Opinion: The Russia fun-house mirror

This week I’ll try to make some arguments you might not have heard before. View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Monday, August 20, 2018 [NYTimes.com/Opinion »]( David Leonhardt is on a break from writing this newsletter until Aug. 27. While he’s gone, several outside writers are taking his place. This week’s author is [Chris Buskirk]( a contributing opinion writer and the editor of American Greatness, the conservative publication. By Chris Buskirk John Brennan, a former C.I.A. director and a [self-declared]( supporter of the Communist Party candidate for president in 1976, claims that he knows that the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians. To my mind, in making this claim, he provided ample evidence of why he should not possess a security clearance. Because if he does actually know this — and if his knowledge is based on information gained through the use of his clearance — then he is guilty of a grave security breach. If not, well, then he’s just a windbag. But one who is coddled and promoted, if not taken totally seriously, by Trump haters. Which makes me wonder when the progressive left got comfortable with the national security state and its spies. It’s just such contortions — on the left and on the right — that have me thinking differently about politics. I’m a cradle conservative. My father first subscribed to National Review in the early 1960s. He volunteered for Barry Goldwater in 1964. While I was still in junior high, I saved my lawn-mowing money to buy a ticket to see William F. Buckley Jr. debate John Kenneth Galbraith in Phoenix — where I was raised and where I still live. The next ticket for which I saved money to buy was to see George Carlin. Maybe that reflects some cognitive dissonance in my personality, but I hope not. The conservative movement of Buckley, Goldwater and Ronald Reagan was ideas-oriented, energetic, iconoclastic, and — most important — politically potent. That died sometime during the late 1980s. Newt Gingrich and the Class of 1994 tried to reinvigorate the movement, but it was too late. It was like trying to get a great band back together with a new singer. They play the hits, but it’s never the same, and there are no new hits. Conservative institutions and intellectuals became curators of the legacy of late 20th-century conservatism rather than proponents of political liberty and American distinctiveness. Even though the rest of the world had moved on, for them it was always 1984. Who knows what the future — or, for that matter, this week — will bring. Perhaps Mr. Brennan will describe for us, under oath, the source of his information about the alleged collusion. That would be interesting. Since I’m the only [contributing opinion writer]( at The Times who is consistently pro-Trump, many of you (but maybe not all) will find lots of reasons to disagree with me while I fill in for David this week. But I’ll make some arguments you might not have heard before. And, in any case, there’s more to life than politics, so along the way I’ll try to point out some of the scenery we can enjoy together. The full Opinion report from The Times follows. Today in The Big Ideas [What Does It Mean to Be Human? Don’t Ask]( By MARTHA C. NUSSBAUM We don’t see the problem with our self-importance because our narcissism is so complete. [Nixon, Clinton and Trump]( [President Richard Nixon, on national television on April 15, 1973, asked for support against “those who would exploit Watergate in order to keep us from doing what we were elected to do.”]( President Richard Nixon, on national television on April 15, 1973, asked for support against “those who would exploit Watergate in order to keep us from doing what we were elected to do.” Bettmann, Getty Images By CHARLES M. BLOW The more Trump is cornered, the more he mirrors Richard Nixon. [Zephyr Teachout Is the Right Choice as Attorney General for Democrats]( By THE EDITORIAL BOARD The office is a potential firewall against an out-of-control president and a historically corrupt New York State government. [Why Even a Blue Wave Could Have Limited Gains]( By DAVID WASSERMAN The divergent geography of 2018 means we will really have two midterm elections, and one favors Republicans. [Steve Bannon Has Found His Next Trump]( By IVAN KRASTEV Donald Trump’s former Svengali is palling around the Continent with a far-right Hungarian prime minister. How does this end? [Motherhood and the Back-to-College Blues]( [American robin in the wilderness.]( American robin in the wilderness. Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket, via Getty Images By MARGARET RENKL Summer is ending, and all my baby birds are leaving the nest. From Sunday Review Op-Ed Columnist [The Slippery Slope of Complicity]( By PAUL KRUGMAN A wannabe Mussolini and his party of apparatchiks. [Happy Children Do Chores]( By KJ DELL’ANTONIA Helping run a household gives kids an awareness of the needs of others. [How America’s Jews Learned to Be Liberal]( By STEVEN R. WEISMAN The answer lies in the 19th century, when Judaism became a distinctively American religion. [What Father Bradel Did to Me]( By PATRICIA MCCORMICK The power of seeing one priest’s name on a list. LIKE THIS EMAIL? Forward it to your friends, and let them know they can sign up [here](. ADVERTISEMENT Editorial Observer [Trump’s Silly War With Harley-Davidson]( By BILL SAPORITO The president’s tariffs led the company to move jobs to Europe. He responded by trying to incite a Harley boycott. More in Opinion [Kofi Annan’s Tragic Idealism]( By JAMES TRAUB He believed in the vision of the United Nations but understood that it might never achieve it. [Who Is Afraid of Shahidul Alam?]( By GAYATRI CHAKRAVORTY SPIVAK The imprisonment of Bangladesh’s most respected photojournalist illustrates the country’s drift toward autocracy. SIGN UP FOR THE OP-DOCS NEWSLETTER Find out about new [Op-Docs]( read discussions with filmmakers and learn more about upcoming events. ADVERTISEMENT letters [Swaying Americans’ View of the Economy]( Readers discuss how and if perceptions change based on political party and which president is in power. HOW ARE WE DOING? We’d love your feedback on this newsletter. 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