Who Are the Good Guys and the Bad Guys? I’m No Longer Sure.

When I joined this newspaper as a columnist, 17 years ago, Barack Obama was still enjoying the flush of first-term popularity. In both political and cultural circles, there was vaulting confidence that his fusion of social liberalism and technocratic ambition had swept away the conservative era in American politics.

The columnist’s job contains multitudes, but it’s useful to have a primary antagonist, a specific worldview that you think needs to be challenged and critiqued.........

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