On Oct. 25, 2023, Anne McElvaine was sending a message to a friend in response to House Republicans unanimously electing Rep. Mike Johnson as speaker. She was saying that he appears to be an idiot and a nut. A typo combined those words into the wonderfully appropriate neologism “idionut.” It is a word for our times.
Author: Robert S. McElvaine
Robert S. McElvaine is a professor of history emeritus at Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss., the author of 11 books, most recently, The Times They Were a-Changin’—1964: The Year “The Sixties” Arrived and the Battle Lines of Today Were Drawn and writes “Musings & Amusings of a B-List Writer” on Substack. He is currently completing a book manuscript with the working title, Diving Beneath the Wreck—and Resurfacing: On the Origins & Consequences of Sexual Inequality.
The Wonderful Karma of Black Women Saving American Democracy
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has succeeded in getting Donald Trump’s co-conspirators—especially key insiders Sydney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro—to plead guilty and testify against the former president and others.
This move is the latest example of Black women leading the way in defense of our endangered democracy.