George “F for Farrreeeky!” Will has a piece up, “Infrastructure projects aren’t jobs programs”, which, all inadvertently, explains why infrastructure projects are jobs programs. Saith St. George, “New Deal public works gave the nation splendidly useful engineering marvels, including the Golden Gate Bridge and the Hoover Dam. It did not, however, significantly reduce unemployment, which…
Tag: Donald Trump
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…
Did Obama “Create” Trump? No. Did he make his election possible? Sort of.
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…
Is there a silver lining to Trump’s victory? Probably not.
Well, maybe there is, if we’re incredibly lucky. And since we’ve been so incredibly unlucky recently, aren’t we due, just maybe, for a crop of four-leaf clovers? I won’t think about all the bad things that are incredibly likely to happen under Trump, because if I do think about them I’ll start screaming, and my…
Yes, Donald Trump will deport millions of people! Yes, he’ll start a trade war with China! Yes, he’ll tear up the nuclear deal with Iran! Any more dumb questions?
The haters are in charge of immigration “reform”, Sahil Kapur reports for Bloomberg Politics. President-elect Trump has chosen for his transition team the notorious Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, author of Arizona’s “Papers, Please” law, which allows police to stop anyone they suspect of being in the U.S. illegally. Hey, no danger of racial…
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…
Election 2016: the rest is silence
I will be taking a break for the next several days as we endure the slow agony of waiting to learn if the American people want to be led by a sociopath—a question that’s never had to be answered before. I’ve groaned and moaned to the limit of my ability, and now my nerves are…
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…