May I sound a note of encouragement? Don’t assume that your words aren’t having an impact on your relatives just because they don’t immediately admit that you are right and they are wrong. It’s still early days (alarming as that sounds) and even people who have totally bought into the Trump hype but are otherwise sane…

McCain is Brutus. Yes, “[t]he noble Brutus,” who chose to participate in a plot to murder Caesar because he disapproved of Caesar’s ambition to rule Rome. He didn’t care about how that decision would affect the state, or the thousands of soldiers and civilians who would die as a result of the civil war that followed…

Well, okay, if an actor wants to treat acting as a job rather than an art or a craft, that’s fine. But if the actor acts in shitty movies or gives bad performances, that actor can’t expect the same kind of respect as would accrue if the actor chose roles for reasons of art or craft. Johnny Depp had a reputation as a…

How do you reason that Hernandez was an innocent man? Wasn’t he convicted of first-degree murder of Odin Lloyd? Isn’t that the entire premise of the vacatur of his conviction? Wasn’t he acquitted of a different pair of murders entirely?

During the primary, I thought that Cruz would be a worse president than Trump because Trump was kind of a dope who wouldn’t be able to accomplish much of his looney agenda. By contrast, Cruz was smart and he understood government, so he was more likely to be able to do harm with his equally looney agenda. And I still…

I have never understood why Cruz is praised so often, even by bitter enemies, as a brilliant lawyer and debater. I have seen no evidence of that. He seems, rather, like a person who has watched too much Law and Order. In reruns. With commercials.

Maybe Christie wants to go back to being a US Attorney (like he was before becoming governor). I hear that Jeff Sessions — who would be his boss — hates weed too.

They say “[t]he Democrats .. don’t want Republicans to get anything done” like it’s a bad thing. Look at what the Republicans want to get done: (1) repeal the ACA and replace it with a regime designed to result in medical bankruptcy for the poor and massive tax cuts for the rich; (2) revamp the federal tax code to…

GWB seems better in retrospect than he did at the time. He was a pretty bad president. But at least he wasn’t odious on a personal level.

“It won’t be THAT bad.”

I laughed. But now I feel dirty.

Counter-example: Joe Manchin, D-WV. Otherwise known as, “Whatever the President wants” Joe. He’s a Republican in all but name. He’ll vote with the Rs for Gorsuch and he’ll get re-elected.

If the Roman Republic had had nuclear weapons and the internet, it wouldn’t have lasted that long. And look what followed shortly after the Republic’s demise: Caligula.

I haven’t seen anyone express this better. Well done!

Actually, the guy who said he selfishly wants the tax cutting and pro-business policies he expects to see, and doesn’t care about the specific statements that Trump made, gave the most cogent reasons I have heard yet for voting for Trump. They may be reprehensible reasons, but at least they’re thought through.

Rob Astorino, not Rob Long. Astorino is the Westchester County Executive, a right-wing radio station executive who (I believe) nobody outside of Westchester had ever heard of. He was being talked up for positions in Trump’s administration, but it seems his star has dimmed.

I read that the Republicans will control 37 of 50 statehouses come January (13 remain majority Democratic). Much scarier than 30 of 50.

“After the meeting, Trump even indicated he would start taking Obama’s advice, saying, ‘I very much look forward to dealing with the president in the future, including counsel’—a major turnaround for a man who once called Obama ‘the most ignorant president in history.’”

Sadly, I agree. These guys aren’t, in the end, interested in principles or ideals, they are interested in winning. Trump won. He owns them all now. The ones who can’t stomach taking Trump’s orders will quit (or will be pressured into retiring).

The major news media (TV and cable news, major newspapers) is hopelessly corrupted by the commercial drive toward ratings over all else. By this, I don’t mean that individual reporters — or even individual news organizations — are corrupt (i.e., taking payoffs or covertly supporting one side over the other). I mean…