On why we cannot trust institutional restraints

In previous posts, I’ve argued that Donald Trump cannot be trusted. Now let’s turn to the other straw at which optimists have been grasping, that institutions and professional hands will ensure that the Trump administration will keep to past norms of governance. Let us not be fooled.

Trump’s dangerous impulses

In my previous post, I argued that we should not be lulled by false hopes based upon the pivot from candidate Trump to president Trump. But, one might say, maybe Trump’s 40-year pattern of misbehavior won’t be translated into policy. However, even the earliest indications, both from his camp and from his congressional enablers, indicate […]

Why Trump absolutely cannot be trusted

As part of this continuing series, it’s important to take a step back and establish why mobilization of a new kind and on a new scale is necessary. Maybe, we’d like to hope, Donald Trump will not be the disaster some observers fear. We might be tempted to think that Donald Trump’s excesses on the […]

Demonstrations: inspiring and necessary, but not sufficient

Over the past couple of days, we’ve already seen a lot of protests and demonstrations. The ones that are getting the most attention are those in Los Angeles and Portland, big coastal cities where the violence has been most intense. There have been many, many other, more peaceful protests, more fearful and contemplative, like the […]

Where to go from here? First questions; potential answers to come

As with many (read: the majority of voting) Americans, yesterday, Nov. 9, I was a bit despondent about the results of the presidential election. In general, when an election doesn’t go my way, that’s disappointing, but it’s to be expected. This one, though, I think everyone recognizes is different. Liberals David Remnick and Charles Blow, on the […]