The Wednesday Curator – 8/17/2016

August 16, 2016

Donald, we love you just the way you are! Read Donald Trump Drives a Stake through the GOP’s Heart: ‘I Don’t Want To Pivot’ by Lauren Fox for TalkingPointsMemo.com for the back story. This man just keeps on giving, making it hard not to reach the conclusion that he is: (a) a D plant; (b) as dumb as a potted plant; or (c) not interested in the job. (Truth be told, the Curator and his alter ego think the guy must be the center of attention 24/7, and cannot fathom how that might work if he was civil, calm, and … a little bit boring.)*

For some deep thoughts about how safety—as opposed to the idiocy we get from the

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The Wednesday Curator – 8/3/2016

August 3, 2016

Where do I begin,” asks the Curator, “to tell the story of how great a love can be, … .” Remember, 16 years ago, when the world was in an outrage about Vice President Al Gore. He claimed he inspired Oliver Barrett IV, the male protagonist in Love Story. True? Not true? Who knows, although the link offers some support for the Vice President’s claims.

And then there was the invention of the Internet. Here’s A Cautionary Tale for Politicians: Al Gore and the ‘Invention’ of the Internet by Glenn Kessler for the Washington Post on November 4, 2013. Yes, Senator Al Gore (D-Tenn.) mattered when it came to funding which led to Defense Department funding

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The Wednesday Curator – 7/27/2016

July 27, 2016

Democrats Make Hillary Clinton a Historic Nominee. ‘Nuff said!

Trump and Russia. Russia and Trump. Josh Marshall, who runs TalkingPointsMemo.com has put himself on the matter with, among other posts, What’s Going on With Putin and Trump and Why It’s a Big, Big Deal. A blogger, you say? Well, not just any blogger? Several years ago Randall “Duke” Cunningham represented part of San Diego County in Congress. Then, Mr. Marshall and others focused on him. Then, Duke Cunningham served almost seven years in prison. So if Josh Marshall thinks there might be a meaningful and improper connection between Donald Trump and Russia the Curator pays attention. (For the contra position, read The Trump-Putin Fallacy by

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The Wednesday Curator – 7/20/2016

July 19, 2016

This week, the golden rays should be emanating from Donald J. Trump. Here’s the smart writing about him:

The Republicans waged a 3-decade war on government. They got Trump. Norman Ornstein and Thomas Mann wrote this long piece for Vox. They’re smart guys, and their observations resonate.

Josh Marshall, editor and publisher of TalkingPointsMemo.com reaches what may be the essence of the Trump campaign in Violence, Blood and Betrayal inside the Trump Potemkin Village.

From Jane Mayer for the New Yorker, here’s Donald Trump’s Ghostwriter Tells All. Ms. Mayer’s piece captures Mr. Trump’s essential awfulness.

[Honestly, the Curator looked for essays, written well, which say positive things about Mr. Trump. There were none.]

The Curator had intended to

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The Wednesday Curator – 7/13/2016

July 12, 2016

There is a tension between sharing really good stuff here, and using a separate post to go deeper. So you won’t be seeing anything about the Week of Shame in America aka July 3 – 9, 2016, and you also won’t be reading an important piece of journalism in Vox, written by Ezra Klein, about Hillary Clinton. Stay tuned for posts on both issues.

If you want to understand Donald J. Trump and his supporters on a granular level, read Who are All These Trump Supporters? by George Saunders for the New Yorker’s newest double-week edition. Not a pretty picture, for sure, but for those people who live in the world of facts, the piece is worth your time.

Senator

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The Wednesday Curator – 7/6/2016

July 5, 2016

The Curator has graciously donated most of his space this week to demonstrating the fraudulent essence of Donald Trump. Here goes:

Donald Trump is No Christian. Peter Wehner’s piece in the July 5 New York Times, The Theology of Donald Trump, takes care of the religious issue with knowledge and grace. Mr. Wehner notes the contrast between Mr. Trump’s focus on worldly success and power, and Christian values. The outcome is not pretty for Mr. Trump or those who preach values and follow him. Inauthenticity abounds!

Donald Trump Lives and Dies by the Insult. The Upshot at the New York Times offers The 239 People, Places and Things Donald Trump Has Insulted on Twitter: A Complete List, collected

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The Wednesday Curator – 6/29/2016

June 29, 2016

Nicolle Wallace served as White House Communications Director during the second W term. Working for the McCain-Palin campaign in 2008 and commenting on dissension in the campaign, she said: “If people want to throw me under the bus, my personal belief is that the most honorable thing to do is to lie there.“ This woman knows from children passing themselves off as adult leaders, so her piece for the New York Times, The G.O.P. Waits, and Waits, for Donald Trump to Grow Up, is worth a quick read. Money line? “Our voters, in decisive numbers, picked a guy who embarrasses us.” (Here’s an extra dollop of the Donald: Just Another Sinner, Born Again, by Lincoln Mullen for

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The Wednesday Curator – June 22, 2016

June 21, 2016

From the Trump desk: Jonathan Mahler and Matt Flegenheimer wrote What Donald Trump Learned from Joseph McCarthy’s Right-Hand Man for the New York Times. The article details the relationship between Donald Trump and attorney Roy Cohn. Mr. Cohn was at the center of Senator Joseph McCarthy’s world in the 1950s. The 13-year relationship with Mr. Trump, which ended just before Mr. Cohn died from AIDS in 1986—and began when Mr. Trump was only 27—was as close as any attorney-client relationship gets. Mr. Cohn was an awful man, with a disbarment and plenty of other bad marks. That he represented Mr. Trump—and that they were so close for so long—says nothing good about Mr. Trump.

From the Clinton desk:

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The Wednesday Curator – 6/15/2016

June 14, 2016

[Prefatory Comment: The Curator will not be offering anything about Orlando, at least not directly. The Curator’s alter ego will share some thoughts soon.]

Sam Stein, writing for The Huffington Post Highline, interviewed the campaign managers for Jeb Bush and Ted Cruz, and the communications director for Marco Rubio, about losing to Donald Trump. The piece is titled Sad!, and it’s that and much more.

From the General Election Desk, New Yorker Editor-in-Chief David Remnick wrote The Choice for the June 20 edition’s lead Comment section piece. Mr. Remnick poses the question in the title: Has a presidential election ever suggested more vividly divergent candidates than Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump?* Obviously, Mr. Remnick is not acquainted the magazine Duh,

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The Wednesday Curator – 6/8/2016

June 7, 2016

Muhammad Ali, dead at 74. Much has been written about The Greatest in the past few days. Here’s some of what the Curator enjoyed most:

Ali in Havana by Gay Talese for Esquire, back in 1996, courtesy of www.longform.org.

Ali on the Aisle by the incredible, 96-year-old Roger Angell, still writing for the New Yorker. Mr. Angell started writing for the New Yorker when Mr. Ali was two-years-old.

Bob Costas to Muhammad Ali — “Well Actually …” by Ta-Nehisi Coates for The Atlantic.

Muhammad Ali’s 10 Greatest Pop Culture Moments by Tim Grierson for Rolling Stone.

The Death of the Champ: Muhammad Ali, 1942 – 2016 by Mark McClusky for Wired.

Why Trump Was Inevitable was written

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