So President Donald J. Trump has pulled the United States out of the Paris Climate Accord – a decision with fewer practical consequences than symbolic ones.
Practically, much if not most of the U.S. – states, cities, corporations, individuals – is committed to the accord. There’s nothing Trump can do about companies or people acting responsibly where the environment is concerned.
But the effect of the pullout is real in the sense that it absents the U.S. as an entity from the moral leadership it has exerted in the past. Into that vacuum sweeps China, Russia, you name it and the question becomes, Having relinquished our position as world leader, can we ever get it back? ...
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Read MoreOccam’s Razor is a philosophical principle attributed to the medieval English Franciscan friar William of Ockham that basically says that the simplest explanation is probably the correct one.
I couldn’t help but think of this with regard to the brouhaha over Montana congressional candidate Greg Gianforte body-slamming the reporter who dared question him about his views on health care. Everyone is up in arms about the disrespect for the First Amendment and the Fourth Estate and I, as a journalist, concur. ...
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Read MoreIn the sentimental commercials for Jared, the so-called “Galleria of Jewelry,” the prospective hubby knows where to go for the ring that will get bride-zilla to say “yes.”
“He went to Jared’s,” her voiceover says, quivering with emotion. “He went to Jared’s.”
I doubt Jared Kushner went to Jared’s for Ivanka’s engagement ring, and therein may lie the problem. “The rich are different from you and me,” said F. Scott Fitzgerald, who knew a thing or two about them. “Yes,” Ernest Hemingway replied, “they have more money.” ...
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Read MoreWhat can you say about the past week in Washington D.C. except that God is the best screenwriter. I mean, who else could come up with such a beta-ameloid and tau tangle of plot twists and turns replete with a depth of characters – which is not the same as depth of character.
In the latest scene in our saga, Don Donald Trumpet – cue “The Godfather” theme – had sought an oath of loyalty from would-be consigliere James Comey. But Comey had demurred, necessitating his “termination.” ...
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Read MoreTragedy, it is said, returns as farce. Richard Nixon’s insecurity and paranoia – his inability to believe he was loved – earned him Watergate, resignation, reinvention and an Oliver Stone treatment of Greek tragedy proportions (“Nixon,” with a very fine Anthony Hopkins in the title role).
One thing is certain: Donald J. Trump won’t be “Stone”d, not for a long time, if at all. We’re still in the farcical “SNL” stage of our relationship with the president. (But then, Nixon, had his caricaturists, too.) ...
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Read MoreWell, Russkiegate just exploded.
WaPo broke the story confirmed by The Times – that’s the The Washington Post and The New York Times, alias the enemies of the people – that President Donald J. Trump shared super-secret information regarding the Islamic state during a recent meeting with the Russians (you know, the one that took place after he fired FBI Director James Comey), thereby potentially endangering the source. ...
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Read MoreTruth has only one story; lying, many narratives.
The firing of now-former FBI Director James Comey was the suggestion of the Attorney General’s office, until it wasn’t and became President Donald J. Trump’s idea.
It was the result of Comey’s handling of the Hillary Clinton emails and then his “grandstanding” personality until it became clear it was really all about the FBI investigation into possible collusion between team Trump and the Russkies. ...
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