What’s a leader to do in the wake of a divisive election? For Silicon Valley CEOs from Apple, eBay, Facebook, and LinkedIn, the answer is smile, give us a all a hug, and tell people to get back to work. But Microsoft’s President Brad Smith showed us how a leader ought to lead in a crisis. This election is…
My Facebook feed is full of people angry at election forecaster Nate Silver of fivethirtyeight.com, declaring him a failure. They’re wrong. Here’s why he was right . . . and why you’re blaming the wrong guy. My argument has three simple points: Nate Silver’s forecast wasn’t wrong, because he didn’t predict a Clinton win. Polling…
I have consistently criticized — and ridiculed — Donald Trump. Now he will be president. Stop crying or cheering for a minute, and consider what might happen next. I have. Like a true analyst, I put emotion aside and make some sober predictions. At the heart of this analysis: Donald Trump is no Republican, and owes nobody anything….
Regardless of what happens tonight, the future of our nation will depend on what Donald Trump says. He can heal the divisions in American that he has revealed, or he can inflame them. This is no game. But it can be for you, for just one night, because by now, we’re all sick of this….
Donald Trump has been great for my blog, if not for the level of discourse in the nation. He helped me hone my language-focused political analysis in 46 blog posts. For an LSD flashback experience, starting with his announcement in June of last year, just read the titles of what I wrote, with a little…
This is a puzzling election to understand, with unconventional candidates, unusual voting patterns, and hundreds of fluctuating polls. One site does the best at tracking the race (as opposed to the candidates and issues): Nate Silver’s fivethirtyeight.com. And one very strange graphic on that site shows exactly what’s happening, what matters, and what’s changing. Here…
FBI director James Comey has now dominated election news with his letters to Congress and to his staff about new developments in the Hillary Clinton email investigation. But the letters are the political equivalent of a rice cake: crunchy, but with no actual nutritional content. First, the sordid background. The FBI is investigating former Congressman Anthony…
The Las Vegas Review-Journal — owned by the politically active casino owner Sheldon Adelson — just became the first major newspaper to endorse Donald Trump. Endorsements are supposed to be biased, but the more over-the-top they are, the less persuasive they are. This endorsement is so full of florid language that it strains credulity. To understand…
Can a diplomat tell the plain truth? Today’s I deconstruct Ecuador’s statement about cutting off Wikileaks founder Julian Assange’s internet access. It’s clear enough, for a diplomatic communiqué, but it’s fun to fantasize about what the diplomats actually said to Assange. Here’s a quick summary of the backstory. In 2010, prosecutors in Sweden charged Julian Assange with rape and…