March 21, 2017
Cartoon: Baby Donald’s Budget Priorities
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March 8, 2017
Republicans Cannot ‘Solve’ Health Care In Good Faith
Fiscal conservatism defines nearly all Republicans, even if decades of failed economic promises say otherwise, but the modern Republican Party is also a collective of combative factions. There are extreme social conservatives who often vote based on social wedge issues like abortion. There are moderate social conservatives who tend to go along with many social conservative positions, but who are primarily fiscal hawks. And there are extreme fiscal hawks who lean libertarian, and in many cases reject some of the more offensive tenets of social conservatism.
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February 28, 2017
End The White House Press Briefing
Last week when Sean Spicer expelled CNN, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and others, apart from the habitual antics of a juvenile administration, perhaps it was a harbinger of a new post-briefing era. While this administration’s anti-First Amendment frolicking is repulsive, it could just be President Trump and Sean Spicer did us all a favor. I say we end the White House press briefing.
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February 27, 2017
Will Trump’s War On The News Media Work?
With President Trump’s “fake news” crusade now turned up to eleven, we are left little choice but to assume it is part of a broader de-legitimizing strategy. And strategy is the job of Steve Bannon, Trump’s White House Chief Strategist. Bannon told the New York Times in January that the “media should be embarrassed and humiliated and keep its mouth shut and just listen for a while.” Bannon was talking about how the media was wrong about the 2016 election, never mind that the polls were not all that far off from the popular vote tally. “The media here is the opposition party,” said Bannon in the Times interview. “They don’t understand this country. They still do not understand why Donald Trump is the president of the United States.” If it is a blueprint, Trump’s anti-media bombast is a plan likely architected by Steve Bannon.
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February 26, 2017
Fox News Seeded Trump’s ‘Fake News’ Paranoia
The Fox News and conservative talk radio war against the mainstream media seeded Donald Trump’s “fake news” paranoia. There is nothing new about politicians going after the news media, but Donald Trump takes this time-honored practice to an absurd level made possible by his uniquely narcissistic personality. When it comes to what people say about him, Trump has an uncontrollable obsession. And now he has a new tool for his bravado, anything less than flattery is “fake news.”
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February 24, 2017
Steve Bannon Vows ‘Deconstruction Of The Administrative State’
The shadowy figure pulling the strings within Donald Trump’s White House, Chief Strategist Stephen K. Bannon, appeared at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Thursday. He vowed the Trump administration would work toward the “deconstruction of the administrative state.” In other words, unwinding regulations that exist to protect Americans. Little things like consumer financial protection, a clean environment, and anti-discrimination, to name a few.
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February 24, 2017
Cartoon: Baby Donald – Constitutional Scholar
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February 24, 2017
Are Trump Voters Irredeemable?
Reflecting on Trump voters in the midst of Donald Trump’s presidential hell-scape, my mind ping-pongs between ridicule and bewilderment. Do we risk reinforcing the notion of liberal arrogance by saying Trump voters are irredeemable? And if we already believe they are a lost cause, does it even matter? I’m not exactly sure where I’ll end up, but I’m always seeking levelheaded arguments, meaning a degree of compassion for Trump voters might yet be conceivable.
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February 21, 2017
Trump’s Shrinking Malignancy
It might not feel like it right now, but President Donald Trump is a symptom of a shrinking malignancy in America. This is what we must remember as we move forward. In hindsight we should have expected a backlash in response to Barack Obama’s historic presidency, especially in a nation with much work to do on race relations. That malignancy wasn’t going to fade away without a fight.
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February 21, 2017
Cartoon: Baby Donald’s Fake News Affirmation
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