Brian M Downing and the world at war. Timely, thoughtful, and nonpartisan analysis of military matters. @BrianMDowning1.
Brian M Downing Russia’s drive on Kharkiv earlier this year showed early promise but came to a halt. As with previous attempts to regain the initiative, around Bakhmut for example, it took little ground and incurred tens of thousands of casualties. This week Ukraine crossed into Kursk, a Russian province Read More …
Brian M Dowing Today’s populism isn’t a cult. It’s a broad-based movement that’s grown in numbers and vitality over the last fifty years. Pollsters and social scientists for the most part missed it, though anyone who saw Arbitron and Nielsen’s radio ratings knew something was up. Politicians and academics and Read More …
Brian M Downing Rural-dwellers, opponents of big government, traditional nationalists, working people, and the religious right constitute the popular base. They have emotional attachment to America. When asked if they love their country they unhesitatingly affirm it. Other Americans respond, “Well, yes…but.” The base sees the rest of the country Read More …
I recently watched three movies featuring William Holden. It wasn’t part of a HoldenFest; all three happened to be on TV in recent weeks. I’ve always admired his ability to convey a decent fellow wrestling with problems and doing so with facial expressions and vocal inflections rather than flamboyance and Read More …
Brian M Downing Religion was once central to family, community, and nation. The three formed a coherent whole. The new land created a covenant for a free, devout people. Religion and patriotism were, as Robert Bellah put it, fused into a civil religion. Both religion and patriotism have declined significantly Read More …
Brian M Downing Many in the movement see themselves as true patriots – descendants of homesteaders and workers and soldiers. Their love of America is deep and gut-level. They see others speak the appropriate words and stand for the Anthem but judge their affection as shallow and less forceful. They’re Read More …
Brian M Downing Americans see themselves as independent, self-reliant, and opposed to intrusive forces. That was essential to the merchants, craftsmen, planters, and farmers who opposed British taxation and Church of England expansion. “Don’t tread on me” was embroidered into flags and myths. The principle surfaced during the Whiskey Rebellion, the Read More …
Brian M Downing A new populism began with H Ross Perot’s presidential campaigns and the Tea Party movement. Both were short-lived but populism came back strong with the Trump victory in 2016. Defeat four years later, the January 6 insurrection, and a slew of indictments of its leader haven’t weakened it. Read More …
Brian M Downing Studying the quarrels of an ancient day [we] can at least seek to understand both parties to the struggle and want to understand them better than they understood themselves; watching them entangled in the net of time and circumstance [we] can take pity on them – these Read More …
Brian M Downing A world war between China and Russia on the one hand and the West on the other has begun. Fighting is on in Ukraine and Israel and tension is building on the Korean Peninsula and along the Sino-Indian border. China will try to retake Taiwan in coming Read More …