The pushback is a heartening sign of the limits of elite cultural power, and of the lack of interest of most Latinos in being pawns in the ever more strained and obscure progressive politics of perpetual victimology.

The details change the heat of these stories. They matter, even when they involve predators and creeps.

I wouldn’t write about the Jussie Smollett case and his conviction for lying about a hoax he perpetrated if it didn’t reflect something seriously wrong in the culture. Smollett was convicted in Chicago last week of faking an attack by a supposed Trump-MAGA man he claimed uttered racist and homophobic slurs.

On the supply side, there is growing evidence of supply-chain easing. Ocean freight rates are falling just as U.S. consumers retrench after pre-buying Christmas gifts. Anchored ships laden with retail goods — “floating inventories” — will probably soon be unloaded and trucked to their destinations, adding to inventories.

It’s possible for a political leader to be a robust nationalist and social conservative without jailing the political opposition, assassinating critics, invading and dismembering neighboring countries, enriching a kleptocracy, and installing a de facto dictator for life.

If Putin invades Ukraine, if China invades Taiwan, if Iran finishes a nuclear bomb, if North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un decides to move against South Korea, all of them may see this as the ideal opportunity to engage in behavior they might think twice about if America had a strong president.