George Packer has an excellent piece at the Atlantic on what’s on the minds of voters in hardscrabble western Pennsylvania. … Read it. It’s one of the best election-year stories out there.

With an emphasis on “theoretically.” Banker & Tradesman has the details (sub. req.). … Even if only a few hundred of the housing units are built, Needham will have done its part in helping to address the housing shortage in Massachusetts.

Of course I’m shocked and outraged. I didn’t think he could sink lower. But he did. … Yet we’ve been down this same shocked-and-outraged road before — and it hasn’t made much of a difference. It’s another anti-Trump bubble story, something that merely deepens the already deep loathing of those who long ago voiced their vehement opposition to Trump. … Kamala Harris has less than two weeks to convince the last remaining undecided voters and non-revved up voters why they should vote for her. It can’t all be about anti-Trumpism. Haven’t Dems figured this out yet?

Update — He may be a fascist, but is saying so smart politics? What are some of his non-fascist supporters thinking? Is this a “deplorables” moment? …

I really liked David French’s column from last week, explaining why DEI and various other solutions to complex social problems are often doomed to failure, to wit: political monocultures. … It basically comes down to like-minded people not listening to others’ ideas, thus reducing the odds of success.

The Globe’s Ben Volin comes out and says it: Blame the Krafts, not Jerod Mayo, for the Pats’ wretched play of late. “With each bumbling loss, the Krafts’ decision to hire Mayo looks increasingly arrogant or naive.”

Actually, it was hubris. … And it reminds me of when Notre Dame hired Gerry Faust as its head football coach, straight from high school, proving ND had come to believe in its own myths.

As Scott Van Voorhis notes at Contrarian Boston, Gov. Maura Healey, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, state Attorney General Andrea Campbell and others have belatedly come out against the anti-MCAS ballot question that’s heavily backed by the Mass. Teachers Association. … It’s almost as if the leaders’ too-little-too-late action was deliberate, allowing them to say they did the right thing and yet not angering the MTA too much. The public union is a big player in the state Democratic party after all.

At Contrarian Boston, David Van Voorhis, aka Statman, who’s not to be confused with his father and CB founder Scott V., offers explanations for why the betting markets have suddenly soured on Kamala Harris. … The kid certainly has a future in polling if he chooses to go down that route.

The second I heard it, I liked it, i.e. the term ‘two minority parties’ as a way to describe our contemporary Democratic and Republican parties. Neither seems capable of forging a majority coalition, largely because their bases won’t let them. … ‘Two minority parties’ via Ruy Teixeira and Yuval Levin, whose new study was cited by David Brooks in his latest NYT column. And I liked David’s descriptions of the ‘priesthoods’ now controlling the two parties.

Dear Trump supporters: This is your man.

Update – From a reader: “I thought he was going to blame the immigrants.”

The Globe has a well-balanced story this morning on immigration in Massachusetts, describing the recent influx of immigrants who are truly transforming the state. … What’s encouraging is that most Massachusetts residents welcome (or mostly welcome) immigrants. They’ve concluded, like I have, that the newcomers are mostly hard-working, law-abiding and friendly people, despite the rants of a certain obnoxious Orange Man running for president.

But there is rising concern/anger/resentment, as the Globe reports, at how much the state is spending on shelters and other services provided to the newcomers, raising complaints among both Republicans and Democrats that they’re getting “free rides” at the expense of long-time residents. And it’s a very legitimate complaint, IMHO, and it’s one of the reasons Dem lawmakers are rightly retreating somewhat from their previous open-arms approach to immigration.

Two other quick concerns that weren’t directly addressed in the story and are sort of small pet-peeves of mine: 1.) By spending so much on migrant shelters, education, health care, food stamps etc., are we effectively creating a long-term entitlement mindset among the newcomers? 2.) Are they developing a sense of civic and patriotic pride? I view this as key, especially since the Jan. 6, 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol and fears of the weakening of our democracy. The last thing we need are new citizens (or future citizens) who are cynical and apathetic about America and our constitutional rights.