Here’s a very provocative analysis drawn off a RICOCHET thread:
The debates became the Republican’s Achilles heel this cycle. We let them consume us during the primaries and we let them dupe us in the general. Obama gave Romney a freebie in the first debate, and suddenly everyone on our side calling out Romney’s losing campaign suddenly started declaring a landslide victory. Yet, the same losing strategy continued apace, leading to Romney’s loss. The signs were all there, but we refused to acknowledge them.
It goes without saying this is a dramatic overstatement. But that last sentence is surely true (I’m not trying to be mean, only truthful) of most RICOCHET writers and readers.
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.
First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.
But we can’t do it without readers like you.
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