Republican National Convention Day Two:  Getting Trumpier!

Republican National Convention Day Two: Getting Trumpier!

Day Two of the Republican National Convention opened (in the world of journalism, at least) with apocalyptic discussions of one of the weightiest and most crucial political topics of the day — did two or three sentences from Melania Trump’s remarks the day before too...
Republican National Convention Day One:  Lullaby In Cleveland

Republican National Convention Day One: Lullaby In Cleveland

Any week of a Republican National Convention can be expected to be a week of Republicans comparing the presumptive nominee to the descent of the Messiah.  This is not that sort of week, for the nominee in question is Donald Trump, breaker of norms, nationalist...
The Double Shock Of Trump

The Double Shock Of Trump

What is it about Donald Trump’s use of language that is such a shock?   He seems incapable of making so much as a casual remark about the weather without sending the whole of the East Coast Literati into torrential avalanches of Hitler metaphor.  One can dismiss the...
The Lesser Of Two Evils Is Less Evil

The Lesser Of Two Evils Is Less Evil

A recent Bloomberg poll put Hillary Clinton ahead of Donald Trump by twelve points.  Spontaneous orgasm quickly spread along the barbarian horde of the Fourth Estate, along with ringing proclamations that The Donald is finally embarked on his his death spiral, doomed,...
Elaborating The New Normal

Elaborating The New Normal

Thomas Edsall often seems a cut above other Times writers because he likes to shore up his case with numbers.  The problem is, making a case involves more than finding supporting data:  it means seeking out all the data, including any data that disconfirms your...