Vittore Carpaccio’s “Vision of St. Augustine” (1502), tempera on canvas. In her response to James Rosen’s question about hating President Donald J. Trump, syndicated columnist Mark Shields of the “PBS NewsHour’s” “Shields and Brooks” said:, “(Nancy … — Vittore Carpaccio’s “Vision of St. Augustine” (1502), tempera on canvas. In her response to James Rosen’s question about hating President Donald J. Trump, syndicated columnist Mark Shields of the “PBS NewsHour’s” “Shields and Brooks” said:, “(Nancy Pelosi) was quoting, of course, Saint Augustine, hate the sin, but don't hate the sinner.”

Bloomberg, Pelosi and the politics of critical thinking

December 9, 2019

This past week produced two moments that were parsed endlessly and yet little understood. One involved former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg telling CBS’ Gayle King that his Democratic rivals could’ve made a lot of money to spend on their campaigns. The other involved House Speaker Nancy Pelosi separating President Donald J. Trump’s personhood from his actions in responding to Sinclair Broadcasting’s James Rosen asking her if she hated the president. Neither Bloomberg’s remark nor Pelosi’s response were satisfactory, revealing a lack of critical thinking.

Trump talks Turkey

November 14, 2019

Like the man who divorces his wife but keeps showing up for dinner night after night, President Donald J. Trump just can’t quit his opponents. No sooner had he announced that he was forsaking New York as his primary domicile for Florida than he was back in the Big Apple, not once but twice. The second time was for the 100th anniversary of New York’s Veterans Day Parade, at which he talked about New York’s daring and defiance, which the city demonstrated by protesting him. LOL, you just can’t make this stuff up.

Trump and our road to Damascus

October 10, 2019

when you think you’re free to blog about something fun like the new tennis pavilion Melania Trump is building at the White House for her, Novak Djokovic-like husband — not— or the new movie “The King,” starring Timothée Chalumet as a real leader, Henry V , President Donald J. Trump does something else stupid on the road to IM, impeachment meltdown. If it’s not Rick Perry being thrown under the bus one day, it’s the Syrian Kurds watching the bus filled with American soldiers pulling out the next, leaving these staunch American allies in the fight against ISIS to fend for themselves against their longtime enemies, the Turks, in what has already become a humanitarian crisis.

A high stakes game on the road to Damascus

April 15, 2018

The United States – using what President Donald J. Trumpet called its “righteous power,” which is an interesting turn of phrase from Stormy Daniels’ alleged one-night stand – has joined longtime allies Great Britain and France in launching 100 missiles at Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s chemical weapons depots and research facilities in Damascus and Homs.

Already, El Presidente – who has the attention span of a flea – has declared “Mission Accomplished.” I really wish American presidents would stop using that I’m-a-tough-guy-even-though-I-never-served-in-a-war phrase. Some 15 years after President George W. Bush declared “Mission Accomplished,” we’re still in Iraq and Afghanistan. You see where we’re going with this. ...