Donald Trump
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Obama — and FDR — Set Precedent for Trump's One-Man Rule
There has been a lot of talk — almost all of it accurate — about how Barack Obama's presidency has fueled the rise of Donald Trump. The president's fans hate this talk, for understandable reasons. They see the president as dignified and cerebral. They see Trump as crude and bigoted, a "short-fingered vulgarian," as Graydon Carter famously put it. The argument that Obama paved the way for Trump takes many forms. He "lowered the bar" for presidential qualifications, argues Peggy Noonan. Trump's Don Rickles act, writes Michael Barone, reflects "the coarseness of Obama's non-stop insults of Republicans and anyone who does not share his views and priorities."
Populism From Unlikely Candidates
Populism is typically born in places like Nebraska, Louisiana, Kansas and the other places given short shrift in that famous Saul Steinberg New Yorker cartoon showing the view of the world from 9th Avenue. It's not supposed to hail from Brooklyn or Queens, never mind Burlington, Vermont, or midtown Manhattan. But that's where the two reigning populists of the 2016 cycle call home.
Admit It. You Just Want Your Own Dictator
This incessant clamoring by voters and punditry for better "leaders" and more "leadership" is one of the most unsavory, dangerous and un-American tendencies in political discourse. When Donald Trump was asked last week by Joe Scarborough what he made of an endorsement from Vladimir Putin — a thug who's probably murdered journalists and political opponents and more — the GOP presidential front-runner responded, "He's running his country, and at least he's a leader, unlike what we have in this country." Then he offered an incredibly dumb moral equivalency about how the United States also does "plenty of killing."
The Right's Post-Constitutional Moment
No one will ever mistake Donald Trump for a student of James Madison. The real-estate mogul has demonstrated about as much familiarity with the U.S. Constitution as with the Bible, which is to say, none. Trump has captivated a share of the tea party with a style of politics utterly alien to the Constitution. In the year of Trump, the right is experiencing a post-constitutional moment.
Trumpy Christmas
Merry Trump. Happy Trump Year. Everywhere you look it's not Christmas, it's Trump, Trump, Trump. The billionaire who's blown up the Republican primary process has supplanted Christmas. He's supplanted New Year. At Donald's house, instead of a Christmas tree, I wouldn't be surprised if there's a Trump Tree.
A Conservative Party Jeopardized by Trump
If you look beyond Donald Trump's comprehensive unpleasantness — is there a disagreeable human trait he does *not* have? — you might see this: He is a fundamentally sad figure. His compulsive boasting is evidence of insecurity. His unassuageable neediness suggests an aching hunger for others' approval to ratify his self-admiration. His incessant announcements of his self-esteem indicate that he is not self-persuaded. Now, panting with a puppy's insatiable eagerness to be petted, Trump has reveled in the approval of Vladimir Putin, murderer and war criminal.
The Alpha Dog of the Gop
If there's any lesson from Tuesday's debate, it's that six months after his entry into the Republican presidential race, no one has any better idea of how to handle Donald Trump than when he first got in. Las Vegas highlighted how Trump has established alpha-dog dominance in the Republican field. He's not only the front-runner according to national polls, he's a front-runner other candidates are literally afraid to criticize in his presence.
Trump Finds an Ally
Ladies and gentlemen, he has done it again. Donald Trump has, with a few lines uttered in his gamy style, set off a cacophonous controversy that threatens to overwhelm just about every other controversy in this controversy-bountiful nation. It has even overwhelmed global warming or climate change, or whatever they are choosing to call the delusion this time. Last week, Trump called for a 10-year moratorium on Muslim migration into America, and all hell broke loose. In light of Muslim violence around the world this brouhaha caught me off guard, especially when one considers the violence in Texas, Tennessee and most recently San Bernardino, California. In Paris, the violence was against unarmed civilians by Muslims both indigenous and foreign born. In San Bernardino, it was much the same. Is it not time to at least temporarily tighten the immigration laws?
Lessons of the Fifth GOP Debate
All candidates bring their constituents to the election that matters most.
Between Ted Cruz and Donald Trump, Not Even a Contest
New polling shows Ted Cruz picking up major steam and looking very serious in challenging Donald Trump's leadership in the Republican presidential candidate field. A Bloomberg News/Des Moines Register poll shows Cruz now leading in Iowa. A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows Cruz jumping up 12 points from 10 percent in late October. Now, at 22 percent, Cruz is just 5 points behind Trump. True to form, Trump is beginning personal attacks against Cruz.
What, Exactly, Is a Fascist?
It's hard to find a self-respecting liberal these days who doesn't denounce Donald Trump as "a fascist." If you Google "fascist," the first thing that pops up on the screen is a photo of Trump. University professors, Democratic pundits and members of the media who don't call him a fascist resort to over-the-top, sneering terms like "racist," "repellent" and even "Nazi."
We Aren't The World
To believe his critics, Donald Trump has ripped up the U.S. Constitution and sprinkled its shreds on the smoldering embers of what was once the Statute of Liberty. He did this, of course, by proposing a temporary ban on Muslim immigration into the United States, which might be the most roundly and fiercely denounced idea in America since the British Parliament passed the Intolerable Acts (in 1774). There is no doubt about it: Donald Trump's proposal is invidious; not all Muslims are a security risk. It is unworkable; among other things, airlines would have to screen travelers from Europe for their religion. It is imprudent; we don't want to send a message of generalized hostility to Muslims.
Trumpism and Elitism
In "The Myth of Sisyphus," Albert Camus's exploration of the role of suicide in the modern world, the philosopher of the Absurd states, "That universal reason, practical or ethical, that determinism, those categories that explain everything are enough to make a decent man laugh." Camus was making reference to philosophical giants of western civilization whose task was to justify a universe seemingly indifferent to humanity's yearning for meaning. All of which Camus dismissed with a rhetorical flip of his hand and a whiff of disdain; he believed magisterial cathedrals of thought were irrelevant to enlightening individuals' souls about the most important thing in their lives. Quite the contrary, their hubris induces mirth, as his cold analysis in "Sisyphus" made clear.
Trump Doesn't Represent the Conservative Base
There's a tendency in politics to mistake personal animosity for ideological animosity. Consider Bill Clinton. His staggering dishonesty, tackiness and scorn for the rule of law aroused a lot of anger from the right. But he wasn't really that left-wing. Oh, he was certainly more liberal in his heart than he let on, but he also worked from the assumption that this was a center-right country, and that limited what he could get away with.
The Season of Trump
I have a history with Donald Trump. Having rescinded an invitation from him to a gathering in August after his comments on Megyn Kelly, I watched as Trump supporters descended on social media, my radio program, my phone number, and my mailbox to express their outrage. It was weeks before my children could check the mailbox again. I still get random and assorted hate mail over the incident.