The New York Times’s Resident Catastrophist Delivers Another Subscription to the End of the World
There are columnists who only report bad news when their party is out of power. There are columnists who criticize what’s wrong with the world regardless of who’s in charge. Others prefer to talk only about good news or to remain silent. And then there’s a final category, consisting of a single author, who always brings bad news: I’m referring to the veteran journalist Thomas B. Edsall.
The New York Times columnist disapproves of everything the Democratic Party does, everything Biden does, everything those left after Biden do, everything the Republican Party does or says, and, most of all, everything Trump does. Until now, I thought Edsall was one of those old bloodhounds who don’t play favorites. Now we know he’s exactly like the vast majority of progressive columnists, and that his entire ideological framework boils down to a single sentence that changes form but never substance: Trump is causing the apocalypse.
On Tuesday, Edsall treated us in the New York Times to one of those all-or-nothing columns, in which he breathlessly strings together, one after another, all the misfortunes that, in his view, Trump is bringing upon the world. He uses a tactic older than journalism itself. He begins with a specific, horrific case (a cancer patient) and then bombards the reader with a mishmash of generalities, all apocalyptic in tone, unsupported by any real evidence beyond vague, collective references to other equally vague publications.
[T]hese hypothetical victims have voices only he can hear.
From that initial case, he proceeds to conclude that Trump is causing millions of deaths worldwide through USAID cuts, promoting disease by sowing doubt about vaccines, and, my favorite, eliminating environmental regulations that supposedly saved tens of thousands of lives a year. I don’t know whether these tens of thousands of survivors of the climate cataclysm have personally told Edsall their stories, or whether this is just a peculiar phenomenon sometimes seen among left-wing columnists: these hypothetical victims have voices only he can hear.
Edsall accuses the president of using the presidency for his own benefit and that of his family, and for a moment, I thought he had changed the subject and was now writing about Joe Biden, but I was mistaken; it was still about Trump. (RELATED: Biden’s Penultimate Betrayal)
He claims that Trump has destroyed alliances with Europe and NATO, and it would be nice if, before bursting into tears over such claims, he asked himself a simple question: which alliances? The kind where the United States pays, and the rest spend their time insulting it? The kind where Russia and China call the shots? Or perhaps the kind where any turbaned antisemite carries more weight than the most important nation in the world? (RELATED: NATO Commits Suicide — All We Can Do Is Bury It)
Edsall also suggests that the Trump administration has dismantled the federal government. Frankly, nothing would make most Americans happier, but I’m afraid that hasn’t happened. As far as I can tell, everyone is still paying taxes, and the government can still meddle in your affairs without so much as an invitation.
He is deeply concerned about Trump’s supposed obsession with dividing society. I assume he forgets that nothing in history has caused more division and conflict across Western nations than the class resentments of the traditional left and the sectarianism of the postmodern left. Even if Trump were interested in dividing Americans, and I seriously doubt it, he could never have done half of what Obama or Biden accomplished, much less come close to what Kamala Harris seemed poised to do, had the Holy Spirit not intervened to spare the United States and the modern world that particular ordeal.
Generally speaking, Edsall’s prescriptions for the world’s ills would be perfectly suited to moderate socialism, provided we were living at the start of the 20th century. In 2026, talking to the Democratic Party about reclaiming the working class is like talking to my late grandmother about ChatGPT.
I think some of Edsall’s past analyses were misguided but well-intentioned. That is not the case here. This piece is nothing more than a bile-filled screed against the president — a column so exaggerated and absurd that it should embarrass the progressive intellectual Edsall once had within him. One day, we should seriously examine how the sectarian rancor of the far left consistently manages to poison any intellectual endeavor. It’s like a toxin for the mind.
“Easily the Worst President in U.S. History,” Edsall titles his lengthy rant, brimming with hyperbole and hallucination. Relax, sir. Go for a walk. Get some air. Talk to your friends. Have you ever considered adopting a cactus as a pet?
READ MORE from Itxu Díaz:
The Adventure of Suddenly Pulling the Handbrake
Why We Should Give to God What Is God’s, and to Caesar What Is Caesar’s
How to Survive Your Guests and Still Get Married
The New York Times’s Resident Catastrophist Delivers Another Subscription to the End of the World
There are columnists who only report bad news when their party is out of power. There are columnists who criticize what’s wrong with the world regardless of who’s in charge. Others prefer to talk only about good news or to remain silent. And then there’s a final category, consisting of a single author, who always brings bad news: I’m referring to the veteran journalist Thomas B. Edsall.
The New York Times columnist disapproves of everything the Democratic Party does, everything Biden does, everything those left after Biden do, everything the Republican Party does or says, and, most of all, everything Trump does. Until now, I thought Edsall was one of those old bloodhounds who don’t play favorites. Now we know he’s exactly like the vast majority of progressive columnists, and that his entire ideological framework boils down to a single sentence that changes form but never substance: Trump is causing the apocalypse.
On Tuesday, Edsall treated us in the New York Times to one of those all-or-nothing columns, in which he breathlessly strings together, one after another, all the misfortunes that, in his view, Trump is bringing upon the world. He uses a tactic older than journalism itself. He begins with a specific, horrific case (a cancer patient) and then bombards the reader with a mishmash of generalities, all apocalyptic in tone, unsupported by any real evidence beyond vague, collective references to other equally vague publications.
[T]hese hypothetical victims have voices only he can hear.
From that initial case, he proceeds to conclude that Trump is causing millions of deaths worldwide through USAID cuts, promoting disease by sowing doubt about vaccines, and, my favorite, eliminating environmental regulations that supposedly saved tens of thousands of lives a year. I don’t know whether these tens of thousands of survivors of the climate cataclysm have personally told Edsall their stories, or whether this is just a peculiar phenomenon sometimes seen among left-wing columnists: these hypothetical victims have voices only he can hear.
Edsall accuses the president of using the presidency for his own benefit and that of his family, and for a moment, I thought he had changed the subject and was now writing about Joe Biden, but I was mistaken; it was still about Trump. (RELATED: Biden’s Penultimate Betrayal)
He claims that Trump has destroyed alliances with Europe and NATO, and it would be nice if, before bursting into tears over such claims, he asked himself a simple question: which alliances? The kind where the United States pays, and the rest spend their time insulting it? The kind where Russia and China call the shots? Or perhaps the kind where any turbaned antisemite carries more weight than the most important nation in the world? (RELATED: NATO Commits Suicide — All We Can Do Is Bury It)
Edsall also suggests that the Trump administration has dismantled the federal government. Frankly, nothing would make most Americans happier, but I’m afraid that hasn’t happened. As far as I can tell, everyone is still paying taxes, and the government can still meddle in your affairs without so much as an invitation.
He is deeply concerned about Trump’s supposed obsession with dividing society. I assume he forgets that nothing in history has caused more division and conflict across Western nations than the class resentments of the traditional left and the sectarianism of the postmodern left. Even if Trump were interested in dividing Americans, and I seriously doubt it, he could never have done half of what Obama or Biden accomplished, much less come close to what Kamala Harris seemed poised to do, had the Holy Spirit not intervened to spare the United States and the modern world that particular ordeal.
Generally speaking, Edsall’s prescriptions for the world’s ills would be perfectly suited to moderate socialism, provided we were living at the start of the 20th century. In 2026, talking to the Democratic Party about reclaiming the working class is like talking to my late grandmother about ChatGPT.
I think some of Edsall’s past analyses were misguided but well-intentioned. That is not the case here. This piece is nothing more than a bile-filled screed against the president — a column so exaggerated and absurd that it should embarrass the progressive intellectual Edsall once had within him. One day, we should seriously examine how the sectarian rancor of the far left consistently manages to poison any intellectual endeavor. It’s like a toxin for the mind.
“Easily the Worst President in U.S. History,” Edsall titles his lengthy rant, brimming with hyperbole and hallucination. Relax, sir. Go for a walk. Get some air. Talk to your friends. Have you ever considered adopting a cactus as a pet?
READ MORE from Itxu Díaz:
The Adventure of Suddenly Pulling the Handbrake
Why We Should Give to God What Is God’s, and to Caesar What Is Caesar’s
How to Survive Your Guests and Still Get Married
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.