Wall Street Journal (April 8)
“Japan knows the Ukraine stakes.” In contrast, U.S. critics, especially Republican members of Congress are wavering on Ukraine aid, suggesting “the war in Europe is a distraction from more serious threats in Asia.” Tokyo realizes “a Russian victory may encourage Chinese imperialism.” Hopefully, during his visit next week, Prime Minister Kishida “can disabuse” Republicans of their errant notion. His government’s foreign policy “reflects the seriousness of the current geopolitical moment. Japan recognizes that the threat to the well-being of free nations is global.”
Tags: Aid, Asia, China, Congress, Critics, Europe, Free nations, Japan, Kishida, Republican, Russia, Stakes, Threats, U.S., Ukraine, War, Wavering, Well-being
Washington Post (August 29)
“Desperate political leaders of all stripes — Republican, Democratic, communist — have found a common enemy: free trade…. American political forces that are usually at odds apparently agree on the appeal of autarky — that economies should be as closed off as possible, whatever the consequences.” This seems to be part of a global phenomenon, with “nationalists and populists in other countries” also pushing “for more trade barriers. Even China, which has enriched itself through trade with other countries, is now reportedly flirting with curbing trade to demonstrate its lack of dependence on the West as its own economy falters.”
Tags: Autarky, China, Common enemy, Communist, Consequences, Democratic, Desperate, Free trade, Nationalists, Political leaders, Populists, Republican, Trade barriers
Washington Post (November 17)
“Republican officials seem to be hoping that their voters will do their dirty work for them and deliver them from Trump — reversing the usual roles of leaders and followers. But it won’t work. The party must put an end to its moral cowardice and finally and frontally confront the cancer within.” These officials must “explain to their voters that Trump is a demagogue who tried to undermine American democracy.”
Tags: Confront, Demagogue, Democracy, Dirty work, Followers, Leaders, Moral cowardice, Officials, Party, Republican, Trump, U.S., Undermine, Voters
Washington Post (August 11)
“If the economy is in a rut, the party in power usually tries to maximize the power of incumbency to improve conditions before an election,” but these are strange times. “This White House and the current Senate Republican majority… are doing everything in their power to minimize or even prevent a stimulus deal.” Perhaps “Trump still does not understand he has wrecked the economy.” Come November, it looks like “he and a whole lot of Republicans are going to join the list of the unemployed.”
Tags: Economy, Election, Incumbency, Majority, Power, Prevent, Republican, Rut, Senate, Stimulus deal, White House, Wrecked
Washington Post (June 5)
“The Republican Party is full of people with no delusions about what an abominable president Trump is, but who see abandoning him as career suicide.” But a flood of defections may be nearing as they look for “a tipping point in their state or district when continuing to support Trump will become more politically risky than abandoning him. For some it may come fairly soon, since his disastrous failure to control the pandemic has now been followed by a widely condemned reaction to the protests against police brutality.”
Tags: Abandoning, Abominable, Condemned, Defections, Delusions, Disastrous, Failure, Pandemic, Protests, Reaction, Republican, Risky, Tipping point, Trump
The New Yorker (January 23)
For the 53 Republican senators, “membership in Trump’s party” is an “all-embracing and restrictive proposition.” Unlike royal membership, Trump’s team “tars reputations rather than enhances them.” Trump “never admits anything, demands total loyalty, and strikes out at anyone that transgresses these rules. As with the Windsors, you can’t be a half-in Trump Republican.”
Tags: Demands, Loyalty, Membership, Party, Republican, Reputations, Restrictive, Royal, Senators, Tars, Trump
Washington Post (December 5)
In the impeachment proceedings, “even the Republican witness helped the Democrats… If Turley is an example of the type of witnesses they think helpful, perhaps Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) should allow them to call many more.”
Tags: Democrats, Impeachment, Nadler, Republican, Trump, Turley, U.S., Witness
Washington Post (November 28)
“For once, even Republican senators sounded actually mad and distressed by the Trump administration’s blatant prevarication. They were denied a briefing by CIA director Gina Haspel, reportedly at the White House’s direction, concerning the slaying of Jamal Khashoggi,” the journalist killed in Turkey, most likely with the approval of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who Trump has absolved of wrongdoing.
Tags: CIA, Distressed, Haspel, Khashoggi, Mad, MBS, Prevarication, Republican, Senators, Slaying, Trump, Turkey, Wrongdoing
Washington Post (July 24)
Somehow Trump’s appeal keeps rising. “His support within the Republican Party has risen and solidified. It now stands at around 90 percent, which is what tin-pot dictators get in rigged elections.” This leaves many befuddled, but his trick is telling people what they already believe. Playing to prejudice is Trump’s appeal. “He validates the thinking—some of it ugly—of many Americans. To them, Helsinki doesn’t matter and even Putin doesn’t matter. Only Trump does. To them, he hates the right people.”
Tags: Appeal, Dictators, Hate, Helsinki, Prejudice, Putin, Republican, Solidified, Trump, Validation
Washington Post (April 9)
“Monday, April 9, marks Day 444 of the Trump administration. America is being held hostage by a spectacularly unfit narcissist who refuses to grow into the job and a Republican-controlled Congress that refuses to hold him accountable.”
Tags: Accountable, Congress, Hostage, Narcissist, Republican, Trump, U.S., Unfit
