'What is this Hungarian model they so admire?'

'America's future is Hungary'

Anne Applebaum at The Atlantic

The "nationalist kitsch and tourist traps" of Hungary "hide a different reality," says Anne Applebaum. The Hungarian "prime minister, Viktor Orban, plays an outsize role in the American political debate." There is a "very old, very familiar blueprint for autocratic takeover, one that has been deployed by right-wing and left-wing leaders alike." Orban's "autocratic takeover is precisely what Bannon, Roberts and others admire, and are indeed seeking to carry out in the U.S. right now."

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'Jazz is profoundly American'

Elizabeth Alexander at Time

Jazz is the "most fundamental expression of innovation and creativity in American society, and as such must be both uplifted and protected," says Elizabeth Alexander. Having shaped the "arts and culture in their many different forms in our country, jazz lies at the heart of our great experiment." It's "no wonder then that jazz and the freedom it carries and conveys have long flourished." The "learning and the guiding" must be "preserved if we want jazz to persist."

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'Andrew Tate is back in Romania. How we handle him will reveal what kind of country we really are.'

Andrei Popoviciu at The Guardian

The Tate brothers have "returned to Romania from the U.S. as part of their legal obligations in the investigation against them," which is a "true test of our political and judicial system at a tense time," says Andrei Popoviciu. Will "officials bow down to pressure from the new U.S. administration? What will their handling of the case say about the country we are now?" If "Romania's justice system wants to maintain any credibility, it must remain independent."

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'Sorry, Mr. Vance, things are not the same as people'

Dan McLaughlin at the National Review

J.D. Vance is a "man who knows when he is holding low cards and needs to bluff," says Dan McLaughlin. Vance "still doesn't dispute that he's arguing that all Americans should pay a higher cost of living for the foreseeable future." This "requires an immense faith in politicians that is not grounded in anything." What's "really ridiculous is the argument that advocating free trade is equivalent to arguing that 'it should be illegal for the United States to control our borders.'"

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