Who could have predicted Donald Trump’s stunning reaction to the neo-Nazi violence in Charlottesville? Barack Obama for one, writes David Remnick in The New Yorker. And anyone else who had been paying attention, Remnick says, could have predicted it, too.
Trump is scheduled to make a speech tonight to address a new strategy for the war in Afghanistan. A longtime critic of the war there, Trump is expected, however, to announce that he’s sending more troops. Of course, Obama also ran on winding down the war there, which is now in its 16th year. Via The New York Times.
There are many countries that have a significant stake in Afghanistan’s future. After 16 years of American involvement, it’s time to make Afghanistan someone else’s problem. Via The Atlantic.
Why did Trump fire Steve Bannon? Vox’s Ezra Klein has a theory: Steve Bannon believes in Trumpism. Donald Trump does not.
Jon Meacham writes American Hate: A History in Time magazine. If there’s any lesson to be learned from Charlottesville it’s that old times truly are not forgotten.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched in Boston to denounce racism, Nazis, white supremacy and to overwhelm a little-attended “free speech” rally. The protesters were also demonstrating against Trump’s many-sides reaction to Charlottesville. This time Trump tweeted praise for the protesters — but only after beginning the day by labeling them “anti-police” agitators. Via The New York Times.
A 121-year-old Confederate monument was coming down in one Kentucky town. Another decided to put it back up. Via The Washington Post.
From The National Review: Kevin Williamson writes that the one thing worse than having Trump as president would be to drive him out of the presidency.
La-a-a-a-dy! Comedy legend Jerry Lewis dies at 91. It can be argued that no one’s work in movies has been at once so widely praised and also so loudly disdained. What can’t be argued is that Lewis, in movies, in comedy, in philanthropy, was a force. Via The New York Times.
Dick Gregory was a comedian and civil rights activist who proved that you could successfully be both at once. He dies at age 84. Via Vulture. A day with Dick Gregory was enough to let writer Wil Haygood know that he was truly one of a kind. Via The Washington Post.
Photo of Robert E. Lee statue on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Va., by Ron Cogswell, via Flickr: Creative Commons