it is genuinely corrosive to the soul to take pleasure in cruelty

I know the problem is bigger that one thing (waves hands at boomers, neoliberalism, financialization, the breakdown of the New Deal coalition, stagflation panic) but I really think there’s an argument to be made that the Nixon pardon was the single most destructive political act of the 20th century

There’s a kind of person who grew up upper-middle class and whose politics now treat that as some kind of unforgivable sin because they think their upbringing was cringe and believe the only way to be absolved for this sin is to advocate against things that would help them. It’s dumb as hell.