This week in The Texas Month-to-month, I learn a troubling profile of Tim Dunn, a 68-year-old billionaire Texas oilman and lavish financier for right-wing extremists within the state.
“Previously two years,” Russell Gold writes, “Dunn has change into the most important particular person supply of marketing campaign cash within the state by far.” He has spent, by means of his political motion committee, thousands and thousands of {dollars} concentrating on Republicans who don’t meet his ideological litmus checks of opposition to public colleges, opposition to renewable power and help for tax cuts and draconian anti-abortion legal guidelines.
A pastor who as soon as stated that solely Christians ought to maintain management positions in authorities, Dunn sees himself as somebody who’s on a non secular mission of kinds and has devoted his time and wealth to imposing his ultraconservative politics and fundamentalist beliefs on as many Texans as doable.
I extremely suggest studying your entire profile, which is a complete take a look at a really highly effective man. I used to be disturbed. There may be his wealth and affect, sure. However there’s additionally his worldview, captured within the opening scene of the piece. Dunn makes an unfavorable comparability between human societies and bee hives:
“When all people does what they do finest for the hive, it prospers,” he stated. “If you happen to’re a guard, then be a guard. If you happen to’re a scout, be a scout.” Dunn then contrasted the cooperation of the hive with the inexorable tumult of contemporary politics. “Why do individuals hate politics?” he requested. “Everyone’s making all of it about themselves,” he stated. “Does it create concord? Are individuals there making an attempt to serve the physique with their presents? That’s why you hate it. It’s an instance of what to not do.”
By itself, this passage reads as pretty innocuous. However when learn with Dunn in thoughts — an easy Christian nationalist whose allies in Texas politics are main the cost to ban books, suppress the rights of L.G.B.T.Q. Texans and limit reproductive well being care — it takes on a extra ominous solid.
The passage, in that context, appears to seize the attitude of a person who doesn’t imagine in democratic freedom — a freedom rooted in political and social equality — as a lot as he believes within the freedom of the grasp, which is to say the liberty to rule and subordinate others. It’s a tyrannical freedom, one which rests on the concept the world is nothing however a set of overlapping hierarchies, and that if you don’t sit on the prime of 1, then you definitely have to be made to serve those that do. You’ll discover freedom inside your function, and nowhere else.
This isn’t a brand new or international conception of freedom — it is rather a lot part of the American political custom, one of many extra dissonant notes in our collective heritage. The problem, right this moment, is twofold. First, we now have a robust political motion, led by Donald Trump, that defines itself by way of this freedom. And second, we’ve allowed such a grotesque accumulation of wealth that figures like Dunn can wield super affect over the political system.
I’ve written earlier than that the combat to save lots of American democracy will contain greater than beating Trump on the poll field. Discovering methods to radically restrict the political attain of the tremendous rich is a part of what I imply.
What I Wrote
My Tuesday column was on Trump’s apparent deficiencies as he runs for one more time period within the White Home.
It’s not that there aren’t respectable causes to be involved about Biden’s age. He’s already the oldest individual to serve within the Oval Workplace. The problem right here is considered one of proportion and consequence. Biden could also be unable to do the job in some unspecified time in the future sooner or later; Trump, it appears to me, already is. A kind of is much more regarding than the opposite.
My Friday column was on what I’m calling the Trump mulligan — the extent to which he’s not held accountable for the occasions of his personal presidency.
Why does Trump get this mulligan on his presidency? I believe it owes quite a bit to his superstar persona. Though Trump has not been on a serious display screen in Hollywood since 2015, when he was fired from NBC’s “The Apprentice,” he nonetheless retains the superstar standing he cultivated over a long time in movie and tv. He’s a politician — he was, once more, president of america — however he’s not perceived as a politician. He’s seen, even now, as outdoors of or someway transcending conventional politics.
I took this photograph in Bridgeport, Conn., final November, throughout a bit of free time I had earlier than a lecture that night.
Now Consuming: Purple Curry Lentils With Candy Potatoes and Spinach
I don’t have a lot so as to add to this recipe, which is from the Cooking Part of The New York Instances. I’ll say that it’s best to be happy to scale back the salt, particularly if you happen to’re somebody who wants to look at your sodium consumption. It’s nice by itself as a most important, however you could possibly additionally serve it as a aspect together with a fish masala.
Substances
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3 tablespoons olive oil
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1 pound candy potatoes (about 2 medium candy potatoes), peeled and lower into ¾-inch cubes
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1 medium yellow onion, chopped
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3 tablespoons Thai crimson curry paste
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3 garlic cloves, minced (about 1 tablespoon)
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1 (1-inch) piece contemporary ginger, peeled and grated (about 1 tablespoon)
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1 crimson chile, similar to Fresno or serrano, halved, seeds and ribs eliminated, then minced
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1 teaspoon floor turmeric
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1 cup crimson lentils, rinsed
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4 cups low-sodium vegetable inventory
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2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus extra to style
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1 (13-ounce) can full-fat coconut milk
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1 (4- to 5-ounce) bag child spinach
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½ lime, juiced
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Contemporary cilantro leaves, for serving
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Toasted unsweetened coconut flakes, for serving (non-compulsory)
Instructions
In a Dutch oven or pot, warmth 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high. Add the candy potatoes and prepare dinner, stirring sometimes, till browned throughout, 5 to 7 minutes. Switch the browned candy potatoes to a plate and put aside.
Add the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil to the pot and set the warmth to medium-low. Add the onion and prepare dinner, stirring sometimes, till translucent, 4 to six minutes. Add the curry paste, garlic, ginger, chile and turmeric, and prepare dinner till aromatic, about 1 minute.
Add the lentils, inventory, salt and browned candy potatoes to the pot and convey to a boil over excessive. Decrease the warmth and simmer, uncovered, stirring sometimes, till the lentils are simply tender, 20 to 25 minutes.
Add the coconut milk and simmer, stirring sometimes, till the liquid has lowered and the lentils are creamy and falling aside, 15 to twenty minutes.
Add the spinach and stir till simply wilted, 2 to three minutes. Off the warmth, stir within the lime juice and season with salt to style.
Divide amongst shallow bowls and prime with cilantro and coconut flakes, if utilizing.
