For some reason, JD Vance seems to be a calibration challenge for bullshit detectors. Most of my friends and students from that part of the world thought he was an offensive phoney from the get go, and with a lifetime of YLS-specialized mind-reading behind me, I never doubted his scumminess for an instant, but you are hardly the only natively good reader he took in. I've never meet Usha Vance and have no opinion whatever. Amy Chua, well that's another matter entirely....

Because I knew quite well the boys who founded the Federalist Society, I find it inconceivable that 40 years later someone politically unsympathetic would be joining their group for its supposed academic or professional advantages, but it's another example of the older you get the less you know.

Here's the lesson: Trust your judgment. Educate it. Read into it. Refine it. But don't stop trusting it, and don't betray yourself because you think other smart people are doing so.