The true leader of these extreme MAGAs I’m talking about is clearly an FBI operation. It’s quite smart because it keeps them from voting and soothes their sky-high anxiety through the narrative of a worldwide benevolent force called “the White Hats” that controls everything and ensures that everything will turn out right. Every state has this kind of counterintelligence (or Deep State, as Americans call it) operations to keep the most disaffected and high-anxiety segments in check.

Here’s what worries me, though. The Q-Anon MAGAs have a left-wing counterpart. This far-far-left is, in many ways, identical to the far-far-right. They even believe in some of the exact same things. One of these things is the global Jewish conspiracy led by the Rothschilds that the White Hats (or the world revolutionaries, in the far-far-left imaginary) are battling and will eventually defeat. Both groups believe that the US is the heart of world evil because it either was turned into a corporation (far-far-right) or because it’s the source of capitalism (far-far-left). Both groups are very high-anxiety. But I’ve never seen any traces of a counterintelligence operation aimed at controlling and channeling into something less angry this far-far-left MAGA type. I didn’t see it 20 years ago and I don’t see it now.

Nobody is studying the MAGAs, but they are a fascinating, continuously evolving and very misunderstood movement. For instance, their attachment to Trump is a lot more provisional and weak than many people think. In last week’s election, they humiliated him by not showing up to vote because their real leader told them not to. Most Trump-endorsed candidates tanked as a result but MAGAs are completely indifferent to that fact. “Those were bad candidates,” they say stonily. “And there’s no real voting anyway until we recover our constitution.” [They believe that the US stopped being a country and became a corporation over a 100 years ago and every election since then has been a sham. Even Trump’s because he wasn’t elected but installed by a military junta.]

True MAGAs’ narrative on Trump is “I still believe he’s not corrupt and I’ll support him until I hear otherwise.” The moment the true leader tells them otherwise, they’ll dump Trump and move on.

I’m talking about the hardcore MAGAs here. The adrenochrome adepts. If you don’t know what that is and can’t name the true leader I’m referring to, you aren’t one of them.

No, they didn’t. Just like COVID, this simply wasn’t on the ballot. Republicans literally didn’t put a single thing I care about on the ballot. There’s a plethora of surefire winning issues, and they used exactly zero of them.

Everybody is going to have a wall soon enough.

If a civil war breaks out in Russia, for the first time in my life I’ll become a both-siderist and cheer on both sides.

What a day, people, what a day. Such incredible joy, and just in time for my wedding anniversary on Sunday. We’ll have a lot to celebrate this weekend.

I brought Klara by my office. She examined everything and discovered that everything was to her satisfaction except for one thing.

“What I don’t understand, Mommy,” she said, “is why there’s a broken Russian flag in front of your office.”

Of course, it’s the French flag she saw by my office.

Another brilliant operation by the Armed Forces of Ukraine liberated the Ukrainian city of Kherson. People are coming out into the streets with Ukrainian flags. Imagine the risks they ran hiding these flags during occupation when people were shot or hung by Russians for lesser offences against Russian sensibilities. This is the power of the nation.

Please don’t pay attention to the headlines in Western media that say things like “Russian troops withdrew from Kherson.” They didn’t withdraw. They were kicked out. This was another very elegant, patient, thought-out operation by the Ukrainian army. Russians lost, in part, because yet again they sacrificed military strategy to political purposes. They sent massive troops to hold on to towns with no strategic importance because those towns acquired symbolic value to them. To hold on to those towns they bared the strategically crucial parts of the front that were necessary to deliver weapons and supplies. It was pretty unbelievable to watch. All military analysts were saying, “Wait, they can’t possibly be doing this. It’s insane. Is there a trick?” But there’s no trick. It’s what happens when politicians try to conduct military strategy and the actual military leadership is completely sidelined. The failures of the Russian military strategy will be studied in military academies around the world for decades to come. As will Ukrainian wins.

Happy Veterans Day and glory to Ukraine!

I think I should get a bunch of T-shirts saying in big red letters, “Yes, I gave birth at 40.” It’s come up on 3 separate occasions in the past two days, and people just can’t wrap their minds against it. One person went as far as saying, “But that’s not possible!”

My friend told me that her physical therapist asked her how old I am because his friend is the mother of Klara’s friend at school (I know, confusing), and they are all wondering.

I’m too old to care about this kind of thing but it’s getting boring. It’s not even that big of a deal. My grandmother got pregnant with twins at 45, and she thought it was menopause and related weight-gain until the third trimester. The twins are now very active 65-year-olds. My first husband was born to a 42-year-old mother, and my close friend got pregnant by accident at 43 and then again at 46. Both kids are now adults.

It happens. Let’s get over it.

Why can’t I be a normal person and do things in moderation? But no, I have to attack everything like a crazy maniac. Take painting. The idea was to do a little relaxing painting, 30 minutes here and there.

Somehow that eminently reasonable plan transformed into me painting since 8 am today and only stopping because I have a 2-hour meeting I’m getting paid $500 to attend. I’d bring my painting there but it’s rather large (because why would I possibly start with a small, modest project like normal people?) and I’d end up being too conspicuous.

Yes, I’ll post the photo of the painting when I’m done. It’s kind of starting to shape up but there’s a long way to go. I’m doing a grey-black-white palette but the next one will be colorful. If I don’t drive myself into complete exhaustion before then.

Friedell believed that an artist of his type needed “a magnetic field” in which to operate. He was well aware that he was surrounded by the kind of people whose only ambition was to cut off the electricity. They were Nazis, and he was a Jew. On the day of the Anschluβ in 1938, Friedell saw the storm troopers marching down the street, on their way to the building in which he had his apartment full of books. He was only a few floors up but it was high enough to do the job. On his way out of the window he called a warning, in case his falling body hit an innocent passer-by.

Clive James, Cultural Amnesia