“Witch Way Home” by Todd Seavey on SpliceToday

My native New England has its rationalists and reformers but also, as the creepy movie The Witch captures beautifully, its seventeenth-century dark side, I write.

“Pythagoras for President” by Todd Seavey on SpliceToday

Faced with so much vague, irrational bluster, what the Republicans -- and America -- need, I write, is a candidate who can blend the mystical and the budget-mathematical.

“Social Justice Monsters” by Todd Seavey on SpliceToday

A Khmer Rouge leader says he did it all -- like killing a quarter of Cambodia’s population -- for “social justice,” as I reflect in today’s column.

“Bernie, the Boss, and Beatniks” by Todd Seavey on SpliceToday

In today’s column I note that libertarian writer turned rock musician Andrew Kirell sees some libertarians turning toward Bernie Sanders, who scares Rand Paul but inspired poetry from Allen Ginsberg.

“It Takes a Villain” by Todd Seavey on SpliceToday

Hillary Clinton is evil and corrupt, as is Donald Trump, and this is no accident, I write (and I note therein, as I do here, that I was in two recent Lucy Steigerwald podcasts, one on fascism and one on the related topic of Star Wars).

“Thick Libertarians” by Todd Seavey on SpliceToday

It is a problem, not a benefit, that libertarianism spawns strange factions in recent years, I write.

“Big Bro Is a Gentle Soul” by Todd Seavey on SpliceToday

P.C. is just one of many ways that the fragile and the brutal alike end up detached from reality and wallowing in groupthink, I write.

“The Common People” by Todd Seavey on SpliceToday

H.L. Mencken joked the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard -- and as I write in today’s column, sometimes it’s fascism, Trump, or even Pere Ubu.

“Twitch-Muscle Democracy” by Todd Seavey on SpliceToday

Like gamers and Twitter-users, citizens in general may demand ever-stupider politics until the robots kill us all, I write.

“Year of the Superhero” by Todd Seavey on SpliceToday

This year brings seven major superhero films, starting with Deadpool, and it will be interesting to see how that character’s success changes things, I write.

“Scalia vs. the Unknown” by Todd Seavey on SpliceToday

At his best, Scalia was attempting to prevent law from being random and mysterious, I write.

“Fourteen Loves for the 14th” by Todd Seavey on SpliceToday

I write of fourteen things I love, sort of, relating to sex or gender. Again, I say sort of. I blame politics (and in passing bid farewell to kindred spirit William Tucker).

“Libertarian BS and DTs” by Todd Seavey on SpliceToday

I write about a few libertarians who are so far out on leftward and rightward fringes -- well, that they end up sounding like Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump supporters, sort of like New Hampshire residents.

“Triumph of the Insult” by Todd Seavey on SpliceToday

I write of Sanders and Trump winning in New Hampshire, which is a bit like having Triumph the Insult Comic Dog win and poop all over those more fragile traditions that were liberalism and conservatism.

“GOP with a Democrat on Top” by Todd Seavey on SpliceToday

I write of how patterns appear to hold until they don’t, as with the U.S.’s formerly-important pattern of wanting fiscally-conservative presidents and big-spending legislators.

“Crossing the RubioCon” by Todd Seavey on SpliceToday

Rubio being seen as faring badly Saturday night contributes to a last bit of hope for the three governors in the GOP race, but I still just want Trump (and the racists who love him) out quickly, not a protracted battle, I write.

“Defining Progressives: Clinton’s from an era before Sanders” by Todd Seavey on SpliceToday

The meaning of “progressive” has changed, I write in today’s column, after last night’s Clinton/Sanders throw-down.

“Abandon Democracy” by Todd Seavey on SpliceToday

It’s not just Rand Paul’s departure from the presidential primary that leads me to urge abandoning democracy in today’s column. It’s the fact that government in general is humanity at its worst.

“Democracy’s Quintuple Bypass” by Todd Seavey on SpliceToday

There are only five major-party candidates who are still viable post-Iowa, I write today, and all of them seem pretty bogus at this point.

“Presidents: Hybrid Vigor” by Todd Seavey on SpliceToday

Whether it’s Cruz, Trump, or Obama, potential U.S. presidents are always in some way weird hybrids, I write in today’s column.

“Doomsday in Iowa” by Todd Seavey on SpliceToday

I lament possible Iowa caucus outcomes today in my daily column while recognizing that rallying around Ted Cruz is probably the only hope for anti-Trump Republicans.