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Jay Nordlinger

@jaynordlinger.bsky.social
6.5K followers 256 following 2.8K posts

Senior resident fellow, the Renew Democracy Initiative. Music critic, The New Criterion. Substack: Onward and Upward.

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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 2h
"Over the years, people have asked me, 'Do you think Donald Trump is a Russian asset?' I do not think so. But he's obviously an asset to Russia." Let me spend a couple of minutes on the distinction.
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 9h
In which @casssunstein.bsky.social is polite -- and lethal. This is a model of lethality through politeness ... casssunstein.substack.com/p/defining-s...
casssunstein.substack.com
Defining Socialism
On Friends, Enemies, and Moral Foundations Theory
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 19h
I ask my friends with a cross around their neck, an American flag on their lapel, and “civilization” on their lips: What say you of this?
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 19h
I think it was Max Eastman who said, “Stipulate that they are not agents of the Kremlin. If they were, how exactly would they behave differently?”
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 20h
Have you ever noticed that a great many men with a cross around their neck look for their masculine and human ideal everywhere but … you know …
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 20h
The trajectory of the GOP and the American Right is perfectly illustrated in Marco Rubio (and Mike Lee). My view in a nutshell: If you’re gonna become a nat-pop, like every other dolt on the block, just do it. And spare me the Greco-Roman veneer.
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Reposted by Jay Nordlinger
Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
I never liked the language police -- people telling you what terms you had to use. For most of my life, the police were on the left. Now there are cops on the right, starting with the president. Some thoughts on this, and other matters, in my column today. www.jaynordlinger.com/p/a-presiden...
jaynordlinger.com
A President’s Linguistic Decrees, &c.
On ‘Gulf of America,’ ‘Super Intelligence,’ Henry VIII, a ghastly French choice, and more
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
The Republicans around me absolutely pounded Merkel for her purchase of Russian gas (rightly, in my view). When Orbán did the same, after Putin's full-scale invasion, they were quiet. I expect them to be equally quiet with regard to Donald Trump.
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Bill Buckley and Lane Kirkland (the AFL-CIO chief) had a wonderful, teasing relationship. "How's socialism?" Bill would say. Kirkland would answer, "How's Wall Street?" Today's Right seems closer to Kirkland -- without that good man's anti-communism and patriotism.
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
It’s as though some combination of Henry Wallace and John Gotti had gotten himself elected president.
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Notice that these Republicans — these “conservatives” — never ask Putin’s evil dictatorship to stop bombing, stop murdering, innocent men, women, and children. Our government is a disgrace. Our nation is shamed.
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Young people will have to believe me: We Republicans used to laugh our hineys off when Democrats, asked about reducing the debt and deficit, said, “Waste, fraud, and abuse.” “You’re not serious!” we said. “Man up and deal with entitlements!” Good times …
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Cooperstown, it isn’t. But the game — handball — is a noble, excellent one.
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
May I give you a definition of "having your cake and eating it too"? I know people who want Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, so as to have a check on the executive, which does not currently exist, and who want the Senate majority to be without Abdul El-Sayed.
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
I never liked the language police -- people telling you what terms you had to use. For most of my life, the police were on the left. Now there are cops on the right, starting with the president. Some thoughts on this, and other matters, in my column today. www.jaynordlinger.com/p/a-presiden...
jaynordlinger.com
A President’s Linguistic Decrees, &c.
On ‘Gulf of America,’ ‘Super Intelligence,’ Henry VIII, a ghastly French choice, and more
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
"THE ENEMY!," says our president, about citizens who do not conform to his latest linguistic decree. It's been a while since I took civics (9th grade). But, in my understanding, America is not like this -- not supposed to be.
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Sincere question: Can anyone defend this?
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Hello, Arizonans -- glad to be among you. Today, I am in Tucson, where I will moderate a top-flight panel for the University of Arizona's Center for the Philosophy of Freedom. Our topic? A bold one: "The Science and Politics of Sex and Gender." freedomcenter.arizona.edu/event/the-sc...
freedomcenter.arizona.edu
The Science and Politics of Sex and Gender A FRANK DISCUSSION
What is sex, and is it binary? Or is it socially constructed? How does sex relate to gender? Join us for a frank and thoughtful conversation on science, society, free...
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
This story is -- is this word still in currency? -- amazeballs. I am grateful for the Wall Street Journal's reporters, and for a free press generally. Without it, we are cooked. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
wsj.com
Exclusive | ‘Honey Please’: Kimberly Guilfoyle Pushed Donor to Wire $100,000 to Her Amex Account
Text messages with a MAGA ally show Guilfoyle seeking funds and offering access to top administration officials before becoming ambassador to Greece.
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Putin was given quite a birthday present in 2006 -- the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, one of the bravest journalists in the world. I hope there are monuments to her in Russia someday. And I wish the United States were on the side of the brave and murdered.
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
In this column by @drtedj.bsky.social, there are some damn interesting points. You don't have to like all of them or agree with all of them. But they ought to be absorbed. A purpose of a column is to provoke thoughts, and this does. wapo.st/4ARkTTF
wapo.st
Opinion | The new welfare queen is Brad. Right-wing pundits are furious.
An Arkansas campaign ad reveals how race still shapes the politics of welfare.
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Eternal vigilance may be unfair. It may be unjust. People should be able to relax now and then, to let their guard down. They ought to be able to coast for a while. Eternal vigilance is wearying. But there is no alternative — no acceptable alternative.
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Reposted by Jay Nordlinger
Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Resentment of Indian Americans has come out of the woodwork. This is unsurprising in a nationalist-populist age. I have a little column on the subject, complete with a memory of Donald Rumsfeld (a warm one). See what you think. www.jaynordlinger.com/p/spellers-f...
jaynordlinger.com
Spellers, Fullbacks, Batters, &c.
The animus against Indian Americans; the greatness of Bob Pettit; the Paxtonian way with grammar; and more
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
The news about Germany’s former intelligence chief — it makes sense. I mean, it makes some things make sense. What a shameful, treasonous chapter (like much of this era in general).
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Resentment of Indian Americans has come out of the woodwork. This is unsurprising in a nationalist-populist age. I have a little column on the subject, complete with a memory of Donald Rumsfeld (a warm one). See what you think. www.jaynordlinger.com/p/spellers-f...
jaynordlinger.com
Spellers, Fullbacks, Batters, &c.
The animus against Indian Americans; the greatness of Bob Pettit; the Paxtonian way with grammar; and more
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Virtually every president has complained about the press. Trump says that reporters who irk him "should be arrested." Can't you see that his instincts are authoritarian? I know a lot of "anti-anti-Trumpers." Can't you see it, my friends? Doesn't it matter?
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
American voters put this man and his crew in office, gave them power. Only the voters can remedy the situation. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/03/u...
nytimes.com
U.S.-Russia Talks on Ukraine Now Involve an Oil Deal Tied to Trump Allies (Gift Article)
President Vladimir V. Putin brought up a sale of Russian energy assets with President Trump’s envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, pushing a deal that raises new questions about conflicts of inter...
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
No — she offered her Nobel medal to Trump in an effort to win his support for Venezuelan democracy. It was a tactical move, which failed. Also: what manner of man accepts a woman’s Nobel medal — a medal that she braved death to earn?
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
An observation — from reading, yes, but also from experience: Very few political types have less respect for people than the populists do.
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Kevin D. Williamson believes that laws should apply equally to all. Kevin D. Williamson is weird. Good. thedispatch.com/newsletter/w...
thedispatch.com
High Crimes and Misdemeanors
There are 1,001 reasons Donald Trump should be hauled off to jail.
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
One of the most attractive things about the Republican Party and conservative movement — and there were many — was their seriousness about economics. The maturity of it all. Buckley, Friedman, Stigler, Sowell, Michael Novak … (You could call it a “golden age.”)
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Republicans, expecting a big red wave, were massively disappointed in 2022 — and grumbled about chicanery (of course). I wonder whether Democrats, primed for a big blue wave, will experience similar shock and disappointment. Beware certainty in electoral outcomes. (2016!)
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Corruption on stilts. But given the tsunami of corruption coming from this administration, I'm surprised this made the news. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/04/u...
nytimes.com
Kristi Noem’s Agency Gave Her Donor a Lucrative Contract Just Before She Left (Gift Article)
The Homeland Security Department signed a multi-million dollar agreement to buy five aircraft from a company owned by a political contributor of the secretary on her last day, documents show.
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
"In recent days, Vladimir Putin has intensified his campaign of murder and terror in Ukraine. Also, President Trump has invited Putin to attend the G20 meeting in Florida this coming December." A column, for your consideration. www.thenextmove.org/p/putin-our-...
thenextmove.org
Putin Our Invitee
On President Trump’s invitation to the Russian dictator to attend the next G20.
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
"In recent days, Vladimir Putin has intensified his campaign of murder and terror in Ukraine. Also, President Trump has invited Putin to attend the G20 meeting in Florida this coming December." A column, for your consideration. www.thenextmove.org/p/putin-our-...
thenextmove.org
Putin Our Invitee
On President Trump’s invitation to the Russian dictator to attend the next G20.
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
I take a moment to salute, as I regularly do, one of the best signs in America — found at the Milwaukee airport, after security screening (with the discombobulation such screening entails). At the same time, I salute the boundless ingenuity of the English language.
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Garry Kasparov, that brave and good man, hunted by the Kremlin. Xi Jinping, fêted at the White House. Sens. Schmitt and Kennedy, disgracing themselves. These are among the issues in my column today. www.jaynordlinger.com/p/kasparov-t...
jaynordlinger.com
Kasparov the Lionhearted, &c.
On a champion in peril; greeting Xi Jinping; political tribalism; great novels; and more
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Garry Kasparov, that brave and good man, hunted by the Kremlin. Xi Jinping, fêted at the White House. Sens. Schmitt and Kennedy, disgracing themselves. These are among the issues in my column today. www.jaynordlinger.com/p/kasparov-t...
jaynordlinger.com
Kasparov the Lionhearted, &c.
On a champion in peril; greeting Xi Jinping; political tribalism; great novels; and more
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
What a life. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/01/w...
nytimes.com
Lucien Lazare, Jewish Resistance Fighter in Occupied France, Dies at 101 (Gift Article)
He and a small troop of French Jews worked with the Allies to distribute supplies and fight the Nazis, ambushing a German train and liberating a city in the south.
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
For the music-minded, a review of the concert by the New York Philharmonic last night -- an event billed as "Gustavo Dudamel's Inaugural Concert." newcriterion.com/dispatch/an-...
newcriterion.com
“An inaugural ball,” by Jay Nordlinger.
Jay Nordlinger on last night’s New York Philharmonic gala.
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
For the music-minded, a review of the concert by the New York Philharmonic last night -- an event billed as "Gustavo Dudamel's Inaugural Concert." newcriterion.com/dispatch/an-...
newcriterion.com
“An inaugural ball,” by Jay Nordlinger.
Jay Nordlinger on last night’s New York Philharmonic gala.
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Obviously, democratic governments have to deal with tyrannical governments -- even genocidal dictatorships. But does anyone agree with me that this display is unseemly and unworthy of America? (Republicans and conservatives would have thought so, not too long ago.)
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
A thought (not original): Many of us read great novels when we’re in high school and college — and have relatively little experience of life. We would understand and appreciate them a lot more at age, say, 50. The system seems backward in this respect!
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
They go straight from the committee room to Fox, to take their victory lap — even if they have covered themselves in ignominious defeat. I am not a purist about politics (heaven knows). But we need people with a sense of civic responsibility to run for office. (Can they win?)
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Diogenes looked for an honest man. Are you looking for an honorable one? In my column today, I write about Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 golfer in the world. Further issues include the Iran war and a Philippine Schindler (talk about honor). www.jaynordlinger.com/p/an-instanc...
jaynordlinger.com
An Instance of Honor, &c.
On golfers, the Iran war, flag-waving, a Philippine Schindler, and more
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
An opinion about Kennedy: With his sterling education and considerable talents, he had a chance to be a real statesman, a "lion of the Senate." Instead, he chose to become another Fox troll, with cornpone. Our present age is, among other things, a diminishing one.
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Diogenes looked for an honest man. Are you looking for an honorable one? In my column today, I write about Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 golfer in the world. Further issues include the Iran war and a Philippine Schindler (talk about honor). www.jaynordlinger.com/p/an-instanc...
jaynordlinger.com
An Instance of Honor, &c.
On golfers, the Iran war, flag-waving, a Philippine Schindler, and more
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I don't know about you, but I'll believe a Republican can lose statewide in Texas when I see it. Will the people vote for someone of the caliber of Ken Paxton? Well, they have repeatedly, and his party nominated him for the U.S. Senate. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/30/u...
nytimes.com
Ken Paxton, G.O.P. Nominee in Texas, Privately Said Trump’s Convention Hurt Him (Gift Article)
Ken Paxton, one of the party’s top Senate candidates and a Trump loyalist, said that “everybody’s numbers dropped” after the event, according to audio obtained by The Times.
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Sen. Kennedy, in particular, is the picture of smug, ignorant triumph, emblematic of this age.
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Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
"Core tenet" has become a cliché, like "fatal flaw" and "grievous error" (David Pryce-Jones warned me against those). May I suggest to my fellow English-speakers that tenets are, in fact, core, making them tenets?
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