Hillary is probably watching Biden from the wings, and waiting to jump back in. After all, the same tepid, decades-old ideas, the same corporate donors, the same friends, if Joe Biden can do it, why can't she? Maybe this time she'll even visit Michigan.
2
It is not Pelosi's business to come up with a Democratic platform with a presidential election pending. That's the job of the candidates, and they are each putting forward their vision.
That said, the House IS passing Democratic legislation. But hardly anybody is paying attention. Not much attention is being paid to the policy proposals of the candidates either, and the candidate with arguably the best fleshed out proposals is languishing in the polls (Warren). And this includes the news media.Because all they care about (AGAIN!) is Trump-fueled controversy. If Trump wins a second term, once again the media will be substantially to blame. And once again they will point fingers everywhere but at themselves.
7
@Thomas
The media is mainly a business, and as such, the bottom line is hat counts.
What’s best for the country doesn’t matter much.
As Les Moonves said during the 2016 election, ‘Trump isn’t good for the country, but he’s great for our network’.
2
Gail said: " So when Americans of the future look back on this period in horror, they’ll at least give the Democrats credit for trying."
No, because winners always write the history....and right now the Dems are losing all around. Weak leadership, too many, far too many, people running for the Dem. presidency, and no clear goals or initiatives (unless you count AOC , Bernie or Elizabeth Warren).
There were 20 horses running in the Kentucky Derby: there are 22 Dem candidates for president. A joke we can't afford at this time.
1
As weary as I and most of America is of Russia, Russia, Russia...the danger here is Trump's usurping the power of Congress...essentially dissolving it...if they don't get it back by winning on these subpoena demands our full on autocracy nightmare may become reality. He's more Joffrey than Jaime.
And Bill DeBlasio has no business running for President. Please.
The infrastructure bill (that the GOP was just too darned worried about the deficit that doesn't seem to matter anymore throughout Obama's terms) is ambitious and well, needed...but should be planned out in stages rather than one big fat pile of money. Prioritize, people.
1
Slogan for Democrat candidate: Rebuild the Middle Class.
Democrats should resist on all fronts, including impeachment.
Hold Barr in contempt. He's a shill for Trump. Even worse, a traitor to the constitution and the rule of law.
This is a war between the billionaires-supported Republican party serving the 1% and the rest of the country (well, those not fooled into supporting the Republicans or Trump).
Fight the power, fight the power, fight the powers that be.
3
our situation today is beyond satire,parody or humor....it is a tragic waste of opportunities and no cute conversation from pundits ( all self appointed) will make it any better.
we have the resources and brain power to fix our ills...just not the will to do it
i angry and cynical
wfrom whence wil salvation come?
1
Yes, as the Trump Administration runs roughshod over the Constitution lets harp on the Democrats for daring to consider acting on it. This nation is headed towards authoritarianism. No question about it, we are watching the president become the one thing the founders of this nation wanted to avoid the president becoming, a king
7
"But right now the main thing congressional Democrats should be doing is talking up an agenda for governance, not reminding Americans for the zillionth time that the president is a very bad hombre."
Ms. Collins? Mr. Stephens? Madam Speaker Pelosi?
Let's get to it.
3
“..,then it begins to add up in ways that are unsustainable and....”
The word “unsustainable” is a stick of dynamite. You can buy some in any building supply store as long it’s owned by a Republican. Right, Mr. Stephens? Healthcare for everybody? Gimme that dynamite. Unsustainable. Tuition-free, debt-free education? Unsustainable. Fix roads, schools, bridges? Unsustainable. Here’s a tip: when it benefits most Americans, get the dynamite. In fact we can sustain anything by deciding to pay for it by taxing the rich. But there aren’t enough rich people to tax. Really? How do the French and the Swedes and the Germans do it? How do they sustain national healthcare and guaranteed higher education for all? By deciding to pay for it. Like we did when we decided to go to the Moon. We decided to pay for it. Only one thing has changed. The oligarchy didn’t like paying taxes and bought enough of Congress to get its way. The rest of America? How dare they think they’re entitled to a doctor? Dangerous socialists. But somehow the rich in Europe do just fine. Do average Americans understand that? Nope. They’ve been conned by the greatest propaganda machine in history. Every time Mr. Stephens uses the word unsustainable he should hang his head in shame. But he’s in tune with his employer. In 2016 that’s what the Times’ Editorial Board said about national healthcare and free tuition for all. Unsustainable. You wonder, has anybody In the tower on Eighth Avenue been to Europe?
3
It seems that we live in a time where this is considered “left-wing fringe”:
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity. . . “
We have lost our way.
5
Ben Carson at the Fed -- oh, the horror!!
1
Your aloof quips are just so adorable.
The alternative to a society of laws is oppression opposed by violent revolution.
2
"First term senator, young member of congress, mayor of a small town". Hey Bret you forgot.... people who have never been in public office, even as dog catcher!
Look at what that has bestowed upon us!
3
It’s always “shocking” to me that the stock market is used as measure of the working performance of an economy .. as opposed to how well Wall Street can re-buy/re-sell per quants competing on the “competitive advantage” of a nanosecond, hence increasingly larger fees. It’s an unsustainable house of cards and a beautiful lie sold to Americans that do not know how Wall St actually works except for what they’re told by a certain red hatted person of high office. Hence why Bolton (of nickname, “Father of Our Nuclear Program” in North Korea) is prodding said Red Hat to inflame war around the world. Nothing like getting the economy going like a good old war!
3
“As for William Barr, I think he’s baiting the Democrats, and I think the Democrats are falling for it.“
Like when you bait the cops by committing crimes in front of them. They fall for it every time.
4
I enjoyed Brett's comments on Bill Maher on 5/3/2019. But here he is a cynical wretch and Gail's humor falls flat.
What is the purpose of their column today? The US Constitution and democracy are experiencing the most existential threat since 1861, when Southern Senators and House Members left Congress, swore allegiance to the Confederacy, and declared war against the Union. Lincoln, a newly electly president roundly criticized by ALL national media of the day as an ugly, ignorant hick, lacked an Army, Treasury funds, clean water (two of his sons died of dysentary caused by polluted water in the White House), courageous generals, and widespread public support. Yet Lincoln rose to the occasion, rode out to meet his defeated troops in a tall black stove pipe house to make himself more visible to more troops and generally marshalled every possible asset and fighter he could imagine or bully into service, and won the hardest war in US History - a war which eventually killed him.
Today, our threat from a traitorous President, Republican media (Fox and friends), politically stacked Supreme Court, and questionable military loyalty, is equal to that of 1861. And what do we get from the NYTimes?
Bad jokes by highly paid jokesters. No wonder we Democrats are floundering. I think the only two candidates who really understand our criis are Mayor Pete and Senator Liz. They get it. I wish the Times would catch up.
Surely, Gail and Brett can do better than this shallow trivia.
4
Every pundit who calls for a centrist democratic candidate is asking for a republican victory. These centrists can't get out the vote in this era. Obama won on a "change" campaign. The only chance at beating Trump is with a ticket that gets out the youth vote, the black vote, the Latino vote, and who wins the suburbs. No centrist is going to accomplish those things at the top of the ticket. The dems need their Ronald Reagan right now, not their Mitt Romney.
6
Did you really say that among women there is an unmet need for part time work and for more than one child. Do you happen to have an proof for that? I’d like to see a reference or two for that.
1
Make America Proud Again? How about Not Another Freakin' Trump Administration? I'll wear NAFTA on a hat in I need to.
3
I am shocked - shocked - that Bret Stephens has only just started watching GoT. It should be must watching for all students of power politics. That and reading Robert Caro.
7
@CarpeDiem64:
Agree with the Caro recommendation! Essential reading!
GOT....I haven't got there yet myself.....plan on binge watching it someday.
1
@CarpeDiem64
"... It [Game of Thrones] should be must watching for all students of power politics. That and reading Robert Caro."
I've read the Game of Thrones books, haven't watched the show. I've read Caro, e.g., the Johnson trilogy. The machinations described in the Game of Thrones books are relatively simple-minded, and accompanied by lots of violence. The real thing, as described by Caro, is orders of magnitude more sophisticated. The real thing is interesting in its own right. It does not need any of the gratuitous violence. Roughly comparable to the difference between a real president and a TV president like Trump.
2
The economy is not good... every metric we use to measure the economy is beyond the scope of day-to-day Americans... only 13% of the population owns stocks and the unemployment rate is a fantasy number based on a home phone survey of 60000 households... which directly excludes the very people most likely to be unemployed... homeless and transient. And only includes people who fit the criteria to make the list.
Wages are still at 1970s levels and prices are double what they were 20 years ago for everything from a loaf of bread to a house. The richest have amassed more proportionate wealth, and the middle class just keeps on redefining what it means to be middle class, lowering the bar.
I'm sick of hearing how "great the economy is doing..." Come out here in the real world, out at street level, and ask us about the economy why don't you?
5
I am not just embarrassed by Trump (although that, too), I am ashamed of him, and of the G.O.P., and of the Trump base that defends him, no matter what.
Make America Proud Again works for me, too. On a blue cap and t-shirt.
2
Bret Stevens has built himself a personal cottage industry of blasting Trump on the one hand, and "blessing" Dems with insincere, bad advice and guidance on what they must do to prevent another four years of a Trump presidency on the other. Mr. Stevens, you are a Republican, correct? A Republican, former Massachusetts governor Bill Weld, has declared his candidacy for president with the intention of denying Trump the GOP nomination in 2020. Mr. Stevens, if there is any sincerity in your professed revulsion towards Trump, his conduct of the office he holds, and the spineless complicity of your party, especially the GOP members of the Senate, you must take your focus off the Dems and become a steadfast and vocal voice of the Dump Trump initiative launched by Gov. Weld. By doing so you will be serving your party and the nation. Continued sniveling about the Dems is nothing less than two-faced cynicism and hypocrisy.
5
"On the other hand: $2 trillion? That’s a lot of money, even in today’s Washington. I’ve never been a big budget hawk, but if a future Democratic president is going to massively expand Medicare, or advance some kind of free college-tuition scheme, or spend big on some version of a Green New Deal, then it begins to add up in ways that are unsustainable and crowd out other core functions of government. I’m also worried about whether the funds would be put to efficient use. When you have a huge pot of money, you wind up with a lot of extras on the road crews and too many bridges to nowhere."
1) $2 trillion in infrastructure spending is never going to happen with a Republican Senate;
2) Plans to expand social safety and education programs might have a better chance if we did not have the massive tax break for corporations and the 2%;
3) Let's not forget the military budget, with its thousand-dollar potty seats;
4) The Bridge to Nowhere was an Alaskan Republican Senator, Ted Stevens.
4
Give me a break. Bret Stephens says Democrats should bring up an "agenda for governance".Doesn't that apply to Republicans too? They do nothing but obstruct any Democratic initiatives on immigration, infrastructure and healthcare, even those supported by some of their own legislators. When they're talking about Hillary's email server, Benghazi or their deep-state conspiracy theories, they're all for investigating to the nth degree. However, when it comes to Trump's dubious (putting it mildly) ventures, we should all move on because there's nothing to see here. Sorry, Bret, but the Republican hypocrisy is nauseating.
5
Bret, you are too cynical when you suggest that the Democrats move on and ignore Trump and his attacks on the United States.You rightfully make a passionate case for the dignity and rights of Israel- I cannot imagine that you feel less urgency about the vibrancy of our American democracy.Trump is chipping away at our institutions and ignores our most fundamental concerns when he talks to Putin, our enemy, and does not even mention the Russian attacks on our 2016 election-in fact the two of them joke that it was a “mouse”,a minor incident. it was major and the American people have every reason to be outraged and to investigate Trump until we get some answers why he trusts Putin more than he trusts our Intelligence Agencies.Throughout history we have had heroes who have not become “fatigued” when the American values have been challenged-when the United States Constitution has been at risk.
3
By the way, what does Brett mean when he says Democrats are reminding people that Trump "is a very bad hombre?" Trump of course used precisely that term when he lied about the asylum seekers and immigrants who were arriving at the southern border. Trump also claimed, for instance, that Mexicans are rapists. In using that term, does Brett mean that Democrats are passing on untruths in the service of racism, like Trump? "Bad hombre" is also a cartoon term, for a cartoon bad guy who is doing no real harm. It does not make me think of somebody who has campaigned and governed on the basis of lies, demonization and fear. It does not make me think of somebody who is doing irreparable damage to our democracy. It does not make me think of a politician who has committed numerous impeachable offenses, who has obstructed justice, who has conspired (in the everyday sense of that word) with an enemy nation to sabotage and steal a democratic election. Either Brett is using this loaded term intentionally, with all of its baggage--and thereby seeking to minimize the harm that Trump and his Republicans are doing. Or he has, just this once, forgotten where he was and let himself be very careless.
5
Vladimir Putin has gotten a 1000% return on his investment.
And so have the Republicans.
5
For all intent and purpose, this is akin to a 'reality TV' program, with third class actors known to be tricksters in real life. Trump especially, is an open book at selling his malfeasance, a big- mouth bully (coward in disguise) ready and willing to go on fooling his 'base'. Trump's demagoguery is alive and well, with the full complicity of the republican party, in an attempt to leave 'Game of Thrones' behind.
Here’s how “centrist” I am. I campaigned for Bill Weld years ago.
And now?
Not only are the Republicans far too right wing for me, but so are nearly all the Democrats.
Bret says that Democrats need to appeal to the center... well, Bret, let me tell you a secret. The center isn’t somewhere between Biden and Trump, it’s way over here, on what Americans now call the “left.” Our current “left” is about where Nixon and Eisenhower were.
Democrats should know that lots of folks will not vote for a right wing candidate, no matter what, whether there is a D or an R next to the name.
So they can either try to appeal to the left, or spurn it, like they did in 2016.
I recommend Democrats nominate someone left wing and the “centrist” Democrats can fall in line. In 2016, the reverse didn’t work.
42
We are long past the time when fat in government contracts goes to overstaffed road crews. It doesn't make it that far down the chain.
6
Please, more Gail Collins solo columns where she could share her views on the candidates as well as her valuable experience and thoughts on women's issues. Thank you.
5
What this conversation tells me is that the Republicans, those without ethics or concern for laws or even the Constitution have won. We are condemned to live with a man in the White House, who defiles it daily with falsehoods, rule-breaking, bullying statements, and failure to do the hard work of the presidency. All because Mitch McConnell and Bill Barr and the rest of the Republicans refuse to do their constitutional duties (let alone their moral and ethical duties). What a great behavioral example they set for the rest of us. I, for one, am furious with them. Not for myself, I am old, but for our children.
77
@Practical Realities
It's a constitutional duty to bend to every ridiculous demand of hostile Democrats? What about the duty to honor the election and serve the People of the United States in good faith?
1
@SCPro:
Please remember that Hilary beat Trump by over 3 million POPULAR votes. He is president only due to the 18th century "lets keep 'em in their places" electoral college.
"hostile Democrats"???? I just WISH they were truly hostile...most have just sort of "gone along" with the status quo.
5
Make Democracy a Thing Again
1
He is auditioning for becoming VP as an incarnation of dick Cheney!
You don't have "Mueller fatigue" but rather "talking about Mueller fatigue". Mueller will be far more interesting live, in front of Congress. After that, if he were to make the rounds of the TV news circuit, including FOX, Mueller could break the whole thing open! (I would love to see Mueller toe to toe with some of the FOX crew. He would destroy anyone who tried to smear him or the report. He is a Marine!)
5
"But right now the main thing congressional Democrats should be doing is talking up an agenda for governance, not reminding Americans for the zillionth time that the president is a very bad hombre."
This is happening alongside the issues with the president (Oh, how I hate to call Trump that!) On the campaign trail and in Congress, Democrats continue to talk about policy as well as effective governance.
The main problem I see are the many members of Congress who have tied themselves to Trump's coattails. My 7th District congressman refused to vote for the Violence against Women Act, even though SC leads the country in such violence. Then he blamed Democrats for his vote.
We know that Democrats in the Senate are unable to advance a reasonable agenda on guns because McConnell refuses to allow such legislation to come to the floor.
Just two examples. There are many more.
6
I wonder why the Republicans always tell the Democrats they should choose a centrist candidate (a greed-head, warmonger type). I think it's deliberate misdirection, which will keep the majority of Democrats at home on election day 2020.
8
Of course, the Democrats need to move to some mythical center, aka a corporatist agenda while the minority GOP is allowed to promote its far right, nativist, brand of neo fascism. As Jim Hightower wrote, “Ain’t nothing in the middle of the road but yellow stripes and dead armadillos.”
1
@Jenifer Wolf: Yes, they spent years bashing Hillary Clinton on one hand and acting as if she was the only possible Democratic candidate on the other.
I note with satisfaction that some other people (including Speaker Pelosi) are starting to fret over something that has concerned me for a long time--The Donald may not leave even if defeated at the ballot box. The man who said in debate that he would accept the verdict of the people only if he won is the guy now in office, to our great national shame. Even if a Democrat can get, say 375 electoral votes, he'll claim that there was widespread voter fraud, that AOC and Maxine Waters got all their Hispanic and African-American friends to vote four times, etc., and he is the rightful winner. Then what?--declare martial law, disband the Congress, federalize the national guard in 50 states and put them under a military lackey hand-picked for his authoritarian bent, just as Barr was picked after auditioning on the strength of his views of Executive power and its supremacy over a wimp Congress? We have reason to be concerned that we may already have lost the Republic founded 220 years ago.
7
Or a couple of journalistic hacks. Experiencing the gauntlet of a Presidential run would make them better columnists and perhaps one of them may be promoted to Editor.
By the way Brett--you recently wrote a piece faulting the military-industrial complex, then turned around and argued that America's military-industrial complex was an important element of keeping North Korea at bay.
The military-industrial complex is a prominent element of American capitalism. So, which is it?
After reading you regularly for six months, I am forced to conclude that your pieces lack nuance and merely showcase an ideology--over and over again.
You begin and end as a Republican without any educational detours.
2
Bret seems to be describing Joe Biden.
Democrats must view everything they do through the lens focused on winning independent votes in 2020. Without them, we lose, by not clawing back those states of infamy that flipped to Trump after Hillary ignored them. Will independents approve of impeaching Trump? If so, do it. If not, don't. Will independents support Bernie, who sports the word "socialist" along with a modifier most people don't understand? Doubtful. Trump will fill the wind with his war whoop that he will protect America against socialism. Oh, I know -- Bernie's not a true socialist, by a long shot. But he uses the word to describe himself, and that word is dynamite to many Americans, in any context. Trump will light the fuse. So, poll carefully on the issues independents care about. Run on those issues. Independents WILL elect the next president.
3
The best candidate to compete against Trump is Larry Hogan, Governor of Maryland. He is a decent man with a solid track record of success appealing to both Republicans and Democrats. To truly defeat "Trumpism", it will take a Republican.
And what has Trump done...that is positive...that any garden variety Republican could have accomplished without all the angst and embarrassment wrought by Donnie? Larry Hogan is the answer and his rise would be the slap in the face that Trump and his followers deserve.
2
@Bill, I'm a Democrat in MD and will vote for Hogan if he runs. We have a generally well-run state, a dominant Democratic legislature, and a governor (Hogan) who understands the demographic, and more importantly, has that cool thing in his chest they call a heart.
2
"It looks as if the Senate Republicans are going to reject the Trump-Pelosi-Schumer plan for infrastructure funding. What do you think about that?"
When there is an infrastructure failure (bridge-tunnel -dam) A real disaster! - There will be plenty of mea culpas to go around.
Trump will blame the Democrats !
His supporters will be screaming "Hang Hillary!"
Things will still be great in Blue America!
Let the trumpers have their guns and bibles and drugs and unwanted children. ( and soon to be obsolete jobs)
Like someone once said "The calendar takes care of everything"
3
Yes, Democrats should run on policy and governance, but Bret ignores the Trump-era phenomenon. Today, no matter how brilliant the Democrat idea, one outrageous Trump tweet will capture all media and public attention. Until he is voted out of office, any substantial discourse about governance will be page three news.
And if you haven’t noticed, Trump’s current plan to thwart further investigations or good democrat ideas is to start a war, Venezuela or Iran, it’s a pick’em. Trump wants to play general, and he wants to play now. Americans rarely oust presidents in wartime. Trump learned that from W.
6
The idea candidate that Bret Stephens wishes for is what used to be called a moderate Republican.
Unfortunately, everyone who doesn't have fascist tendencies or fanatical devotion to moneymaking at all costs and/or a desire to make everyone follow fundamentalist Christian standards of personal behavior has already left the Republican Party. I wish they would go back and retake their own party instead of trying to Republicanize the Democrats.
5
You two missed the boat today. By a country mile. Here is what you've overlooked, and none of it is hyperbole:
By refusing to submit to Congressional oversight, the Executive Branch has precipitated an unprecedented Constitutional crisis. Our system of democracy depends on a set of traditions and institutions that are presently under attack like never before. My. Trump is pushing white nationalist fascism the likes of which we haven't seen since 10,000 attended a pro-Nazi rally in Madison Square Garden in 1939. Bonhoeffer could have been writing yesterday when he warned the Germans in 1933 that they were falling for an idolatrous personality cult fueled by lies, demonization and fear. The White House is not protecting us from ongoing and future Russian election sabotage. The Mueller report told us that the Russian sabotage effort in 2016 was "sweeping and systematic." In other words, Russia almost certainly influenced the vote totals. Moreover, the Senator Rubio told us last week that the Russians had been in a position to modify the Florida vote totals. It is telling that Rubio did not tell us they were unsuccessful. Speaker Pelosi, whom I admire more than words can say, has warned the nation that Trump is likely not to leave office if he loses the election and if it is at all close. Mueller who, due to DOJ policy, did not indict nevertheless told us in no uncertain terms that Trump obstructed justice. Barr's appointment is, in and of itself, obstruction of justice.
12
AG Barr has demonstrated his desire to please Trump by claiming NO COLLUSION again and again at his Spin news conference made before the report was released. Barr's report of the Mueller report allowed Trump to rant and rave about what a victim he is again. What Barr's reward may be for getting the job he auditioned for is not clear yet but it must be something BIG as his reputation is now in taters as he throws out TRumpian terms like Spying on Trump . Barr's sympathy for Trump is the frustration he felt being picked on by dems and the free press it would justify shooting folks on 5th ave for which he could not be indicted . Barr thinks Trump a king would he think Obama a king or is he just a partisan hack.
Rocks crack and erode. Water evaporates and returns again and again as rain and snow.
Which will endure?
1
Americans of the future? If we maintain our focus on garbage like this (Trump, Barr, Graham, McConnell, etc. - not your writing) and don’t unite very quickly to try to deal with climate crisis and species extinction - there aren’t going to be any future Americans to worry about. Please focus elsewhere.
9
Trump counts on people like Bret giving up on pointing out the constant lies and disinformation the administration sprays out on a daily basis. By hiding behind a tactical argument Bret surrenders the concept of standing up to a liar and a bigot and seems to state "well, people are tired of being reminded that Trump is a "bad hombre" so just give up." Trump reads that and thinks "fantastic, I can continue to spout lies, I can continue to retweet racist fringe groups, and critics like Bret won't even bother to point it out anymore." Trump has worn Bret down and Bret has simply surrendered.
6
Geeze, Bret...You and Ross today - you sound like Warren-istas!
Gather round, everyone - we may be seeing a genuine conversion coming!
Uh huh. Everyone's talking about who will win. They got that right last time, didn't they?
2
Brilliant.
Where can one look to find a list of the “very rich individuals and corporations who pay no taxes whatsoever”? Could the NYT publish that list on a regular basis so we can know who they are? How rich are they? How much money are they holding back? I am having trouble validating that ubiquitous statement. Could Ms Collins site her sources? It seems rather Trumpish to publicly and repeatedly vilify a particular group of Americans with a vague and sinister label.
3
@FNL
You must have missed this:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/29/us/politics/democrats-taxes-2020.html
1
The normally insightful Mr. Stephens is phoning it in today:
"William Barr is trolling the democrats."
No kidding.
Mr. Stephens offers the sage advice regarding Barr and Trump's malfeasance while becoming apoplectic about what he deems was a an anti-Semitic political cartoon published by the newspaper of record.
Yes, folks you heard that right. Cartoons satirizing Trump's cluelessness in foreign affairs and his concomitant pandering to Netanyahu are the real problem.
Trump and Barr. Shrug.
Indeed Trump and Barr are trolling the nation - not just democrats. We are witnessing an historic abuse of power and widespread corruption that is doing permanent damage to the rule of law in this country.
Conservatives used to be all for the Rule of Law and the sanctity of the Constitution. As I recall, the steady refrain during the Lewinsky scandal was, "Nobody is above the law."
No?
Americans off good character and from all walks of life are going to have to stand up and demand justice. That includes you, Mr. Stephens, assuming you are more (as I believe) than a partisan hack (see Mitch McConnell, Hugh Hewitt, etc.). Follow the facts wherever they go but do follow them and do demand transparency.
7
What if the economic crash comes in 2021 after Trump wins reelection? We will be so screwed.
2
Reaching here. Not humorous.
Elizabeth Warren has policies and ideas about how to implement them. So does Jay Inslee. The Republicans have to make the Koch Brothers happy, deconstruct anything in the government that is for the average person, and keep their cushy jobs and perks as long as possible. McConnell is slimier than Trump, and Miller makes Cohen look nice.
Putin must be laughing his head off every time he gets off the phone with Trump.
The people who call themselves "conservatives" who agreed to trillions of dollars in debt so corporations could "save money" when many pay no taxes at all are hypocrites. Lindsay Graham has a brown nose. Does "the base" care? Of course not. The lovely people on FOX and Sinclair give them all sorts of wonderful fiction to shore them up.
We are living through a perfect storm of bad influences that finally combined under Trump. It took 40+ years, but it finally reached the goal of putting the foxes in charge of the hen house. Anti-government people running (into the ground) the government they swore to uphold. Liars all.
Not funny, Gail and Bret. Not at all.
18
"But right now the main thing Democrats should be doing is talking up an agenda for governance"...
Yes--it is incumbent on the Democratic Party to talk up an agenda. Us R's don't get into that "public service" kind of a thing. We're too busy winning. Besides, it's easier--and fun--and good strategy, to just sit back and let them come up with stuff. Then we can call them socialists and win some more.
Mr. Stephens--has it occurred to you that an agenda--other than "winning", just might issue from YOUR party. As of Jan 2016 Republicans controlled the presidency, both houses and the judiciary along with a majority of state houses and governors. A pretty good time to roll out a comprehensive agenda. What did the GOP give us? Claw back health care for as many as possible. Cut taxes and increase deficits (always top GOP priorities). Infrastructure? Not so much. Climate change? Fake news. Hoax. I won't even mention Trumpian chicanery. This is just classic GOP stuff.
Are these ideas you proudly endorse? Or are you more a fan of removing every environmental and safety protection possible? Because you're winning on that one. Abortion? You're winning there. With recent state bans and all the Koch-reared judges now in place...there are enough radical right judges in place to lock down the country for the next 30 years. All is Right with the world.
12
Bret has a point. He says:
".....And if you yell loudly enough, people stop listening (and your voice gets hoarse)."
I have heard Trump squeal about 'no collusion' so often, I no longer listen to him or his enablers (like Bret, for example). Until further notice, any support of Trump is proof that you are no patriot.
5
Regarding an alternative activity for the House leadership: Democrats ought to resurrect the text of S.744 - Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act (2013) that passed the Senate 68-32. Put it up for a vote in the House (which refused, under Paul Ryan, to bring it to a vote), let it pass and send it back to the Senate. Then Mitch McConnell can explain why he won't permit a vote on a bill that passed his chamber in 2013, or the Republicans still in the Senate who voted for the bill (Alexander, Collins, Graham, Hoeven, Murkowski, Rubio) can explain why they want to change their vote now. Senator Lindsey Graham will have a hard time talking clearly with all that brown stuff smeared over his nose.
7
Bret says America needs a Democratic candidate for president who believes that capitalism should be improved, not replaced.
From what I've seen of the Democratic presidential candidates, none are advocating replacing capitalism but are, indeed, wanting vast improvements in the way it performs: namely, fairness and equity in who benefits by it.
6
@Cate "fairness and equity in who benefits by it, (i.e. capitalism") is not a capitalist concept. American capitalism is supposed to be about equal opportunity, not equal outcomes. The proper anthem for your views is the "Internationale" not "the Star-Spangled Banner." It'll never sell. We indeed need what used to be called a liberal Republican, a Percy-Rockefeller-Lodge-Hatfield as our standard bearer to defeat Trump if the economy remains strong. And talking about equality of outcomes won't win.
1
Personally, Bret, I'm not "bashing my head against a rock", it's more like a sponge. SpongeDonald Square Pants. We may be weary and numb but we are not to be deterred. It most certainly is about principal and standing for principal is not easy but it is imperative. Even a rock gives way to steady, incessant flowing water. We are the water, the ineluctable force by which the rock will yield.
5
Mr. Stephens is absolutely right on this point:
"But right now the main thing congressional Democrats should be doing is talking up an agenda for governance, not reminding Americans for the zillionth time that the president is a very bad hombre. And that’s barely happening, because outrage over this or that transgression by Barr or tweet by Trump dominates the news cycle and is the only thing that left-wing Twitter can talk about."
Dems should talk about the issues that matter to most voters: healthcare, inequality, climate change, etc. I hear Dems say many times that they can both focus on Trump and on legislation and policy - they can walk and chew gum at the same time. Maybe they can -but the media cannot. Until the Mueller report and any talk of impeachment is well behind us, that is all the media will focus on and the really important ways in which Republicans are ruining our country and our planet will continue to escape notice.
1
Let me know when a low unemployment rate is worth the loss of our democracy.
16
I am not enjoying this column at all lately. I find the snark and lightheartedness not engaging in the slightest, in light of the real disaster staring us all in the face. You're making cute little jokes as the Titanic steams ahead, going directly for the iceberg. It's not that I don't enjoy a little satire sometimes (I even laugh at SNL skits), but Bret and Gail's roadshow isn't that funny. Do they think the degrading of our democracy is not going to personally affect them?
7
Infrastructure is going nowhere because the 2 trillion dollars to pay for it won't happen. Democrats working on this is a waste of time. And yet Pelosi wants to spend time on it.
Impeachment hearings can accomplish something by getting the President impeached. He won't be removed from office. However it does give Congress additional investigative powers, which are important. In this Pelosi can accomplish something, but she doesn't want to. This is also their duty, according to the law. She is not as clever as she thinks she is.
2
Pelosi doesn’t want to raise Donald’s approval rating. Do you? Really? She smells a trap and she’s right.
Wrong, she has said she wants to uncover more evidence so as to convince people Trump is a crook.
That is what you missed.
If this was an attempt to confront the executive branch's assault on our democracy with humor, it failed.
8
Amazing how we never talk about the budget anymore. Strong economy? If I could spend 23% more than I earn (2018 US budget) I'd be happy too. This year it's 32%...insanity.
4
Or her, Bret. As in, "give Americans a reason to feel proud of their president rather than embarrassed by him or her."
1
Make American Proud Again (MAPA?) works for me, Bret.
27
@T Norris
Or how about "MAAA" - Make America America Again? It nicely evokes us bleating sheep in the back row of Government.
5
@T Norris
Proud? "Of what?" is the important question. What aspect do would American wish to elevate? Duty, virtue perhaps?
2
Why do I get the feeling that Mr Stephens would like nothing more than to be able to blame the Democrats for prioritizing oversight of the executive branch above passing bills that won't make it through the Senate, should Trump be reelected?
7
He's nothing but consistent. He is against anything labeled Democratic.
3
My whole life I wondered how Germany could elect Hitler and do the awful things he asked. Now I know. It can't happen. Wanna bet!! Vote Democratic 2020 whoever it is.
11
The endless media fascination with Trump makes it seem that all Democrats do is worry about Trump. I don’t buy this narrative. All outstanding candidates have focused on their campaigns, not the White House occupant. The house judiciary committee is simply doing it’s job. It’s investigating what should be investigated. Nadler, Cummins, Schiff et al are trying to instill some ethical normalcy to government. This may be all we can watch on tv, but it’s not what’s going on in Iowa and other states.
3
Mr Stephens' analysis of the current political situation is so naively misguided one must wonder how on earth he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize. It is not Speaker's Pelosi place just now to set a policy agenda - anything that would be currently decided would be abandoned as soon as a Democratic candidate was chosen. Instead she has suckered Trump into coming up with the grandstanding $2 trillion figure, which he now must sell to Republicans, in the full knowledge that if there is one thing that Republicans hate spending money on, it is infrastructure. This will amplify divisions in the GOP which can be exploited when impeachment proceedings commence, as they surely will when the further evidence of Trump's multitude of crimes are revealed through the cases being investigated by the SDNY (and others). Pelosi knows that the house of Trump cards is coming close to collapse, but that the right pressure must be applied to the right areas and in the right way, for the people and then enough of the GOP to support the impeachment of this most dishonourable man.
4
During this conversation, I tended to side with Gail's perceptions of people and events and the pulse of all Americans' philosophical leanings. And, Bret, I would not be too sure about Trump winning in 2020. Amorality and corruption has a way of catching up with people, even those of Trump's ilk. His day is coming, mark my word. And, in one sense, in fact the only sense, we are not unlike Mr. T's supporters. The more you defend and predict his victory, the more you anger us and make us more determined than ever - if that is possible - to send your guy packing and back to one of his Golden Towers, including McDonald's.
But, that being said, I say kudos to Gail's colleague and friend. It came right at the end, and I quote: (Re Democrats winning) "...who can give Americans a reason to feel proud of their president rather than embarrassed by him." "Make America Proud Again? There could be worse slogans." That is it, right there. I would predict that I would win a year's free subscription to the Times if I bet on the millions of us who choose an ethical and moral Democrat as POTUS over this Exploiter in Chief polluting the office in which he does not belong and harassing those of us he took an oath to defend and protect.
3
Republican capitulation and complicity are tearing this country apart because they refuse to do their job. Republicans should be held in contempt, fined, indicted and impeached
Vote them out for abandoning the republic. It should always be country first. Run on patriotism, run on the rule of law. Run on democracy first
4
This is an election about morality, ethics, and fitness to govern. Trump is exceedingly weak in all these areas.
If, in the end, Americans disregard these incredibly important character issues and vote for Trump because they are taking home a few dollars more in their paychecks, then we will deserve four more years of chaos.
Democrats should keep hammering at Trump the person, the bigoted, lying, corrupt individual that he is. I am hopeful that enough women, minorities, Millennials, and thoughtful white men make the decision that this is more important to the long-term health of the country than the economy.
2
---@History Guy
Yes! keep the pressure on and increase it! Trump does not perform well under pressure.
The Democrats should ignore Trump and his early morning Tweets and instead focus all their energy on discussing the issues that will win in 2020. The planet is melting, income inequality is at a record and the healthcare system is a mess. Select these three issues and hammer away relentlessly at creative solutions and deprive Trump of any oxygen in the room in the process.
3
Trump can claim the economy as a reason to win but the economy (Obama deserves share for that) hasn't helped Trumps approval ratings which have been at an all time low since he took office. Frankly I don't think the economy is going to help him.
2
"Democrats will win if they can find a candidate who will appeal to the center and is willing sometimes to push back against the progressive fringe; who won’t talk down to Trump voters; who believes capitalism should be improved, not replaced; who can give Americans a reason to feel proud of their president rather than embarrassed by him."
Hmm, I think there's a big gap between a winning democratic candidate and Bret Stephens' endorsement of a democrat who would fit his role of a rube who moderate republicans could manipulate, which is what the above amounts to. The democratic party and the country will be in bad shape for sure if the candidate who emerges to face Trump meets the checklist of conservatives, moderate or otherwise.
3
I'm struck by Bret's statement that the Democrats should be working on an "agenda for governance." In theory, I agree. It would be wonderful if our government, you know, actually governed. That almost certainly would be best for the country. But if the chief goal is knocking Trump out of office, I'm not sure that an agenda is the way to go.
Certainly Trump had no "agenda for governance" when he won the presidency. Indeed, it's not clear that he's ever landed on such an agenda. And the closest Republicans came to an "agenda for governance" under Obama was resolving not to govern at all while hoping that the resulting damage to the country could be laid at Obama's feet (an approach with varying degrees of success, but that ultimately resulted in winning the presidency and both chambers in 2016).
One of the unfortunate realities of our modern age is that anger appears to be perhaps the single greatest force in elections. Perhaps leaning into that anger is precisely what it will take to defeat Trump.
2
I disagree. I think it was FEAR that was used in the 2016 campaign.
1
According to Trump, the economy is the strongest it's ever been. Yet only 56% of the public approves of his handling of it. Why so low?
As a side note, if you're watching GOT for political intrigue, good acting, fabulous sets and sound tracks, and a well-constructed story, consider stopping after season 4. If you're watching only for zombies and dragons, skip to season 7.
1
I will vote for a dedicated public servant of any gender who is the brightest and strongest (in terms of character, integrity, knowledge, enlightened policy, and compassion/empathy for all human beings/the planet); one who will, given our current abyss, Make America Honest Again.
4
Two trillion dollars is a lot of money
And as Brett pointed out in an earlier column, so is the 13 billion spent on each of the new class of US nuclear aircraft carriers that now no longer serve any useful strategic purpose. Same for the new generation(s) of stealth fighters at 35-50 million a pop while effective close air support for ground troops goes begging.
So I think I see a way to make up the difference.
7
And don't forget that Lima factory in Ohio that keeps pumping out Abrams tanks daily! And those 6 Air Force bases we support in the UK.
SIX!
3
Bret says: "If you repeatedly bash your head against a rock, it isn’t the rock that’s going to get hurt."
That metaphor has its limits. First, Trump is not a rock and it serves his purposes for us to see him that way. Secondly, even if we choose to see him that way, "bashing your head" might not be the right metaphor either. We know that constant pressure can erode and crack even the most stubborn rock. It just takes time.
116
@Joel Lazewatsky seriously. It worked for repubs and bengAHzi
6
@Joel Lazewatsky:
we don't HAVE time.
We are in the throes of a constitutional crisis. Yet the Republicans are desperately tripping over themselves to appease and please their most evil Game of Thrones maniacal King and bury the body (democracy) while it is still very much alive but in dire need of immediate attention and care to keep it breathing and healthy.
So what are we discussing today? Party politics as horserace--although we have not had a single Democratic debate yet among the 20-21 presidential candidates--who's up, who's down; who's too progressive; who is not progressive enough.
We know about Monday morning quarterbacking, with pundit water-cooler analysis after an event. Call this conversation between Gail and Bret Tuesday morning kibbitzing (defined as "To offer unwanted or meddlesome advice, such as that given by the spectator of a card game")
Meanwhile, King Trump will be playing referee, umpire, manager and owner of the pathetic authoritarian Republican Party in the 2020 election and will allow only adulation and no debate within HIS most obedient and subsurvient personal political party.
And now, the self-appointed maniacal evil King is tweeting the idea that he needs to be given an extra 2 years in office because of the Democratic coup to impeach and remove him from office. He is also exploring ways that if he loses in 2020 (God willing), he can declare the election fraudulent and remain in office until his ignoble sons take over.
Who will make America sane again? Not the GOP!
10
I agree with Brett. the Dems need something much more than hand wringing over Trump:
* A Global Climate Change policy;
* Restore American foreign policy;
* Fix the taxation problem;
* Get started on infrastructure R & R;
* Get everyone some healthcare they can afford and that works;
* Rein in Big Banks, Wall St., Big Insurance, Big Pharma, Big Tech, Big Military/Defense;
* Help create schools that educate, especially in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Make college affrodable.
On and on. We're burning a lot of calories just being outraged at Trump all the time.
4
@Bob Burns A lot of this can't be done while we have a republican senate in the Federal Government. Some things can be done easier at the state level, if state government have Democrats in power.
1
Stephens has a problem with two trillion spent on repair of roads, bridges, tunnels, railways and airports but not with a multi-trillion dollar deficit due to the Republican tax bill. Typical of his party's hypocrisy.
10
Yes, I noticed that, too. It is almost as if the Republicans are mentally unable to think that infrastructure is a good thing.
1
Game of DRONES.
2
Sad to say this, but every day America takes another blind, stumbling and clueless step towards fascism and dictatorship. How degraded our nation has become! What would Whitman think, my God?
Wake up people!
Americans won't look back on this period in horror, because there won't be an America.
Thanks Republicans.
8
"Meanwhile, there’s the news that unemployment is at 3.6 percent, a 50-year low, wage growth is solid, inflation is low, and growth is robust. "
I'd really like to believe the economic news but given how many lies -- or to be more generous, half-truths -- are coming out of the Trump administration, how can we trust these numbers?
This especially when most of us are feeling flat wage growth, getting too few hours (meaning we have to take on additional jobs), and wondering where we can find these supposed "good times". The problem for Republicans and something the Democrats should be able to capitalize on is this sense that we don't really know what's going on. "Fake news" now feels pervasive.
3
This colloquy might be more interesting, if either Collins or Stephens was vulnerable to government policy.
Would Gail Collins remain a contented socially liberal neo-liberal if she suddenly found herself priced out of the health insurance?
Would Bret Stephens be advocating foreign wars and invasion if his taxes were raised to pay for them and his children were drafted to fight them?
As it is, they both seem to view national affairs as the would a TV program, without consequences other than amusement -- as the very headline here sets out.
6
I think we are focussing on the wrong target. Forget replacing Trump (though it would be such a nice thought). REPLACE MITCH McCONNELL.
12
@Virginia Baker him, too.
1
"I admit it would be great if the Democrats presented a thoughtful, progressive agenda for the future."
She has a plan for that. I would love to see Warren get herself out of the primaries so Americans could hear her voice more clearly and realize she really does speak for all those who did not benefit from the tax cuts, i.e., around 99.9% of Americans.
8
"Gail: So when Americans of the future look back on this period in horror, they’ll at least give the Democrats credit for trying."
....And I think that's what worries me most: When Americans of the future look back on this period, that's ALL the Democrats will get, is credit for trying. Hope I'm wrong.
60
For cultural benefits it helps to mention that Nancy was born in The Year Of The Dragon, 1940! And Trump in the year of the dog.
Guess what the outcome will be. It is foretold!
4
Again...not a Trump fan but...Trump administration inefficient? Holy...”shovel ready jobs”...”Solindra”...”crazy high deductibles”...Climate accords with no teeth...
Billions on the tarmac...
An AG who has the President’s back...Eric Holder. BTW...Barr comes back to government to defend Trump? Yeah, right. A lifetime of defending the law & you all think he’s going to throw that away for Donald?
Lowest unemployment in 50 years. ‘nough said.
1
@Gailmd
What exactly is Trump’s health care idea? Die and reduce the population. The Trump administration is ignoring climate change where it’s increasingly evident that flooding and wild fires are impacting our economy. And yes the Attorney General is throwing law and order away defending and enabling a narcissistic sociopathic president.
3
Sadly, Gail, Barr has already thrown his "lifetime of defending the law" away. His legacy is in tatters.
2
Bret: "And that’s barely happening, because outrage over this or that transgression by Barr or tweet by Trump dominates the news cycle and is the only thing that left-wing Twitter can talk about."
Speak to your editors! The NY Times covers every Barr bark and Trump tweet like it's the second coming. Some of that stuff belongs on the gossip page, not the front page.
5
Mr. Stephens, do you really think the most important thing you can say in your precious public platform is "Barr is baiting the Democrats, and they are falling for it?"
My God in Heaven, man, Barr is pivot point in taking your democracy down. He is breaking the law and the rules. I assume he also picks his nose, but that is not the focus. Get a grip, sir!
12
I have a better slogan than Make America Proud Again. It's MAKE AMERICA SANE AGAIN---DUMP TRUMP
4
Too bad China's gong to strip our idiot Emperor as naked as a jaybird, right before Fox and Rush's eyes. What is Lou Dobbs going to do when the market and economy crater, demand that we nuke China?
2
What an empty column!
3
@Imperato - Yeah, no effort went into it whatsoever.
I want to dare Kanye to write a new rap called "Bad Presidents" (who needs to leave his residence) and mean it.
3
Gail, Gail, Gail! Where have you been? The Dems in the House are pushing for important legislation. HR1 which would clean up govt., the Green New Deal which puts climate change front and center in our economic planning, a variety of single payer and public option bills for medical care, a number of bills that would protect our national parks from Trump’s BLM, bills to secure the 2020 vote, etc, etc. Granted this legislation will not be voted on in the Senate, but the House is voting on it. Granted too that it doesn’t get much coverage in the press, but it’s there and the message is clear— the Democratic Party is serious about government and governing. The tragedy is that you and other pundits let Trump suck all the air out of the room. Please stop.
10
Is this a 1% cocktail party transcript or what?
3
Ask Americans in the bottom 80% if the economy is strong. Ever tried living on $11/hour jobs with lousy benefits? Even two earner families in this situation with one or two children, in essence live in poverty. Yes, for people who want to work hard for low wages, the economy is hunky-dory.
8
It's time to retire this column. It adds no value. It's trite.
14
@markymark It is healthy to vent and discuss differing opinions...and, often, get a good chuckle.
1
Mr. Stephens is the typical R who doesn't comprehend that if our Republic is to survive, we must press ahead and go after the Trump crime family and team and bring them to justice.
Then we must install our own team to clean up the mess:
Elizabeth Warren to bring down the money people and lift up the unions.
Jay Inslee, as vice president, who will focus solely on his area of expertise: Global Warming.
Joe Biden, as secretary of state, to repair all of our broken international relationships and reinstate agreements.
Kamala Harris, as attorney general, to bring back the rule of law to our Republic.
15
Nice line up of prez, VP, etc. That quartet could make a HUGE difference!
4
@lechrist I've noticed that British non-majority parties appoint "shadow ministers," that is, the people they would have in those positions if they were in power.
"...my money is on Trump being re-elected."
You're on Bret! I can go up to $1,000. Contact me to arrange the details. :-)
If I win, as is fervently to be hoped, I'll ask that you send your $1,000 to the Biden/Buttigieg inaugural committee.
If you win, perish the thought, where should I send my $1,000? I'm actually VERY interested in your answer. :-)
With regards (and in good fun),
akp3 from Asheville in North Carolina ... a purple state whose incumbent senator, up in 2020, needs to lose along with the Big Orange
3
It is amazing how many Trump supporters are ready and willing to give up our democracy and have Trump as our dictator Reminds me of Jim Jones and Jonestown.
6
Just as a thought experiment, reread this article with the recent UN report about mass extinctions/environmental disruption in mind.
Neither joy nor happiness will be the result.
127
Call me crazy, Bret, but I don't think most "progressive" ideas are "fringe" at all.
As of 2014, the wealthiest 1% claimed 40% of the nation's wealth, and the bottom 80% owned 7%. The system is tilted so that opportunity and wealth continue to roll towards those who already have the most of both.
Trying to re-balance the mechanisms that cannibalize the hopes and prospects of most Americans, and cement the haves and have-nots into their present circumstances, doesn't strike me as a theoretical fringe concept. Rather, it's a way to help the majority of our citizens strive for productive lives, in a system that meets their basic needs, and not let our society devolve to the point where the poor must resort to crime or take to the streets just to survive.
190
@D Price I agree with many of your goals. But you are unrealistic if you don't understand why they are "fringe" efforts from a political perspective. Take "Medicare for All" - would essentially legislate our of existence the entire health insurance industry. That would eliminate close to a MILLION JOBS. Those jobs are a big source of waste in health costs, but the dislocation from that is immense.
Trump has been disastrous for his last of planning and lack of predictability. In trade negotiations, tax policy, foreign policy, etc. - there is no US policy because there is no administration policy, because it's whatever Trump decides to tweet this morning. But that is a major governance failure. Progressives are adopting his tactic when they decide to break all the same rules, just to "fix" what they think needs to get fixed. You can't legislate out of existence a trillion dollar industry, with a million jobs and a thousand companies. You would destroy so many lives. Other side of the coin - no way Medicare can absorb all of those insureds.
Politics should be the "art of the possible." Need to drive consensus and what can be done. Not childish tantrums based on the agenda du jour.
4
Your concerns over the loss of all those health insurance jobs is a bit over-stated. Many of those in the industry would simply be absorbed into whatever the new system becomes. Their expertise will be useful not only in health care but other industries. And, for the record, during the crash of 2008 I was in the real estate business and there were probably 750,000 of those folk who were "disrupted." I didn't hear anyone crying for them at the time. Indeed, recently, one of my libertarian acquaintances was all giggles that Uber was "disrupting" taxi drivers. It's interesting how people become rather selective about who or what they want "disrupted."
18
@Paul: The UK has had the National Health service for decades, and there is still a private health insurance industry for those who choose to go private.
10
It takes time to develop a political platform. Can the media please show at least a little bit of patience and let the Democrats work it out?
Also, it seems Trump is allowed to talk "down" to whomever he pleases but Democrats are not allowed to do anything so controversial. How about letting Democrats do or say whatever they want?
LP
211
@LP
"Letting Democrats say whatever they want?" No one is stopping Democrats from saying whatever they want.
It's the Democrats who can't figure out what message to key in on. They are the ones who can't figure out what to say.
Democrats are dangerously divided and the aged leadership in the House and Senate don't seem capable of leading with new ideas and terminology.
Mayor Pete is advocating something like democracy, security and something else which I forget...Why no verbs Mayor Pete? The slogan has got to be clever, visual, or have a subject and a verb.
Democrats main challenge is that they are so boring and unimaginative. Trump is evil and distracting but what do Democrats offer in competition. They need to use more colorful language or it all just sort of blurs together!
3
I don't need the next president to be a centrist, or willing sometimes to push back against the progressive fringe; or not talk down to Trump voters; or believe capitalism should be improved, not replaced. Any of the Democratic candidates would make American proud again. None of them reach the depths of idiocy and ignorance of the current president. I'm not looking for perfect--God knows we're far from that now. I just need him or her to not be Trump.
306
I love your conversations, but this one is heavy on snark and conjecture and light on morality and compassion. Trump is tearing the American governmental infrastructure apart--forget roads and bridges for a second--and take a look at what is happening writ large to America. It is not a pretty sight and perhaps the two of your should look at it more closely and stop judging the political party and its leaders who are trying to figure out how to counter it. The Democrats are not perfect, but they are facing an ungodly challenge in the lawless and laughing Trump Administration. How about giving the Republicans some pushback over their silence and complicity? It's easy to criticize and laugh at those who are actually doing something to combat what is going on in the White House. Trump could quite easily refuse to leave office in 2020 or 2024 and I'm not sure we have a mechanism to make him do so. That would make a good conversation for you two--without the snark of course. Regret is a destructive emotion. I'm afraid that many Americans are going to experience it shortly as everything continues to go sideways, and those who should know better make fun of and demean those who are trying to work against the Trump/GOP destruction. Some help in the fight would be nice for a change. Many of us out here in the heartland--are losing heart and see nothing hopeful ahead.
291
@Meg. All this damage and still his one third think he’s. GRRRRRR-EAT!
15
@Meg: Actually, ABH found the exchange of views quite witty, spiritual, and encourage both writers to keep it up.Well, what is going on in the WH?We have a booming economy, lowest unemployment rate in half a century, increased awareness for our national sovereignty of illegal immigration and emphasis on LEGAL immigration,a tribune in the Oval Office like the tribunes in the old Roman Empire, defenders of the forgotten plebian class,and who defends us against our own elites, who is more popular in France, just 1 example, than Macron himself, and who entertains us as well. No point in taking politics too seriously, which is why Drew Pearson and Jack Anderson, political pundits of a previous era,called their column, "Washington Merry Go Round!"
@Alexander Harrison
Trump inherited a great economy. The Republican Congress gave Trump what they denied Obama, Keynsian spending, which boosted economic growth (See Krugman). The problem is that since the economic benefits acrue to those who already have capital, the money continues to "pool" around the billionaires who continue to buy off the government (Hence the incredible corruption and a Supreme Court that is owned lack stock and barrel by corporations). The money should have been used for infastructure.
Obama tried to govern all Americans. One could argue whether he suceeded, but clearly he tried. But of course McConnell was determined to insure that he would not be reelected. Obama never blamed any state that did not vote for him when they were in crisis (Think California wild fires).
The deficients that are being produced WILL have to be paid. They always do, especially when you are on the road to stagflation (Staglation typically doesn't catch fire until a severe crisis hits like the oil crisis in 74). In the 70's the combination of unpaid money to the military for the Vietnam War and for the Great Society contributed to the inflation.
Ultimately, because most Americans sturggle in their everyday lives to make a living, no politican can raise interest rates to stop inflation. Trump is the beginning of the end of the American Republic. I hope you like the empire that will replace it.
26
The President looks like a cross between a knight in shining armor and a Sunday school teacher compared to Congress.
2
Hahahaha! You're trying to be funny, correct?!!?
12
@SCPro
When is the last time that you have seen a knight? And I would conclude that you have not spent much time with school teachers. As for congress the ugliest thing about them is that many of them (all Republicans) don't give a damn about our country, only their wallet.
17
@SCPro
Knights, in their day, went forth to do battle for their King or their religion. They wreaked havoc, slayed unbelievers, stole from the poor, captured land and exacted tribute and wealth from the commoners. That armor shone with the blood of the oppressed. Those religious leaders begot such horrors as the Spanish Inquisition and the Holy Crusades. Today's Knights in thrall to Trump do battle on the financial and political fronts, supporting wealth over health, turning away the helpless at their castle walls, denying the science of global climate change as did the medieval church deny Copernicus' scientific findings. We do not need this so-called Knight cum Preacher and his Imperial plans.
12
There will be more scandals involving this administration, and the existing scandals will not go away. Deal with it.
We cannot ignore the criminal behavior, corruption and obstruction of Trump and his toadies. Compel your members of Congress to be unrelenting in the pursuit and administration of justice for the crimes and obstruction committed by all members and associates of the executive branch.
5
Several thoughts here
1. Spending $2tln on infrastructure is not a bad use of debt because the rate of rerturn from it is likley to pay for the money spent. It is defcit exapansion for doling out of perks that will not pay off that is expensive. 4Example: students are burdened with college debt. Why? If they got a smart education in a field that pays, education pays for itslef. If this is dead weight debt DO WE REALLY want to subsidize education that will only create dead weight debt for the public sector?
2. Barr did not testify because the House foisted onerous conditions on his appearance. He did not refuse to be questioned by committee members. Arguably they set the table in a way that it encouraged Barr to stiff them. He told them if they were going to allow him to be questioned by their legal staff he would not appear. How commonly is that done anyway? I dont recall every seeing it. Are they admitting they are too stupid to ask good questions?
3. Barr did not evade questions. He answered what was asked-and did not dodge any questions. Like a good lawyer he did not go outside the question to bring more material into the forum. He did eventually tell of the letter he gotten from Mueller. And the Democrats are twisting words and 'playing stupid' over that that was really about. Mueller DID NOT criticize Barr. He criticized a 4page letter that failed to summarize over 400 pages of material...Could it ever? How dumb. Mueller did want his summary released.
"Make America Proud Again"? There's nothing wrong with a backward looking slogan like "Make America Great Again" - if it were 1974 Trump would already be history.
1
There will be more scandals involving this administration, and the existing scandals will not go away. Deal with it.
We cannot ignore the criminal behavior, corruption and obstruction of Trump and his toadies. Compel your members of Congress to be unrelenting in the pursuit and administration of justice for the crimes and obstruction committed by all members and associates of the executive branch.
2
@geomichael We need to get a Democratic majority in the Senate, while keeping the House blue. That should be the most important focus. Once we have a Democratic Congress, justice will prevail.
Stephens, in pretending Barr is baiting Democrats, again justifies and normalizes authoritarianism. Stephens already falsely stated that the Mueller report "exonerated" Trump when Mueller specifically stated he did "not exonerate" him. Why is Stephens paid by the Times to subvert and misrepresent fundamental truths? He's doing Trump’s work; undermining the rule of law and the foundations of our republic.
US Attorney William Barr, entrusted with upholding the law, deliberately and repeatedly lied. He lied in his letter to Congress, stating Trump could not be prosecuted for obstruction of justice because there was no underlying crime. Barr not only lied about the evidence in the report, he lied about the law of obstruction itself.
Every attorney knows the law of obstruction; Barr certainly does. It's routine to prosecute obstruction without an underlying crime. Rod Rosenstein did it constantly as a federal prosecutor. Martha Stewart was convicted for it. Robert Mueller explicitly stated in his report that Trump can be prosecuted for obstruction here without an underlying crime.
Barr lied under oath to Congress. Stephens tries to rebut it with a political Op Ed, not real legal analysis. Even that author effectively conceded his defense of Barr collapses if Mueller testifies before Congress.
Stephens is little different than Barr. He can't speak truth and believes Trump is not subject to anything the Founders placed in our Constitution to prevent the rise of a despot.
6
Bret there is a candidate like that her name is Elizabeth Warren.
3
It would be nice to hear Gail explain why she is on the de Blasio-bashing bandwagon now too. Bret makes sense, but Gail?
1
So Bret's idea is for Democrats to look the other way since Trump is such a "bad hombre" that if we keep pointing it out he'll just win again. OK.
His other idea is that "upgrades" to roads, bridges, etc. would be nice but too costly. How about basic maintenance so they don't collapse? And how about that tax break for the rich and big business? How is it that so many of them already pay no taxes?
So basically forget looking at Trump, hold your breath until he decides to leave, and get used to a once great country crashing from one pothole to another. Oh, and don't talk down to Trump voters.
Inspiring.
7
A good dose of snark while the lawless trump regime rolls on, maybe to a war on Iran.
That will change the boring discourse on the president being above the law.
He is! Get over it.
We got a war to fight!
1
Bret Stephens, translated: “PLEASE PLEASE stop looking into how terrible this Republican president is. I’m trying to save my party’s brand.”
2
I really like Bret's idea of a winning Democrat for 2020:
"...Democrats will win if they can find a candidate who will appeal to the center and is willing sometimes to push back against the progressive fringe; who won’t talk down to Trump voters; who believes capitalism should be improved, not replaced; who can give Americans a reason to feel proud of their president rather than embarrassed by him."
Here! Here!
1
“Make America Proud Again”
I’d vote for that!!!
3
MAKE AMERICA'S NewYorkTimes SANS BRET AGAIN.
Like BOTH U. S. Presidents, Vladimir and Donald, Bret's losing any semblance on finding common ground even if pushed out of a flying plane. That HIS "never been a budget hawk" money is on a businessman who declared a $BILLION loss in 1995 (when even THIS unmade-Bernie-bed made a lot of money) is somehow plumb with what Americans now aspire to unduly denies ANY order whence more-perfect-union-formation is Constitutionally indissoluble -- like Obama's economic-growth graph, which Trump merely piggybacks albeit as a crash-test dummy.
Don't look now, Bret! But your wife packed a parachute in your FREE-lunch box.
Bret Stephens: You don’t “like” the fact that the attorney general is trying to undermine this democracy? I’d take a second look at your likes and dislikes. How about some outrage from a Republican Party that is willing to let us go down the sewer. You think the Democrats need to focus on important policies and skip the constitutional crisis we are in? How about we do both? Because Democrats can actually chew gum and walk at the same time. Maybe you can “like” that.
“Look, I don’t like the precedent of an attorney general skipping a House hearing, and I like even less an A.G. who, even if he didn’t quite perjure himself, aggressively shades the facts to suit the president’s political purposes.”
2
Come on you two! Step it up! This was awful!More is given, more is expected!
4
Congress has a duty to impeach. Stop dipping every decision in politics. Trump must pay. His co-conspirators, his family & the GOP, must pay for their crimes. There is no justice unless there is JUSTICE FOR ALL!
@DrZ The House can vote for impeachment, but the current republican Senate majority will not confirm it. It is a two-step process.
All it will do right now is gin up the repub base, including those few repubs who don't really like trump. If we had both chambers under Democrats, it would have happened already.
Oh, Mr. Stephens, there you go again: "... who believes capitalism should be improved, not replaced ...." Wondering who would get the "pot of money" (for extras) to "improve" capitalism in your mind.
2
Game of Thrones ? No. Shameless Drones. Only one
“ qualification “ required : thou shalt not put any Ethics OR Law above the worship of Trump.
Seriously.
3
The center is for chumps.
When a Republican loses, he is seen as a RINO so the next candidate must be more extreme. Eventually Mad Hatter wins.
Why shouldn't Democrats do the same? Propose a radical extremist socialist idea, like reducing the US infant mortality rate, and see what happens.
At least we'll learn if Americans love their babies or not.
2
I am nauseous when I realize that I agree more with the practical politics of Bret Stephens in this debate. Instead of the moral aspirations of Gail Collins.
Rarely does my commentary on Bret Stephens Op - Ed pass NYT editorial " moderation ".
1
Clearly, Bret wants to get back to bashing whatever policy Democrats would actually put forward--"normalcy" --rather than all of this noisy opposition to incipient fascism.
2
I don't think the Dems should listen to Stephens who seems to conveniently ignore the Mid-terms.
Its become sport to mock the Democrats and their "big tent" politics however even the electoral college, gerrymandering and voter suppression will not over-ride the inevitable tide of demography.
McConnell has no interest in passing anything coming from the Democratic House. Trump has no interest in legislation either; and like McConnell, Trump defines himself by what he oppose rather than what he supports which is nothing other than his "brand" for commercial licensing after his time in ....."public service".
2
Just not funny anymore. Sorry Gail. My friends and family are in near-panic mode.
104
@Nancie I love Gail, but I agree. My husband and I are moderately well off, but if pre-existing conditions make me uninsurable....we’re either going to have to divorce or we could blow through a decent estate and 35 years of hard work.
19
Earth to Stephens; the democrats I am hearing and reading are actually trying to get stuff done to improve the Nation on one hand and trying to keep t rump from getting stuff done that will destroy the Nation on the other hand.
The only people I hear who are obsessing with the democrats obsessing with t rump are the so called conservative talking heads and the so called conservatives who write for this paper.
John Hickenlooper stumbled over the "capitalist" meme once but he is not going to get the nomination.
All those things Stephens is scared that Democrats might try to achieve (universal health care, free public education, infrastructure, saving the planet, etc.) will need to be done if this Nation is to survive and thrive into the future. Because without all of these things this planet is not going to be able to nurture human life.
I am really getting tired of so called conservative, former republicans, telling the Democratic party how to campaign for the center. No one represented the center better than Hillary Clinton. She is not president.
We must go boldly into the future and we must do it now.
6
There is no fatigue among those of us who want to save Democracy.
9
The least enlightening "discussion" these two have ever posted!
Two trillion dollars is chickenfeed when it comes to infrastructure. It won't cover the potholes and shore up the hazardous bridges.
But then, this great nation needs ten $10 trillion navy battle fleets more than it needs roads, bridges, and subways. Without all those aircraft carriers how could we interfere in civil wars halfway around the world? How could we provoke regional conflict simultaneously in the Middle East and East Asia?
Bret, don't hold your breath for the train to LaGuardia, NYC's tiny, decrepit, and only convenient airport. Plan on trundling out to JFK or (gulp!) Newark for the rest of your life! The MTA is better at shutting down subway lines and impeding trains than expanding service.
Chongqing has completed 6 subway lines since 2005, with another 12 under construction. But then, China doesn't have a Republican Party to obstruct progress. How invigorating it must be to build a great nation rather than struggle to maintain a failing nation against conservative opposition!
7
@AynRant couldn’t agree more...totally empty of any intelligent thought.
2
We Dems had better learn from 2016.
The Democratic brand is still mostly: feckless whining without nerve while calculating how to play it safe enough — to graciously lose.
The Republican brand: relentless attack without shame, gerrymandering/voter suppression, lying while stimulating anger/fear in the electorate to win — at all costs.
If the Dems do nothing re: Trump and follow that up with running yet another safe, past-shelf-life candidate (Biden), it will be a confirmation of the uninspiring Democratic Party brand leading to 2016 redux.
Anything worth winning is worth valiantly losing over...rather than the usual post election handwringing over “what went wrong” .
6
How droll.
Entertaining yet informative at the same time.
Kind of like a political cartoon. But not so controversial.
But the Times does not do political cartoons, at least not domestically.
That saddens me because, unless there is controversy, sometimes there is informative back and forth. No discussion or exchange of ideas and viewpoints.
Why?
Because someone thought it, or aspects of it, was so controversial that it should be sealed up in a box and put on a shelf for another time...or no time at all.
1
Lindsey Graham's now famous "It's over" quote is deeply ironic. Democratic leadership are desperately trying to put the Mueller report behind them. They would like closure so we can once again talk about health care and infrastructure. However, the Trump administration is the one preventing a conclusion. If Republicans would simply obey their subpoenas, we could all pipe down and move on. It's a scam. At least in theory...
The problem of course is Trump should be impeached and removed based on the current evidence alone. There's probably more too. This presents a problem for both sides. Republicans can't be seen betraying Trump going into an election year even though they should and Democrats aren't allowed to talk about anything else until it's done. Basically, everyone would feel a lot better if Trump would just go away for... I don't know... ever. That would be nice.
3
Trumps entire defense mechanism has been to divert attention, think Iran or Venezuela- troops on the ground-naval ships off the coasts-Chinese market blockade- then braggadocio tweets-
1
Are most commenters to this playful op-ed so blinded by their hatred of trump that they’ve lost all sense of satire and humor? Geesh people, lighten up! This is one column that I truly look forward to reading semi-monthly. Two intelligent people, from different sides of the political spectrum, poking fun at themselves and their parties in a humorous way is EXACTLY what we need to help us navigate these otherwise muddied waters. Ms. Collins and Mr. Stephens, please keep up the great work.
3
These two seem more interested in taking about Game of Thrones, movies and the Kentucky Derby than politics.
At this point, so are most everyone else.
2
I'm looking forward to some republican to save their marriage or their relationship with their children, trying to save the country at the same time.
1
Apparently, Bret feels nice and comfortable with Trump. I don't.
It's not OK for a president to thumb his nose at Congress. It's not OK to ignore presidential wrongdoing, profiting financially from his office, having secret talks with the Russians, and, well, we all know the list.
4
When Democrats propose modest legislation, conservatives dismiss the proposals as boring. When Democrats propose sweeping legislation, conservatives attack them as socialists — even when the proposal is just copying from Mitt Romney!
When Democrats talk about economics, conservatives criticize them for ignoring values. When Democrats talk about values, conservatives criticize them for ignoring kitchen table issues.
Meanwhile, the GOP offers nothing except tax cuts and white supremacy — and conservatives either embrace it or blame Democrats for not winning enough elections to make the GOP reform.
Stop the gaslighting!
4
Bret, while spinning off of trumps ludicrous tag line irks me, Make America proud again completely captures the moment for many, across the political spectrum!
1
We should stop giving a pass when republicans characterize democrats merely as being upset that Trump is outrageous or rude. We dislike that he breaks the law, openly deceives the public, actively thwarts and avoids oversight and accountability, and dangerously changes course in foreign policy on a whim. He is corrupt and incompetent, has declared war on high-tax states and promotes policies that endanger the citizenry in whose interest he should be governing. Instead he puts the interests of the very wealthy and his ego above the rest of us. I don’t care if he mistypes his wife’s name or eats extra dessert. I care that he actively and ignorantly puts me and my community and country at risk for no good reason, and former never-Trumpers extol him as a wise man of virtue whose integrity can not be impugned.
3
The GOP lost its way as a cohesive credible political force when they persisted with the questionable election of Donald Trump, The Republican Party has made it clear that it is no longer concerned with true conservatism, economic or social. Fiscal conservatism has fallen by the wayside as the primary political force behind the GOP. It has been replaced with racism and bigotry and hypocritical religious fundamentalism.
Republicans are so caught up in their frenzied effort to roll back every step of social progress made in the last century that they are willing to stand behind the ignorant, immoral Donald Trump, a man who knows absolutely nothing about infrastructure, budget matters, economics or trade policy.
The GOP placed Trump -who they knew was totally incompetent- through a decade of unconstitutional voter suppression. McConnell blocked Obama's Constitutional right to nominate a Supreme Court Justice. William Barr has picked up the cudgel and is attacking the absolute right of Congress to oversee and investigate in detail the actions of the executive branch
The Gail/Bret discussion is a bit misleading. The struggle we witness today is not between liberals and conservatives, the left vs. the right, it is a struggle for the survival of our Constitutional democracy that the Republican Party is systematically attempting to destroy
5
I agree that there's no down side to running for president; you get some name recognition, and it's entertaining for us voters. I always think of Louis Abolafia, the NYC performance artist who ran every four years in the sixties. His posters showed him naked (holding a hat as a fig leaf) with the slogan "What have I got to hide?". His campaign kickoff party once had a booth selling bananas when rumor had it that one could get high smoking banana peels.
So, Bret can go off-the-rails apoplectic over an anti-Bibi/Trump cartoon, but is willing to shrug off repeated, scandalous misbehavior that is, in his words "corrosive to the normal functioning of government and to the ethical foundations on which it rests"?
I hear faint echos of Good Germans, ironically.
"Maybe" he's still worth reading, "but I have my doubts."
6
Now that the Democrats are in charge of the House and doing what is known as the job they were elected to do, it is now defined as overreaching by a Republican pundit. And two trillion is too much money when 1.7 trillion in tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy was not.
The progressive fringe! The center right policy the Democrats took when Bill Clinton was President has come back to haunt them. We were a party of the left which controlled the House for over forty years. It was only when the bomb throwing Gingrich and his ilk promised America what they never did get and the cowardly Clinton, did we lose the House and later the Senate.
It was the ascent of the Tea Party and the racist performance of Mitch McConnell who opposed every bill which Obama and the Democrats introduced to help the working class. Trump, along with his buddy, Putin, took advantage of slumping wages and global economic expansion to push a false narrative onto those who had been harmed. Sadly, many middle class Americans drank the koolaid from this con man.
I don't pretend to know who will get the nomination on the Democrats side. But this I know, any one of them is better than Trump.
1
Priorities, priorities. Anybody remember that new UN report on species extinction? In fairness, Bret did mention the Green New Deal, which is based on responding to a related issue --climate change -- but it was in the context of Dems trying to spend more than we can afford.
Today I scrolled down and down the front page of the NYT again. Got to “Discovery,” about 80% of the way to the bottom, before I found a reference to climate change. On the way, I passed a piece about what the stars wore to the the Met Gala, complete with a nice picture.
Handicapping political races can be interesting and instructive, and I too love reading about infrastructure and access to medical care, but we really ought to sneak in a few lines about avoiding the end of civilization and the likely extinction of a million species, possibly INCLUDING US!
1
“right now the main thing congressional Democrats should be doing is talking up an agenda for governance”. Yes! Brett it right on with that one, I believe the unraveling of good governance is the biggest threat to the US at the moment, governments with poor governance are rarely able to dig themselves out of holes of corruption and mismanagement, no matter the quality of vision offered by leaders and organizers.
2
Well Bret, it appears you believe that the Democratic Congress is a 90 pound weakling about to get it comeuppance for demanding that they have any power to demand anything from the Republican Trump Administration. Your advice seems to be they should forget all about the AG lying under oath and resolve to go home and make cookies for Mr. Barr and the President of the USA. Isn’t that what all those Democratic women really want to do, after all?
Gail, Mitch McConnell loves you right now. It was music to his ears reading “We’re past the point in history when congressional leaders are going to take the lead and set the party course.” That makes it so much easier for him to control the world.
Actually, I do believe both sides of what y’all have stated is true. As far as I can see there is absolutely no reason for the House of Representatives any longer. If the lack the power to hold Barr in contempt and to subpoena the president as part of their power to oversee that the President doesn’t overreach then there is absolutely no use for us tax payer to pay them on red cent.
Let’s admit it. Trump is the King. Get use to it. Where are my best cookie recipes?
Barr is a disaster, plain and simple. He represents Trumpian corruption to the core--not financial that we know of, but moral. He's been AG before, and did some shady stuff, but what he's done under Trump is totally misrepresent his role, which leads to great cynicism.
If Bret is correct, and the most corrupt, bigoted, selfish, and transactional president in US history gets re-elected, it will be our downfall. Relection would ensure one-party rule for the foreseeable future, and the dismantling of our constitution.
Right now, that Constitution is being attacked as never before. Precedents are falling quickly, and may not be recoverable. Ethics? Nobody seems to remember its meaning or application.
Almost 500 former prosecutors have gone on record disputing Barr's wacky views of presidential power--setting its own precedent.
I see know way out of this morass, because the people who put this man in office think he's doing a superb job, just because he gives them permission to hate.
6
Advice to Republicans: Get Mitt Romney, Bob Corker, and Jeff Flake to run against Trump. Break up the vote with alternatives. Help all of us out of this mess.
Note to Gail: If Mitt runs, do not mention the dog on top of the car ever again.
4
Gail and Brett. Events have overtaken your weak and ashen attempts at lightness and humor. Political calculations have no meaning now. Our country stands or falls on whether all of us do our duty. That duty is to honor the clear course mandated in our constitution to impeach this foul menace. If not him, then please explain who must be even more abominable before you stop joking and urge congress to do its job?
Democrats ARE pushing other agendas but that's not what gets covered. Meanwhile, you can't simply sit back and let the GOP shape the discussion with unchallenged fear mongering, dishonesty, callousness and indecency.
3
All the Democrats have to remind anyone is that once Trump is gone we can get back to governing.
1
Trump once marveled that he could commit murder in broad daylight on 5th Avenue and not lose the votes of his idolators.
Now, by refusing to comply with congressional subpoenas, he's destroying the government of the United States in broad daylight on Pennsylvania Avenue and it appears that he won't lose the votes of his partisans in the Senate.
Why are so many people so susceptible to sociopathological egotists?
2
This sort of smug snarky cynicism masking as humor (or is it the other way around) is exactly what we don't need. It's exactly what donnie wants with his torrent of distraction, lies, and rants. Bill Barr is yet another distraction. donnie has thrown him into the meat grinder because he knows it will take a few weeks of press away from the dismantling of government donnie's being used for. It is important to constantly push back against the continuous degradation of government and democracy that this president wants and needs.
Bret, stop playing up dissent and discussion by the Democrats. the White House is way more "split" and chaotic than the Dems, and besides - this is the way our government works. we debate, we discuss, we have primaries.
4
Bret Stephens makes the point that media focus on Trump’s awfulness is “barely happening, because outrage over this or that transgression by Barr or tweet by Trump dominates the news cycle ...” This more than anything else makes me despair for the Democrats.
If the media focus were on Trump's actual wrongdoings rather than impeachment and Bill Barr, people might be more outraged and also more interested. Yet Democrats repeatedly fail to steer the narrative in that direction.
Every time I hear a Democrat like James Clyburn or Nancy Pelosi earnestly responding to a question about impeachment, I want to tear my hair out. They should take a page from the Kellyanne Conway playbook: dismiss the question and give examples of Trump’s unfitness for office.
Polls make it clear that while voters don’t support impeachment, they're concerned about Trump’s behavior. As long as we’re talking about impeachment, we miss our best chance to make a case for it.
4
Bret on government spending: "...then it begins to add up in ways that are unsustainable and crowd out other core functions of government. I’m also worried about whether the funds would be put to efficient use. When you have a huge pot of money, you wind up with a lot of extras on the road crews and too many bridges to nowhere."
A better description of the Pentagon's strangle hold on our society could scarcely be written.
23
I guess we have now officially entered the Post-Mueller Reckoning.
Sorry for your loss.
Just wait! There's more!!
1
“I’ve never been a big budget hawk, but if a future Democratic president is going to massively...” So, Bret, let’s analyze that. As a good Republican, you worry about the deficit by choosing to speculate on the possible expansion of something like Medicare under a future Democrat President, but you make no comment on the huge expansion of the deficit under the recent tax changes that significantly rewarded the already rich and the investor class?
Sometimes, I think that you try to play it straight in your columns, but then you fall back into the basic, blatant fiscal hypocrisy that Republicans embrace. Despite evidence to the contrary, deficits rise under Republican Presidents (with the enabling Republicans in Congress), but let’s pretend it’s the Democrats who are the wild spenders wasting our financial future on health care, infrastructure, or education.
Do you ever feel guilty about the constant misrepresentations?
87
@John Vasi
well said. he's like brooks: afraid to alienate the GOP and lose the speaking engagements.
10
Brett, The House Democrats have passed bills of governance. The bills addressed gun safety, election reform, and cyber security to name three bills. "The Grim Reaper" in the Senate will not take them up. The Republican Senate is only concerned about packing the courts with Federal Society approved jurists. Your complaint about Congressional governance should be addressed to the Republicans, the 45 sycophants who parade around Washington as Republican Senators (they are neither!).
24
@craig80st
Yes, the House Democrats have passed bills, but who knew? (and the Senate will sit on them anyway) Hillary had a lot of good policies but they got swamped by the Trump reality show. The 2020 campaign so far, apart from a few headline catching proposals, seems to be headed the same way.
7
I'm sorry, but I am really tired of hearing things like "the Democrats are overplaying their hand" and "we should just move on because outside of the 'elites' on the coasts and in DC, the rest of the country doesn't care" and "a majority of the country is against impeachment."
The House has a Constitutional DUTY to perform oversight and to reign in a lawless president, which is what we have. If they don't start impeachment hearings with all of the evidence we already have -- never mind the obstruction that's STILL happening -- they are NOT doing their job.
(Never mind that the lawless president has NEVER done his job which includes protecting us from threats both foreign and domestic by the way.)
What will happen to our Democracy if we just ignore the Constitution?
My son is active duty military. Come this September, his job will take him to a deployment overseas. Should he ignore his duty and just stay home? Somehow (as much as I would like it) I don't think that would work for him.
77
@KB
Not done his JOB???
Does not protect us from threats? Do you live in a legal marijuna state? He is trying to control the border... a border Democrats want porus because the people coming in they think will vote Democrat. But who are these people? All they need to say is Asylum ( or Shazaam?) and doors open wide. There is so little money to house them they get a quicky court hearing and get a date set for for theri case to be heard in full then are let go...never to be seen again..until they are DACA candidates!! Really? You think this is a good way to do business? Trump was instumental in getting ISIS destroyed (Obama called them 'the JV'). Nice job Barack . Trump has engaged with N Korea. He is mindful of the threat of Iran. He IS protecting YOU despite your unfair and biased hatred of him.!
And he is lawless Russian Spy only in the minds of Democrats who have read one too many John Le Carre novels.
He does tweet too much and he does emabarrsing things. But you live in a Trump-hating fantasy land! You, like many democrats, need to get a grip on reality.
@KB
Your son is subject to a foreign policy that turns friends into foe and vise-versa, on a moment's whim. Even when we're not, the claim is always that America is fighting for Democracy, but we have surrendered our range of actions to the schemes of despots like Bibi Netenyahu, Mr. Bone Saw, and shriveled casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who are pushing us towards a war with Iran. I hope your son and all our soldiers are spared that insanity.
"... crowd out other core functions of government …"
Is the tax gift to corporations and wealthy a "core function?"
Reversing that would be a start. Why was it not mentioned by either Bret or Gail?
I think it would help us get started on real core functions: health care, environment, infrastructure etc.
What am I missing?
22
Trump won by 77,000 votes across three states. Has his performance and behavior changed enough minds to erase that or not?
25
@Ziggy
Bret just described Mayor Pete:
"Democrats will win if they can find a candidate who will appeal to the center and is willing sometimes to push back against the progressive fringe; who won’t talk down to Trump voters; who believes capitalism should be improved, not replaced; who can give Americans a reason to feel proud of their president rather than embarrassed by him."
10
Here is what the Democrats can do about the economy:
Trump has done nothing good for the economy. For the last six years of Obama's presidency, when the Republicans controlled Congress, they refused to cooperate with him at all. On the budget, this created the "sequester." As a consequence, restricted government spending was a serious drag on the economy for those six years. After Trump was elected, they opened up the floodgates--not only by lowering taxes, but by also increasing spending. This huge combination fiscal boost fully explains the "booming" economy (also the booming deficit).
38
@bmz
Or, as Paul Krugman said:
"The explosion of the budget deficit isn’t just a result of that tax cut. After Republicans took control of the House in 2010, they forced the federal government into austerity, squeezing spending despite high unemployment and low borrowing costs. But once Trump was in the White House, spending was suddenly O.K. again (as long as it didn’t help poor people). In particular, real discretionary spending — expenditures other than those on Social Security, Medicare and other safety net programs — has surged after years of decline.
So there’s really no mystery about the economy’s continuing strength: It’s a Keynesian thing. But what do we learn from the experience?"
6
Bret, I usually don't agree with you, but I think your slogan suggestion has real possibilities!
7
I know I'm not supposed to mention the H man's name here, but there is an apt analogy here between 1030's Germany and our current situation. Many Germans fore gave and overlooked that man's severe ethical lapses for the sake of a strong economy and that is what Trump Republicans and some independents are poised to do here. If the economy stays strong we are about to see whether democracy is valued in this country above pure greed and economic gain.
Further, Trump has given us only huge tax cuts for the rich which has temporarily pumped up the economy. It is a way for republicans to bribe the electorate into given them political power. Yes Trump may win, but at what cost to the nation.
49
It is interesting to me how generous Bret is with advice to the Democrats. In his view they are always on the wrong track. I am more interested in what his advice is to his own party, the Trump owned Republicans. He expresses a great deal of concern about potential for big spending by the Democrats to meet real needs in this country but no mention of the outrageous tax cuts passed by Republicans. He sees the Democrats as beating their heads against a rock; that rock is Trump and the Republicans who are turning this presidency into an autocracy and are undermining Democracy. Put some energy and thought into changing your own party, then maybe you will be credible.
117
@PaulM
Great post!
3
@PaulM He won't do it. Under the rhetoric, he is a Trumplican who would rather see a second term for the orange one than any Democrat.
4
If China is indeed an economic and expansionist threat, $2 trillion spent on infrastructure should be considered part of our National Defense Budget.
21
@Stephen
...As with the Interstate highway system. It was presented as a defense issue.
6
While I do appreciate your efforts to provide a bit of humor, you guys are being much too sanguine about trump and the very sullied Unsullied who are protecting him.
To paraphrase Gary Kasparov, the house is on fire, trump is running around with a box of matches and the GOP has stolen the keys to the fire truck. They've also slashed the tires and put salt in the gas tank.
I'm all out of humor but full up on panic.
107
Welcome to the "new normal". Henceforth, now that the precedence is set, every single President, regardless of party or ideology, will do exactly whatever he or she wishes to do without consequences. They will simply ignore the quaint and obsolete notion of "co-equal branches of Government" and disregard any and all attempts at oversight or inquiry, such as our current President has proven can be effectively accomplished. Why not, a sitting President can't be indicted, right?
That is, of course, if this current President actually ever steps down because, should he decide not to respect the outcome of the next election (and most likely the notion of term limits), nobody will be able to stop him.
Then, when he passes away in 10 or 15 years Ivanka may be coronated Queen; by then our Congress will have grown atrophied from disuse and all manner of checks on the Presidency along with it.
Welcome to the new monarchy of Trump. The undisputed King and ruler of all, unchallenged and emboldened by his group of Republican enablers, the obstinate man-boy who would be King.
16
Hickenlooper is the guy that can do it. A former geologist and pub owner that can reach across the aisle. Ultimately, the Dems need to stop harassing Trump, because the qualities they hate about him belong to many of the voters they need. They need to focus on the economics of the lower classes.
10
There is so much dysfunction on both sides of the aisle it is likely the Democrats will once again hand the presidency to Trump. In 2016 the people elected the devil they didn't know rather than the one they did. In 2020 the people are likely to elect the devil they do know and the Democrats will give Trump an assist if they stand a far left candidate. For example, the Democrats must stop telling the 70% of Americans that like their employer medical plan that they are wrongheaded. When the economy is booming, capitalism, the system that made America, wins.
4
@dudley thompson
In my 7th decade on this planet, I have seen my share of recessions, with 2008 being the worst. Had the Fed not been able to lower interest rates, bail out the banks and the auto companies, recovery would have taken much longer and more people would have suffered.
There is nothin in history which tells me we won't have another recession. Given the repeal of bank regulations and Trump's attitude toward the Fed, it is inevitable. With interest rates at their current level, it will be difficult to prime the pump when the recession comes.
The economy may be booming on paper, but not out in the real world for most American workers not employed in the tech sector. Farmers are struggling with tariffs, weather, and lack of migrants for labor needs. Many still do not have health care because of the cost. And wage increases barely match inflation after thirty years of remaining stagnant.
So please tell me what is wrong with advocating for everyone to have health care, or clean air and water, or combating climate change to save the planet? Do ones have to be on the left side of politics to oppose the ravaging of our public lands so oil companies can export more crude? Is it only the leftists who oppose the Pebble Mine in Alaska which threatens to decimate the salmon fishing industry in that state and the rest of the West Coast fisheries?
4
If someone proposes a federal gov program like infrastructure, the first question asked is, "How do we pay for it?" They ask this because they must pay for the stuff they buy. The reason this "kitchen table" question is wrong for the federal gov is because there are significant ways the finances of the gov differ from our family finances.
Through the FED, the federal gov can create as much money as it needs out of thin air. Unless you have a printing press in your basement, you cannot do this. Thus, the gov does not need your money to pay for programs. It has an infinite supply. We do have to be careful since too much money chasing not enough stuff will cause prices to go up. One way to avoid that is for the gov to tax some back.
We may not, however, need to have high taxes. Prices are inversely proportional to the amount of stuff we can produce. If we spend the new money in a way that facilitates more production, that will yield more money chasing more stuff which does not lead to excessive inflation.
Why is this important? Using the "kitchen table" idea, if we want to spend $X on infrastructure, then we have to tax or borrow $X dollars to pay for it. If we use the way the finances of our government actually work, we have to see how much infrastructure improvement would increase our production. When we do the figures, it may turn out that if we have to raise taxes at all, it may be a lot less than $X. The right question is "How much will it increase our production?"
9
"Meanwhile, there’s the news that unemployment is at 3.6 percent, a 50-year low, wage growth is solid, inflation is low, and growth is robust. Presidents who preside over these sorts of economic numbers usually win re-election."
"What," Stephens asks, "is a wise Democratic candidate to do?"
Prove to the voters that Trump is as responsible for their economic good fortune (those who have economic good fortune, that is) as their dog is for keeping their car washed, vacuumed and the gas tank filled. They're doing all the heavy lifting while Trump is being chauffered along by driverless Uber limousine. The only vehicle he has driven in decades is a golf cart. Does he even have a valid driver's license. He's not driving the economy, the world's or America's, any more than he is in the pilot's seat of Air Force One.
Trump is getting a free ride from the ground work laid in the decade before he took office. Pity the poor individual holding that seat who will have to deal with the bankruptcy Trump will leave in his wake.
102
Bret, $2,000,000,000,000 is indeed a lot of money. The thing is, it's necessary. Everyone agrees our infrastructure is crumbling (at best). We can spend the money now, or we can procrastinate and spend more money later, probably after more bridges collapse, more tunnels fill with water, and more cars crash in potholes. (I suppose there's an upside if you have stock in companies that manufacture shock absorbers.) We aren't going to fix things by hoping and wishing.
18
@Elia Just remember, the 2 trillion dollar figure is something Trump' gut came up with, because he "liked the sound of it". The actual proposal that Pelosi/Schuner came to the table with was half of that, and was arrived at by some rational analysis and realistic planning. The ridiculous 2 trillion dollar figure is a poison pill, aka "Goodbye bi-partisan Infrastructure bill".
2
Maybe in the future everyone should spend 15 minutes running for President.
4
Evil can be defined as ‘Militant Ignorance’. Malevolence can be defined as ‘Deliberate employment of Evil’.
Trump is Evil personified. McConnell is Malevolence. Why does he get a free pass?
41
"Democrats will win if they can find a candidate who will appeal to the center and is willing sometimes to push back against the progressive fringe; who won’t talk down to Trump voters; who believes capitalism should be improved, not replaced; who can give Americans a reason to feel proud of their president rather than embarrassed by him."
If you drop the 'him' -- and I know you're trapped by our stupid gender-specific pronouns -- isn't that Elizabeth Warren? At which of those metrics does she fail?
21
@Ion Freeman This wasn't one of the qualities enumerated by Bret, but my problem with her is that she seems shrill and demanding. Sort of like a certain losing candidate from 2016.
4
@Andrew Clark Please define what you mean by "shrill"? What is common between Secretary Clinton and Senator Warren that makes them "shrill"? Merriam Webster defines it as "to utter an acute piercing sound." I don't think either emits an "acute, piercing sound". Let's face it, it's a term only used when describing women and is used to marginalize them and dismiss what they have to say.
59
@Andrew Clark
"Shrill" and "demanding" are both terms applied exclusively to women. Can you name any of the female candidates to whom you would not apply these adjectives?
4
Bret's final paragraph is a masterpiece of reasonableness in a time of verbal stridency. Improve capitalism rather than replacing it -- have a president of whom one can be proud -- support a powerful and convincing voice who won't talk down to Trump. Citing former candidates who seemed to have a similar strategy, yet failed, is irrelevant. None of them lived in and had to negotiate the conditions that obtain now in America. People haven't changed. Nobody like chaos. The winner will be the one who convinces us that a sound and safe structure can be built out of and upon the wreckage that Trump has wrought.
15
@Semari. My thoughts exactly.
That is the blueprint in a paragraph.
If D’s can’t win this election then the party may as well go the way of the Whigs.
3
Bret, you say that Democrats can only win if they move to the center and reject progressive policies But let's look at which Democrats have lost Presidential elections over the past few decades: Gore, Kerry, Clinton - all centrists.
People thought Obama was more progressive than he turned out to be, and Bernie Sanders is polling almost even with Biden against Trump in some polls.
The "electable centrist" is a myth.
24
@JS27 you need to do some tundra diving into the data.
5
@JS27 Look at who actually flipped seats from red to blue in 2018.
It's the climate.
Climate change is real, and it's frightening. Being obtuse and talking about some genius in the future, or "let's all get rich and take care of it later" is not only lazy but dangerous.
The idea that middle class people are one paycheck from disaster (let alone the working poor, with two jobs plus, not able to afford health care etc.) means the idea that we are prosperous is a complicated deception.
Working together to solve problems is not socialism.
Tax giveaways to the rich is the original job killer.
49
I must be new to politics or something. Which one of the Democratic nominees is calling for capitalism to be replaced instead of improved? Bret must have insight into some alternative universe that I don't have.
101
Enjoying this civil exchange between Ms. Collins and Mr. Stephens, while staying in a country house, eating a seabiscuit for strength.
'I’m thinking Ben Carson is a perfect contender for Trump’s next Fed nominee'. What a laugh and better than a weep - if only America could give up on this concept of being proud and restore us to some common horse sense, it would be the renewal of a spring in our step.
8
Great exchange, as always.
Something upon which people across the political spectrum can agree: Bill De Blasio is a laughable presidential candidate, not to mention a laughable mayor.
3
@them--Oh yeah? Take a look at Jay Inslee, if you want a laugh.
I'm getting very tired of the eternal discussion of "the audience of one". Is it too much to ask that public servants, paid my me with my (higher) taxes, speak to an audience of 300+ million Americans? And act in the best interests of those same 300+ million Americans? Rather than the interests of a corrupt authoritarian wannabe, his corrupt family, and their own job security?
45
@Peter
Please understand the difference between “public servants” and political appointees: Meuller vs Barr.
There are millions of fine, ethical, hard-working public servants trapped under the congealing sludge of a few thousand short-term political appointees. It is the latter who create the stench and corruption.
From one who has lived it through administrations from both parties.
3
I wish more journalists had developed “Trump overload” during the campaign and given the “publicity hound” candidacy of Trump the short shrift it deserved. But Trump was so reliably outrageous that the copy practically wrote itself. He was the journalistic gift that kept on giving - until he wasn’t, and now the majority of Americans are stuck with an ignorant, erratic autocrat in the White House and mainstream journalists have become “enemies of the people.” No decent journalist should be talking about “Mueller fatigue,” but rather concentrating on fighting the present GOP scourge for all they’re worth.
72
@Susan Merci Beaucoup Susan...I have thinking the same thing since Trump got elected. The news enabled 45..especially the NYT which gave Bernie Sanders so little coverage even when he had up to 20, 000 or so people supporting at this rallies. Even this yr...the Times posted a really terrible photo of Bernie. Even if they are not supporting him..he deserves respect. Seemed like 99.9 % of Huff Post headline photos was trump even when there was more serious and important news to show case... Still happens now. Everyone of us is flawed, but to exaggerate anything negative in any of at the democratic candidates, for the sake of news, I believe does a great disservice to this country at this critical time. trump must be defeated in 2020 not just for the sake of this country, but for the world and the earth.
6
@Susan Amen! Enough of this bum! It's going to be hard for CNN to find some new triviality to overblow and repeat endlessly, but I know they can do it!
2
@Susan
Reporters need to remember that in a fascist state they are usually out of work, and in prison. Or worse.
All reporters need to remember this; but especially so called conservative reporters.
5
"Make America Proud Again? There could be worse slogans."
Bret, how about
Make America Good Again
?
Dan Kravitz
17
@Dan Kravitz How about:
"Make America America Again"
2
@Dan Kravitz
Beto: Make America Groovy Again
Ah yes, pride! Wasn’t that the name of the campaign bus used by Bob Roberts?
2
Since this is all in good fun, Trump likes parades. How hard would it be to keep a GOT parade going in the Big Apple if it was just on one block?
Make the 600 block of 5th Avenue a 24/7 shindig until it's over.
Par-TAY!!!
2
Infrastructure’s an easy one. Hire the Chinese to do all the building and engineering, as part of their Belt-and-Road initiative. If we did it ourselves we would just borrow the money from them anyway. I say skip the middleman - the bankers and overpaid contractors - and let the Chinese do it.
6
@Puny Earthling You know, you're right. The Chinese built the railroads in the 1800's. Why not Main Street today?
Gail, when you spoke about the GoT character who pushed a kid out the window, you missed the chance to use one of the coolest words in the English language: "defenestrate."
11
@WDG
OMG!
You are one of a dozen people who know that word and it's definition.
I love words and that is one of the coolest.
KUDOS!
Ask Trump and he'll say it means what happens to him when he plays golf in extreme heat. If only. LOL
2
Make America stop cringing in embarrassment?...
This column may be a harbinger of the future. Where a hollowed out Republican party, consisting only of dying-off Dixiecrats, atrophies and true conservatives strengthen the old right wing of the Democratic party. The Republican party seems doomed.
9
@brWe can only hope!
2
As for the subway to LaGuardia, probably the least costly and most direct would be a shuttle from the Ditmars Blvd. terminus of the N, elevated along the median of the Grand Central, then over to the airport. No tunnels, not much disruption to existing neighborhoods, pretty straightforward. When I lived in Astoria I always wondered why this was never done.
8
Patrick I too would think this the easiest and least disruptive way to solve this allegedly intractable issue. Certainly no need to dig up half of Queens.
2
@Patrick
Oops! It HAS been a long time since I lived in Astoria (1987). It should really be the Astoria Blvd. station, not Ditmars for the shuttle to be attached. I was right about the Blvd., just the wrong one! (Thank you, Google maps)!
I too have Mueller fatigue. However, Pelosi's comments about Trump claiming fraud and not leaving unless the Dem's win big is spot on and downright frightening. Bret's closing comment about the winning Dem candidate sounds a lot like he is describing Amy Klobuchar to me.
12
Beto, scripted by Warren, accompanied by Abrams.
2
@MAmom2 Eww! Please no!
1
Running for president sure beats hanging around Washington -- or South Bend. You raise money -- which you never have to give back (unless it's from Putin). You travel and make speeches (usually the same "stump" speech, sure to stump voters at every stop). Trump proved that it's also a big brand-enhancer. He'll have Trump hotels and condos everywhere when he leaves office. Someplace nice and non-extraditable to escape to.
11
Mr. Stephens. If you keep hammering on a rock with a big enough sledge hammer, eventually it will crumble. There is no reason at all to keep the pressure off Trump and his band of bloviating bros. History is never kind to cowards or shirkers and the Democrats have to keep their liberal, LGBTQ, multi-cultural, progressive, socialist sane shoulders to the wheel. If Trump wins again it just indicates how much work really needs to be done. Obama put us all to sleep with his magic spell of kumbaya....WAKE UP AMERICA!! You have nothing to lose but everything our founders imagined for us.
23
@Jemenfou Except for your remark about Obama, I agree with you wholeheartedly.
2
@Jim
I loved Obama as my President but his 'no drama' Obama persona wasn't what the country needed or wanted and hence we now have Orange Julius Caesar. Democrats always head for the middle...not the place to get things moving these days.
" It looks as if the Republicans can’t even come together to do an infrastructure bill. "
The recent book "If we can keep it" revealed that the Republicans made a secret agreement not to tackle any project that will require raising taxes. The author explicitly cited infrastructure as a project that they don't want to pay for. They'd rather the country fall apart than antagonize their donors, who have bribed them to keep taxes down.
28
What part of the job of the Attorney General of the USA falls under "baiting" the largest party in Congress?
20
The media is the one in Trump overload.
7
I’m amazed at the mainstream pundits refusal to take the problems we face seriously. Just yesterday the Times ran an article detailing massive extinction on this Earth. Couple that with this fascist administration and you get...a discussion about Game of Thrones?
And Bret thinks Democrats shouldn’t try to hard to enforce the law...that’s rich.
Democrats should begin impeachment hearings tomorrow AND begin proposing progressive policies to tackle the problems we face today and reverse this 40-year corporate coup d’etat.
If we don’t start to turn this country around by 2020, it may never happen.
37
Pundits don’t run the country.
They write stuff that (a) can be informing and insightful (b) humorously incorporating of pop culture (c) a mix of both. However thy approach a subject, the goal is to sell papers by being mildly entertaining.
Actual news reporting is something quite different.
I watched the national news avidly for two years, determined not to miss watching Trump being forcibly led from the White House, red-faced, hair askew, sweating, cursing, and hurling threats. Unfortunately, it appears that my wishes for a flailing Trump downfall will go unrealized for now. Trump will almost certainly finish one term, maybe two. He is indeed cursing and hurling threats, but he sits smiling in the White House.
Trump was never one to delegate beyond arms-length in his very small business operation, similar in scale to the boiler-room operation that managed Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme. Trump was surrounded during his campaign by since-convicted criminals who were in frequent communication with Russia. Does anybody really believe that Trump, the guy who never delegated, was blissfully unaware of all these Russian contacts, the sharing of voluminous polling data, etc., while the Russians were actively undermining our election?
It could be worse. We could be Cambodia under Pol Pot or North Korea under the Kim dynasty. People have jobs, investments are doing well, and most of our federal government still functions. A handful of Trump's Brownshirts from Charlottesville are going to prison. We can publicly express our contempt for Trump and still get through airport security.
For now, I can't stomach watching the national news on TV. Thankfully, I can still tolerate reading Collins, Stephens, Dowd, et al in the NYT.
12
The apt lesson from G.O.T. is that before there was the rule of law - established in 1215's Magna Carta - the world was at the mercy of despots, feudalism, and piracy.
There was no democracy, and "fer shore, there wasn't no capitalism; everything belonged to the liege, and was apportioned/re-apportioned according to the liege's whim.
If there shall not be the rule of law, or if there is a separate set of rules for those in power, G.O.T. shows us our future.
9
@R. Law
Late to the series like Ms Colins, I’ve seen enough so far to agree that it shows a bleak future for most of us. Now let’s see what happens and how things when social systems and institutions are further stressed. The effects of climate change will reveal themselves as if they were the next plot twist, the next treachery.
We’re already living in a present that was a predicted future only a few decades ago. Multiple “once in a century” events occur annually disrupting many populations. Think of the civil war in Syria that brought us calamities like Isis & more. At its origins - climate change induced drought.
And we’re only in the beginning episodes of this saga.
3
"Democrats will win if they can find a candidate who will appeal to the center and is willing sometimes to push back against the progressive fringe; who won’t talk down to Trump voters; who believes capitalism should be improved, not replaced;"
The Democrats already ran Hillary Clinton. And Walter Mondale. And Mike Dukakis. And John Kerry. They all lost. When Democrats run as progressives, they win. When they run as watered-down Republicans, they lose.
15
MAGA Make America Good Again!
5
So glad the two of you can enjoy your tete-a-tete and determine with an abundance of sarcasm what people and the congress should focus on. (My sarcasm.) If you think we should just write off Barr as "baiting the Dems," suggesting that such behavior is acceptable for the Attorney General and needs to be ignored, I now know never to venture toward these columns.
Or perhaps you're just baiting the American people.
27
Another day another article about trump and his rat pack, Stop this! quit giving him air
8
"While I made fun of the rank-and-file sheep back then, that setup looks pretty attractive now."
Looks even more attractive when you consider that the Democrats seem to have no plan whatsoever for retaking the Senate. No ones enjoying this free for all more than Mitch McConnell as he thinks about how many more judges he will get to appoint, or obstruct as the case may be.
6
"Gail, I’ve come to the conclusion that everyone ought to run for president at least once in their lives. It should be like running a marathon, or going on an extended juice fast, or visiting the Galápagos. There’s no real barrier to entry: Any first-term senator or young member of Congress or mayor of a small city can do it."
That's a cute comment. But let's examine the serious side of "running for president," or even standing for any office or public trust.
A candidate usually goes through some sort of vetting process. If nominated for an appointed position, there is usually some sort of testimony. If running for elected office, there's examination by the electorate, aided by the press. All candidates that I know of also have a public record that is examined by any of these vetting processes.
That brings us to our incumbent president. What vetting process did he endure? What public record do we have? What do we really know about him? It appears that all we know is what he is willing to reveal. There is no public record and the private one is restricted from any sort of scrutiny. That should frighten us!
I think the Democrats could/should bring this to light. What do we know about Mr. Trump? Why should we know? Government officials who possess the most sensitive information are even subject to polygraph examinations. He possesses the most sensitive of Government information, or at least can demand access. Would he pass a polygraph?
13
@Ray
I think all future candidates should be given intelligence tests to keep out the riffraff. You know whom I am talking about.
1
@Ray I agree. There should be a clearance process for presidential candidates similar to the one all Federal employees have to go through. trump would never have been cleared with his open history of abuse and his notoriety. He should not have gotten a pass just because the electoral college had to give him the presidency.
His public record, including his comments to Billy Bush regarding women and girls; his hiring undocumented women to clean his resorts and paying them little or nothing; not paying for the labor to construct his now-defunct casinos; cheating people with his fake trump university, would have been more than enough to have denied him any clearance at all.
1
Glad to see that Bret managed to get in his right wing talking points like the democrats need to find the middle, not talk down to Trump voters, push back against the fringe left. Got in a dig about socialism.
These are the ideas which have continued to push America to the right which is proving to be disastrous.
Good economy under republicans?? Huge tax cuts are like running up a credit card. Live high on the hog until the piper needs to be paid. Only it is the democratic president that needs to deal with the mess left behind. Trickle down is not now and never has worked. Trumps base keeps waiting for the trickle to turn into a downpour. Oops, am i talking down to them again. Sorry.
Dems need to unite behind the candidate the who wins the primaries. Period, end of story.
69
Bret is right.
The Democrats in the House must advance laws that Americans want: health care, infrastructure, higher taxes on the 0.1%.......to change the narrative and take over the headlines.
They can keep the pressure on their investigation of Trump’s lawlessness, but not make it issue #1.
And they can pass laws that overturn Trump’s removal of aid to Central America, destroying regulations that protect the environment and our health.
We know the Senate will not vote for them, or that Zombie Mitch won’t allow them to come to a vote there. But that’s good. There will be a menu of items the people want turned down by the Republicans as election fodder.
And forget impeachment. That’s a loser.
10
@Grey. You contend that democrats in the house should "advance the laws that Americans want". But there is no chance these laws, good or bad, will get past the Senate republicans.
It is the same as impeachment. it will pass the house but get kicked out of the senate.
So as long as nothing will get done, why not continue to bring out how really dangerous the fake president is. The news cycle will not give serious legislation any play so no one will hear about it. Sad but true.
4
@Grey
That should, indeed, be the way forward. Unfortunately, that approach would hardly sell any Newspapers or help improve TV ratings, so... don't hold your breath.
@richard g My thoughts exactly, Richard. And the pursuit of enforcing the rule of law articulated in the Constitution and applying that rule to this criminal chief executive is a pretty good way to spend legislative time.
Truth be told we are getting to the point where most of us are done with the anti-Trump newspaper articles, TV segments, & tweets. It's beyond overkill. There is no Trump criticism that is too overwrought, no worries about trajectories that are too implausible, no rhetoric that would be better tamped down. We all see the excesses as they flow through our social media feeds. Even some of the NYT pundits have fallen over the ledge with their anti-Trump venom. It's ridiculous. I'm a Democrat & I no longer have any appetite for the non-stop wall to wall 24/7 histrionic coverage about the latest Trump blunder. We get it. Trump's a bad President. But stop reminding us of this fact every two seconds.
6
@Bill Brown
But when Trump reminds us about it every two seconds, what are we supposed to do about that? Are we supposed to "just ignore" him, and leave the floor to his radical right-wing supporters, who have an agenda of their own that's even worse than his? Are we supposed, like Brett and Gail, to forget about him and talk about Cable TV instead?
14
@Bill Brown hard for press to ignore when Trump reminds us how bad he is for the United States and world every second.
7
@Tim
Ignore the noise and concentrate on the substance.
But that would require the media circus to stop following all the outrageous things this administration - and their legislative arm in the Senate - does and says and focus on their actual policies.
Which would be a bit dry, so it's not going to happen, sadly.
2
The Democrats need to get Robert Mueller before the House Judiciary Committee before the end of this month. It will not only be a ratings bonanza for CSPAN but it will have offices riveted for most of the day.
Let’s face it, Americans don’t like reading a report nor even an executive summary. We like high drama on TV. It’s really the only way to establish in the minds of Americans if Trump should be charged with ten counts of obstruction by a Congress having the responsibility of oversight.
It’s our only roadblock to a presidency seemingly hellbent on a path to dictatorship.
“Let Mueller Speak!”
23
The fatalism here is almost too much to bear. We Americans have done great things because when we tried great things we didn’t ask the price as our first question and we didn’t assume that government was incapable of much more that fighting a big war. I’m tired of Trump too but mostly because so far the show is like “Waiting for Godot” not because the subject matter doesn’t deserve full attention, but because of the fatalism expressed her and in too many other places. Bret’s cynicism doesn’t deserve space in the paper of record and Gail’s going along with it is undignified.
18
Like the frog in the pot of hot water, we've become inured to the daily outrages perpetuated by Trump et al. Now we don't even see that Barr's refusal to testify before the house is a potentially lethal assault on democracy itself. Not even the irony of watching an Attorney General of the United States whose job it is to pursue justice for all Americans but who serves only one American can wrest us from our collective stupor. And the republicans refuse to see what is right before them: breaking all of the rules authorizes lawlessness by everyone---not just the party currently in power at the White House. How does this end well?
34
Trump can never feel remorse - it is a sentiment beyond the experience of an extreme narcissist.
Most troubling is the lack of remorse that the Republicans, especially the leadership, have for placing Trump in the Oval Office aided by highly effective, carefully calculated Russian interference.
No one with a shred of intelligence can believe that Trump did not collude with Putin, overtly or covertly. The concept of US subservience to Russia also does not seem to trouble Republicans who continue to cover for Trump's illegal actions.
One also cannot discuss Trump's "policies". He has not a clue as demonstrated by the total chaos he creates in every matter he touches. Even the redacted notes cited in the Mueller report confirm that Trump's administration is the Keystone Kops on steroids.
We are living in an era where 40% of the voting population only accepts laundered and distorted information from a very few Trump-loving sources such as the woeful excuse for media, Fox News. These people are lost in Trumpian space and cannot be reached by any real facts or logic. They would even reject Abe Lincoln if they could!
With the help of hypocrites like Bill Barr and Lyndsay Graham, Trump may survive the efforts to learn the real truth about his criminal actions.
In any case, the Democrats must come forward with a charismatic and hopefully new leader demonstrating a united front. Therein lies the primary challenge for the Democratic Party and the survival of our democracy.
25
@Jefflz
I would change the description of Trump's collusion to "overtly or covfefe. " Otherwise, this is perfect.
3
@Jefflz
Still not sure about collusion. I think trump may well be simply Putin's useful idiot.
1
Barr's posturing is inexcusable. Someone tell Bret that we have a Constitution.
20
"I am not a member of any organized political party, I’m a Democrat."
- Will Rogers
However...
"Labor was the first price, the original purchase-money that was paid for all things. It was not by gold or by silver, but by labor, that all the wealth of the world was originally purchased."
- Adam Smith; Wealth of Nations
14
"Bret: But right now the main thing congressional Democrats should be doing is talking up an agenda for governance, not reminding Americans for the zillionth time that the president is a very bad hombre."
Perhaps, but here's my response to Mr. Stephens:
Right now the main thing is for people like Bret Stephens is to vow to hold their noses and vote for whoever it is that stands against Trump - even if it's Bernie Sanders!
The plain fact is that you can't just arbitrarily decide when to be practical and when to be idealistic. Trump is much worse than a "bad hombre". He's a menace and a threat to our democracy. If the Democrats should put aside their very legitimate impeachment case against Trump in order to win in 2020, then Mr. Stephens should put aside his disdain for Sanders.
My sense is that Sanders won't be the nominee, so Bret won't face his "Hobson's choice". Regardless, we must be all in to defeat Trump. Can't be principled on Sunday but pragmatic the rest of the week.
20
"outrage over this or that transgression by Barr or tweet by Trump dominates the news cycle and is the only thing that left-wing Twitter can talk about. Which is why, for now, my money is on Trump being re-elected"
That is a very real risk. Democrats ought to be alert to that. It is one thing that Republicans may be baiting them on about.
The other thing is that only Barr has had actual conversations at length, with his *old friend* Mueller. He likely does know exactly what Mueller would say. Knowing that, Barr agreed to let him testify. Now the game about will he/won't he could very well be baiting Dems to demand exactly what Barr knows they're going to get.
3
Bill Barr plainly auditioned for the job of attorney general. His recent performances make you wonder if he is not now auditioning for a promotion, one to the Supreme Court if, heaven forbid, there is an opening before the 2020 election—and whether that wasn’t his goal all along. What better reward could the president give for clearing him of a crime that, according to 450 (and counting) former federal prosecutors, he should have been charged with, than a lifetime seat on our highest court, the most prestigious job a lawyer could ever hold?
12
@Steel Magnolia
I feel so oblivious - this would account for the complete submission to Trump.
A few points... Yes, Bill Barr is baiting the Democrats but so were the Japanese when they bombed Pearl Harbor. Sometimes to preserve a democracy you have to take the bait. Trillions are a lot but years of neglect has a cost and two trillion is a down payment on what is needed. I am in Spain where the roads are magnificent and the were not free. And Brett, while on Bill Maher spoke about how bad unemployment is in Europe; well Spain is doing quite well and is not one bubble burst away from economic disaster even though they have a socialist government.
15
I'm kind of tired of Bret's 'cynical realist' position that nothing can work right, Trump will win, and everyone is a little corrupt. Given his position, why try anything? His reasoning would lead to a government minimalist strategy, kind of a cranky libertarianism with each person their own highway department.
While the piece had a lot of complaining, from 'both sides', there was little acknowledgment that we are in uncharted waters. Trump already spent $1.5trillion on his rich friends through tax cuts, so the number shouldn't scare us. Trump et al are the worst excuse for a government since the Teapot Dome scandal and this is the key issue.
Gail would like to see a slick policy agenda from Pelosi and the Democrats--why? It won't pass the Senate, why fool around. The candidates can talk policy all day long, which they should, and carve out an agenda to enact when they win.
Otherwise the House should focus exactly where they are--investigation of Trump and resistance to his flouting of the Constitution.
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" ... I’m also worried about whether the funds would be put to efficient use. When you have a huge pot of money, you wind up with a lot of extras on the road crews and too many bridges to nowhere. ..." I knew a contractor - his daugher was friends with my daughter - who worked here on the BIG DIG (Bwoston) who bragged to me that it was all controlled by the Mafia out of Miami. He visited there alot.
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Democrats not only can chew gum and walk at the same time, they MUST. Convincing the country of how bad Trump is for them and our democracy, while also presenting effective new policies that are good for the country, is not only doable, I see it as the essential one-two punch that will defeat Trump in 2020.
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"Democrats will win if they can find a candidate who will appeal to the center and is willing sometimes to push back against the progressive fringe; who won’t talk down to Trump voters; who believes capitalism should be improved, not replaced; who can give Americans a reason to feel proud of their president rather than embarrassed by him."
Here's someone: Andrew Yang 2020!
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Brett, see your words below. No one thinks capitalism should be replaced, the progressive 'fringe' is where the energy is, the status quo is HRC all over again, and telling Trump voters that coal isn't coming back is not talking down to them.
Democrats will win if they can find a candidate who will appeal to the center and is willing sometimes to push back against the progressive fringe; who won’t talk down to Trump voters; who believes capitalism should be improved, not replaced
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Thank you Gail and Bret. Was a little depressed reading some of the news this a.m. but you two got me to smile.
How's about "Make America Sane Again". Make America Proud Again would then follow sanity slogan. First things first!
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@cherrylog754 What about "Forge America's Future" as a counter to our current president's backward looking slogan and policies.
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If a democratic (with small 'd') president ever again occupies the White House (highly unlikely), first order of business should be to change Justice Dep't guidelines that today, allegedly, shield a sitting president from indictment.
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@Rethinking
I'm sure that's on every party's agenda as #1: make indicting "their" president possible.
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If the news media does not cover it, does it mean that it does not exist?
In March, the House passed HR 1, a bill covering ethics and campaign finance reform, voting rights, etc. Sen. McConnell will not take it up.
Pelosi and Schumer met with Trump to discuss a large infrastructure bill. Republicans are not for it.
Trump obstructed an investigation into the Russian 2016 election attack. Although there has been speculation about his reasons for impeding that investigation, we don’t have the definitive answer.
The pundits don’t think we should find out those reasons before the next attack. I don’t agree.
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What Bret Stephens, and others who believe that Democrats should forget about investigating Trump because it will go nowhere and could damage their political fortunes, miss is that Trump has made it clear that laws must change. Our country must make it impossible for a president to unilaterally declassify information; circumvent security clearances; fail to keep records of communications with foreign leaders; block investigations of themselves; offer pardons based on politics; declare non-existent emergencies for the purpose of re-allocating funds; hide personal finances; and put unqualified relatives into important positions. Putting appropriate checks on these powers requires full disclosure of the abuses that have happened. While such investigations may grab the headlines from discussions of policy on climate change, taxes, healthcare, immigration, voting rights, gun rights, etc., I suggest that Trump will perform that function himself in their absence.
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Good post. Makes me think that every Presidential candidate should undergo an entrance exam (no multiple choice questions, and all essay answers will be graded on grammar as well as content). That should dispose of the disqualified and send them packing to Fox News as commentators.
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@syfredrick. I was a department administrator for 17 years. One of the unchallenged assertions of governance was that you don’t make policy to deal with particular cases. Rather, bad behavior from individuals needs to be dealt with individually, rather than punishing everyone with more restrictions meant only for the most pathological. Since Trump, I am of two minds about this conventional wisdom. We ought to do something about Trump individually, rather than specify what used to be assumed as good governance. But since the rot extends so far and in so many branches of government, I’m afraid that we cannot assume any longer that people will for the most part do the right thing. Maybe in this case, we need to do both: rid ourselves of Trump and make sure that someone like him will never again be permitted to attain the presidency.
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Never listen to Republican pundits views on Democratic party strategy. It's counterproductive.
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@Andy Right. I am so old that my immediate response to GOP advice is: “Does Macy’s take advice from Gimbel’s?”
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Bret's words sort of reflect the detachment or ennui that Trump likes to cause in his victims. Victims being, of course, everyone he can use and discard. Make that everyone, period. It keeps them from fighting back, or even thinking seriously about what has been done to them. Sometimes they blame themselves. The occasional delusional being — like a new wife or William Barr — will think they got really lucky and will be set for life, not realizing that 'set' has many meanings. Like the sun setting on a once-promising career.
As for "Trump overload" and the erosion of American decency, I've had it. But I won't gracefully cave.
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What is wrong with the word Progressive? We need progress in Health Care, Gun Reform, Minimum wages, Infrastructure, and for those people who cannot invest in the Stock Market, s stable Social Security system. This is not "fringe Progressiveness".
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We are watching the gradual replacement of our democracy with an autocratic oligarchy, and we get the shallow banter of two people who don't really seem to care. Where has the fourth estate gone?
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@RandyMacon. OMG HOW RIGHT YOU ARE. I am sick when I look around and see the intellectual emptiness that passes for understanding our reality today. Our Constitutional government has been co-opted by our personhood corporations and by the super rich which has produced paralysis in the Congress, a nutcase in the White House and semantic hairsplitters and ignorants in the Supreme Court who think that 18th century understandings of language can operate in 21st century life. You cannot get rid of an Executive when the other two-thirds of government are not impartial. The slide towards despotism is inevitable. This IS how it’s done around the world.
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Brett's showing his true colors these days when he talks about politics & economic matters. First, he dismisses an infrastructure bill, as well as candidates who "...massively expand Medicare, or advance some kind of free college-tuition scheme, or spend big on some version of a Green New Deal, then it begins to add up in ways that are unsustainable and crowd out other core functions of government." Earth to Brett: All of those things -- education, infrastructure, health, and environmental protection -- ARE among the core functions of government. Second, he writes of Dem candidates, "who believe capitalism should be improved, not replaced..." None of the candidates, even Bernie, seeks to replace capitalism -- that's the myth being put forward by the GOP talking heads on Fox. It was Teddy Roosevelt, a Republican, who earned the moniker "the trust buster" because he understood that unfettered capitalism has to be reigned in by government regulation -- otherwise we have the sort of monopolies that Brett himself railed against in his recent column about Facebook. In addition, as Louis Brandeis wrote, "We can have democracy, or great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we cannot have both." The acceleration of the concentration of wealth in the US is creating an oligarchy -- our democracy is facing extinction similar to the endangered species in the recent UN report. Brett and his fellow conservatives need to wake up to that fact before it's too late.
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@Keeping it real
How I wish I could upvote this comment about 100 times. Thank you.
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@Keeping it real Brett and his fellow conservatives are somnambulists.
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@Keeping it real
100 times Amen. Yes.
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So, Brett, what is capitalism and who wants to replace it? Setting up straw men/women is just so 1980s!
Health care should cost less once universal health care is implemented, not more.
Enabling more to go to college is a net good -- so an adjustment is in order-- change "free" to "affordable" -- and you got a winner.
And working on a sustainable future is a necessity.
So once you actually think about it you can see that the Democrats have the beginnings of good and necessary policies. The Republicans just want tax breaks for the wealthy and an end to clean water and air, and an end to democracy.
Discuss.
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Mr. Stephens on running for president: "There’s no particular downside: The worst thing that can happen is increased name recognition."
What about the money? Does it not cost to run? Staff? Expenses? Who pays? Donations? Is it legitimate to seek donations, even small ones on such long shots?
Or to put it bluntly. seems like the worst thing is wasting other people's money on a pipe dream.
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Bret and Gail are part of the problem. Mueller fatigue, seriously, so sorry Gail.
The Democratic Party at the federal and especially the state level has a comprehensive list of innovative policies, especially on the climate crisis, healthcare, gun safety, immigration and even infrastructure but many reporters at the most prestigious media outlets are not covering these policies and their large, vibrant advocacy groups in any depth.
From the outset, the print and broadcast media have failed to expose convincingly Trumps successful undermining of democratic institutions. And now here we are, facing the most dangerous crisis to those institutions in the history of the US and the best Gail and Bret can do is this?
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@Les Dreyer
Thank you Les, I don’t have to write my own comment now. The only thing I would add is that the,"Bret and Gail,” banter is elucidating to exaclty no one. It also sounds condescending, as if these two smart NYT columnists have to comment on the boring news of the day when it’s, "so obvious.” I’ll take the banner at the bottom of my screen pleading for me to allow ads, but I’ll be damed if I will put up with being patronized.
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Our president and justice department are begging the question: "is the Constitution enforceable?"
I'm not so sure SCOTUS will say that it is...
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If a good economy is a political "problem," that about says it all for the Democrats this cycle. Many are rooting for ruin so that some dour candidate can ride to the rescue on a quasi-socialist platform. The people generally want a president who roots for the people, not against them.
1
Ha! "The people, generally, want a president who roots for the people, not against them." Would that we HAD such a president.
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@Daniel
At present, Trump is more of a genuine optimist than any of the Democratic Party candidates. In American presidential races, the more consistently and genuinely optimistic candidates in the end tend to win. It was smiling Carter over scowling Ford, sunny Reagan over a by-then-beleaguered Carter, Clinton over stoney Bush and shouting Perot, can-do Obama over past-peering worrywort McCain, MAGA Trump over dour Hillary Clinton. And it's an old story, too -- Jefferson over J. Adams, Jackson over J.Q. Adams, happy-go-lucky TR over stern Judge Parker in 1904, easy-money New Dealer FDR over tight-fisted Hoover, feisty, plain Truman over cold, stiff Dewey in 1948. Like him or not, Trump believes in his message of hope for an American revival. Meanwhile, the Dems are in the dumps. The Democratic Party is today the party of doom and gloom on just about every front. It is a losing strategy.
@Dave Oedel The only thing trump believes in is that he has a right to take our tax dollars and enich his family and himself further. Just what are we paying Ivanka and Jared for? What government job do they qualify for?
Like trump, they are inept at running our government, but highly qualified as grifters.
Like any good (but not great) piece of literature, GOT does ask the viewer to imagine where they would want to fall in the ageless quest of good versus evil. GOT has all the themes we see in our politics: weak but cunning leadership, youth willing to sacrifice all, misogyny, immoral clergy, and so on. Fiction is not real life, but what characters would our own leaders play in that imaginary land? Who would William Barr, KellyAnne Conway, Mitch McConnell and others play?
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The Democrats have to weave between dual responsibilities. One is the need for real governance and leadership in policy, which as Gail pointed out, Congress has just surrendered on.
The other is dealing with the death of democracy, of separation of powers, and the very real concept of an Imperial Presidency when we put the President above the law. If he cannot be indicted, does not have to respond to subpoenas, and his henchmen do not have to testify to Congress, then we have created a dictatorship position. The good news is we still have elections - our autocrats have a shot at being ousted. For now.
People are tired to death of Trump though, so democracy could die from fatigue not malevolence. There's an epitaph for the history books.
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@Cathy. You’re right: dual responsibilities. And as Nancy Pelosi says, Congress CAN do both things at the same time. It’s not either/or.
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@Cathy
"democracy could die from fatigue not malevolence"
We've got both. We're sick of living under a cruel, malicious, treasonous narcissist AND we're bored with it all.
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" I’m also worried about whether the funds would be put to efficient use. When you have a huge pot of money, you wind up with a lot of extras on the road crews and too many bridges to nowhere." This conservative thinking drives me crazy. Of course government spending should be "efficient". So should corporate spending. Do you worry about how "efficient" tax cuts are for them and what they spend it on? Did the last tax cut package do ANYTHING?
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@LS
That tax cut did do a marvelous job in upping the national debt. That 2 Trillion for infrastructure ( a benefit that we could actually see and experience) Brett worries about ain't nothin' as a fraction of the entire debt.
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@LS
My father was an engineer for the Eisenhower Project. When I was, I don't know, 4 years old, he parked us somewhere on the highway and took a picture of the bridge he had just signed off on - the Tappan Zee. It was only supposed to last 50 years. I got to see it outlive it usefulness.
Was that a waste of the taxpayer's money?
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@LS Conservatives are so paralyzed by their idea that governments don't spend money efficiently that they've made themselves incapable of governing.
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“As for William Barr, I think he’s baiting the Democrats, and I think the Democrats are falling for it.“
What Bret Stephens is saying is that a once-respected public figure has permanently tarnished his reputation and legacy by playing political games in order to curry favor with Donald Trump. No matter what Barr did as AG in the past or what he does in the future, his appalling, partisan performance in connection with the Mueller Report will be what he’s remembered for most. It will be in the first paragraph of his obituary.
Call it the Trump Contagion effect.
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@NA
Trump's ability to sully people's reputations is remarkable, like a super power. Where are our Avengers?
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@NA
Barr lied to Congress. In plain view of everybody. He should be disbarred forthwith.
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@S ...Citizen’s United bought them off.
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