How much of history is random?
It’s the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall today, and it’s got me to thinking. Everyone knows that’s one of the most momentous events in history, but how did it happen? And did how it happened give us any guidance as to the complex situation we Americans find ourselves in today? Thinking […]
The Butt Fumble: Rudy Giuliani and the incompetence gambit.
Smart. At first glance, Rudy Giuliani and Mark Sanchez might not seem to have a lot in common. Sure, they both played on the biggest stage in New York, leading to fascinating moments of Big Apple pride. You can’t tell the recent history of NYC without either of them. Giuliani was an autocratic mayor who […]
Andrew Yang, Tulsi Gabbard, Donald Trump, and the bet against America.
Nobody ever asks me how I feel about Amy Klobuchar. I don’t get peppered with questions about my confidence in Julián Castro or Bill Weld. Mark Sanford’s not a strange being, except for that thing he did that one time. Folks look to Cory Booker for inspiration, Beto O’Rourke for animation, Kamala Harris to channel […]
Game theory and the four magic words that will convict Trump.
The GOP armageddon. More than two years ago, I kicked off this series on game theory and politics with a column called “Game theory and the two magic words that will impeach Trump.” Those two words were “and Pence.” The logic was that since then-House Speaker Paul Ryan yearned to be president, a movement to […]
The Thunder in the Rotunda: How Nancy Pelosi rope-a-doped Trump.
This week I was in DC and saw people just trying to get through this thing called life. On Monday morning, when a Secret Service agent was asked why they cleared Lafayette Park for no apparent reason, he shrugged and told my companion, “Hey man, it’s the White House. You never know what goes on […]
You can’t spell “believer” without “lie”: A look at why Trump lies so much.
“Trust is like glass: shatters in an instant, with a single blow, and takes a long time to restore.” — Kathy Sullivan, chief of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under President Obama The world was riveted last week at the ruin wreaked during Hurricane Dorian. The storm blew the Bahamas to Kingdom Come. Officially 50 people […]
The Epstein–Barr virus: Why conspiracies beget more conspiracies.
“Conspiracies have generally been set on foot by the great, or the friends of the prince; and of these, as many have been prompted to it by an excess of benefits as by an excess of wrongs.”—Machiavelli In case you didn’t feel enough like you’re living in that comic book version of Earth where the […]
You don’t have to want to save the planet. You just have to.
It’s hot. Too darn hot. America is baking, Australia suffered a blistering summer a few months ago, and national heat records are falling in Europe. Why’s it so hot? Well, that depends on who you ask. If you talk to scientists, they’ll tell you it’s our fault. If you talk to anyone else, they’ll either […]
When your senator threatens to kill state troopers, your system is broken.
Wanted, presumed armed and dangerous. While my wife and I were drinking our way through Oregon this weekend, I noted that the street corners were not filled with state senators using lethal force against capitol troopers. So I didn’t stop drinking. But the specter of that outcome existed due to this quote from state senator […]
If you liked Jeb!, you’ll love Joe!
If you’ve watched Joe Biden’s campaign for president unfold, you probably have noted two things: one, that he has a massive lead in every poll well before anyone has voted, and two, that he has not really campaigned at all. Sure, he’s been on talk shows (especially The View, where he is beloved) and the […]