Jan-Werner Müller in LRB: ‘Orbán employed what scholars call “autocratic legalism”: a form of government in which laws are passed according to proper procedures, but with the intention of strengthening the executive and enabling it eventually to act with impunity.’

And: ‘Budapest became a pilgrimage site for MAGA-adjacent intellectuals eager to enjoy its food, “free speech” and, as some gushed, a leader ready to discuss the finer points of political philosophy in English.’

As well: ‘His [Orbán’s] childhood friend Lőrinc Mészáros, a gas fitter, became the country’s richest man.’

Also: ‘He [Trump] might even prove receptive to a younger man in a slim suit: it worked for Zohran Mamdani.’

Ah, youth and a slim suit, that’s how you seduce Trump.

The MAGA-adjacent intellectuals might have to flock to another capital. Caracas? Or maybe, later this year, to Greenland?

(a sf 2125)