It’s inevitable. Once Donald Trump is removed from office—either through term limits, a 2020 loss, a resignation or (if there is enough Congressional courage following the 2018 midterms) an impeachment—he and a right-wing ghostwriter will secure a big-money contract for his presidential memoirs. There will be a built-in audience for such a book—the still-loyal members […]
George W. Bush
Posted inPolitical Animal
Why is Bill Kristol Promoting an Oprah Winfrey Presidential Campaign?
Why the hell is he with her? William Kristol’s cheerleading for an Oprah Winfrey presidential run is arguably the most disturbing non-Trump development of the new year. Notwithstanding my skepticism about celebrity involvement in politics, if Winfrey is actually serious about running, she should disavow the Kristol vision in the strongest terms possible. It’s fairly […]
Posted inPolitical Animal
Future Fire and Fury: Trump’s Climate Instability
Fifteen years ago today, Senators John McCain and Joseph Lieberman introduced the Climate Stewardship Act, which would have implemented a federal cap-and-trade program to reduce carbon pollution. McCain and Lieberman were horrified by President George W. Bush’s refusal to take action on the climate crisis due to the influence of the fossil-fuel industry; that industry, […]
Posted inMain, Political Animal
What Happens When Truth Doesn’t Matter?
There’s a reason why Trump’s arrogance remains unmitigated.
Posted inPolitical Animal
From Grace, We Fell
If only we could have seen the future, eh? It was ten years ago this Wednesday that Barack Obama won the Iowa Democratic caucus in a shocker. Obama’s victory was considered a sign that his message had the potential to resonate with far more strength than conventional wisdom assumed–and that he indeed had the ability […]
Posted inPolitical Animal
The Cost of One’s Soul
Sometimes people have to be explicitly told they’re not wanted around–and even then, they still don’t seem to get it. Yes, there was plenty of morbid humor to be derived this week from the travails of now-former White House staffer and one-time reality-TV star Omarosa Manigault, ousted from what appeared to be a make-work position […]
Posted inPolitical Animal
We Can’t Wait Around for the GOP to Implode
Conservatives with moral concerns need to do more than wait for the GOP to reach rock bottom.
Posted inMain, Political Animal
How Republican Presidents Have Damaged Our Global Leadership
The kind of hegemony we’ve assumed in the past is being put to the test.
Posted inPolitical Animal
Keith Olbermann’s Famous Last Words
As soon as I heard the news, I thought back to the fall of 1993, when Billy Joel began hinting in the wake of the release of the River of Dreams album that he wouldn’t be releasing any new material, and Michael Jordan announced his retirement from professional basketball. Yes, the Piano Man did return […]
Posted inPolitical Animal
Bush-League Criticism
What was Henry Kissinger’s old joke about the Iran-Iraq war, again? The conflict between Donald Trump and the Bush family is perhaps the silliest of the 45th President’s many feuds, nothing more than the latest outbreak of red-on-red rhetorical violence (see Trump v. McCain, Trump v. Corker, Trump v. Flake., etc.) It’s fundamentally silly because […]
