The Atlantic

J. D. Vance and the Collapse of Dignity

American politics are now cruel burlesque.
Source: Jeff Swensen / Getty

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Every nation has fringe candidates and public spectacles in its political life, but today, the American right celebrates the abandonment of dignity and virtue.

First, here are three new stories from The Atlantic.


Clowns and Charlatans

Ohio’s U.S. Senate candidates, Tim Ryan and J. D. Vance, held their first debate last night in Cleveland. I wrote last year about why I find Vance so execrable, but my friend Jim Swift, a native Ohioan, argued today that while “Ryan gave a serviceable performance,” he “didn’t beat Vance into the ground, and given how far Ohio has gone in a MAGA direction, that’s what he needed to do.”

One moment, however, struck me. At a rally inLast night, Ryan slammed Vance for selling his dignity:

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