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…
More than half of last night’s debate was about character. It feels like this whole campaign has been about character. It’s time to stop wallowing in that and face the country’s real problems, the problems nobody talks about, which go way beyond who’s running and what they did 10 and 20 years ago. In any campaign, here’s what…
Red Sox fans are wicked biased — anything their team does is right, anything the other team does (especially the Yankees) is terrible. This is barely acceptable for sports. It’s a terrible model for politics. But it’s the model millions of voters appear to be stuck in. I call this the “Yankees suck” school of political…
Undecided voters. Time Magazine polled a bunch after the debate. Florida is so close that undecideds might tip it, which might tip the election. Who are these people?? Who, after everything that has happened in this election season, is still making up their mind? If you’re wondering, you’ve come to the right place. After careful research, I’ve…
I try to be balanced. But I admit that I am biased in favor of candidates who are coherent. By the end of last night’s debate, there was only one of those left on the stage. Donald Trump sounded like a conspiracy nut on speed. Because I analyze writing, I won’t talk about who “looked presidential.”…
Bombs went off in New York and New Jersey. This has become an occasion for our leaders and candidates to say what they are going to do to keep us safe. The thing is, there is no way for them to keep us safe. That’s scary as hell, but it’s incontrovertibly true. Here’s what kept…
Today, I deconstruct Hillary Clinton’s convention speech, just as I did last week with Donald Trump. Clinton is much more about hope, compared to Trump, who emphasized fear. And her speech featured more real policy, but not by much. One thing I’ve learned from this exercise is how challenging it is to understand a political…
Donald Trump says “Make America Great Again.” Like his policies, his slogan falls apart if you think about it carefully. It looks in the wrong direction — backwards. Trump harkens back to an earlier time when things were great. When was that time? When America was founded, everyone had a musket, and slaves drove the…
I once had a cool, but ethically questionable business idea. I asked my boss if I should go ahead with it. “Ask yourself this,” he suggested. “How would you feel if everyone, including your mom, knew what you were doing? Then decide.” I decided not go ahead. That’s the same question the Democratic National Committee staff…