Trump Redux

November 25, 2023

Trump Redux

trump redux

Donald J. Trump

[Note: Looking for a file, I ran across this piece, first posted on July 23, 2016 and titled, then: Superman Trump: Got It All Covered.* The essay seems quaint, given its lament for times when our leaders asked us come together for the greater good. Leaders? Kennedy, Nixon, Reagan, Obama, and HR Clinton. Hardly a Lefty Crew.

Today the diarrhetic effect of DJT’s words leaves us beyond exhaustion. Nary an uplifting thought about anything! Politics should not define us, fully and completely. However, the notion that this man, this Trump Guy, might spend even a moment in a position of authority over anyone – other than, I guess, those who choose to let him pay

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We Didn’t Start the Fire: 5th Edition

May 18, 2020

We Didn’t Start the Fire

we didn't start the fire

Billy Joel

Here’s the fifth iteration of We Didn’t Start the Fire (Annotated), first published on July 13, 2014 and last posted on February 10, 2018. For whatever it’s worth, no post at Mark Rubin Writes gets more views.

we didn't start the fire

Christie Brinkley

we didn't start the fire

Elle Macpherson

William M. Joel writes and sings songs. On March 23, 1985 he married tall and very classy Christie Brinkley. (They divorced on August 25, 1994.) Was Ms. Brinkley the Uptown Girl in Uptown Girl, Mr. Joel’s big 1983 hit song? Only maybe, for while Mr. Joel—the short, Downtown Guy—knew and was friendly with Ms. Brinkley when he wrote the song, at the time he was dating taller very Uptown babe

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Defrauding Voters and Campaign Finance Law Violations

December 9, 2018

Defrauding Voters and Campaign Finance Law Violations

campaign finance laws
President Donald Trump

Peter Baker and Nicholas Fandos wrote Prosecutors Effectively Accuse Trump of Defrauding Voters. What Does It Mean? for the New York Times. By doing so, they helped me better understand why campaign finance law violations, as opposed “real crimes,” leave us so deeply dissatisfied. And how did they accomplish this task? By using the word fraud! (Truth be told, the Baker / Fandos piece wanders into deep rough, which happens too often when writers describe this disaster.)

Let me dispense, first, with some nonsense, brought to us by Senator Rand Paul (R – Ky.). Senator Paul tells us “incredibly complicated” campaign finance laws involve “thousands and thousands” of

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Ideological Purity is an Indulgence – Part 2

March 19, 2016

Warren Burger (Earl Warren). Harry Blackmun (Abe Fortas). Lewis Powell (Hugo Black). William Rehnquist (John Harlan; Warren Burger). John Paul Stevens (William O. Douglas). Sandra Day O’Connor (Potter Stewart). Antonin Scalia (William Rehnquist). Anthony Kennedy (Lewis Powell). David Souter (William Brennan). Clarence Thomas (Thurgood Marshall). John Roberts (William Rehnquist). Samuel Alito (Sandra Day O’Connor). These are the Nixon/Ford, Reagan, and Bushes, père et fils, justices, along with those whom they replaced.

Justice John Paul Stevens got almost everything right during his 30+ years at the Court. Others—Justices Harry Blackmun and Sandra Day O’Connor—are responsible for much that is good. Justice Anthony Kennedy and Chief Justice John Roberts have also had their important and worthy moments. Nonetheless, this group of

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Ideological Purity is an Indulgence – Part 1

March 12, 2016

Call me old, but ideological purity in presidential elections is an indulgence we cannot afford. 33% of Sanders Supporters Will Not Vote for Clinton If She Wins Nomination prompted this piece, although concerns about ideolical purity have worried me for many years.

I know many people do not like Hillary Clinton … and then there are those who hate her. Friends who know her well tell me she’s charming, fun, brilliant, etc. Alas, her winning side is not always evident.

Now I suspect Secretary Clinton will win the Democratic Party nomination. I also believe Senator Bernie Sanders (S-Vt.) will support her with vigor, and that many Sanders supporters will come around. But I worry about that last part,

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