I’m always interested in political change. I’m not at all sure that this type of change is fundamental enough to last, but it’s certainly of interest, and it could end up being permanent rather than situational, depending on what happens … Continue reading →
Harry Reid is leaving the Senate, and in this interview with Politico he evaluates his tenure and makes predictions. He thinks he did just fine, and that the future for the Democrats looks just fine, too: “They have Trump, I … Continue reading →
Retired general John Kelly is Trump’s choice to head the Department of Homeland Security: Kelly retired from the Marine Corps earlier this year after leading U.S. Southern Command for three years, during which he was involved in the oversight of … Continue reading →
Just a few years ago it would have seemed extraordinarily odd if you had learned that in 2016 a great deal of discussion would center around a president-elect’s or president’s tweets. “What’s a tweet?” would have been your first question. … Continue reading →
Carson’s resume and background, as well as his support of Trump, made him Trump’s almost inevitable pick for the job: Carson is a former director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins University. In an interview with Fox News, he cited … Continue reading →
One thing we know about Donald Trump is that he is unpredictable, and in my opinion deliberately so. There’s something to say for unpredictability. It keeps your enemies and opponents on their toes, and if it’s publicity you want, it … Continue reading →
With the announcement of Trump’s triumphant (Trumphant?) Carrier deal, the word that occurs to me—not for the first time—is “showman.” That’s not necessarily a good thing or a bad thing, by the way. But it’s not something we’ve seen a … Continue reading →
Not unexpected news: Pelosi got 134 votes to Ryan’s 63 ”” winning 68 percent of the votes after declaring before the election that she had the support of two-thirds of the caucus. The victory sends a message that while there’s … Continue reading →
Commenter “groundhog” asked this question in the “Hamilton” thread: The same free speech can be trash to one person and treasure to another. The same speech you or I treasure may be considered worthless to others. And although decorum and … Continue reading →
Here’s one by law prof Lawrence Lessig in the WaPo, and here’s some backup from Martin Longman in the Washington Monthly, with a bit of quibbling on the details. What are these articles about? After all, it’s pretty much a … Continue reading →
[NOTE: This is a post in which I continue to explore the more extremist wing of the alt-right, because I think it bears watching and comprehending. That doesn’t mean I think it’s an enormous group. Nor do I think Donald … Continue reading →
Here’s an interesting article by Michael Barone that tries to say why the pollsters got it wrong. First of all, I’d like to add that they didn’t get it quite as wrong as some people think. Many of the polls … Continue reading →