There seems to be an amusing level of, you know, stress breaking out among both Republican money bags and Republican Congress folk as Republican “ideas” collide with, you know, reality. Over at Politico, Alex Isenstadt and Gabriel Debenedetti report that “Angry GOP donors close their wallets”, while the Washington Examiner’s David M. Drucker tells us…
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The silence of the Donald, the pusillanimity of the Republicans
Okay, Donald Trump hasn’t been entirely silent. “Trump proposes a law that’s existed for 20 years”, snickers USA Today with well-earned glee, reporting on our president’s proposed crackdown on free-loading legal immigrants, who, naturally, aren’t free loading at all. Then there’s his epic links “faux pas”—running his golf cart onto a green because he’s too…
Yo, Paleoliberals! You can’t go home again! (not really)
David Ignatius reports that Charles Peters, long-time editor of the Washington Monthly and, not incidentally, one-time mentor/editor to David, has the solution to the Democrats’ electoral woes, presented in his new book We Do Our Part. In writing the book, Charlie gets in line behind paleolibs Thomas “What’s the Matter with Kansas?” Frank and Michael…
Ross Douthat (yes, that Ross Douthat) explains it all for you
I have been perhaps overly hard on Ross Douthat over the years, though I can say with some pride that I haven’t called him “Ross Dumbfuck” since 2012. But, well, that was then and this is now. Ross more or less hits it out of the park with his latest column, “House Republicans Go Off…
Enter Megan McArdle. Cue the faux head-shaking.
O Democrats! O Republicans! They’re both so cwaazzzy! So quoth Bloomsberg babe Megan McArdle, in a recent piece over the low-intensity but long-continuing furor over the inheritance tax/death tax. Sure, Republicans are a bit wacky for getting so sentimental over the supposed heartlessness of taxing multi-million-dollar inheritances, says Megan, but you know something? Those Democrats…
Finger-Pointing in the Dark: The Rout of Neo-Liberalism
It is, appropriately enough, gray and wet in Washington, DC this morning. Brilliant sunshine would be almost more irony than one could bear. Brexit was a stunner. Compared to Donald Trump, it was a popgun. It’s become overwhelmingly clear that the real cost of the Great Recession was not the cost of fighting our way…
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…
Dying Elephant, Struggling Donkey: Politics for the 21st Century
As of this writing, the odds favoring Hillary Clinton’s election stand at 92%, almost enough to allow me to breathe easily. I wish it were higher, but just think how I’d feel if it were only, say, 75%! Yes, Donald Trump’s big mouth, and his tiny, groping hands, have made life much easier for Nervous…
Paul Ryan, The Policy Wonk That Wasn’t
Unless you’ve been living under a blanket, or have a life, you’re well aware that House Speaker Paul Ryan just had a meeting with Republican presidential nominee to be Donald Trump. Virtually everything about the Republican Party is a joke these days—most of them, of course, very unfunny. The biggest, and least funny is the…
Donald and the Bern: What’s a billionaire to do?
The big surprise Tuesday night was not Donald Trump’s wins. “Trump losing momentum” stories have been written so often that when we see one we automatically rewrite it to read “Trump on a roll!” No, the big story was Bernie Sanders’ big, big win over Hillary Clinton, a victory won almost entirely on the basis…