For Martin Baron, April 5, 2018, is the day the euphemisms died. No more “untruths.” No more “misstatements of fact.” No more “bending the truth.” The Washington Post, of which Baron was editor, would now call Donald Trump’s lies what they were. Lies. In his book “Collision of Power,” Baron writes that the paper’s prior…
“Highly anticipated,” said the TV anchor. Highly anticipated? Come on, dude. For millions of Americans, the first criminal trial of Donald Trump is Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Ramadan, all in one. Throw in Toyotathon. It’s the first criminal trial ever of a former president — he who swore to uphold our laws and now pleads “King’s…
Digging deep for a pretext to ignore what the 14th Amendment prescribes for insurrectionists, one ex-president in particular, the Supreme Court acceded to wringing its hands. Giving states the power to keep Donald Trump off their ballots, the court equivocated, might be what the law requires, but it would unleash — um — “chaos.” We…
Its handle is golden-sheathed. Its cup is bronzed and monogrammed. It’s the Trump Flush America plunger. “The plunger is my favorite tool,” says the golden pitchman. “I use it daily.” “Make your toilet great again.” OK, that’s a joke. I need to make that clear. Considering what else Donald Trump has hawked – parts of…
I should have confined my mind to what spring was doing. Everything was greening under azure skies as I strode from the bus stop to where I teach. A season born anew should have won every ounce of my attention. Unfortunately, I couldn’t help but notice the litter of winter — a yellow fast-food wrapper; a…
Hearing Donald Trump prosecute the Big Lie and Republicans parrot it reminds me of another masterwork in group duplicity. Back when the George W. Bush White House hewed to shifting fallacious pretexts for invading Iraq, a friend remarked: “They have to meet every morning to keep their stories straight.” False comparison, I know: There’s nothing…
Not since Rocky Marciano relocated Ezzard Charles’ chin to an adjoining county. Not since a Chuck Stobbs fastball took a 565-foot ride on Mickey Mantle’s bat. Only in sport’s annals can adequate comparisons be found for the thumping Joe Biden laid on stationary Republican targets in Congress in his fourth State of the Union address.…
Based on any reasonable interpretation of Texas law, the highway cop who stopped Brandy Bottone on a Dallas thoroughfare asked the wrong question. Instead of, “License, insurance and vehicle registration,” he should have asked, “Do you have an embryo inside you? And what do you plan to do with it?” As the news story reported,…
It was the last time, in the face of politically inspired violence, Donald Trump acted like a president. June of 2017: Republican Rep. Steve Scalise had been wounded by a gunman who targeted those practicing for the annual congressional softball game. “We may have our differences,” Trump said in a statement, “but we do well…
With the death of Alexei Navalny, we are reminded once again how Vladimir Putin meets Donald Trump’s definition of “smart.” Indeed, a fellow “genius.” So much in common. Back when Trump took the Miss Universe pageant to Moscow in 2013, he wrote Putin a gushing letter inviting him to attend and wondered via tweet if…