President Obama did not create the candidacy of Donald Trump. “Responsible” Republicans like Ross Douthat have been pushing that banal meme since the Donald first reared his ugly head back in the primaries, a falsehood that received a proper beat down from Slate’s William Saletan at the time. As Bill put it, “Obama is an…
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The Republican Party: Civil War or Hostile Takeover?
Over at New York Mag, Jonathan Chait has an unfortunately challenging and well-argued piece, strongly suggesting that my cozy analysis of a Republican Party sliding inexorably into ever-increasing disarray is not, you know, accurate.1 Chait sees Trump, or, rather, Trumpism, as similar to one of those Alien critters that first infects you and then sort…
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…
David Ignatius and the Triumph of the Will
David Ignatius seems to be my whipping boy de jour or de month, or de whatever. Dave’s latest offense comes in a column nominally devoted to the disquiet with which Australians view Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, “Australians are mortified by Trump’s rise”. Well, seeing as I am American, my mortification far exceeds any Australian’s, but…
Good American Generals: Were there any?
For some reason, I’ve got the American military on my mind, on my mind. I’ve got the American military on my mind. And I’m wondering: Did we ever have any good generals? I was launched on this avenue of speculation by a recent book review, “Douglas MacArthur’s Brilliant, Controversial Legacy”, by the National Review’s Victor…
Republican Sen. Susan Collins attacks Trump. The more the Donald’s popularity drops, the more virtuous Republicans become.
Susan unloads on the Donald here
Jonathan Rauch Redux
Jonathan Rauch has a new article up at the Atlantic that is basically a rehash an updating of his free book Political Realism: How Hacks, Machines, Big Money, and Back-Room Deals Can Strengthen American Democracy. The article is getting praise from people like Robert Samuelson.1 Last fall, I devoted three posts to refuting Jon’s little…
Bob Samuelson, making me feel sorry for President Obama
Yeah, I didn’t think it was possible, not after the president’s too Obama to live statements on the Orlando Massacre, repeating vague calls for gun control measures that would not have prevented the killings and refusing to acknowledge murderer Omar Mateen’s shout out to ISIS. I mean, what’s in a name, anyway? Yeah, I’d had…
Paul Ryan says he wants to end poverty. He doesn’t. He wants to end government spending on poverty
The public image of poor Lyin’ Paulie Ryan has taken a bit of a beating these days, as Ryan worshippers have to explain why a man who supports the White House aspirations of a man who makes racist statements is still a saint. So they’ve got a new rap: Sure, he supports Donald Trump, but…
The “Blob” lives! At the New York Times!
As I understand it, all the cool kids at the White House (whose number, according to Ben Rhodes, is limited to President Obama and, well, Ben Rhodes) like to call the blinkered, myopic terminally self-righteous American foreign policy establishment “the Blob.” That said, if you’re up for some seriously blinkered self-righteous myopia, you ought to…