23. Lafayette Lee

On the week’s The Carousel Podcast, I’m happy to welcome my favorite political writer of the moment, Twitter anon Lafayette Lee. Our lengthy and wonderful discussion covers patriotism, political strategy, and of course the recent Nick Fuentes, Kanye West, Milo, Tim Pool debacle, as well as the larger Trump and DeSantis discussion (notice I’m not saying Trump v. DeSantis).But, a quick bit of HOUSEKEEPING (kill me please), as things are going to change a bit for The Carousel Podcast. After twenty or so episodes of experimentation, I’m getting a feel for the pod’s niche and my strenfs as a podcaster. Given my legal and journalistic backgrounds, as well as my general lack of emotion and boredom with small talk, I’ve found my questions to be more cutting than other podcasters. My prior prep usually takes outline format, almost like something a prosecutor would prepare before deposing a witness, except guided by genuine curiosity about my guests’ prior work versus their tortious behavior. Thus my convos are generally more efficient and to the point, calling for my guests to smooth out the folds in their thinking.To that end, episodes will be reframed as interrogations. I’ll be reducing the amount of namby pamby and a**-kissing, and diving straight into targeted questions about guests’ work. I’ll aim to keep episodes under an hour (which I failed to do with this episode). Also, as the podcast description, I’ll be sharing my very law school-esque outlines I create before each episode. A bit of transparency, and something that again I think sets The Carousel apart from other pods. So here goes…Lafayette Lee Interrogation Notes* First: your take on Kanye/Milo/Fuentes/Pool situation* Found you through your Emily Oster piece and on Twitter, absolutely love your political writing—perfect tone and flow, and of course great insights.* You: * your name, our “brand,” Lafayette Lee, Ruins of Corotman—“Visions of Plantations in the Air (The South, Civil War/Shelby Foote/Ken Burns).* Finding your audience. How did you grow so fast?* Why are you anon?* Your military experience* (“gut check moment” - when you realize it’s not what you thought it was* (“navigating the world as a civilian”)* Gay / globalist propaganda in the military itself. What have you seen?* Lefties in the military?* War movies—you say they’re like marvel movies. “War is always bad” Are they anti war propaganda?  How do they work? Examples: saving private Ryan, apocalypse now, thin red line…anything recent that’s actually good?* Elections: * You say: “Prior to the midterms, Republicans controlled more than half of all the nation’s state legislatures, with majorities in 62 chambers. And while Democrats managed to flip the Michigan state Senate and hold onto every state legislative chamber controlled prior, Republicans emerged from the midterms with 23 state Republican trifectas (party controls executive branch and both legislative branches) and 23 Republican triplexes (party controls governor, attorney general, and secretary of state), with 21 states with both a Republican trifecta and triplex.” What means?* What is actually occurring with the mail ins? Fortification (a la Time article)? Fraud? Ballot Harvesting? What’s illegal?* Would like you to explain this point a bit more: ““Quality candidates” and better messaging will not suffice. …Tedious debates trying to proving election fraud tend to obscure the obvious: that most regular Americans expect their elections to be as timely and transparent as any other public or private transaction. That future elections ought to meet these commonsense expectations is a winning message that will resonate with voters…”* Trump v. DeSantis. * You say “Razzle Dazzle is nothing compared to sweatwork” what means?* Patriotism, your common theme: * You’ve said Lincolnian “all men are created equal” is a founding myth that should be interrogated, but surely there is some quality of blood and soil even in this, no?* What does all men are created equal actually mean?* Definition of Patria* “Equality drives hostility and self centered ness” what means?* Where does principle of Freedom/Liberty fall in this?Follow Lafayette on TwitterLafayette Lee’s Substack, the Ruins of Corotman Lafayette Lee’s author page of IM1776The Carousel is a reader-supported publication. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe