So finally read the Tracey and Nagle article. Here are my impressions for anyone interested enough to read them:

1) Most of the complaints I've seen centre on what are auxiliary/supporting points at best. I haven't really seen the broad thrust of the article properly critiqued.

2) I agree that some of the auxiliary and supporting points are tangents, kind of dumb, misrepresentations and have weak or shoddy foundations. But I feel it'd really be a waste of time getting into the specifics of these.

3) The article's actual point was good. It collected together a range of critiques hinted at by critics and self-critics of the Left during and after the Sanders campaign and presented them in a hard hitting fashion. Some choice quotes that I felt hit the mark:

4) That said, here are some of my broad criticisms of the article:

Firstly, by their own admission T & N didn't really go deep into what the greater problems behind the defeat were.

Secondly, when they did hint at causes these were largely idealistic and superficial.

The article's end calls for a more open intellectual culture, I agree, but I'm not sure it would have helped Sanders win. At the start, T & N offer examples of Left parties doing things properly, but I feel these are misrepresented or inapplicable to American circumstances.

Instead I think there are real structural reasons why this failure happened, and why (frankly) the Left is so shit it might as well not exist in the English speaking world. Better optics, strategy or a shift in the culture don't cut it for me.

That said this is some of the best writing I've seen on this debacle so far, and the Left media's takes are mostly saccharine nonsense. At the end of the day it's a good article, thought provoking and probably worth your while. Now, back to the first and best rugby league updates