President Trump has now been in the White House for six months, and Democrats are fairly gleeful in noting that he is: a) deeply unpopular; b) mired in scandals; and c) bereft of any legislative victories. That’s all true, but also I think too glib. Trump has been quite successful, in my view, in two areas:
- appointing conservatives to federal courts, most notably Justice Gorsuch to the Supreme Court; and in
- changing the regulatory landscape by removing environmental safety standards.
.. Since the 1970s we’ve seen a long-term trend toward cutting taxes and social services, and there have been a series of grim consequences: rising inequality, stagnant high school graduation rates, rising incarceration rates, rising narcotics use, stagnant earnings for the bottom half of Americans, and so on. So many national problems seem to have their roots in a cycle that started then, but I wonder if the cycle is turning.
- The failure of Trumpcare is a case where a program for the poor, Medicaid, won a political battle, and
- Kansas has shown that at some point voters prefer to raise taxes than see service cuts. More broadly,
- even conservative states like Texas have reversed themselves on mass incarceration, and high school graduation rates are again going up.
Could we be turning a corner?
.. For me, the most chilling aspect of President Trump’s interview with The Times on Wednesday was his insistence on reserving the right to fire Bob Mueller. That would be ten times bigger than firing Jim Comey, and the fact that Trump even brings it up makes me think that he fears Mueller is getting close to something the president wants hidden.
Bill Clinton’s Meeting with Loretta Lynch Influenced Comey’s Decision to Announce Investigation
If Comey delivered the White House to Trump with his last minute announcement of his investigation into the emails, Bill Clinton helped with that. Comey said he decided to make the announcement after Bill Clinton met on a plane with Loretta Lynch — a meeting that was not only foolish but now turns out to have been incredibly consequential too.
.. The World Health Organization reports that the number of suspected cholera cases in Yemen has now reached 100,000. This isn’t getting attention partly because Saudi Arabia is blocking access to journalists (including me) because it doesn’t want coverage of its crimes against humanity there. The U.S. should stop backing Saudi Arabia in its brutal blockade of Yemen, resulting in starvation and disease among Yemenis.
The North Korea-Trump Nightmare
It would begin because the present approach of leaning on China to pressure North Korea will likely fail. Trump will grow angry at public snickering at the emptiness of his threats.
.. At some point, U.S. intelligence will see a North Korean missile prepared for a test launch — and it may then be very tempting for a deeply frustrated rogue president to show his muscle. Foreign
.. the country might respond by firing artillery at Seoul, a metropolitan area of 25 million people.
.. a new Korean war could cause one million casualties and $1 trillion in damage.
.. “I do not believe there is any plausible military action that does not bring with it a possibility of a catastrophic conflict.”
.. China’s relations with North Korea aren’t nearly as close as Americans think.
.. In the 1990s, North Korea continued with its nuclear program even as a famine claimed the lives of perhaps 10 percent of the population
.. Instead, she urges greater measures to undermine the regime’s legitimacy at home by smuggling in information about it and the world (as some activists are already doing).
.. pushing for a deal in which North Korea would verifiably freeze its nuclear and missile programs without actually giving up its nukes, in exchange for sanctions relief.
Kristof: Trump’s Lack of Transparency Over Conflicts of Interest
The really startling thing about the Trump administration is not the penchant for conflicts of interest, nor the lack of transparency. It’s how they interact. For example, as this article notes, the administration gives out waivers from conflict of interest rules — and then keeps the waivers secret. This is the swampiest swamp I’ve ever covered.