more efficient. The trick is to avoid simplistic moves like mass layoffs and the closing of entire agencies. Remember that Donald Trump’s appointee Rick Perry wanted to close the Department of Energy, not realizing that one of its most important functions was to run the system of national laboratories that were responsible for, among other things, research on nuclear weapons and energy. You will also run into the problem that Congress has a say in how the government operates. Even if that branch is controlled by Republicans, they will have equities in different parts of the American state, and may not allow you to violate statutes that they had earlier endorsed.
We need to cut back government regulation of many parts of the private sector. But we also need to deregulate the government itself, and allow those who work for it to actually do their jobs. If Donald Trump wants to help the American people, he needs to see the government not as an enemy to be dismantled, but as an effective and indeed necessary means of doing so.
New Hopium Series On What Happened And What Comes Next, Simon Rosenberg
Here’s what we know about 2024 right now (I will keep updating this everyday):
2024 was a close election. Trump will win by approx. 1.5 pts, and 0.9 in WI, 1.4 in MI, 2.1 in PA. A shift of 2.1 points in these three states and Harris wins. Not a landslide, not a blowout. The Senate today is at 52-48 (PA is still counting) and the House will be decided by a few seats, either way. While we lost some House seats, we’ve also flipped a few, including 4 in New York State this cycle. While Harris lost in the 7 battleground states, we had important down ballot wins, including AZ/MI/NV/WI Senate and NC Gov. We had other important wins across the US and did win the blue dot again in Nebraska.
There was a 6 point shift in the national popular vote towards Trump from 2020, and Trump is on track to be only the second Republican to win the national popular vote since 1988. While there were bright spots this year, this was a very bad election for our party, our freedoms, our democracy and our future and there is a lot of important work ahead of us.
A Peace Plan for Ukraine?
Futura Doctrina, Mick Ryan
The West’s strategy for Ukraine is no longer failing. It has clearly failed.
It did not have to be that way. But a generation of western political leaders that were conditioned into slovenly strategic thinking by the long post-Cold War peace and the discretionary, slow-paced wars of the past two decades have been unable to sufficiently adjust their mindsets to deal with the ruthlessness of Putin and his supporters.
Meet Elon Musk, Our New Shadow President
Zeteo, Jacob Silverman
The Shadow President’s Agenda
We’re already starting to see what a Musk shadow presidency might look like. The day after the election, Musk participated in a phone call with Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. It was an immediate promotion for Musk: from major donor to statesman. Musk is a Department of Defense contractor with a top-secret security clearance, and the Ukrainian military relies on his Starlink satellite internet service. But Musk has intervened to limit Ukraine’s ability to use Starlink in attacks on Russian forces; expressed his discomfort with being involved in the Ukraine war; and reportedly speaks regularly to Russian President Vladimir Putin (whose military forces, somehow, have acquired numerous Starlink terminals). It’s an extraordinary set of entanglements for a private citizen to bring to a diplomatic phone call about a sensitive foreign policy issue.
But that was just day one.
The Morning: It’s the loyalty, stupid
So What, Chris Cillizza
What does all of that tell us? Exactly what we suspected: The MOST important trait for being selected by Trump to serve in his administration is loyalty to him. It’s likely the second and third most important trait too.
Wiles managed Trump’s 2024 campaign from the start. Stefanik was one of the loudest and most ardent voices in Congress in favor of his run. Homan has been a regular presence at Trump’s rallies for years.
The debate over why Harris lost is in full swing. Here’s a guide.
Vox, Andrew Prokop
Was she a weak candidate? Was it Joe Biden’s fault? Did Trump have unexpected strength? Or was it a global trend?
