This was the best Will Leitch Newsletter I have ever read, and the saddest one. I got off of social media very quickly Wednesday morning because of all the folks claiming to love America were vilifying fellow Americans.
Lots to ponder in this newsletter. It makes me happy that, as incomprehensible as our current national situation is, you’re delving into it. It’s so easy to just turn away and ignore it all. The easy answer, I think, maybe that we have met the enemy and it is us. That is very sad. But, you have to get up everyday and give it your best shot. Find joy in your family and friends and try to do some good. You already seem to do that. And, pay attention to what is happening in local elections. Vote every time. Every elected official has a far bigger impact than you’d think.
And lastly, Happy Birthday, Tim. Lifelong friendships are the best.
The threat after 9/11 WAS external. The problem was that Bush and his incometent band of neoconservatives didn't go after the bad guys, the perpetrators of 9/11, they diverted us into engaging in their own completely unrealistic but long desired project of remaking the entire Middle East into a scene from an Ayn Rand novel. Who could have guessed that marching our army of infidels into the Middle East would cause more trouble than we could or wanted to handle?
50-year-olds from Illinois, represent! (Also, I loved this thoughtful meditation on 9/11. So strange how it has receded from history given *everything.*)
So true! I guess I’d always started thinking about what you just gave context to, just avoiding too deeply worrying about it! Thanks for reaffirming my anxieties!
So crystal clear reading 📖 what you wrote! Rang so true on so many levels with today’s environment and society @ large! Gave me the hee bee 🐝 gee be’s quite frankly!
Come on man…I get your thesis, but it’s a little bit in bad faith.
Yea, the New Orleans terrorist was American, but he was also pretty clearly radicalized by Islam.
In fact, that was my first thought after I heard the news as it was seemingly a copycat attack of the radical who drove through a Christmas market in Germany last month.
I do understand you generally here, but I think the phrase "radicalized by Islam" may tip the hand a bit? I'm not sure anyone gets "radicalized by Islam," as if it's something commonly happening to people -- like it's being Islamic is, like, a risky activity, as if you're not careful you'll find yourself radicalized by it -- rather than a deeply peaceful religion practiced by billions of people across the world. All the reporting about the New Orleans terrorist (and I do think he should be called that, but I also think the Las Vegas Cybertruck guy should be called that ... as well as, it should be said, Luigi) supports an isolated, damaged, broken person who not only had no actual connection with ISIS (other than a flag and a few social media posts in the last couple of weeks of his life) but in fact didn't attend even attend mosque. I don't think that the Las Vegas guy was "radicalized" by Trump, though the statement he left explicitly said he was doing it for him (and Musk and RFK). This was not an attack by an external aggressor. This was an American, living in America (his entire life), with no actual connection to any external enemy, attacking his own country ... like so many others.
I mean, you can disagree, I do see where you are coming from, but at the very least, I'm not sure it's fair to say I'm arguing in bad faith.
I'll confess it does have a certain "My 'Not involved in human trafficking' T-shirt has people asking a lot of questions already answered by my shirt" vibe.
I remember that about 3 or 4 days after 9/11 I for some reason started to wonder which newspaper would be the first to have something other than 9/11 on the front page and wondered how they would go about it, like logically I understood that it wouldn’t be 9/11 front pages forever but it was unimaginable in those first few days to imagine a story that could knock it off the front page (back when newspaper front pages mattered)
Here's my post-9/11 newspaper story. I came downstairs the next morning (I had to go back to work on the 12th), and I saw a copy of the New York Times in the foyer of the apartment building. I was groggy and, of course, a total mess, and I remember seeing that cover and thinking, "huh, I would have thought the attacks would have been the lede story of the paper today. What could have possibly been more important?" I was halfway to the office before I realized, "oh, yeah, that was yesterday's paper, nobody delivered today's."
Great observations—it DID feel like anything could happen next, and would happen. And the enemy is us. So true that the good old days were more mixed than we remember.
I think you under-valued Dra a bit in that column.
I kinda think he can play extended minutes and be a really good Big Ten level player. I have a soft spot for him because he's a holdover from last year with Rodgers not playing. He can be a shot of nitro the team needs when there is a lull.
I heard LaTulip on the Inquirer podcast this morning arguing that he could be a starting guard with Boswell next year. I'm *hopeful* of that idea, but I'm pretty concerned there will be size issues defensively. I like the Underwood "go big everywhere" philosophy.
This was the best Will Leitch Newsletter I have ever read, and the saddest one. I got off of social media very quickly Wednesday morning because of all the folks claiming to love America were vilifying fellow Americans.
Thank you, this is very kind of you. Staying off social media is just a solid idea in general.
Will, you missed Charlie "Paw Paw" Maxwell.
Lots to ponder in this newsletter. It makes me happy that, as incomprehensible as our current national situation is, you’re delving into it. It’s so easy to just turn away and ignore it all. The easy answer, I think, maybe that we have met the enemy and it is us. That is very sad. But, you have to get up everyday and give it your best shot. Find joy in your family and friends and try to do some good. You already seem to do that. And, pay attention to what is happening in local elections. Vote every time. Every elected official has a far bigger impact than you’d think.
And lastly, Happy Birthday, Tim. Lifelong friendships are the best.
The next few years are going to be a balance of a lot of things, to stay sane, and to stay engaged ... to do both at the same time.
The threat after 9/11 WAS external. The problem was that Bush and his incometent band of neoconservatives didn't go after the bad guys, the perpetrators of 9/11, they diverted us into engaging in their own completely unrealistic but long desired project of remaking the entire Middle East into a scene from an Ayn Rand novel. Who could have guessed that marching our army of infidels into the Middle East would cause more trouble than we could or wanted to handle?
No arguments here.
50-year-olds from Illinois, represent! (Also, I loved this thoughtful meditation on 9/11. So strange how it has receded from history given *everything.*)
Of all the things to recede from history! (Where from Illinois, by the way?)
Southwest suburbs of Chicago: Homer Glen, between Orland Park and Joliet.
So true! I guess I’d always started thinking about what you just gave context to, just avoiding too deeply worrying about it! Thanks for reaffirming my anxieties!
Ha, always happy to reaffirm people's anxieties, it's one of my signature skills.
So crystal clear reading 📖 what you wrote! Rang so true on so many levels with today’s environment and society @ large! Gave me the hee bee 🐝 gee be’s quite frankly!
Happy Birthday, Tim! Welcome to the club.
It’s a fine time to be an Illini fan in Chambana. Hoops, FB, and Green’s Girls all making us proud.
Come on man…I get your thesis, but it’s a little bit in bad faith.
Yea, the New Orleans terrorist was American, but he was also pretty clearly radicalized by Islam.
In fact, that was my first thought after I heard the news as it was seemingly a copycat attack of the radical who drove through a Christmas market in Germany last month.
I do understand you generally here, but I think the phrase "radicalized by Islam" may tip the hand a bit? I'm not sure anyone gets "radicalized by Islam," as if it's something commonly happening to people -- like it's being Islamic is, like, a risky activity, as if you're not careful you'll find yourself radicalized by it -- rather than a deeply peaceful religion practiced by billions of people across the world. All the reporting about the New Orleans terrorist (and I do think he should be called that, but I also think the Las Vegas Cybertruck guy should be called that ... as well as, it should be said, Luigi) supports an isolated, damaged, broken person who not only had no actual connection with ISIS (other than a flag and a few social media posts in the last couple of weeks of his life) but in fact didn't attend even attend mosque. I don't think that the Las Vegas guy was "radicalized" by Trump, though the statement he left explicitly said he was doing it for him (and Musk and RFK). This was not an attack by an external aggressor. This was an American, living in America (his entire life), with no actual connection to any external enemy, attacking his own country ... like so many others.
I mean, you can disagree, I do see where you are coming from, but at the very least, I'm not sure it's fair to say I'm arguing in bad faith.
(Thank you for this, by the way.)
Thanks for the thoughtful reply.
And I get what you’re saying, but I think flying an ISIS flag as you commit mass murder is a pretty big “hand tip” itself.
I'll confess it does have a certain "My 'Not involved in human trafficking' T-shirt has people asking a lot of questions already answered by my shirt" vibe.
I remember that about 3 or 4 days after 9/11 I for some reason started to wonder which newspaper would be the first to have something other than 9/11 on the front page and wondered how they would go about it, like logically I understood that it wouldn’t be 9/11 front pages forever but it was unimaginable in those first few days to imagine a story that could knock it off the front page (back when newspaper front pages mattered)
Here's my post-9/11 newspaper story. I came downstairs the next morning (I had to go back to work on the 12th), and I saw a copy of the New York Times in the foyer of the apartment building. I was groggy and, of course, a total mess, and I remember seeing that cover and thinking, "huh, I would have thought the attacks would have been the lede story of the paper today. What could have possibly been more important?" I was halfway to the office before I realized, "oh, yeah, that was yesterday's paper, nobody delivered today's."
Great observations—it DID feel like anything could happen next, and would happen. And the enemy is us. So true that the good old days were more mixed than we remember.
I wonder if it's THE story of 2025 ... every week.
No let down at Washington please.
About to head to my parents' to watch it ... I want this West Coast sweep, badly. That sure was something Thursday, wasn't it?
I think you under-valued Dra a bit in that column.
I kinda think he can play extended minutes and be a really good Big Ten level player. I have a soft spot for him because he's a holdover from last year with Rodgers not playing. He can be a shot of nitro the team needs when there is a lull.
I heard LaTulip on the Inquirer podcast this morning arguing that he could be a starting guard with Boswell next year. I'm *hopeful* of that idea, but I'm pretty concerned there will be size issues defensively. I like the Underwood "go big everywhere" philosophy.
It's always good to win. Also, practice inbounding on the sideline. I couldn't believe it happened again!