You may be old enough to remember when Vladimir Putin was Donald Trump’s one true friend —you know, way back in early July during the infamous bonding episode in Hamburg. Now that Congress has stepped between them to slap new sanctions on Russia, Putin has retaliated by demanding that 755 Americans leave their diplomatic posts, even though there aren’t 755 American diplomats in Russia. In any case, tensions between the two countries are now suddenly growing even more, well, tense. It’s almost as if Russia had interfered in the 2016 election or something. Via The New York Times.
Always be closing? The Kevin Williamson story on how Donald Trump longs to be Alec Baldwin’s Blake in David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross is tearing up the Internet. The problem, Williamson writes in The National Review, is that Trump may want to be Blake — whose “What’s my name? Fuck you, that’s my name” speech is every would-be alpha male’s creed — but, in fact, he’s washed-up Shelley Levene, who can’t close the deal.
Peggy Noonan puts it another way in The Wall Street Journal: Trump is Woody Allen without the humor.
Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski are back, this time warning Trump not to sabotage Obamacare as Trump considers cutting off the subsidies that allow many of the working poor to afford healthcare coverage. Via The Los Angeles Times.
Now that he has shaken up his staff, Trump is moving back toward his winning campaign strategy: making America afraid again. Via Vox.
It can’t escape anyone’s notice, but Trump is now a man without a party. With Reince Priebus gone, it’s basically Republicans, Democrats and Trump. The question is how congressional Republicans will react to that reality. Via Politico. And the next question, Molly Ball asks in The Atlantic, is how or whether Republicans will react to Priebus’ very public humiliation.
How the Trump-Sessions friendly alliance turned into an icy standoff. And it’s a standoff at this point that shows no signs of ending. Via The Washington Post.
It’s no wonder that Democratic politicians seem to be moving decidedly to the left. It may be because the Democratic center no longer exists. Via New York magazine.
Ross Douthat on the GOP: We have an empty majority, a party that can rule but cannot govern. But what Democrats have shown is that while Republicans can’t govern, they can still win if the other party is terrible at politics. Via The New York Times.
Vanity Fair goes inside what may be the last great newspaper war — The New York Times vs. The Washington Post in the matter of all those leaked Trumpworld bombshells.
When Democrats lose elections their first instinct is to blame the system used to determine the winner (See College, Electoral). In an attempt to get ahead of the curve and facing the possibility that President Trump may get the opportunity to fill two more Supreme Court vacancies Los Angeles Times reporter Ben Feuer is suggesting that the system which now allows Supreme Court Justices a lifetime appointment be changed instead to an 18-year term. Via The Denver Post
http://www.denverpost.com/2017/07/21/for-supreme-court-justices-18-years-is-plenty/
In a statement worthy of Captain Obvious, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) took a very thinly veiled swipe at Hillary Clinton saying “When you lose to somebody who has 40 percent popularity, you don’t blame other things — Comey, Russia — you blame yourself,”. Well, duh! Via The Washington Post.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/07/24/charles-schumers-shot-at-hillary-clinton/?utm_term=.36422afe4dc5
A Washington Post survey sure to be mentioned by every respectable political pundit revealed that 52 percent believe Democrats stand only “against Trump.” Much of that perception is due to Mrs. Clinton’s failed presidential campaign where she neglected to emphasize her agenda opting instead for personal attacks against soon-to-be-president Donald J. Trump. Via Salon
http://www.salon.com/2017/07/29/we-need-better-than-a-better-deal-democrats-real-problem-isnt-their-messaging-its-their-politics/
And speaking of taking shots at Democrats, Jonathan Allen feels the time Democrats spent unveiling a new sounds-like-Papa John’s slogan could have been put to better use. While Democrats now have a shiny new slogan they don’t have “a new plan for boosting the economy, mind you. Not even a navel-gazing proposal to change the rules for picking presidential nominees or party leaders in Congress.” Via Roll Call.
http://www.rollcall.com/news/opinion/democrats-trump-message
Have Democrats ignored their November 8th wake-up call? Gloria Johns thinks so. From failing to notice their party’s freefall to nominating an entitlement trainwreck presidential candidate who ran an uninspired campaign to failing to recognize and fix Obamacare, Democrats are still snoozing. Shhhh! Via the Miami Herald.
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/op-ed/article163013748.html
According to one editor at the New York Times “The mood at the paper is poisonous in a way I’ve never seen it in the past 15 years.” and the latest round of buyouts have had a demoralizing effect on those who remain. Via Vanity Fair.
http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/07/the-agony-and-the-anxiety-of-the-new-york-times?