Brian Beutler

Washington, D.C.

Off Message; cohost: https://t.co/CvwKx1K9rd; Formerly: @crookedmedia @newrepublic. BlueSky: @brianbeutler.bsky.social Trump Employee 5

Articles

18 Thoughts On Trump’s Maybe Iran War

1 week ago | offmessage.net | Brian Beutler

This should be easy: No. If you’re a frontline Democrat and your advisers and consultants are admonishing you with West Wing lines about supporting the commander-in-chief or pre-empting Republican attacks on your weakness or anti-Americanism, fire those people. There are considerations beyond “no,” such as “should Trump be impeached if he takes the country to war under false pretenses anyhow?” But for now, “no” will do.
Why Abundance Will Have To Be Partisan

1 week ago | offmessage.net | Brian Beutler

Something said to during their recent, conversation got me thinking about abundance, and what it means in an era of ascendant, predatory conservatism. I’ll return below to that conversation, which wasn’t really about abundance at all.
Why The Latest Round Of Democratic Infighting Really Matters

1 week ago | offmessage.net | Brian Beutler

What would voters have needed to learn, or to remember and believe, to deny Donald Trump a second term last year? What common knowledge would have propelled Kamala Harris to victory? It’s easy to wish circumstances a year ago had been different—that Trump had been imprisoned by 2022 or that his successor had been a silver-tongued young man.
The Greedy Hubris Of A Repulsive Creep

2 weeks ago | offmessage.net | Brian Beutler

This is a rare essay for congressional Republicans, in the unlikely event that any of them happen upon it—perhaps now that their dirty work has federal agents manhandling senators, they’ll spend a few hours outside their bubble. It could double as a suggestion to congressional Democrats to make more Americans familiar with Stephen Miller. But mainly it’s for Republicans. Donald Trump of course bears ultimate responsibility for his administration’s unconcealed efforts to create civil unrest.
Mailbag: Is The Democratic Party Cracking Up?

2 weeks ago | offmessage.net | Brian Beutler

Thanks as always for your questions, readers. It’s good to be back. Or to be more precise about it: since being on permanent vacation is not feasible for me, returning to this newsletter, this community, this line of work is a blessing relative to most alternatives. Have a question for next Thursday’s mailbag? Leave it in the comments below. Mitchell Stein: What I really want to know is how your trip was and what you think of Portugal?
You Can't Scold People Out Of Fighting Fascism

2 weeks ago | offmessage.net | Brian Beutler

This is a coda to yesterday’s article about how Democratic leaders found themselves so unprepared for Donald Trump’s predictable abuses. How their conception of “issue salience”—their desire to reduce the salience of Trump’s best issues—deterred them from preparing for unavoidable fights on his turf.
23 Thoughts About All The Sh*t I Missed

2 weeks ago | offmessage.net | Brian Beutler

Two weeks is a long time, particularly in the news business, and double-particularly in the Trump era. As best I can remember, I haven’t taken two weeks time-off since 2010, and haven’t been abroad for more than two weeks since 2007. I wouldn’t be able to recap everything even under normal circumstances. But it really does feel like tons of momentous stuff happened the last week of May and the first week of June.
Who Do You Think You're Talking To?

1 month ago | offmessage.net | Brian Beutler

Try imagining yourself as someone with weak political commitments—someone who doesn’t watch or read much news, but whose fortunes turn pretty heavily on the course of federal policy. Maybe you’re middle class, and soon won’t be able to afford your pre-tariff lifestyle, which is about to cost a few thousand dollars more each year—but you’re only dimly aware that a big price shock is coming, and don’t fully understand why.
Mailbag: The Audacity Of Moral Clarity

1 month ago | offmessage.net | Brian Beutler

Thanks again for your questions, readers. I leave tomorrow evening for a two-week vacation, which means no more Thursday mailbags until June… UNLESS! Well, it isn’t really up to me, but… I’ve asked a good friend of Off Message, the writer and broadcaster , to take over here while I’m gone. If you listen to public radio, or read or watched Vice News before the fall, then you’ve likely come across his work.
How The Supreme Court Became Lawless

1 month ago | offmessage.net | Brian Beutler

It’ll be very hard to turn the page on this era we’re living through, in any kind of democratically legitimate way, unless we do something about the Supreme Court first.