Mastodawn

This week: war, ICE, Trump losses in court, Mueller, and when a puppy meets a kitten. https://weeklysift.com/2026/03/23/not-a-game/

Not a Game

No sifts for two weeks. The next new articles will appear April 13. In the dramatic circumstances of war … the media must guard against the risk of becoming propaganda. … It is up to yo…

The Weekly Sift

Doug Muder 3d ago

Another week, more escalation, and no vision of an ending.
https://weeklysift.com/2026/03/23/notes-on-yet-another-week-of-war/

Notes on yet another week of war

With no goal to achieve, it’s hard to see how this ends. Two weeks ago, I opened the weekly summary with a quote from the Roman philosopher Seneca: “If one does not know to which port o…

The Weekly Sift

Doug Muder Mar 16

This week: war, law, trans persecution, and a candidate who offers an attack against herself. https://weeklysift.com/2026/03/16/pathocracy/

Pathocracy

The transition to pathocracy begins when a disordered individual emerges as a leader figure. While some members of the ruling class are appalled by the brutality and irresponsibility of the leader …

The Weekly Sift

Doug Muder Mar 16

Why are Trump and his people so resentful and reckless?https://weeklysift.com/2026/03/16/the-longer-view/

The Longer View

Ever find yourself watching Trump officials and thinking “What’s wrong with those people?” Three writers offer their answers. We’ve known for a long time that the Trump admi…

The Weekly Sift

Doug Muder Mar 9

This week: war, primaries, Talerico, Noem, a bad jobs report, and a madrigal version of “Staying Alive”. https://weeklysift.com/2026/03/09/unfavorable-winds/

Unfavorable Winds

Our plans miscarry because they have no aim. If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable. – Seneca, “Moral Letters to Lucilius”first century AD This we…

The Weekly Sift

Doug Muder Mar 9

James Talerico challenges the notion that Republicans own Christianity. https://weeklysift.com/2026/03/09/can-democrats-compete-for-christianity/

Can Democrats compete for Christianity?

Republicans have left an opening. Can Democrats like James Talerico take advantage? Ever since Jerry Falwell launched the Moral Majority and got credit for electing Ronald Reagan in 1980, conservat…

The Weekly Sift

Doug Muder Mar 2

This week: Iran, SOTU, ICE, Epstein, and what unsupervised Canadian dads get up to during the Winter Olympics. https://weeklysift.com/2026/03/02/stop-asking/

Stop Asking

Boil it all down and what do we have? We have a military operation with no clear ends at all. Stop asking what the US government’s intentions are, they do not exist outside of the personal in…

The Weekly Sift

Doug Muder Mar 2

A distraction from Epstein? A reset of the national narrative? What the other Gulf states get in exchange for their billion-dollar bribes? Those explanations all make more sense than what Trump has been saying. https://weeklysift.com/2026/03/02/why-this-why-now/

Why this? Why now?

Two decades ago, George W. Bush and his cabinet spent months raising support for an invasion of Iraq. Two days ago, the Trump regime attacked Iran without giving us any coherent explanation. Saturd…

The Weekly Sift

Doug Muder Feb 23

This week: tariffs, Epstein, Iran, Cuba, Jesse, Gaza, and more. https://weeklysift.com/2026/02/23/kindness-or-cruelty/

Kindness or Cruelty?

I am begging my fellow politicians, my fellow Illinoisans, my fellow Americans to realize that right now in this country we are not fighting over policy or political party. We are fighting over whe…

The Weekly Sift

Doug Muder Feb 23

The result comes from internal divisions in the conservative wing of the Court, not from John Roberts suddenly turning against authoritarianism. https://weeklysift.com/2026/02/23/the-tariff-decision/

The Tariff Decision

At least for now, the power to tax still belongs to Congress. I had been starting to wonder if we still had a Supreme Court. Again and again, starting with two cases before the election (the ballot…

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