Samuel Earle

Apr 26, 2024 | theguardian.com | Samuel Earle

There is a morose mood in the Conservative party. It isn’t just that the Tories expect to lose the next election – they fear that the coming defeat might be definitive, a result from which they never recover. One recent multilevel regression and poststratification (MRP) poll forecasts that the Tories could be reduced to fewer than 100 seats – their lowest ever haul – with Labour predicted to secure an unprecedented 250-plus seat majority. Tory grandees are consequently gloomy.

Mar 29, 2024 | startribune.com | Samuel Earle

Opinion editor's note: Star Tribune Opinion publishes a mix of national and local commentaries online and in print each day. To contribute, click here. ••• In recent months, Donald Trump has been trying out a new routine. At rallies and town halls across the country, he compares himself to Al Capone. "He was seriously tough, right?" Trump told a rally in Iowa in October, in an early rendition of the act.

Mar 27, 2024 | sltrib.com | Samuel Earle

In recent months, Donald Trump has been trying out a new routine. At rallies and town halls across the country, he compares himself to Al Capone. "He was seriously tough, right?" Mr. Trump told a rally in Iowa in October, in an early rendition of the act. But "he was only indicted one time; I've been indicted four times." (Capone was, in fact, indicted at least six times.) The implication is not just that Mr. Trump is being unfairly persecuted but also that he is four times as tough as Capone.

Nov 24, 2023 | newstatesman.com | Samuel Earle

In Fyodor Dostoevsky’s dark parable, “The Legend of the Grand Inquisitor”, Jesus returns to Earth amid the Spanish Inquisition and performs smalls miracles – curing an old man of blindness, resurrecting a young girl from the dead – as hundreds of heretics are burned alive. While crowds gather at Jesus’s feet, the town’s grand inquisitor, an elderly cardinal overseeing the violence, is unimpressed, and has Jesus locked up in a prison cell where he chastises the holy prisoner for his sins.

Nov 16, 2023 | newstatesman.com | Samuel Earle

During Alice’s adventures in Through the Looking Glass, she meets Humpty Dumpty, a haughty egg bamboozles her with nonsensical questions. He seizes a book from her hands and then – without knowing how to read it – declares: “Well, there’s glory for you!” Alice doesn’t recognise the expression, but Humpty Dumpty explains that it means “there’s a nice knock-down argument for you”. When Alice points out that “glory” actually means something else, Humpty Dumpty won’t hear it.