Jim Banks

Friday

Cockburn

The Senate dresses down

If DC wants to eschew its reputation as being “Hollywood for ugly people,” politicos could start by dressing better. While the Senate has been in a marathon session that’s included several late-night votes, the breakdown in dress code has been remarkable in recent days — and the problem goes beyond Senator John Fetterman’s reluctance to wear a collared shirt if civilization depended on it. Much of the blame can be laid at the feet of “Derek Guy” — a pseudonymous self-styled menswear expert who is more reply guy than Louis Vuitton reincarnate. In his latest missive, Guy rated the best-dressed members of Congress... and named Senator Bernie Sanders as one of the most fashionable in the upper house.

mullin senate

Wednesday

Cockburn

Cockburn at the convention, days one and two

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Cockburn is currently drinking his first half-decent coffee of the Republican National Convention in the media filing center, bleary eyed after two nights of aggressive socializing. Wisconsin is supposed to be famous for its beer and cheese — but it’s overcooked burgers and watery cold brew that have been keeping your devoted correspondent functional in the sweltering Midwest heat. (If anyone has any food recommendations in Milwaukee, please, for the love of God, email them to cockburn@thespectator.com.) His first social soirée was an impromptu Monday cocktail with Liz Truss, the former British PM who was recently de-MP’d in Labour’s landslide victory.

rnc convention

Friday

The Spectator

RFK’s Libertarian moment

The 2024 Libertarian National Convention in Washington, DC, unsurprisingly attracted a quirky bunch. Attendees would find themselves greeted by a man wearing a “Fuck Vaccines” shirt (not that odd) that was doing some squats in the lobby (pretty odd). Also overheard in the lobby, a weird flex: “I read Mises before I was twenty” — and then an even weirder one: “I grew up without AC, a very libertarian upbringing.” “Ermmm, konnichiwa actually means good afternoon,” one lady told her interlocutor. Last cycle’s Libertarian vice-presidential candidate Spike Cohen told The Spectator, “It is useful to have Donald Trump speak, only if our candidate speaks right after him and rebuts him. Same with RFK. We should be leveraging them for attention, not the reverse.

rfk jr libertarian

Friday

Ben Domenech

Can Mitch Daniels fight the culture war?

Mitch Daniels visited Washington this week to test the ground on the Senate side of Capitol Hill. "I’m worried about winning it and regretting it for six years," he told Politico. And well he might. The former Indiana governor and Purdue University president is debating whether to run for the seat of incumbent Indiana Senator Mike Braun, who after just one term decided he'd rather be back as governor in Indianapolis than stay in the cooling saucer for even one more minute. Daniels may find it equally abhorrent to join a body as a junior senator at the age of seventy-three. Either way, a run by him would immediately thrust the Indiana Republican primary into the national narrative, framed as a war between the pre-Trump and post-Trump GOP.

Sunday

Phillip Nieto

Is critical race theory in the US military ‘dangerous’?

After renewing their Cold War-era alliance earlier this week, Beijing and Moscow challenged the US military hegemony by claiming American global dominance was 'over' and threatening to strike back if any 'boundaries are crossed.' GOP lawmakers on the House Armed Services Committee told The Spectator that the Defense Department's focus on critical race theory under the Biden administration is ‘stupid and wacko’ while the Sino-Russian powers are on the march. Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin met Monday during a virtual summit to extend their cooperation treaty between their respective countries, both of which have strained their ties with the US ever since the treaty was initially signed 20 years ago.

armed services critical race theory