Open Thread
June 12 Open Thread: “Historic” Meeting Shows Why People Think History Is Dull
The mainstream media, just as Trump foresaw, is making a fuss over his “historic” meeting with Kim Jong Un without pointing out that Neville Chamberlain’s meeting with Hitler in Munich was historic, too. But here’s a fact you’ll never see mentioned: The more the producers spend on logistics, the more airtime an event will receive. […]
June 11 Open Thread: How Much More of This Will the World Take?
Trump is in Singapore now after laying a turd in the punch bowl at the G7 meeting in Quebec, a performance that has the chattering classes hoping that this, surely, will spur the GOP into action. Dartmouth political scientist Brendan Nyhan says it’s a turning point because Trump, having created chaos in the U.S., is […]
June 4 Open Thread: Guess Which Toxic Narcissist Said It
Self-regard and the presidency fit together all too well, as Bill Clinton reminds us with a — get this — book tour for a novel. It didn’t go all that well on this morning’s “Today” show when he was asked if, in light of the #metoo movement, he should have resigned over the Monica Lewinsky […]
June 1 Open Thread: Florida Jury Values Black Life at $4
Man, I’m glad there’s no racism in America, because if there were it would look really, really racist for a Florida jury to award a black family $4 for a deputy sheriff killing a man in his own garage, on a call responding to a noise complaint for playing music too loud. Don’t worry, though, […]
May 31 Open Thread: Maybe Trump Is Impeachable
Almost everybody assumes that, even if Democrats retake the House in November, impeachment is a non-starter because two-thirds of the Senate would have to vote in favor of removing him from office, and there’s been no sign so far that even overwhelming evidence would get enough Republicans to go along. Lucian Truscott, writing at Salon, […]
May 30 Open Thread: Trump’s Katrina That Wasn’t
When Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, I thought it would do to Trump what Katrina did to Bush — reveal to the broad public the incompetence of a crony-coddling administration. The incompetence was there, and it’s been coupled with a disgusting level of disaster profiteering, but the public barely noticed. Unless the power on the […]
May 29 Open Thread: Is Trump Impeachable?
Some people are peddling the notion that there is no “civil war” among Democrats. Their evidence: Candidates who have won primary races span the ideological spectrum from Blue Dogs to Berniecrats. The flaw in this logic should be clear — internal differences usually get papered over in the face of a common enemy — but […]
May 15 Open Thread: Future of Democratic Party at Stake Yet Again This Week
It’s primary day in several states, including Pennsylvania, and the national punditocracy has made clear it will claim the results shall determine the future of the Democratic Party. It’s true that many districts have drawn multiple hopefuls, a byproduct of Republican vulnerability. When the opposition looks weak, lots of people are willing to take a […]
May 14 Open Thread: He Who Commands the Media Has Command of Everything
Despicable as he is, Trump is unquestionably great at one thing: Playing the media. That’s the answer to the perpetual question, “How did Trump win?” and it explains a lot of the daily mayhem surrounding his administration. He learned long ago that the best way to distract from controversy is with another controversy, and in […]
May 12 Open Thread: Maryland Peckerwoods Threaten Civil War
The ignorant will always be with us, but I’ll be satisfied when they go back to being ashamed of it. As it stands, “Ignorant and Proud of It” is the order of the day, as a bunch of stump-jumpers in Maryland’s Calvert County dmonstrated with this billboard, which basically threatens that if a political solution […]
May 11 Open Thread: Study Finds Charters an Existential Threat to Public Education
The problem with arguing from facts is that you have to take the time to gather them. So now we have a study that reaches the same conclusion Delawareans reached a decade ago: charter schools are an existential threat to public education, and for the same reason we have witnessed: In siphoning off students from […]
Yesterday Proved Again Why Russia and Stormy Matter
A lot of otherwise right-thinking people seem to think that the Trump controversies involving Russia on the one hand and porn stars on the other are distractions from the real damage being done by Republicans. I’ll put this as simply as I can: They are wrong. This was demonstrated late yesterday by porn star Stormy […]
May 8 Open Thread: Pervs ❤️ New York
Calling all pervs — there’s a government job for you in New York, at least if you’re a male Democrat. Eliot Spitzer’s call girl problem looks tame next to Anthony Weiner’s texting his junk to minors, which looks harmless compared with the allegations, revealed in the New Yorker, that state AG Eric Schneiderman slapped around […]
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