Month: June 2018

Hamilton, the economic nationalist, and Jefferson, the small government democrat, are the yin and yang of American political history.  Then and now, they combine about as well as oil and water.  And yet, the Trump GOP features both.

The CLs are pure Jeffersonians.  Minus their support for social programs that help deserving white people, the Reactionaries, with their loathing of urban culture and support for states’ rights, are as well.  Trump, on the other hand, sounds like a caricature of Hamilton at times, with his tariffs, his love of military splendor, and his “America First” bluster.  No wonder the party struggles to get anything done!

If the GOP is both Hamilton and Jefferson, who are the Democrats?  Mostly, the people who were left out by both of them–minorities and women.

Issues and attitudes change, but there can be no doubt about it–Calvin Coolidge was a CL.  Personally austere, he was determined to keep the size of the federal government as small as possible.  He presided over a lopsided boom, and missed the Great Depression.  It is fortunate for his reputation, and for the country, that he did.

Hoover, on the other hand, was a PBP.  He was willing to use the power of the federal government to boost the economy even before the Great Depression.   In the final analysis, however, he was overwhelmed by the magnitude of the task before him, and he was unwilling to take the steps that were necessary to generate a real recovery, because he thought the cure ultimately was worse than the disease.  As history shows us, he was wrong;  FDR changed the country in innumerable ways, but he didn’t destroy it as a liberal democracy.

Hoover reminds me of Lord John Russell during the Potato Famine:  an intelligent and decent man who was constrained by limited government ideology from doing what needed to be done to respond to a disaster of unimaginable proportions.

After reading the articles about the Masterpiece oral argument, I was fairly convinced that the outcome would be a narrow decision for the baker, probably focused on some absurd distinction between bakers and other merchants.  That didn’t happen.  Instead, we got an even more narrow decision based on indiscreet comments made by various members of the Colorado reviewing panel that has no meaningful precedential value.  That was no accident.

The clear message from Justice Kennedy is that gay rights are worthy of protection, but that gay triumphalism won’t be rewarded, and that both sides need to be more tolerant of each other.  He believes the issue will become less contentious with time, and that the better course today is to avoid throwing gas on the fire.  Frankly, I agree with him.

One other benefit of the decision–it will have an impact on the travel ban case, as the Court will now have a more difficult time explaining away the significance of Trump’s tweets.

Bret Stephens says Trump is now officially the worst GOP president ever–worse than Herbert Hoover.  Is he right?  Here’s how the two titans stack up:

                                                Hoover     vs.       Trump

Party                                      GOP                        GOP

Successful Businessman    Yes                          Arguable

Accomplishment                 Famine Relief        Trump Tower

Gov’t Experience                 Yes                            No

Faced Crisis                          Yes                            Not Yet

Corrupt                                 No                              Yes

Second Term                       No                                ???

And the winner is . . . Hoover, by a landslide.  Unlike Trump, he was clean and competent.  More on him and the GOP tomorrow.

Deport illegal aliens.  Stop sanctuary cities.  Drain the swamp.

Those are the predominant themes in the campaign ads in South Carolina, where there are no sanctuary cities and very few illegal aliens, and where the swamp is colored bright red.

Can’t these people come up with something a bit more original?

The line on what is acceptable and what isn’t on TV is, admittedly, moving fairly rapidly, but there are still a few words that are entirely too vulgar to be used to describe anyone, and she used one of them.  The problem wasn’t her vehemence; it was simply bad taste.  That makes her case different than Roseanne’s; racism isn’t tasteless–it’s evil.

And why bother linking Ivanka to her dad’s views on immigration?  If you want to complain about, say, her business dealings, fine, but does anyone believe she could change his position on dealing with “animals?”  I just don’t see it.  Save your ammunition for issues on which Ivanka really could make a difference if she tried harder.

I will be on vacation for the next few days.  Postings will resume late Wednesday.

There is support in both political parties and in Europe for a stronger stance on trade issues with China.  In the face of that, Trump imposes tariffs on . . . steel and aluminum from Canada, Mexico, and the EU!

It only makes sense if you understand that Trump believes the following:

1.  Values do not matter in international relations–only interests do;
2.  Trade deficits are the scorecard by which international relationships are judged;
3.  Our so-called allies are among the worst offenders, and are no better than China; and
4.  Our financial and market power are so strong, we can bring the rest of the world to heel simply by playing hardball.

In the entire country, you can probably count the number of other people who believe these things on your hands.  They’re the ones making the decisions, however.

This is going to do enormous damage to our country.  By the time Trump leaves office, Israel and Saudi Arabia will be our only allies.  Obama wanted to encircle China;  after NAFTA collapses and Mexico and Canada turn on us, we will be the nation encircled by hostile nations.