FRIDAY short TAKES.

I think this is a low key secret thing that hurts Democrats in politics. We're always calling to take away people's straws, light bulbs, e-cigarettes, shower heads, etc. We're the party of You Can't Have What You Want, and voters remember that and choose the other guys. https://t.co/sz0nUbXGxK

— Dilan Esper (@dilanesper) July 7, 2025

It is soft tyranny, and we see it. "One side believes in pushing us towards what the state decided is morally right. In contrast, the other side treats us like adults and lets us make our own decisions."  We can mock them.  "Democrats are constantly warning that people will die if Republicans win elections. But they rarely act as if they really believe that nonsense. It's just a bunch of bullshit they say because they can't exactly run on being the party of obnoxious scolds who want to make your daily life more annoying."

We have the pictures.  "I wouldn’t be surprised if Trump were involved in documents related to Epstein, given that he had known the man for years; the rich often frequent similar circles. It’s knowing what belongs in the creep city pile and what doesn’t that liberal media and Democrats don’t seem to get."  That creep city pile is large.  "Epstein was a fixture of elite East Coast social circles in the 1990s. It would be strange if Trump didn’t know him."

The weekly round-up of mostly pithy elaborations on traditional Cold Spring Shops themes follows.

1.  To do so would be to lose votes.  "Democrats are doing nothing to calm their base’s insane fury."

2.  What good can soft tyranny achieve?  "Capitalism didn’t fail. It was undermined by bureaucrats, regulators, and central planners. Now, the same group that caused the problems claims they will fix them by increasing their own power."

3.  Presidents propose and Congresses dispose.  "The President requested that Congress pass a bill and . . . Congress passed the bill. That’s how things are supposed to work. Congress didn’t give up its power over spending; it exercised it."

4.  Dominant strategy equilibrium?  "If the deep state had the goods on Trump, the end of him would have come years ago."

5.  Fourth Turnings can be like that.  "There are serious, unresolved questions about the roles of Congress and the executive in controlling the far-flung activities of the federal government."

6.  The "critique" fetish.  "Partly because our cultural gatekeepers have made relentless criticism the mark of seriousness. They dismiss pride in country as naïve or dangerous."

7.  Leave children out of it.

8.  Illinois budgeting.  “This line item for Lincoln College? It’s basically a banner that says ‘incompetent.’”

9.  Process is government's most important product.  "California formed committees to oversee subcommittees that evaluated contracts for lines that didn’t exist. Meanwhile, the actual train remains stuck in concept art and artist renderings. It’s easier to draw the train than to build it."

10.  Undermine them with mockery.  "His name’s Daniel Perry, he’s a they / them, he was educated at a £48,000-a-year high school, and he calls himself a ‘queer dance artist’. Now all we need to discover is that he has ADHD and he really will be a walking checklist of middle-class twattishness."

11.  We warned you about Barack Obama.  "The hollow man put his thin hands back into his pockets. And he loped away."

12.  Reputation?  "The bull standing outside the door of the china shop is a powerful incentive to get along with the bull."

13.  Change my mind.  "Republicans believe in the American way, Democrats don’t."

14.  Government, generating and dissipating rents.  "The result isn't more abundance; it's cronyism masquerading as climate policy."

15.  Scenario?  More like our reality.  "Can we afford a scenario where students pretend to learn and we pretend to teach them?"

16.  Minneapolis.  "What you get when you cross a Third-World tribal culture with an urban Democratic establishment."

17.  Seattle.  “The sheer amount of carbon emissions the Blue Angels create — 670 tons in one weekend — is immense and wasteful on top of being a big display of U.S. militarism.”