The most important link I have for you today is to Ezra Klein giving you his take on the Michael Wolff book. I still have a little trouble with the premise that Trump didn't really want to win the presidency. I would have trouble with the suggestion that Donald Trump didn't want to win a game of tic-tac-toe.
In fact, if you played tic-tac-toe with this guy and he lost, the first thing he'd do is tell you you're wrong, he actually won and it's Fake News to say otherwise. You cheated, he got three-in-a-row and it was misreported, seeming to lose was all part of a master plan which he has won, et cetera, et cetera. As I am writing this, I just got a new pop-up that says "Trump says he would beat Oprah in 2020." Well, of course he'd say that. He would say he would beat anybody.
You know the old line about the dog who chased a car, caught it and then didn't know what to do with it? I think Trump may be like a dog who caught a car and then figured that proved he knew how to drive.
Anyway, read Klein. The "he didn't want to win" premise makes enough sense in some areas that I'm not able to dismiss it. I'm just not convinced. Now, this…
- Politifact takes a look at Wolff's book. They point out a number of inconsequential errors but raise some serious questions of the "How did Wolff know this?" variety.
- We are now to the point with Donald Trump where most people will believe any story about him that contains elements of outrageous lying, outlandish self-obsession or utter cluelessness. I hope the anti-Trump movement does not develop an in-the-bubble mentality like the pro-Trump movement. Rod Dreher thinks we're getting there.
- I kinda agree with Yascha Mounk that calling Trump "mentally ill" is not going to solve anything and might make it worse. I also have a bit of a problem with anyone, including licensed psychiatrists, making that diagnosis from afar.
- But then I also like what Kevin Drum suggests about how Trump could disprove all those allegations about his sanity or lack, thereof. He needs to give a calm, rational address which deals with issues of policy and not with his two favorite topics: Revenge Against His Enemies and His Own Greatness. That's all.
- Will Trump sit for questioning by Robert Mueller and his investigative team? Cristian Farias says any lawyer in the world would tell him that's a crazy thing to do…which would ordinarily make me assume he'll do it but I'd like to think he's not that crazy. It would be kind of fun to watch all the Republicans who insisted Bill Clinton had to be ousted because he didn't tell the absolute truth in one deposition have to defend everything Trump would get wrong if he was questioned under oath.
- Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux dives into the question of whether a sitting president can be indicted for criminal actions. The folks who might have done that to Richard Nixon during the Watergate investigation side-stepped that question. My guess is that will remain the default action.
- Remember how Trump was going to be the guy who was going to make Coal Mining a great, booming industry again and save the noble profession of Coal Miner? Well, that seems to be over.
And speaking of Coal Miners, remember how John Oliver is being sued by a coal magnate for allegedly defaming him on Last Week Tonight? Some months ago, I read where the case was going before a judge on 1/10/2018. I don't know if it still is but there oughta be some news about it soon. I gather from various articles that the plaintiff, Robert Murray, is not as enchanted with Mr. Trump as he used to be.