Just as my first substantive post was about to be saved, the power went out (I’m guessing due to a delayed tree-fall attributable to the big Pacific storm over the weekend). So I’m now struggling to make do with a very slow personal I-phone Hot Spot and a balky laptop. Please bear with me, dear Animals.
Ed Kilgore, a contributing editor of the Washington Monthly, is a columnist for New York. More by Ed Kilgore

