This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareDuring the third in 2016, Hillary Clinton said Russia’s leader favored her opponent because “he would rather have a puppet as president of the United States.” “No puppet! No puppet!” Donald Trump indignantly replied. “You’re the puppet.”This was a riposte worthy of a playground: “I know you are, but what am I?” And yet the basic idea proved so successful that President Trump and his supporters are recycling it. They are accusing presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden of four sins of which Trump himself stands accused...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareDuring the third in 2016, Hillary Clinton said Russia’s leader favored her opponent because “he would rather have a puppet as president of the United States.” “No puppet! No puppet!” Donald Trump indignantly replied. “You’re the puppet.”This was a riposte worthy of a playground: “I know you are, but what am I?” And yet the basic idea proved so successful that President Trump and his supporters are recycling it. They are accusing presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden of four sins of which Trump himself stands accused...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareOn his present trajectory, President Trump is heading for a whopping defeat in November. The Economist there’s nearly a 99 percent chance that Joe Biden will win more popular votes and around a 90 percent chance that he will win more electoral college votes. But what if Trump won’t concede defeat? That is a nightmare scenario for our democracy that could make the seem like a grade-school dispute by comparison.Trump is already laying the foundation to dispute the election outcome with his incessant that “Mail-In Ballots...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareOn his present trajectory, President Trump is heading for a whopping defeat in November. The Economist there’s nearly a 99 percent chance that Joe Biden will win more popular votes and around a 90 percent chance that he will win more electoral college votes. But what if Trump won’t concede defeat? That is a nightmare scenario for our democracy that could make the seem like a grade-school dispute by comparison.Trump is already laying the foundation to dispute the election outcome with his incessant that “Mail-In Ballots...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift SharePresident Trump has led the United States to catastrophic defeat in the battle against a virus. The United States has more (800,000-plus) and more deaths (43,000-plus) than any other country. Indeed, New York state alone has more confirmed cases than any foreign country. So having lost the war against what he calls the “Invisible Enemy,” Trump has decided to shift our attention toward the battle against a visible enemy: immigrants. Even as he is encouraging the economy to reopen as soon as possible, Trump has decided to...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift SharePresident Trump has led the United States to catastrophic defeat in the battle against a virus. The United States has more (800,000-plus) and more deaths (43,000-plus) than any other country. Indeed, New York state alone has more confirmed cases than any foreign country. So having lost the war against what he calls the “Invisible Enemy,” Trump has decided to shift our attention toward the battle against a visible enemy: immigrants. Even as he is encouraging the economy to reopen as soon as possible, Trump has decided to...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift Share“When somebody is the president of the United States,” President Trump on Monday, “the authority is total.”It is hard to imagine a better one-sentence encapsulation of why he must be defeated. Trump’s failures have made us the world capital of the coronavirus, with more than three times as many deaths in (pop. 8.3 million) as in all of (pop. 83 million). Having dodged responsibility for fighting the coronavirus (“”), Trump now claims dictatorial powers to determine when social distancing ends. If he wins another term, he...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift Share“When somebody is the president of the United States,” President Trump on Monday, “the authority is total.”It is hard to imagine a better one-sentence encapsulation of why he must be defeated. Trump’s failures have made us the world capital of the coronavirus, with more than three times as many deaths in (pop. 8.3 million) as in all of (pop. 83 million). Having dodged responsibility for fighting the coronavirus (“”), Trump now claims dictatorial powers to determine when social distancing ends. If he wins another term, he...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareThe most dangerous contagion we now confront is the coronavirus, which has killed Americans and thrown out of work. The second-most-dangerous contagion is the conspiracy-mongering, hostility to science and outright irrationality promulgated by President Trump and his loudmouth media enablers. It will take intensive contact tracing to follow the spread of crackpot ideas: Is Trump infecting the cable news hosts, or are they infecting him? Suffice it to say, the president and his media fans are both afflicted with perilous...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareThe most dangerous contagion we now confront is the coronavirus, which has killed Americans and thrown out of work. The second-most-dangerous contagion is the conspiracy-mongering, hostility to science and outright irrationality promulgated by President Trump and his loudmouth media enablers. It will take intensive contact tracing to follow the spread of crackpot ideas: Is Trump infecting the cable news hosts, or are they infecting him? Suffice it to say, the president and his media fans are both afflicted with perilous...WW…

This article was published more than 3 years agoCommentGift ShareIf God exists, she must be a political scientist with a sense of humor. That, at least, is the only conclusion I can draw from the 2020 Democratic primaries, which seem designed to disprove every commonly held notion of how you win a presidential race.Beto O’Rourke had the media buzz, but he didn’t even make it to the first primary. Nor did Kamala D. Harris, Cory Booker or Julián Castro, despite representing important ethnic groups and states. Mike Bloomberg had all the money in the world, but despite spending on...…This article was published more than 3 years agoCommentGift ShareIf God exists, she must be a political scientist with a sense of humor. That, at least, is the only conclusion I can draw from the 2020 Democratic primaries, which seem designed to disprove every commonly held notion of how you win a presidential race.Beto O’Rourke had the media buzz, but he didn’t even make it to the first primary. Nor did Kamala D. Harris, Cory Booker or Julián Castro, despite representing important ethnic groups and states. Mike Bloomberg had all the money in the world, but despite spending on...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift Share“The options faced by the intelligence community during Trump’s presidency have been stark: avoid infuriating the president but compromise the agencies’ ostensible independence, or assert that independence and find yourself replaced with a more sycophantic alternative.” So writes Robert Draper in a lengthy and devastating about President Trump’s attempts to politicize intelligence — in particular by preventing the intelligence community from speaking honestly about Russian attacks on our elections.Nothing better...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift Share“The options faced by the intelligence community during Trump’s presidency have been stark: avoid infuriating the president but compromise the agencies’ ostensible independence, or assert that independence and find yourself replaced with a more sycophantic alternative.” So writes Robert Draper in a lengthy and devastating about President Trump’s attempts to politicize intelligence — in particular by preventing the intelligence community from speaking honestly about Russian attacks on our elections.Nothing better...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift SharePresident Trump is a weak man who wants to be a strongman. Ever since the outbreak of the Black Lives Matters protests in May, he has dishonestly depicted the largely peaceful demonstrators as “” and “” to justify the use of force to “” them. Trump craves images of chaos on television in the hope that white voters will flock to him for salvation as the “” candidate. (Of course, his concept of “law and order” leaves out the law.) This is an update of his 2018 strategy to terrify his base with hysteria about “” of Central...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift SharePresident Trump is a weak man who wants to be a strongman. Ever since the outbreak of the Black Lives Matters protests in May, he has dishonestly depicted the largely peaceful demonstrators as “” and “” to justify the use of force to “” them. Trump craves images of chaos on television in the hope that white voters will flock to him for salvation as the “” candidate. (Of course, his concept of “law and order” leaves out the law.) This is an update of his 2018 strategy to terrify his base with hysteria about “” of Central...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareWhy is the United States the only wealthy country where novel coronavirus cases are hitting new highs while elsewhere the virus is being ? A lot of it has to do with the rejection of science by many on the right. A reports that while 98 percent of Democrats reported wearing a mask outside the home, only 66 percent of Republicans did. The same denialism extends to other important issues: A reports that 75 percent of Democrats regard climate change as a top policy priority, compared with only 25 percent of...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareWhy is the United States the only wealthy country where novel coronavirus cases are hitting new highs while elsewhere the virus is being ? A lot of it has to do with the rejection of science by many on the right. A reports that while 98 percent of Democrats reported wearing a mask outside the home, only 66 percent of Republicans did. The same denialism extends to other important issues: A reports that 75 percent of Democrats regard climate change as a top policy priority, compared with only 25 percent of...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift SharecorrectionAn earlier version of this column misspelled the name of Yoram Hazony. This version has been updated.In 2014, Tom Cotton ran for the U.S. Senate proclaiming: “.” Seven days ago, amid massive anti-racism protests accompanied by scattered looting, the Republican senator from Arkansas the deployment of at least five Army divisions to the streets. “No quarter for insurrectionists, anarchists, rioters, and looters,” he wrote, employing a military term for “take no prisoners.”There was no conceivable justification for...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift SharecorrectionAn earlier version of this column misspelled the name of Yoram Hazony. This version has been updated.In 2014, Tom Cotton ran for the U.S. Senate proclaiming: “.” Seven days ago, amid massive anti-racism protests accompanied by scattered looting, the Republican senator from Arkansas the deployment of at least five Army divisions to the streets. “No quarter for insurrectionists, anarchists, rioters, and looters,” he wrote, employing a military term for “take no prisoners.”There was no conceivable justification for...WW…