The Week (May 23)
“How much of a problem is it that the president of the United States, the most powerful person on Earth, is a blithering idiot?” Depends what kind of blithering idiot. “Raw intellect doesn’t translate to presidential success, and its absence could, in the right circumstance, be compensated for.” But “President Trump’s particular brand of stupidity” is very dangerous. “You can be dumb but modest, or dumb but thoughtful, or dumb but careful. Trump is none of those things. He’s boastful, impulsive, and careless, all while continuing to blaze new trails of thickheadedness, while the rest of us are left to stand back and gawp in amazement.”
Tags: Boastful, Careless, Dangerous, Dumb, Idiot, Impulsive, Intellect, Powerful, President, Problem, Stupidity, Success, Thickheaded, U.S.
New York Times (April 6)
“The first reaction to the leaked documents dubbed the Panama Papers is simply awe at the scope of the trove” that includes some 11.5 million documents illustrating “how offshore bank accounts and tax havens are used by the world’s rich and powerful to conceal their wealth or avoid taxes.” That reaction quickly gives way to disgust and questions: “How did all these politicians, dictators, criminals, billionaires and celebrities amass vast wealth and then benefit from elaborate webs of shell companies to disguise their identities and their assets? Would there have been no reckoning had the leak not occurred?”
Tags: Assets, Bank accounts, Disgust, Offshore, Panama Papers, Powerful, Reaction. Leak, Rich, Shell companies, Tax havens