Now that Donald Trump has called Kim Jung Un “Rocket Man” in a tweet, the question is what he’ll say about him when he addresses the United Nations this week. On Sunday, weeks after Trump’s fire-and-fury threat, the rhetoric got even tougher. It wasn’t only Trump’s Rocket Man taunt, but also U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley’s threat to destroy North Korea if it continues its “reckless” behavior. Via The Washington Post.
What’s most obvious about Trump’s bluster campaign against North Korea is that it’s not working. Former Clinton defense official James Rubin writes in Politico that the way to North Korea is through China, and the way to pressure China is by strengthening the U.S.-Japan-South Korea military alliance.
One way to possibly stop North Korea from moving forward with development of its rocket program would have been to stop rocket fuel from being imported from China or Russia. The problem is that the idea may come too late if, as feared, North Korea is now able to manufacture its own. Via The New York Times.
One thing we can say with some certainty is that John Kelly has no control over Trump’s tweeting habits. Trump’s “Rocket Man” swipe at Kim Jung Un wasn’t the president’s most offensive tweet Sunday. He also retweeted a GIF showing Trump hitting a golf ball that struck Hillary Clinton in the back and knocked her off her feet. Let’s just say not everyone was amused. Via Vox.
Matt Taibbi: The single-payer movement suggests that life after Trump may actually get better if it means that Democrats are finally ready to get real with voters. Via Rolling Stone.
E.J. Dionne: Before Democrats get too excited about single-payer, they’d better make sure that the last-gasp Cassidy-Graham attempt at undoing Obamacare is defeated. The bill may be even worse than the three the Republicans considered in their last last-gasp effort. Via The Washington Post.
From The National Review: The Democratic push for single-payer may be the single issue that could lead to a Donald Trump second term.
Maybe Trump’s most overlooked influence on the media world is the rise of Christian media. When Mike Huckabee kicks off his new program on Trinity Broadcasting Network in October, his first guest will be you guessed it, Donald Trump. Via The Atlantic.
A long read on Ken Burns’ long documentary on the long national nightmare that was Vietnam. Looking back at America’s most divisive war since the Civil War, Burns believes he has made an 18-hour documentary that has something to say to all sides. Via The New Yorker.
It was a big night for the LGBTQ community at the Emmys. And, shockingly, it was also a big night for Sean Spicer. Arguably the biggest ever. Period. Via the Los Angeles Times.
If accurate, a New York Post story suggests that at ESPN the inmates are indeed running the asylum. The Post reports that ESPN did not fire SportsCenter co-host Jemele Hill because they were unwilling to replace her with a white female co-host. Hill had characterized President Trump as a “white supremacist” in a series of tweets in which she also claimed President Trump was only elected because he was white. Hill obviously is unaware that Mrs. Clinton also is white. ESPN has obviously decided that racial politics takes precedence over presidential politics. Further updates will be available in the next edition of The Onion.
http://nypost.com/2017/09/14/espn-accused-of-trying-to-take-jemele-hill-off-the-air/
It just ain’t working. Democrat’s efforts to smear President Trump or to characterize him as “unfit” or “ineffective” have not worked according to focus groups and internal polling in swing states. Democrats who believe a 2018 landslide is coming because of President Trump’s historically low approval ratings are, according to the data, “naive”. Via Politico.com
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/09/13/teflon-trump-democrats-messaging-242607
Even Democrats are now telling their bosses that voters are sick of the “Russia” stories. These voters are not Russian sympathizers they simply don’t trust US intelligence agencies. Via The Federalist.
http://thefederalist.com/2017/09/13/russia-story-says-deep-state-trump/
Does ESPN have a racial double standard? Their handling of the Jemele Hill tweets obviously suggests a political double standard but is there more to it than politics. Via azcentral.com
http://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/ej-montini/2017/09/13/espn-racial-double-standard-jemele-hill-curt-shilling/661258001/
In July Quinnipiac poll found 51 percent of voters support a single-payer health care system. However, when told such a system might give government too much control over health care or require higher taxes that number drops to 40 percent. Via Politico.com.
The rush of Senate Democrats to support Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) legislation calling for Medicare for All raises an interesting question: Has Sen. Sanders become the titular head of a party he doesn’t belong to? Via The Daily Beast.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/bernie-sanders-is-still-not-a-democrat-hes-just-the-partys-maestro
Demographics are destiny. Or are they? Many progressive pundits have embraced the theory that demographics favor Democrats with little to no evidence that it’s true. Now John Judis, one of authors of the 2002 book, “The Emerging Democratic Majority” admits he was, well, wrong. Via The New Republic.
https://newrepublic.com/article/144547/redoing-electoral-math-argued-demographics-favored-democrats-wrong
A deeper analysis of the Obamacare numbers suggests that the number of uninsured is growing. A Gallup survey of the uninsured showed the share of uninsured adults in the second quarter of this year had increased not only from the first quarter but from 2 years ago. Via Investor’s Business Daily.
http://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/new-census-bureau-uninsured-numbers-show-obamacare-has-peaked/