Greetings and welcome to this 30th edition of the Carnival of Fools, on a day dedicated to them. Since this marks the convergence of my weekly newsletter with the (informal) national holiday celebrating folly, let’s let it flow unabated — and spill over into tomorrow, courtesy of the Trump administration. This is, after all, the greatest show on earth. But alas, first we must put the (little) boot in.
JD Vance Conquers Greenland
Some news at the end of last week gave me fair opportunity to indulge my inner classicist and recall one of the less bloody anecdotes attributed to Caligula, the Roman emperor primarily known to history for getting Penthouse magazine disastrously involved in the world of filmmaking. In the spring of A.D. 40, the emperor announced his intent to conquer the hitherto unsubdued island of Britannia for the Roman Empire. After unexplained delays and mutinies ...
