Marking a milestone in conservative commentary, the 200th episode of Malcolm on the Right arrives with both reflection and renewed purpose.
The host notes that this project is the latest chapter in a long career of experimentation with how best to reach readers and listeners, beginning with straight newspaper stories in the U.S. and abroad, then a newspaper features column, then political blogging for newspapers. According to RedState, he even slipped in eight years of political communications in state government, and then for a presidential campaign, an experience he describes as fascinating and intense learning, while wryly adding, (I still have never used algebra.)
He pauses to thank his audience directly: Thank you all for joining and sticking with me along the way here for what I intend to be an even longer run. That longevity, he suggests, is sustained not only by loyal listeners but also by a broader conservative ecosystem of writers and thinkers who challenge prevailing media narratives.
Two of those colleagues, he recalls, are John Merline and Terry Jones, who went on to found the Issues and Insights commentary site, which I highly recommend for thoughtful and often unexpected conservative commentary that makes you think. It was one of their recent posts, he explains, that prompted this weeks focus on the Founders constitutional design and the modern consequences of state-level policy choices.
They examined one of the Founding Fathers' most innovative designs, giving states specific powers to innovate and balance within the broader federal system. That federalist structure, long derided by progressives who prefer centralized power in Washington, is now quietly reshaping the political map as citizens vote with their feet.
That is what I discuss in this week's episode: how the innovations and experiments of some states on taxing are strongly attracting refugees from failing states. The result, he notes, is a demographic and political shift that is quietly re-balancing the states' representation in Congress, in a definite conservative direction for now.
He invites listeners to engage directly with the discussion: Hear my thoughts by clicking on the flag and then share yours in the Comments below. The commentary thus aims not merely to inform but to foster a community of readers who understand the stakes of federalism and fiscal policy.
Turning to foreign policy and media coverage, he highlights this week's Sunday column that analyzed the stunning ignorance of mainstream media about the young war in Iran. He argues that the widespread impression they seek to emit is that President Trump's effort to prevent those religious fanatics from ever developing nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them globally is failing.
In that column, he listed the wide-ranging destruction of Iranian military assets, allowing U.S. and Israeli planes to attack anywhere at will, even in daylight. Yet, he notes with evident disdain, his favorite clueless headline came from the New York Times: How Trump and His Advisers Miscalculated Iran's Response to War.
They must have meant the speed with which the military and police enforcement forces of the world's largest exporter of terrorism collapsed under the relentless assault. Instead of acknowledging that collapse, he argues, much of the press clings to a narrative of American failure and presidential incompetence.
Can Trump Derangement Syndrome really run this deep? he asks, pointing to a particularly egregious example from daytime television. Whoopi Goldberg on The View even suggested that Trump started the war to distract news coverage from the failure to capture Nancy Guthries kidnapper.
He recalls that Ed Morrissey and I had some fun with the media's sad effort to depict a military quagmire after all of three weeks during our weekly podcast at sister site, HotAir. The rush to declare a stalemate, he suggests, reveals more about ideological hostility to Trump than about the actual state of the conflict.
After such a broad display of willful ignorance, that media and its similarly-minded allies in the Democrat Party would like voters to think of that party as a realistic alternative to hand control of Congress in the midterm elections seven months from now. For conservatives, this disconnect between reality and reporting underscores why media skepticism and electoral vigilance remain essential.
The most recent audio commentary also examined the sad state of California these days under the long ongoing years of mismanagement by Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom. In his view, Newsom clearly is trying to position his ambition to take his disastrous policies and impose them on the other 49 states as president starting in 2029.
He frames the question starkly: Is Gavin Newsom's Decaying California the Actual Future of America? For those who have watched Californias exodus of taxpayers and businesses, the warning is not theoretical but immediate.
RedState readers know better, he concludes, confident that his audience understands the dangers of exporting California-style governance nationwide. But hopefully the nation's other voters are paying attention too.
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