I won’t pretend to know what will come of President Donald J. Trumpet’s meeting with “L’il Kim” Jong-un. Even the Repubsare in “we’ll see” mode.On the one hand, this is an extraordinary moment, and you can’t help but root for it. But can we “sleep tonight,” as Donnie Two Scoops tweeted? This is not the first time that we’ve been to the North Korea-turns-over-a-new-leaf rodeo. North Korea still has nukes capable of reaching the United States. Nothing has changed, yet. “We’ll see,” the Donald likes to say famously. We certainly will, won’t we?
The psychological dynamics remain the most fascinating aspect of recent diplomatic exchanges. ...
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Read MoreGee, do you think Justify will be going to the White House?
The massive chestnut colt – huge, as a certain American president would say – secured the Triple Crown in decisive fashion Saturday with a win in the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park in New York. Schooled by Bob Baffert, 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah’s trainer, Justify is the 13th colt to win the Crown and only the second to do so undefeated (behind Seattle Slew, 1977). Neigh-sayers (I couldn’t resist) note that …
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Read MoreIn my guise as editor in chief of WAG magazine, I had a pleasure of sharing a moment with Ashley Judd on the red carpet of the Greenwich International Film Festival (GIFF) in Connecticut Friday night. She is an exquisite-looking woman who is, more important, exquisite in her manners and manner. I began by thanking her for her work as one of the leaders of #MeToo and asked her if she thought that this time, the response to the sexual harassment women have suffered would really be different.
It already is, she said, and the result will be an improvement not only in the lives of women but of men as well. …
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Read MoreOne of the more endearing but also infuriating things about Americans is their belief that anyone can do anything if he just works hard enough, fast enough. This is the “Dancing With the Stars” philosophy of life that says you, too, can be a ballroom dancer if you have three weeks of intense training and, possibly, Maksim Chmerkovsky as a partner.
This would be amusing if it weren’t sometimes so deadly. Now we have a president who lacks the talent, temperament, training and technique for the job and it shows in the country pulling unilaterally out of the Iran nuclear deal, moving its embassy to Jerusalem with violent consequences and now facing a North Korean pullout from the planned summit due to American-South Korean military maneuvers. …
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Read MoreFor someone who’s an isolationist and protectionist, President Donald J. Trump sure has an odd way of showing it. He appointed son-in-law Jared Kushner to lead the White House’s Mideast peace team only to sabotage any chance of achieving that goal by moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, thereby acknowledging Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and enraging the Palestinians.
While Kushner and wife Ivanka Trump were celebrating the dedication of the American embassy there yesterday on the 70th anniversary of the founding of Israel – along with preacher John Hagee, who once said that all Jews were going to Hell – the Palestinians in turn clashed with Israeli soldiers 40 miles away in Gaza where more than 50 were killed and more than 1,000 injured. …
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Read MoreLet me make one thing perfectly clear: Trump did not have sex with that women, Miss Lewinsky, er, Daniels.
Until he did.
But he didn’t pay her. No, sirree, his lawyer Michael Cohen did. But Trump reimbursed him.
Then again, maybe not.
Folks, you might as well go to your local ballpark and buy a scorecard, because you’re going to need it to sort out this one. …
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Read MoreThe Fresno Bee columnist Victor Davis Hanson has written a column comparing President Donald J. Trump’s slash-and-burn style with the Greco-Macedonian conqueror of the Persian Empire, Alexander the Great, cutting the Gordion knot impatiently with his sword, thus ensuring the prophecy that whoever did so would become lord of Asia.
Hanson’s gotten some bristling responses from history buffs, and my first thought was to lend my voice to the chorus, being rather protective of Alexander myself. More than anything I wanted to say: “I knew Alexander. Alexander was a friend of mine. Trump, you’re no Alexander.” But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the issue is deeper than Hanson and his critics might’ve realized. ...
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