Recently I came across Brian Stelter’s 2020 CNN interview with disgraced former Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis. (Why did CNN fire Stelter? His show was excellent!) Ellis, one of the many MAGA evangelicals in 2020, has had a rough few years […]
Donald Trump
What is Project 2025?
In Steve Bannon’s recent interview with David Brooks, Bannon referenced something called Project 2025. What is Project 2025? James Goodwin explains at Boston Review. Here is a taste: The week after taking office in 2017, Donald Trump announced his administration’s […]
“There were probably more constitutional constraints operating on George III in 1776 than now operate on the US president”
Here is constitutional historian Grace Mallon responding to the Supreme Court’s decision in Trump vs. United States. Early American historian David Waldstreicher’s response is on the mark: One wonders why U.S. history departments “sold off constitutional history to Poli Sci […]
David Brooks interviews Steve Bannon
MAGA activist Steve Bannon went to prison yesterday. The New York Times columnist David Brooks interviewed Bannon a few days before he reported for his sentence. Here are a few snippets of their conversation: You said something I’ve got to […]
“The Supreme Court has effectively ruled that 250 years of U.S. history under a republic is enough”
University of Maryland history professor Holly Brewer writes, “The conservative justices have ignored history altogether and created a shocking new precedent: The president is above the law.” Here is a taste of her piece at The New Republic: Five members […]
Evangelical prayer as a political weapon
Sean Feucht, wearing an “it’s not political, its spiritual” t-shirt, joins Samuel Rodriguez and Eric Metaxas in praying before Thursday night’s Trump-Biden debate. Praying for our leaders is a good thing. Using prayer as a political weapon is not a […]
Evangelicals respond to the Biden-Trump presidential debate
It is interesting to note that very few pro-Trump/anti-Biden evangelicals are talking about the more than 30 lies Trump told during the debate. There was very little Trump said on Thursday night that was true! Jemar Tisby: Bart Barber, outgoing […]
Gerontocracy
We’re in uncharted territory.
If Trump=Jesus, who is Jerry Springer?
Trump supporters who portray their leader as Jesus should recognize Springer as John the Baptist.
Who’s at fault? They-a culpa, mea culpa
Underestimating Trump has gotten us here.
A Milwaukee brewery rolls out a new IPA after Trump’s comments about the city
Last week Donald Trump had some things to say about Milwaukee, the host of the GOP national convention where he will receive the Republican Party’s nomination for president in July. “Milwaukee, where we are having our convention,” Trump said, “is […]
This may be the best thing I have read on Trump
Back in June 2017, I wrote a post that linked to Rebecca Solnit‘s piece on Donald Trump titled “The Loneliness of Donald Trump.” At the time I said that “this may be the best thing I have read on Trump.” […]
Southern Baptists offer Trump advice on his VP pick
Politico reporters Adam Wren and Megan Messerly asked Southern Baptist messengers in Indianapolis who they think Trump should pick as his running mate. Here is a taste of their piece: “I think evangelicals will generally, by and large, vote for […]
Ishmael Reed to Cornel West: “Are you sure you want to help install a dictatorship?”
The work of Ishmael Reed got on my radar screen after he started criticizing Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway musical Hamilton. In fact, Reed was so critical of Hamilton that he wrote an entire play titled The Haunting of Lin-Manuel Miranda (2019). […]
Rick Reilly wants to fly the American flag
The other day I got a letter in the mail from a Christian non-profit organization that included a tiny American flag on a stick. I took it outside and planted it in a small flower patch in front of my […]
Trump court evangelical Mark Burns advances to a runoff for the GOP nomination in South Carolina’s 3rd Congressional District
Readers of this blog know pastor Mark Burns. In July 2016, he offered a prayer at the GOP National Convention. He asked God to defeat the “liberal democrats” and said that the Republican Party is the “conservative party under God.” […]
Anti-abortion advocates want to keep a federal ban on abortion in the GOP platform despite Trump’s views
Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee for president, believes that the issue of abortion in a post-Roe v. Wade America should be decided by the states. In other words, he does not support a federal ban on abortion. But here’s […]
Heer: “Unlike Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Donald Trump will never be a traitor to his class. He is, in truth, an accurate embodiment of it.”
According to the BBC, American billionaires are “rallying behind Trump” in the wake of his felony conviction. Jeet Heer of The Nation has some thoughts on that. A taste: Trump’s wealthy supporters are not going to be convinced by the […]
“Don’t want more immigrants in this country? Then tell grandma she can never retire.”
Here is Catherine Rampell at The Washington Post: As I’ve noted before, immigrants are driving the U.S. economic boom. That is: The United States has escaped recession, hiring growth has exceeded expectation, and inflation has cooled faster than predicted — all […]
Ralph Reed explains why the Faith and Freedom Coalition supports Donald Trump
Reed recently talked with Michael Scherer, a political reporter at The Washington Post, about why his organization is endorsing Trump. Here is a taste: MR. SCHERER: I want to start with the news last week. We had the felony conviction […]