Welcome to the commentary magazine podcast today is Thursday January 19th, 17th,

2019, I'm still writing 2017 on my checks, not that I write any checks. I'm John

Pajor, the editor of commentary magazine, the 70 out-year-old monthly of intellectual

analysis, political, property, and cultural criticism from a conservative perspective.

We invite you to join us at commentarymagazine.com where we give you a few free reads,

ask you to subscribe, 1995 for a digital subscription, and 2995 for an all-access subscription,

including our beautiful monthly magazine in your mailbox 11 times a year. We just closed

our February issue. We will be talking about a very important issue, article in that issue,

with its author in a little bit. That author is social commentary columnist Christine Rosen back

after a couple of shows away. Hi Christine. Hi John. And with me in studio,

senior editor Abe Greenwald. Hi Abe. Hi John. And associate editor Noah Rothman. Hi John.

So we thought maybe we'd shift gears away from the gorilla, the 800 pound gorilla or elephant,

or whatever in the room, or the 800 pound gorilla or something, and reflect on what is going on

with the Democratic Party, the National Democratic Party, in the weeks after the shutdown started,

and Democrats took control of Congress. And I think four or five candidates have now basically

said they were running for a president either explicitly and officially or slightly unofficially.

Those are by my count Elizabeth Warren, Joaquin McAstrow,

Kristen Gillibrand, who am I forgetting? Tulsi Gabbard. Tulsi Gabbard and John Delaney.

Delaney, who was a congressman from New Jersey. I believe in Maryland. Maryland, okay.

So, and I think it is fair, and of course, the pre-launch campaign of better or work,

the now former congressman from Texas, who made an incredibly close stab at winning the Texas

Senate seat away from Republican Ted Cruz. It seems to me, and then you add to that,

...