Trump draws attention for being a strongman: What I’m reading, March 14, 2016 (updated)

Updated for another analysis of how, if nominated, Hillary Clinton will provoke a right-wing shitstorm and an analysis of Putin’s suddenly announced partial withdrawal from Syria.


Important: Phone number change

New business card (not yet printed)
New business card (not yet printed)
Some time last year, I started having problems with my cell phone that would not be covered by warranty. The phone was still under a two-year contract so I got a second one and I’ve been using a new phone number since. I’m getting close to a point where I should be able to drop the old phone and move its number onto the new phone. So please make a note of the correct phone number: +1-707-824-1194. For now, it remains forwarded to +1-707-572-0136, but I will be dropping the latter number and reverting to +1-707-824-1194 no later than the end of June. As always, contact information is maintained here.


Donald Trump

Donald Trump clearly has a talent for keeping himself controversial. Is he a fascist or “proto-fascist?” I don’t know, but I don’t see a consensus on a definition for these terms, so labeling him as such may add more heat than light. But it’s still a fair question what authoritarian populists who form the core of Trump’s support will think of all this. Has Trump finally crossed a line in an campaign where there have seemed to be no lines?

One thing to note is that where the New York Times claims that “the security guards have seemed to try defusing tense situations instead of inflaming them,”[1] Patricia Murphy reports instances where the opposite have occurred. Noting Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric, however, she also writes that “[t]he most dangerous person at any Trump event is Donald Trump.”[2]

Stephen Dinan and Seth McLaughlin, “Divide-and-conquer strategy to derail Trump’s march to nomination falters,” Washington Times, March 13, 2016, http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/mar/13/ted-cruz-marco-rubio-john-kasich-try-divide-and-co/

Bob Dreyfuss, “It Can’t Happen Here… Can It? Trump’s Storm Troopers and the Possibility of American Fascism,” TomDispatch, March 13, 2016, http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/176114/tomgram%3A_bob_dreyfuss%2C_will_the_donald_rally_the_militias_and_the_right-to-carry_movement/

Patricia Murphy, “Violence at Trump Events: ‘We All Saw This Coming,’” Congressional Quarterly Roll Call, March 13, 2016, http://www.rollcall.com/news/opinion/violence-at-trump-events-we-all-saw-this-coming

Alan Rappeport and Maggie Haberman, “For Donald Trump, ‘Get ’Em Out’ Is the New ‘You’re Fired,’” New York Times, March 13, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/14/us/politics/donald-trump-security.html


TransPacific Partnership

Jared Bernstein, “The Era of Free Trade Might Be Over. That’s a Good Thing,” New York Times, March 14, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/14/opinion/the-era-of-free-trade-might-be-over-thats-a-good-thing.html


Hillary Clinton

Wesley Pruden’s op-ed is the first I’ve heard of a rumored potential pardon for Hillary Clinton. There are a couple things I should say here: First, many conservatives are convinced that Clinton will be indicted for mishandling classified information on her email server. To be fair, some Democrats worry about this possibility as well. Second, this is the Washington Times, which is occasionally good for news but whose editorial page veers toward the kooky end of conservatism (I haven’t looked at it enough to decide which tendency). All that said, Pruden’s comparison of Clinton with Richard Nixon is at least amusing.

Wesley Pruden, “Hard times for the Nixon of the Democrats,” Washington Times, March 10, 2016, http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/mar/10/wesley-pruden-hillary-clinton-has-as-much-as-nixon/

Steve Almond, “Hillary will never survive the Trump onslaught: It’s not fair, but it makes her a weak nominee,” Salon, March 14, 2016, http://www.salon.com/2016/03/14/hillary_will_never_survive_the_trump_onslaught_its_not_fair_but_it_makes_her_a_weak_nominee/

Jeff Greenfield, “What’s Wrong With Hillary?” Politico, March 14, 2016, http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/03/hillary-clinton-2016-whats-wrong-with-hillary-213722


Syria

Michael Crowley and Nahal Toosi, “Did Putin once again outfox Obama?” Politico, March 14, 2016, http://www.politico.com/story/2016/03/vladimir-putin-syria-outfox-obama-220745

  1. [1]Alan Rappeport and Maggie Haberman, “For Donald Trump, ‘Get ’Em Out’ Is the New ‘You’re Fired,’” New York Times, March 13, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/14/us/politics/donald-trump-security.html
  2. [2]Patricia Murphy, “Violence at Trump Events: ‘We All Saw This Coming,’” Congressional Quarterly Roll Call, March 13, 2016, http://www.rollcall.com/news/opinion/violence-at-trump-events-we-all-saw-this-coming

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