Why Authoritarians Attack the Arts By EVE L. EWING, The New York Times, APRIL 6, 2017 Laurel Lawson and Alice Sheppard performing in December 2016. CreditRobbie Sweeny  In 1937, ascending leaders of the Third Reich hosted two art exhibitions in Munich. One, the “Great German Art Exhibition,” featured art Adolf Hitler deemed acceptable and reflective of an ideal Aryan […]

The president has added a new word to his vocabulary. It is responsibility. I had never heard him use it, but he said it at least three times yesterday in quick succession with reference to the gas attack on Syrian civilians. King Abdullah II of Jordan and Donald Trump   “I now have responsibility,” he said, implying that he was accepting […]

Russian Spies Tried to Recruit Carter Page Before He Advised Trump By ADAM GOLDMAN, The New York Times, APRIL 4, 2017 Carter Page in July 2016. He traveled to Russia that month to deliver a speech to the New Economic School, a university in Moscow. CreditPavel Golovkin/Associated Press  Russian intelligence operatives tried in 2013 to recruit an American businessman […]

ISIS Officially Taunts Trump, Ending a Conspicuous Silence By RUKMINI CALLIMACHI, The New York Times, APRIL 4, 2017 On Tuesday, the Islamic State released its first official statement on President Trump, though he was not called out by name. CreditDoug Mills/The New York Times  Although members and supporters of the Islamic State have frequently commented on President Trump and […]

Like the voters who put him in office, the rest of America seems to be of little importance to Donald Trump in the conduct of his very private presidency. Take his meeting scheduled for Thursday with the Chinese president Xi Jinping. It will occur not at the White House, which represents the United States, but […]

Donald Trump was hardly two months into his presidency when he became mired in a scandal worthy of comparison to Watergate. President Nixon served six years before scandal forced him from office. It was not the 1972 burglary of Democratic headquarters but Nixon’s attempt to cover it up that ruined his presidency, and it is […]

Trump could blow up Obamacare with one move But it’s a risky maneuver because the GOP might be blamed for the resulting chaos. By PAUL DEMKO, Politico, March 29, 2017, 05:13 AM EDT. President Trump says that Obamacare is going to explode. But if that happens, it is likely because his administration supplies the spark that detonates the marketplaces. […]

“Our landings in the Cherbourg-Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops. My decision to attack at this time and place was based upon the best information available. The troops, the air, and the navy did all that bravery and devotion to duty could do. If any blame or […]

Donald, This I Will Tell You Maureen Dowd has written the single best piece of commentary I have seen since the inauguration. Do not fail to give this piece the time it takes to read to the end. By Maureen Dowd, The New York Times, MARCH 25, 2017 Donald, you said you could shake up Washington and make […]

‘There’s a Smell of Treason in the Air’ Nicholas Kristof, The New York Times, MARCH 23, 2017 The greatest political scandal in American history was not Aaron Burr’s shooting of Alexander Hamilton, and perhaps wasn’t even Watergate. Rather it may have been Richard Nixon’s secret efforts in 1968 to sabotage a U.S. diplomatic effort to end the […]