A purge at the FBI, the firing of 30 Jan. 6 prosecutors by the U.S. Attorney in D.C., the sleazy effort by Elon Musk to reduce the federal workforce — all of this comes from the authoritarian handbook: Get rid of honest public servants and replace them with loyalists who will let you get away … Continue reading Trump gang wants to erase the spirit of John McCain, destroy public service
Head Case: Trump’s pardon of Jan. 6 attackers is pure projection, and exactly what a dictator would do
On his first day in office, President Again issued a sweeping pardon of the January 6 rioters who brought terror to the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to keep Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election. Psychology professors seeking a case of projection can now use Trump’s pardons as a classic … Continue reading Head Case: Trump’s pardon of Jan. 6 attackers is pure projection, and exactly what a dictator would do
JFK’s very cold inauguration, Robert Frost’s regrettable poem
In 2024, more than 77 million Americans elected an old man to be their president again, so it should not shock anyone to hear that the 78-year-old Trump will take his oath — Trump and oath, quite the joke! — indoors because of the weather forecast. As we get older, the cold seems colder. So … Continue reading JFK’s very cold inauguration, Robert Frost’s regrettable poem
Respect for smarts and science even as Trump nominates a dangerous quack to lead public health policy
I have a much smarter brother named Joe. He’s a scientist. In fact, he’s an expert on toxicology and risk assessment who has lectured about public health policy around the world. He wrote a book, called “Calculated Risks: The Toxicity and Human Health Risks of Chemicals in our Environment,” that has been widely used as … Continue reading Respect for smarts and science even as Trump nominates a dangerous quack to lead public health policy
Mitch McConnell, the greatest enabler in U.S. history, kept Trump out of prison
I'll employ a legal metaphor -- "fruit of a poisonous tree" -- to trace the path of one of the worst failures in U.S. history: The failure to hold Trump criminally responsible for the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and Congress, a failure that kept Trump eligible to run for president a third time. … Continue reading Mitch McConnell, the greatest enabler in U.S. history, kept Trump out of prison
The end of shock
Apologies to my good friends at Tuesday lunch, but there's no "shock" in the arrest of the Gilman graduate accused of killing a CEO. I'll concede there's something unique about it -- the apparent targeting of a corporate executive in what looks like some kind of deranged payback murder -- but none who've been paying … Continue reading The end of shock
Why Congressional Republicans do not deserve your vote
Here we have the Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, a Trump stooge, saying that, if Republicans get control of Congress again, they will try to repeal the CHIPS and Science Act, a widely-popular law pushed by the Biden administration to give the nation’s chip manufacturing and semiconductor industries a boost. It’s one of the … Continue reading Why Congressional Republicans do not deserve your vote
Trump, the laziest president ever, calls Harris lazy; that takes nerve, and the usual racism
News report from the Associated Press, Oct. 23: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump unleashed a series of personal attacks at Vice President Kamala Harris, calling her “lazy” — a word long used to demean Black people in racist terms — and repeatedly questioning her intelligence and stamina. GUEST COMMENTARY FROM BUSH HOG JAMES, from Arizona: … Continue reading Trump, the laziest president ever, calls Harris lazy; that takes nerve, and the usual racism
October Surprise: General John Kelly sings the nightingale’s song on Trump
John F. Kelly, the former Marine general who was Trump’s longest-serving chief of staff, has given the closing argument on the 2024 presidential election: A vote for Trump is a vote for a man who rejects constitutional democracy for dictatorship. The last straw, said Kelly, was Trump’s recent raising of the prospect that he would … Continue reading October Surprise: General John Kelly sings the nightingale’s song on Trump
MAGA: You can let Trump go now. He’s a tyrant, not a patriot.
A vote for Trump is not only tragic and misguided, it’s anti-American. There, I said it, breaking a self-imposed rule never to play the patriotism card in an argument. I learned long ago, when I was a kid and American troops were coming home every day in body bags from the Vietnam War, that citizens … Continue reading MAGA: You can let Trump go now. He’s a tyrant, not a patriot.
Dan Rodricks 