So, Donald Trump did not spend 90 minutes calling for a civil war last night. That was nice. After the assassination attempt, his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention – and the entire week – easily could have become a literal call to arms. (Literally literally, not figuratively literally.) Instead last night, we got […]
In a podcast with Tim Miller on the Bulwark Podcast, New York Times writer Ezra Klein said many Democrats privately tell him Biden should leave the presidential race, while publicly supporting him. In a New York Times podcast, Democratic U.S. Representative Adam Smith of the 9th Congressional District in Washington said the same thing. Other […]
An interesting sub-story to the fallout from Biden’s debate performance – well, interesting to me as a journalism professor and journalist – is why his capabilities, or lack thereof, came as such a shock to so many people (including me). One explanation often put forward is “the media”. A side note – I teach my […]
He’s staying in the race. That’s the message that Biden has delivered several times now, from the ABC News interview on Friday to recent campaign appearances to an interview on Morning Joe on Monday to a letter he sent to Congress. And there’s no way he will get replaced by the Democratic Party, either. There’s […]
A friend sends me this column by Niall Ferguson: I don’t see myself naturally aligned with Ferguson on much, but I found this analysis interesting. That said, I think he glosses over the fact that China represents a wholly different political system with regard to human rights and freedoms than the US and Europe do. That […]
The Trump-Kim summit is tomorrow (Singapore time), and I guess I’ll weigh in on it – mostly just because they’re both staying about a five-minute walk away on either side of me. Everyone has to wish that this meeting works out. Even if this could mean an easier path to a second term for Trump, […]
I didn’t find the ABC interview with former FBI director James Comey to be that interesting in the end. There wasn’t a lot of new information or insight. In fact, David Graham of the Atlantic had a good summary: The interview also captured the sense of surrealism that has pervaded much of American political life […]
As someone who finds Pres. Trump to be an awful person and disagrees with many (but not all) of his policies, I’m supposed to be delighted with the raids on Pres. Trump’s attorney, Michael Cohen. After all, this could be a big step toward finding out whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russian operatives to […]
While I want the Mueller investigation to continue – and I sure want to know if the Trump campaign directly colluded with the Russian government to hack the DNC and Podesta – I’m not comfortable with every aspect of it. First off, the recent subpoena against Sam Nunberg seemed awfully broad – both in terms […]
While Trump has always been erratic – adjusting his message to suit his audience and mood and reflecting the last person he talked to – I’ve begun to worry about his stability more and more. With Hicks leaving, Kushner on the ropes, Mueller progressing, and ongoing tension with his staff and cabinet secretaries, he will […]
Bill Poorman 