When the US House of Representatives impeached President Trump last night, unlike every other member of the House, Tulsi Gabbard voted “present.” Is she a courageous centrist, or just a coward? Let’s look at her statement. About that impeachment Here’s what happened last night. The votes to impeach came from 229 House Democrats and one…
Donald Trump sent a 2700-word letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on the eve of the vote on his impeachment. It’s a rambling, shambling mess filled with feints, irrelevant claims, and counterattacks. I’ll get into why it exists, what it’s trying to do, and whether it succeeds in that goal. I really didn’t want to…
Last week, the Hallmark Channel pulled ads for the wedding planning site Zola that featured two brides kissing. Yesterday, it reversed itself. No matter what happened in this episode, Hallmark was going to be at the center of controversy and lose viewers. At that point, you might as well do what you think is right….
The Judiciary Committee of the US House of Representatives released its proposed articles of impeachment against President Trump. Normally, in this space, you’d see me analyze the language in those articles. I won’t. Most of the facts are clear. Trump had a call with the president of Ukraine. The government withheld aid required by Congress….
Elizabeth Warren disclosed that she made $1.9 million since 1985 doing legal work for companies like Travelers Insurance. To put this in context, you need to understand what consultants and lawyers do and who they do it for. My experience as a consultant and analyst — an illustration When you work for a law firm,…
Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer resigned this weekend in a dispute over military justice for Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher. His letter is a not-so-veiled dig at President Trump’s respect for the rule of law. Here’s what happened: Gallagher was accused of crimes including the murder of a wounded Islamic State prisoner. He was convicted of…
Google will stop targeting political ads based on behavior. That’s a start. I call on every platform to end all targeted political ads (except by geography) — and for Congress to make this the law. Here’s what happened with political ads so far in 2019: Twitter banned all political ads. Google just announced that for…
South Dakota spent nearly half a million dollars on its anti-drug campaign slogan “Meth. We’re on it.” The ridicule spread far and wide. Ha, ha! We’re from South Dakota and we’re telling everyone we’re on meth! Those stupid hicks. Yeah, it looked pretty silly to me, too. Because I’m not on meth. No one I…
Sunday’s New York Times included a fascinating print and interactive section on the president’s Twitter Feed. However you feel about this president, you must agree that his tweets have been an effective if incendiary communications tool. The next president will use Twitter, but how? Based on observing not just Trump but other politicians and authority…