Donald Trump is now the president of the United States, and on his very first day, with his very first speech, he has managed to redraw the picture of America to which we are used. Before Trump, we were accustomed to an America that engaged the world with confidence and strength. An America willing to trade with the world, understanding that trade is not a zero-sum game. An America that not only honored its alliances, but ensured that its allies would never have any reason to doubt American resolve. An America with problems–because no nation is without problems–but one that…
Pejman Yousefzadeh
Pejman Yousefzadeh
Scribbling, scribbling, scribbling on the Internet.
Tagged Jennifer Rubin
Donald Trump Would Be a Terrible President and He Is a Cancer on the American Body Politic
There is no limit to what one can write about Donald Trump’s deficiencies. His time in the spotlight has made it clear that he is an awful human-resembling-thing, whose presidential run is more about himself and not at all about serving the country. Every day, it seems, Trump does something to confirm the impression that as a president, he would be out of his depth, and as a candidate, his strategy is to bring out the worst in the country he claims to want to lead–apparently, even Trump knows that his best chance of winning is to appeal to our…
A Status Update on Hillary Clinton’s Trainwreck of a Presidential Bid
It remains amazing that the putative next president of the United States hasn’t been laughed off of the political stage, but Hillary Clinton is still in the presidential race, and still trying to convince the rest of us that she should be in the presidential race. But whatever Clinton is selling, the rest of us should refuse to buy. As I have written many times before, Hillary Clinton has no business being president of the United States. Here are but the latest reasons why:
The Supreme Court Bats .500. Legal and Political Analysis Follows.
The United States Supreme Court has come out with two major opinions, in as many days. The first concerned Barack Obama’s health care law, and featured a bad outcome based on poor reasoning. The second concerned the issue of same-sex marriage and featured a laudable outcome based on less-than-good reasoning.
The Trade Policy Clown Show of 2015
Great nations are not normally in the habit of allowing childish temper tantrums to dictate economic policy. Great nations are even less inclined to sacrifice an excellent economic deal because of a temper tantrum. And yet, when we examine the frantic and immature back-and-forth regarding the Trans-Pacific Partnership Act, we see that the United States–a great nation despite the example often set by its “leaders”–has been flirting over the past twenty-four hours with the option of throwing away an excellent economic deal with both hands, in part because trade protectionists have gotten their feelings hurt. I alluded to this issue…
Hillary Clinton’s Political Pain Hasn’t Ended
To wit . . . Democrats are panicking about the state of her campaign. The Associated Press is suing the State Department in an effort to gain access to Clinton’s e-mails. This alone guarantees continued press interest in this story, which means that the story is not going away. “Tuesday, Hillary Clinton projected the stoicism of a person who really, truly hates what she’s doing, and does it anyway.” Yeah . . . that kind of attitude ain’t gonna win elections, folks. If you give even one scintilla of a damn about preserving the security of cabinet-level communications in the federal government,…
Is There an Actual Liberal Crackup?
Jennifer Rubin seems to think so. I am not so sure. Yes, the Democratic party has sustained a lot of losses in midterm elections, but the Republican party has proven unable to win the popular vote in 5 out of the last 6 presidential elections, and has lost 4 out of the last 6 presidential elections in the Electoral College, where it counts. For all of the controversies that the Center for American Progress has suffered, there is no think tank on the right with as much power and influence. I don’t see problems at the New York Times and Newsweek…
Quote of the Day
On one level it is comical. As if to outdo President Obama’s contempt for private enterprise, Hillary Clinton on Friday declared, “Don’t let anybody tell you that, you know, it’s corporations and businesses that create jobs.” Yeah, Obama was giving those businesses way too much credit. But of course this makes zero sense so she had to retreat, insisting she “shorthanded this point the other day.” Being entirely unclear she declared, “[S]o let me be absolutely clear about what I’ve been saying for a couple of decades” (a cringe-worthy reminder that she’s been stuck mouthing the same platitudes for years and years and years…
The Banality of Clinton
Hillary Clinton isn’t evil, but at the very least, she is doing a spectacular impression of someone who is just utterly vapid. I don’t know how anyone can dig up anything resembling a coherent thought from the dirt pile of words that Jennifer Rubin quoted, and I don’t know how anyone can conclude that Clinton is some kind of intellectual powerhouse; a would-be White House Mentat, just waiting to set her mind in motion by will alone. It is clear that Clinton believes she can win the White House by offering up pablum for the masses, and her soon-to-be campaign has obviously decided that…
A Folly We Are Determined to Commit
I am pleased that President Obama has decided to seek congressional approval prior to using military force in Syria. One does not know whether the president will go ahead and use force in Syria even if Congress disapproves, but at the very least, if he does so, he should be all alone in the endeavor. Unfortunately, it would appear that some in the Republican leadership have decided not to leave the president alone. Both Eric Cantor and John Boehner have decided to give the president’s Syria adventure their backing, and presumably, they will help the White House round up votes for a…
