Allow us, ladies and gentlemen, a brief political interregnum at The Moynihan Report. The midterms are soon upon us. The president is historically unpopular. And the opposition party is in the throes of an identity crisis. So perhaps all this is worth discussing with someone who is a Democrat, understands Democrats, and is influential amongst Democrats.
Jon Lovett is a very bright, open-minded sort, someone with whom I often disagree but regard as an honest broker, even when he’s catastrophically wrong about an issue. If you’re unfamiliar, Lovett was a speechwriter for President Barack Obama and is one of the founders and hosts of the progressive powerhouse podcast “Pod Save America.” As one journalist recently noted, if you want to seize the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028, it would be unwise to skip a “Pod Save America” appearance.
We mixed it up a bit, but I have little desire to debate individual issues on this show—I have another show for that, which is more indulgent of my ideological narcissism. I wanted to get a better sense of how Democrats are handling this moment and internalizing the lessons of the previous one, if they are at all. We discuss the disappearing centrists; the war over “Zionism” (and whether he identifies as a Zionist); unlikable candidates; the brutality of getting cut from his Little League baseball team; “Woke 1.0”; litmus tests and red lines; and why, during the cultural meltdowns of recent years, Jon was “a little bit afraid to just say plainly what I thought.”
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I liked the interview, but he is a mealy mouthed weasel. And his bullshit about antisemitism in his party was offensive. Hell, he didn't even know what the "blood libel" was. All those Pod Save guys can go fuck themselves.
Very good. Lovett reminds me of many of the people close to me… smart enough, but who is ultimately a team player and an apologist for bad team behavior. I used to be one of these people. I like him. He’s wrong about so much. Keep having him on. I respect his mistaken-ness. I sharpen my own arguments because his wrong conclusions aren’t cartoonish.
I found it interesting that he whiffed on Zionism on the first round but then regained some composure and articulated himself better on the second round.
Still, this notion that one’s support for the Herzl-era Zionist philosophy as being correct is somehow dependent on current administrative performance is where the democrats lose me; it would be the equivalent of saying that because DJT is a nitwit and says and does damaging things means that the entire American experiment is null and void.
Michael you are making me consider paying for this subscription, you bastard.