The Problem is…
Here’s an interesting round of arguments. It started with political scientist Lee Drutman, who diagnoses American politics as afflicted with “doom-loop partisanship,” meaning essentially that the two sides of the partisan divide view each other with extreme distrust and hostility, ...
Read MoreThe Democrats and the White Working Class
Labor Day weekend is an appropriate time to talk about the Democrats’ problem with the white working class (WWC). The problem, simply stated, is that the WWC, once strongly inclined to vote Democratic, now mostly votes Republican. The problem has ...
Read MoreAfghanistan
Donald Trump has unveiled his new strategy for our war in Afghanistan: more of the same. Under the cover of characteristically bombastic rhetoric promising victory, Trump is staying the course left by Obama. Trump’s announcement has been widely criticized in ...
Read MoreWhat Free World?
In well-justified revulsion at Trump’s post-Charlottesville statements, several commentators I’ve seen in the past week have uttered variations on the idea that Trump’s stance was unfit for the leader of the free world. I can’t help wincing a bit on ...
Read MoreRobert E. Trump
It has always been astounding to me that symbols of the Confederacy could enjoy any legitimacy whatsoever in American politics and society. The Confederacy was, after all, a revolt against the United States of America. It was a revolt whose ...
Read MoreWhat to do about North Korea? (II)
Just a short post today, since, given the headlines, I feel as though I have to return to this subject, even though I said most of what needs to be said in my earlier post. We are not in a ...
Read MoreTweet of the Day
From the Tweeter in Chief, around 5:30 AM this morning, just hours before firing Anthony Scaramucci as WH Communications Director: No WH chaos!” It’s not clear whether this was a claim as to fact (“There is no chaos at the ...
Read MoreSpectacle in DC
What has been happening on Capitol Hill over the past few days is crazy, sleazy and deplorable. Majority Leader McConnell has sought to pass several different versions of a bill that was drafted in secret by a small group of ...
Read MoreTrumpcare RIP
First, let’s be clear: “Trumpcare” is a misnomer for the awful legislative proposal that has just hit the dust. Beyond egging the Congressional Republicans on, Trump had nothing to do with their proposal: he hardly knew what was in it, ...
Read MoreLiberal Condescension?
There’s a narrative that has long been a staple theme on the American right, but has won increasing credence recently on the left as well. The narrative is about liberal smugness, condescension, and elitism. Liberals, it is said, look down ...
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