Our politics and culture have rarely seemed more depressing. Answers needed.
ALEX BERENSON – JUN 22, 2026 – his Substack (i’m a subscriber)
Yesterday, the New York Times celebrated Father’s Day with an article by a trans “man” about how his daughter had helped him accept his top surgery.
True story.
I don’t mean to pick on Zach Ellams, the author, who clearly enjoys being a parent. But in running an essay called “What I Learned About Parenting as a Trans Dad” on Father’s Day the Times put a stick in the eye of real fathers. (It was good for sales of The Fatherhood Manifesto, though.)
Was the decision to offend intentional?
Or merely proof the Times, which last month ran a discussion about fatherhood and masculinity that included women and a childless man, but no actual fathers, simply did not recognize the contempt implicit in the piece?
I don’t know. And I’m not sure which option is worse.
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(Standing up for truth, justice, and the American Way! For pennies a day! That rhymes!)
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But the problem runs much deeper than the left’s continued promotion of transgenderism. As long as lefty elites remain this absurdly out of touch culturally, the right will have a monopoly on populism.
And as Eugyppius, one of my favorite Substackers, explained yesterday, rightist populism is facing its own problems, both it cannot figure out where its boundaries are and because it has attracted more than its fair share of grifters:
The populists have been able to recruit a few incredibly talented people, but if we are honest they have also inevitably filled their ranks with people who are inclined to various sorts of corruption, who don’t have any sincere political beliefs at all and who are mainly interested in personal advancement. The traditional parties have some of these types too, but they are undeniably more heavily concentrated within the populist backlash.
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(Door Number One, denying biology…)
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Indeed, the issues of corruption and the cult of personality that fuels populism are inextricably related.
Populist politicians (on the right or left) sell themselves on the basis of charisma and personality, not coherent policy. They are happy to ignore traditional government policy-making structures and change policies and priorities in ways establishment politicians aren’t.
In turn, that flexibility leaves them open to people and businesses looking for government help — in the form of regulatory or legal changes, or even direct cash subsidies or investments. Too often, particularly if accumulating wealth is a personal priority for them, politicians want a piece of what they’re handing out. They ask for donations and jump on profit-making side ventures.
Unfortunately, Donald Trump has proven adept at this kind of grifting. His administration’s embrace of kratom, a drug that although not an opioid is essentially a milder, liquid form of heroin, is only the most recent example.
As Kevin Sabet, who worked for both Republicans and Democrats in the Office of National Drug Control Policy, said last week, “It’s looking like we have a coin-operated drug policy that basically responds to whoever will give money.”
A coin-operated drug policy is… not good.
Before you jump to defend Trump, forget the guys making (hundreds of) millions peddling gas-station heroin. Look at their Big Pharma cousins making (tens of) billions. Ask yourself if you are happy with the fact the White House gave up on fixing the Food and Drug Administration when the industry pushed back.
At this point we should all understand that our President is not so much draining the swamp as putting a Trump-branded golf course on it.
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(Door Number Two, rules are for thee, not for me!)
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These problems have no obvious answer.
The left hates Donald Trump — and hates is not too strong a word. Yet even after his return to the White House it has failed to do the basic work of standing up to the absurd cultural attitudes that even now are driving ordinary Americans away from the Democratic Party.
Meanwhile, the greed that too many “populist” politicians display can only fuel further anger and a sense the game is rigged.
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Is there room for an angry centrist populism that is culturally relevant, personally honest, and able to grapple with the deep economic uncertainty that many working-and middle-class Americans face (even if statistics suggest the economy is still growing smoothly)?
Or is “centrist populism” a contradiction in terms?
As a (conservative) friend emailed this morning:
What, realistically, is required for a reasonable middle to rise? Can Elon Musk fund the rise of a new party and save the union?
I don’t know. Elon’s eyes seem to be pointed at the stars in any case, and the backlash into his foray into politics last year can’t have made him enthusiastic about further efforts.
Your suggestions welcome.
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(Btw, still don’t have an answer for this!)
Why does the left think mocking boys and men is okay?
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MAY 29
The Fatherhood Manifesto can’t get here soon enough.
Lord Buckbeak: "Will you come into my parlor?," said the Spider to the Fly. 
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