If you did not see that presidential pardon coming, as the equal and opposite reaction to being dropped from the ticket, you’ve got brain rot, mate.

If there’s any tension between Einstein’s famous definition of insanity and Mark Twain’s quip about history rhyming, it’s on full and terrifying display in Andrew Rudyk’s recent retrospective on Hoovernomics in the Toronto Star.

The best thing that I listened to all week was a recent episode of journalist Latika Bourke’s podcast, Latika Takes, where she recently hosted a panel at the the Australian Institute of International Affairs conference on the subject of the incoming American administration. The immediate context was Australian politics and national defence, but their commentary may as well suffice for other countries like Canada. There’s also a seriousness here that reminded me I haven’t heard a group of Canadians talk like this in a long time.

Rounding out other items of note this week, the Spectator’s Matthew Parris has written an exceptional defence of the venerable first-past-the-post voting system, while the Economist offers up a thoughtful piece about our new, increasingly fractured media era.