Welcome to Off Message

Refuge from a world gone mad

Many of my formative political memories and experiences as a political journalist date back to the late George W. Bush years, which in hindsight feels like a more innocent time. But that’s only by comparison to 2023, when social media is ubiquitous and distorting, Americans are awash in propaganda, and one of the country’s two major political parties has embraced a totalitarian kind of dishonesty, which back then it was only flirting with.

The truth is the old days weren’t so innocent. Two misbegotten wars—one completely lawless—had become quagmires, the United States had become synonymous internationally with torture and warrantless spying, and the world was on the brink of an era-defining economic calamity. But all of that coexisted with a bracing sense that most people had caught on to the malice and failures of the country’s leaders, were eager to rise against them, and confident enough in their righteousness that they were willing to air their internal differences without fear or favor. Or at least with less fear or favor than now.

To put it in more partisan terms, Democrats were tired of losing and ready to fight. Fifteen years ago, it seemed natural rather than heretical that new ideas and leaders should challenge older ones, and Democrats had more confidence to confront Republicans directly across a range of liabilities. They correctly identified a “culture of corruption” that had run rampant in the Bush years, and exposed much of it on their march back to power. They didn’t reflexively close ranks around whichever leaders felt most safe—far from it, one of the big reasons Barack Obama challenged Hillary Clinton for the presidency, and was able to win the nomination, is because Nancy Pelosi (who was then House speaker) and Harry Reid (who was then Senate majority leader) encouraged him to run. Liberals argued in a freewheeling way about the candidates they supported, without panicking that they might undermine the cause of change.

That whole spirit is gone.

Today we see a great deal of sorting on the center and left into party-aligned media on the one hand, and more factional progressive media on the other; we see a party that suppresses misgivings about its leaders, too insecure about the relative popularity of its own values to feel comfortable grappling with internal dissent. You’re expected either to rage against Joe Biden for not endorsing all 117 items on a laundry-list agenda nobody's heard of; or you’re supposed to pretend not to understand that an old guy who stutters is a suboptimal spokesperson for a major political party. You’re expected to take it for granted that everything is terrible, or to clap for the Democrats and encourage others to clap along. That doesn’t leave much space for those of us who aim, in the words of a storied old British editor, to see life steady, and see it whole¹. Who value both consistency and open-mindedness to reason and evidence. Who fully understand the stakes of our elections, but think there’s still plenty of space for and value in vigorous intraparty criticism. In all other realms it’s considered completely normal to grow frustrated with the management of entities (sports teams, businesses, non-profits) we loyally support. It should be acceptable in politics today as well.

Of course, I understand. Everyone who stays abreast of real news and good-faith analysis knows it’s a scary time. Many of us rightly harbor deep foreboding about what will likely happen if the right returns to power. The impulse to paper over these differences isn’t mean spirited or illiberal; it’s risk averse. It’s driven by fear.

I think that fear is misplaced. And that’s why I’m launching Off Message. You’ve probably gathered by now, Thursday was my last day at Crooked Media. With my departure I can write about anything I think is important without ever worrying about undermining anyone else’s objectives, and I'm genuinely excited about the independence that striking out on my own will provide.

But it’s only independence of a kind: after all, I can’t do it without you.

I want Off Message to be a beachhead for that lost spirit. To that end, I’ll be writing a lot about the 2024 election, the multi-pronged effort to make the election as confusing as possible for voters, the elite shortcomings that sustain the confusion, and critical analysis of how well or poorly Democrats are doing as they fight to save the democracy. I’ll offer in depth coverage of politics, media, and political culture, and insights into how to see past the jargon and dissembling and distortions—the ON message—that can make these realms hard to grasp. I'll also produce a regular video feature to help subscribers learn to read the news the same way we in the business do, and offer a few other perks.

If you honor me with a paid subscription, you’ll receive three column- or essay-length editions a week, one video, and access to a weekly AMA style chat. Subscribers to the free edition will receive a topical essay every Friday, which will endeavor to make sense of a week’s worth of news.

If you’re already sold—if this rundown speaks to you, or you’ve followed my work over the years and want to support it going forward—you can also choose to become a Founding Member. If you do, you’ll get special access to events at least once a quarter including Zoom conversations, live events or tapings (stay tuned!), and, maybe even a launch party here in Washington, DC.

Then, if enough of you sign up, I’ll be able to bring other voices into the conversation on a regular basis. I believe they’ll have much to contribute, because I think there’s a lot of pent-up frustration with how liberal political culture has changed over the past decade and a half. That’s why I hope you’ll consider becoming a paying subscriber now, in this critical launch month, when I need you most, and why I’ll offer those of you who are most excited about this project a discount. If we can help, even in a small way, to rekindle that lost spirit, I'll consider it a success, and you’ll have been a big part of why it worked.

George Orwell famously said “to see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle.” I almost named this newsletter after that quote—“constant struggle”—but decided not to for a few reasons. For one thing, the quote is especially popular—to the point of cliche—among writers who conceive of themselves as the last lonely strivers willing to do the rigorous work required to grasp reality. I don’t want to come across that way. But I also wouldn’t want to leave anyone with the impression that subscribing and following along will be a slog. It won’t, and shouldn’t be. Despite all the effort that has been dedicated to making our political world inscrutable, I honestly believe that, for the most part, in 2023, seeing what’s in front of our noses needs almost no struggle at all. Just a few good habits, a little solidarity, and faith that a better more honest world is possible. Those things can be invigorating. They’re what kept me going all these years. I hope you’ll join me.

1. Hat tip, James Fallows.