Year in Review

Reviewing the publication's first year, thanking my readers, and looking ahead.

Joaquin Phoenix stars as Napoleon (Apple Original Films/Sony Pictures)

This past August marked one year since I began writing on Substack. Since that time, this publication has grown far more than I originally expected it to. This is in large part thanks to the support of my readers, which I am increasingly grateful for.  

When I initially started my Substack, I had no idea where it would eventually lead me. At first, it was just an outlet I could utilize to pour out my thoughts when I had nowhere else to express them. But it has since morphed into a rather sizable publication in which I have the honor of informing over two hundred readers on current politics, history, foreign policy, and other subject matters.  

Over the past year, I have written numerous articles, some bad and some good. Since this is a year in review type of post, I will highlight some of my favorites I have published as well as the more popular ones I have written.  

Firstly, I would like to highlight my piece in defense of the Confederate Memorial in Arlington which was published this past September. This is the most important article I have ever written, and it is a subject I care deeply about. I dove into the history of the memorial and explained how it was created to promote peace and reconciliation as well as to honor the brave men who died for the South during the Civil War. This article received a lot of positive feedback on X (formerly Twitter) and some compliments from big X accounts. Unfortunately, the plan to remove this important piece of our history is still in place.

The second article I wish to highlight is my piece on Argentine presidential candidate Javier Milei. This was by far the most popular article I have written. In it, I examined Milei’s political views as well as his economic plan to right the ship in Argentina, a country that was one of the richest nations in the world at the beginning of the twentieth century but is now one of the poorest. Milei, with his radical views, is portrayed across the media as ‘far-right’ and an ‘extremist.’ But he couldn’t make more sense for Argentina. He has a steep hill to climb to reach the presidency and faces a runoff election soon against the establishment candidate.

Additionally, I would like to make mention of my piece in late May chronicling all (or most of) the Ukrainian attacks inside the borders of Russia up until that point in time. Back then, the Ukrainian government hid their complicity and involvement in directing these attacks and lied about them repeatedly. As I note in the article, Kyiv participated in numerous air incursions into Russia and was complicit in targeted assassinations of prominent Russian individuals. To my pleasant surprise, the great Scott Horton shared the article on X and called it “an important piece.” Now that was pretty cool.

Lastly, I want to feature my article on the four prominent men who opposed dropping the atomic bomb on Japan. I include several different quotes from Eisenhower, Hoover, MacArthur, and Leahy about their disapproval of using the bomb. American history as taught currently does not make mention of their dissent to this unprecedented action, and so I thought it would be important to highlight what they had to say about the bomb.

Notable mentions include my piece on the USS Liberty, Crimea, Ron DeSantis’ foreign policy, and my article on Victor Orban and his Hungary First, realism-based foreign policy.  

Looking Ahead and Expressing my Thanks

Even though I have slowed the pace at which I publish, more content is on the way, and hopefully, I’ll be able to get it out sooner rather than later. I certainly plan to write more often, and that is the goal moving forward.  

I’ve been thinking about writing book and movie reviews every now and then as well. I intend to go see Napoleon at the movie theaters as soon as it comes out and write a review afterward. Also on my mind is writing an article on the movie Patton, which I greatly enjoyed. Regarding book reviews, I have thought that writing reviews could be beneficial to me because I unfortunately tend to forget a lot of what I read in a book a week or so after I finish it, and that, as you can imagine, is frustrating at times. Writing them would certainly help my memory in that regard.  

I’ve also been contemplating writing weekly reviews in which I peruse the major events within a given week.  

To conclude this year in review, I want to emphasize my thanks to some of my fellow writers who supported me along the way and gave me tips to help me reach a larger audience. They deserve mentioning. Steven Craddock, who writes at Thoughts Into Words, is an excellent writer who has supported me and my work from the beginning. I highly recommend you check out his work. Second, I would like to mention Joe Shanley, who writes at OpenBookReport. He is another talented writer that I recommend you check out. I am especially thankful to him for the tips and suggestions he gave me with regard to improving foot traffic to my publication.  

Finally, I wish to thank you, the reader, for sticking with me and my publication. There is much more to come.