A third party is the coward’s way out
| | |

A third party is the coward’s way out

During the all-too-brief one-on-one contest between Nikki Haley and Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination, there was a good deal of analysis declaring it the last stand of the Reaganite vision for the GOP versus the MAGA takeover. That was the wishiest of wishful thinking — and not just because such large segments of…

Greene and friends trumpet ‘criminal immigrant’ canard
| | |

Greene and friends trumpet ‘criminal immigrant’ canard

President Joe Biden chose to scrap a bit with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene at the State of the Union — a choice that should remind us of the old saw, “Never wrestle with pigs. You both get dirty and the pig likes it.” Greene has two modes: heckling and lying. This time, she was doing…

There’s another way Trump could get immunity
| | |

There’s another way Trump could get immunity

Apparently interpreting the Supreme Court’s decision on the 14th Amendment as a personal vote of confidence, Donald Trump pushed his luck, urging the justices to rule swiftly that he has absolute immunity as well. That is not likely. Most observers thought the court would reject Colorado’s action because permitting it would have invited chaos in…

The base wants the fight, instead of the victory
| | |

The base wants the fight, instead of the victory

The border bill circus is the latest demonstration of a bedrock reality of today’s Republican Party: It does not exist to achieve political outcomes. Its chief function is fan service. The overriding concern of GOP voters, according to polls and to elected Republicans, is immigration. In the ranty precincts of the right, they believe that…

Tucker Carlson’s fatal attraction
| | |

Tucker Carlson’s fatal attraction

The title of my 2003 book, “Useful Idiots,” was a reference to a perhaps apocryphal quote sometimes attributed to Lenin to the effect that gullible liberals in the West would prove useful idiots for the Soviet Union. I wrote about Democrats; 21 years later, the epithet belongs wholeheartedly to the GOP. Their choice to support…

Trump’s $83.3 million temper tantrum
|

Trump’s $83.3 million temper tantrum

In the wake of the eye-popping $83.3 million verdict against Trump for defaming E. Jean Carroll, many commentators mocked Trump’s bumbling lawyer, Alina Habba, and not without cause. The 39-year-old fashion model, er, attorney, who had never tried a defamation case before (and, in fact, was lead attorney in only three previous cases) was repeatedly…