Left Jabs

We’re hearing more than usual about state legislatures these days. It’s mostly about what they can’t do — namely, overturn an election — since even in swing states, there’s only so far you can bend existing laws to humor a deranged and vengeful president. Which doesn’t mean they haven’t tried. Nineteen members of our Michigan legislature publicly sucked up to Trump and endorsed his quixotic lawsuit — if that’s what it was — trying to get the Supreme Court to do him this one little favor. As one of those enlightened public servants put it, she “just wants to make sure that everybody’s concerns are addressed.” Referring to concerns that don’t exist about an election that was never in doubt. But there’s no shortage of mischief going on in statehouses. It’s there that Republican minor leaguers — people bought, paid for, and indoctrinated by the oligarchy — do the real grunt work of subverting democracy. Emboldened by the out-front lawlessness of Trump, these legislators are even no...

Yes, January 20 th will be a big day. Yes, Donald Trump will step down, or be forcibly removed, or something. Yes, Joe Biden will be sworn at — oops, sworn in — as president. But that day will be eventful for another reason. It will mark the official return of the Debt Monster — that terrifying creature that eats your future and steals from your grandchildren, but never shows its face until Democrats take control of the government. You can hear the snarls already. As we all know, the national debt signals the end of the world as we know it, but only to Republicans. And only when Democrats are in charge. In Republican administrations, the debt doesn’t matter in the least. Nor does the deficit, which isn’t the same thing, but for now let’s use them interchangeably. Republican administrations unfailingly add to the national debt — and as aggressively as they can — while taking great care not to let any of the benefits trickle down to taxpayers like, say, you. The national debt no...

There’s a certain irony to the death of John le Carr é falling on the same day that a massive Russian hack of US government computers is revealed. If there’s one thing le Carré made abundantly clear over half a century of exceptional writing, it was that secrets are hardly worth the paper — or the pixels — they’re written on. We’ll need to get used to the idea that our national secrets are deeply compromised. Trump has surely passed any number on to Putin, more through his unsecured phone and willful nonchalance than through actual villainy — though villainy can’t be ruled out. Even so, it’s far from clear that the Russians didn’t have those secrets already. But le Carré, in handing us the history of the Cold War and its aftermath in deft fictional form, showed us that disruptive intelligence hacks — both high tech and low — are nothing new. Not that real damage isn’t done. Not that there aren’t real consequences — political, financial, economic, reputational, or all of the ab...

Democrats don’t do branding very well, and this has always mystified me. They have, after all, virtually unlimited access to some of the best marketing talent in the world. Particularly in this last election, who among my fellow copywriters — or art directors or market analysts or media experts — would have turned down an opportunity to use whatever chops they have to rescue the country from the vandals. I would certainly have worked for free, but nobody asked. So I can say, without being too sour grapes about it, that the messaging my industry turned out — at least what I saw of it — was tepid at best. Was “Build Back Better” really the best theme line they could come up with? After all that money spent and all those focus groups parsed? Yes, I am hyper-critical of, and catty about, such things. And yes, the broth smells of too many cooks. But for a line that’s so short, punchy, and self-consciously alliterative, it’s remarkably un-catchy. It’s not that there’s anything wron...

So hey, Republicans, what did you expect? Loyalty? From Trump? It’s amazing that you still don’t get it. With Trump, loyalty goes one way. You give him unquestioned loyalty. He gives you unending abuse. You do his bidding. He pins his crimes on you. You throw away whatever reputation you may have once had. He throws you under the bus. And rolls back over you in reverse. And that’s what you get for living in a fantasy world of grift for four years, then landing with a thud in that annoying real world. Just ask Kelly Loeffler. Just ask David Perdue. Just ask Brian Kemp. We’re talking Georgia, where the stakes are high and the odds are long, and isn’t it sweet to see slimy Republicans rolling in the mud, tripping over each other to see who can be the worst parody of a slimy Republican. Two senators and a governor. All three need to answer a basic but existential question about the January runoff: How do you go all in for Trump when he’s telling your voters not to vote? Trump...

You have to hand it to Trump. He has chutzpah. When he said he was going to shake things up, he was — for once — as good as his word. But now he’s in a hurry. He has to do as much damage, wreak as much havoc, create as much chaos as he possibly can. The more he can sabotage, the more he can blame the Biden administration for not being able to function. He’s doing it all by executive order — a practice he has revolutionized, much to the dismay of those who take constitutional checks and balances seriously. And to think how much grief Obama took on this very subject. Being a constitutional scholar — not to mention having a working brain — Obama was careful to use executive orders only sparingly, and only when Republican obstruction left him no other choice. Without an executive order, DACA would never have happened. When it did, Republicans howled like their hair was on fire — “Executive overreach!” — then promptly forgot about it the day Trump ordered the Muslim travel ban. Fr...