The most important, and the ugliest, thing to happen in 2016 was the decision of 46 percent of the American electorate to vote for the worst major party presidential candidate in American history. The second most important was the decision of 48 percent to vote for Hillary Clinton. So why did Hillary “lose”? It is…
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Yo, New York Times! Torture is not a “mistake”. It’s a crime and a sin against the human spirit!
The New York Times—along with many others—took righteous umbrage when President Trump, asked why he insisted on cozying up to a “killer” like Vladimir Putin, responded by saying “What, you think our country’s so innocent?” The Times earnestly, though, one must say, rather innocently, acknowledged our own lack of innocence: “There’s no doubt that the…
Who are you calling a war criminal?
At yesterday’s Senate confirmation hearing for Secretary of State to be (or not) Rex Tillerson, Fla. Sen. Marco Rubio puffed out his young chest and demanded of Rex whether he considered Russian President Vladimir Putin a “war criminal” on the basis of recent bombing of civilians in Syria. Well, if you’re going to be secretary…
Why Donald Trump will be our very worst president, by a very wide margin
Donald Trump will be our very worst president, by a very wide margin, because Donald Trump is the apotheosis of the Tea Party, the culmination of Republican lawlessness—that is to say, an impatience and contempt for “rules” that eventually transforms itself into a delight in their violation—that has been growing stronger and stronger since the…
Vanneman praises Friedman; Heavens sway, just a little
Yes, it’s true. Thomas Friedman—the guy who said we should invade Iraq “because we can”—has written a brilliant column, “Bibi Netanyahu Makes Trump His Chump”, whose first two paragraphs read as follows: “For those of you confused over the latest fight between President Obama and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu of Israel, let me make it…
A Canny Old Rug Peddler From Queens
Well there probably is one, but his name isn’t Donald Trump. But over at The National Interest, Leon Hadar assures us that the Donald is indeed Bismarck with a conk1. Here’s how Leon spins his vision of “TrumPolitik”: “TrumpPolitik would certainly place more emphasis on strengthening U.S. relationship with the big powers of the world,…
War with Iran? You bet! It’s easy, and it’s fun!
A kinder, gentler Trump Administration? I think you meant “fascist-hysterical”. Thanks to the appointments of former Lieutenant Gen. Mike “Fear of Muslims is rational” Flynn as national security advisor and Rep. Mike “Waterboarding is cool” Pompeo as head of the CIA, we are just about guaranteed a repeat of the war on Iraq—constant accusations of…
Donald Trump probably not as bad as the Spanish flu, Conor Friedersdorf avers
As World War I was coming to an end, the Spanish1 flu epidemic killed an estimated 675,000 Americans. Would a Trump presidency produce a similar body count? asks the Atlantic’s Conor Friedersdorf. Well, probably not, Conor, but I, in turn, have a question for you. Would the United States recover as quickly, and as completely,…
U.S. and Russia totally not alike, New York Times says
The New York Times has an editorial, Vladimir Putin’s Outlaw State, denouncing Mr. Putin for, among other things, lying about the fate of the Malaysian airliner shot down over Ukraine in July 2014 and for continuing to support Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in that nation’s ongoing civil war. With regard to the downing of the…
A Wall of Shame for the Party of Shame
Wash Post columnist Robert J. Samuelson has a column up arguing that spending $25 billion for Donald Trump’s “impenetrable, physical, tall, powerful, beautiful” wall is a great idea, because building one would facilitate a grand compromise on immigration reform: “If we could buy an immigration bargain for $25 billion, or even a bit more, it…