Current Affairs – Scott Wagner, Writer

Past Mistakes, Present Absurdities

If 2020 was the Year of the Unprecedented, 2021 may well go down as the Year of the Absurd. Mr. Potato Head is now just “Potato Head.” Lola Bunny now looks like – gasp! – a normal, humanoid bunny, which I can’t believe is a sentence I just typed with a straight face. And inContinue reading “Past Mistakes, Present Absurdities”

Refuel and Reinvigorate: What Joe Biden’s Foreign Policy Can Achieve

Originally published at the Concorde International Review in November 2020. In late September 2019, in a world blissfully unacquainted with COVID-19 and social distancing, representatives of the nations of the world gathered in New York City for the 74th Session of the United Nations. A result of the Allies’ victory over the Axis Powers inContinue reading “Refuel and Reinvigorate: What Joe Biden’s Foreign Policy Can Achieve”

Five Thoughts: What Is It Going To Take?

This should have been so easy. This should have been a lay-up, a tap-in, a chip-shot, a meat ball, pick whatever sports metaphor you want. This election was here for the taking for the Democrats, and while they managed to reclaim the White House they will spend the next four years ruing missed chances andContinue reading “Five Thoughts: What Is It Going To Take?”

Five Thoughts: Slide to the Left, Slide to the Right

There’s an old Greek proverb: After the war is over, make alliances. Ancient proverbs, however, are all Greek to the Democrat Party. Rather than forming new friendships in the wake of a hard-fought 2020 election campaign, the members of the Democratic Caucus have turned their swords upon each other. Even before all the ballots haveContinue reading “Five Thoughts: Slide to the Left, Slide to the Right”

Five Thoughts: What a Load of Poll-S**t

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. That’s how a lot of Democrats are feeling about pollsters and election forecasters. In 2016, polls suggested that Hillary Clinton would defeat Donald Trump — albeit narrowly. In 2020, polls pointed towards a Democratic victory. This time, they were right — but TrumpContinue reading “Five Thoughts: What a Load of Poll-S**t”

Five Thoughts: Trump (Un)Deterred

Donald Trump was never going to go gently into that good night. “Rage, rage against the dying of my presidential grift and exploitation of American democracy” was always going to be his exit strategy, however begrudging the exit might be. Oh, sure, he’s launched legal challenges in a handful of states. But those challenges areContinue reading “Five Thoughts: Trump (Un)Deterred”

Five Thoughts on the Election: Restoration

The passage of time has been distorted in 2020. March took a century. April and May collectively lasted nine hours. And last week, Tuesday night dragged on for four extra days, until finally, on what should have been Saturday morning, the calendar was restored to normalcy. America’s long election night was over. And Joe BidenContinue reading “Five Thoughts on the Election: Restoration”

Situation Normal: All Trumped Up

What does it mean to be a Republican? Does Republicanism refer to the characteristic mistrust of a strong federal government? Does it entail a strident defense of individual liberties, even at the expense of greater societal advancements? Is it centered on a unifying foreign policy vision, perhaps tying back to Reagan’s concept of “peace throughContinue reading “Situation Normal: All Trumped Up”

“It’s Not About You, It’s About The Kid”

What were you doing when the world started to fall apart? When coronavirus shut down American sports leagues, then the entire nation? When our lives devolved into endless PSAs promoting social distancing, flattening the curve, and sheltering-in-place? Where were you when the tsunami made landfall on the beach? I was in the middle of drivingContinue reading ““It’s Not About You, It’s About The Kid””