How's it going America,
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Let's get into it:
This is the first day of spring, warm enough for me to sit outside and write this newsletter in the morning, so that's what I'm doing. Birds chirping, trees budding, little cats from the neighbor's yard wandering around, the drifting smell of wood smoke. When I lived in New York, I missed just being able to walk outside. I wanted a balcony or something, but it turns out a porch and a pair of front steps are even better, and the noises of nature are far more conducive to writing than are the blaring horns and ambulance sirens.
The news cycle, which fractured into a million pieces when Trump took office, now seems to have fractured even further since Charlie Kirk's death. I don't know if it's extended grief, or what, but the glue that has tied the common narrative of "what we're talking about" in this country has lost its stickiness. Nothing quite seems to hold anyone's attention for more than a few seconds—like literal seconds—and the news you're talking about is different, or even the exact opposite, depending on your political affiliation.
There's been lots of talk about MAGA being split over Iran, and while I don't think MAGA is split, because MAGA was primarily conservatives who were done with the GOP status quo, there is a split. That split is mostly people who thought we should go into the Iran war like the president said and those who do not think rushing into conflict in the Middle East was a good idea. I don't think it was a good idea—but I do believe that now that we're in it, stated goals must be met, meet big, and then the US should leave. Call it the Vancian position: no to war, but if war, win big.
I'm still thinking about those two pilots who were killed when an Air Canada jet crashed into a fire truck on the LaGuardia tarmac. The airport was shut down for hours before traffic resumed. Passengers say the pilots saved them, and I believe it. The nose cone was crumpled. The pilots tried to brake before hitting a truck that had been told repeatedly by Air Traffic Control to "stop." LaGuardia has had its share of problems, with two near collisions on the tarmac just this past fall.
It makes me think about the collapse of complex systems and whether or not I should learn to grow vegetables in raised garden beds. I was on Timcast last night with Mehek Cook, and it was fun to meet her in person after appearing with her on Lara Trump's show. You can check out the whole stream here!
Libby