In the latest New York Times piece on presidential dysfunction in the TrumpWorld era, a James Comey friend tells of all the former FBI director did to try to keep the president at a distance. When Trump found he couldn’t buddy up to Comey, he fired him instead.
Trump calls the Mueller-led Russia probe a witch hunt, but it’s one he can’t help talking, or tweeting, about, even if it hurts him every time he opens his mouth. Via The Washington Post.
The real greatest witch hunt in American history came in 1692, not 2017, and there wasn’t a single special counsel, or even an Oval Office, in sight. Via The New Yorker.
Joe Lieberman, who is apparently the leading contender as Trump’s pick for FBI director, may not be as popular among Democrats as you think. Or at least as popular as Trump thinks. Via Politico.
Jonathan Chait: Trump nominates actual fascist (and Milwaukee sheriff) David Clarke for Homeland Security position. That’s Clarke’s version of the story anyway. Via New York magazine.
Walter Shapiro: Say what you will about Nixon and the dark recesses of his soul, but the Watergate coverup was a work of genius when compared to where Trump has taken us. Via The Guardian.
Bret Stephens on Trump: If you’ve lost Ann Coulter — who has now said it was possible that “the Trump haters were right” — you’ve lost angry America. Via The New York Times.
How the right-wing media has covered the Trumpian meltdown over the last 10 days or so. Let’s just say it probably looks a little different than what many of you may have been reading or watching. Via Vox.
Charles Krauthammer: The guard rails of democracy aren’t enough to hold Donald Trump, but that doesn’t mean we should resort to the 25th Amendment, which basically authorizes a coup. Via The National Review.
If you’re going to be generous, you’d have to say that Roger Ailes, who changed the world of politics and cable news, leaves a tangled legacy. Via The Los Angeles Times. Another take on Ailes. He was in the running as one of the worst American ever. Via Rolling Stone.
Photo by anokarina via Flickr: Creative Commons
Talk of impeachment is only the latest symptom of a mainstream media intent on destroying President Trump. Via the Washington Times.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/may/18/destroying-donald-trump-all-that-matters-to-some/
Want to know which Democrats will seek their party’s presidential nomination in 2020? It might be easier to list those who won’t. But if you’ve got the time here are the names of 43 (that’s right, forty-three) possible candidates. Via The Hill.
http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/332156-the-43-people-who-might-run-against-trump-in-2020
Was the latest ruling from a federal district judge invalidating President Trump’s attempt to withhold funds from so-called sanctuary city a setback for the administration? Maybe it was a gift is disguise. Via CNN.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/26/politics/sanctuary-cities-trump-judge/index.html
A New York Times editorial calls Barack Obama’s decision to accept $400,000 to speak to a Wall Street firm “disheartening” and accuses him of “tone-deafness in cashing in on his status as a former president.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/01/opinion/the-cost-of-barack-obamas-speech.html