From the start, Trump’s rallies had the air of the tent revival, that same hot thrum of militant exorcism and ecstasy. Ben Fountain Read Quote
We, America, elected Trump. Putin didn’t do it, nor the trolls in St. Petersburg with their zillions of busy bots. They may well have plucked certain strings in the national psyche – played us like a dimestore ukulele – but we were keen to be plucked. Ben Fountain Read Quote
Surely it’s no coincidence that the Era of the AUMF, the Era of Endless War, is also the Golden Era of the Chickenhawk. We keep electing leaders who, on the most basic experiential level, literally have no idea what they’re doing. Ben Fountain Read Quote
Pretty much any day is a good day to go to the ballpark, but that first day of the season is special. It’s spring. The grass is green. Pessimism is impossible – at least, until the other team scores. Ben Fountain Read Quote
In the arsenal of the phony, the politics of God is one of the deadliest punches to the sweet spot of the American mind. Ben Fountain Read Quote
If you’re looking for the phony in American politics, you could do worse than follow the money. Ben Fountain Read Quote
Americans care a lot about authenticity, rightly so. Every election is a quest for the genuine article. This is precisely what makes the long con of American politics such a rich and mystifying study. Ben Fountain Read Quote
Obama was elected on the shoulders of an incipient movement that he allowed to languish once he became president. Ben Fountain Read Quote
I’m ashamed and embarrassed to say that I’ve read very little of David Foster Wallace’s work. It’s a huge gap in my education, one of many. Ben Fountain Read Quote
