The 2016 debates lacked Quemoy and Matsu. In 1960, a gentlemanly quarrel about these two tiny islands was the most significant policy difference in the Kennedy-Nixon debate, though historians call the proceedings a watershed event in televised politics. Nixon said the islands off China’s coast merited Cold War saber-rattling. Kennedy said they didn’t.…
DetailsIt comes with the ticking parcel that Republican voters left on our doorstep, but we’ve focused way too much lately on what a Twitter hashtag fest — #TrumpDrSeuss — has christened The Deplorax. He of the orange hair and a thousand calculated insults, many aimed at women. He of horrible boasts backed by deplorable acts.…
DetailsThe NFL’s ratings are down. Fox Sports commentator Colin Cowherd says he knows why. It’s not about quality of play or sidelined quarterbacks. “It’s Donald Trump.” People are tuning out football for that guy. True. The nation is transfixed. It can’t take its eyes off the Trump Dumpster fire. The thing…
DetailsWait, wait. Did I hear what I just heard? Did you? Donald Trump paid no income taxes over an 18-year period. “That makes me smart,” says he. Not just smart. Brilliant. That makes me confused. If this were such a great virtue, you’d assume Trump would have shared his tax returns…
DetailsIf Donald Trump is so wealthy, why would he lift $12,000 from his charitable foundation to purchase a Tim Tebow helmet and jersey? If he’s so wealthy, why would he turn to his foundation, not his own stash of cash, to contribute $25,000 to the campaign of Florida Attorney General Pam Biondi? The latter occurred…
DetailsA lot of people have said a lot of things about Donald Trump's deficiencies, but the most succinct may be this: “beyond repair.” What loose cannon would say such a thing about Trump? Surely it is someone swimming in partisan passion, blinded by bile. Ah, but no, the description comes from one of the more…
DetailsWe interrupt non-stop coverage about what happens during an NFL national anthem to bring news that actually might matter. (By the way, ending that national anthem crisis is simple, says my wife: Stop televising it. Three national annoyances go away at once: pop stars butchering it, sports stars protesting it, and media fixating…
DetailsHe was in a pinch, on a deadline, and short on cash. So the employer hired undocumented workers. Working day and night, they demolished a building that the employer ultimately would replace with a structure that would make him a lot of money. When the workers complained about pay and dangerous conditions,…
DetailsMore sad tidings for all you “law and order” types, particularly you candidates and elected sorts who think shortcuts to order are what law entails. Another court has affirmed what long has been settled: police profiling is unlawful. One twist: In this case, the traffic-stop criterion deemed illegal and pernicious isn’t the…
DetailsLyndon Johnson's aides were n a celebrating mood the day in 1965 when he signed the Voting Rights Act. They were surprised, then, when Johnson interjected this sobering advisory: “It’s also the day we gave the South to the Republicans for the rest of our lifetimes." Civil rights legislation indeed would serve to drive southern…
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