Reading Tea Leaves

He could have been bluffing – like a poker player. Or he could have been maneuvering to gain the upper hand – when he told the Mexican President: Either you agree to pay for the Wall or you cancel our meeting. After the Mexican President said, Meeting cancelled, Trump threatened him saying he’d put a…

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I Hit a Home Run

“The thing I do best” – Donald Trump was talking about his infrastructure plan – “in life is build.” “That speech was a homerun. They loved it… people loved it” – Trump was describing his speech at the CIA.   He’d make “millions of people” happy, Trump said, with his plan to replace Obamacare. And…

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Choosing Allies

Sitting in front of a green marble fireplace, interviewing Trump, Bill O’Reilly asked about Putin and Trump said, “It’s better to get along with Russia than not,” and O’Reilly said, “But he’s a killer, though. Putin’s a killer.” Trump paused. Pursed his lips, “There are a lot of killers. We’ve got a lot of killers.…

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Operating on Obamacare

Donald Trump and congressional Republicans made a big promise in 2016. They would repeal Obamacare. Immediately. Totally. End of discussion. Now, maybe not so much. Republicans on Capitol Hill say the operative word is no longer “repeal.” It’s “repair.” Still, they say, they’ll do it right away. But then Trump says, maybe not so fast.…

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Same Old, Same Old

Sunday morning Nancy Pelosi sat down across from Chuck Todd and, wanly going through the motions on the Meet the Press, criticized Trump’s “Unconstitutional, immoral ban on Muslims” and said “I want to know what the Russians have on Trump.” It was the same-old same-old. Todd then played Pelosi a video of Elizabeth Warren talking…

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Walking with dogs

We all get tired of talking about politics. So let’s talk about dogs. Specifically, walking with dogs. Thanks to the mysterious workings of Facebook, something written 18 months ago popped up on my feed. And touched a chord. It was an August 2015 column by the N&O’s John Drescher, “Walking in all seasons with the…

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An Irish Column

Last week a friend sent the column (below) from the Irish Independent in Dublin by Ian O’Doherty.                                             The Best of the Best–by a Poetic Irishman Tuesday November 8, 2016 – a day that will live in infamy, or the moment when America was made great again? The truth, as ever, will lie somewhere in…

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Political Steel? Or a Boomerang?

An email flies out saying, ‘Demonstration at the airport,’ and a thousand Democratic activists head for the airport – or to a Women’s March, Gay Pride Demonstration, Moral Monday Protest, Earth Day March or Immigration Protest. So are these protests political steel? Or, like Keg Parties and Beer Blasts, simply an occasion for activists to…

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What do Democrats do now?

Two weeks into Trump’s carnage, Democrats face two questions. First, can we channel the raging torrent of marches, protests and demonstrations into election victories? Second, can we come up with a coherent and convincing message? First, elections. You win with basics: Candidate recruitment, fundraising, voter registration and voter turnout. It’s great to march, protest and…

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The Curse

He’s been a TV star, a Master Dealmaker, and a mega-tycoon but success failed to make him popular. But, a year ago, after Donald Trump announced he was running for President his unpopularity didn’t matter: Because a curse settled on his opponents. Trump was elected due to his opponents’ vices not his virtues. Now, post-election,…

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