I do agree with the good doctor somewhat about the author of the anonymous op-ed and the internal resistance to the current president. They were not elected, and to say they are moderating 10 percent of the crazy is not comforting. However, I do believe that The New York Times vetted the author and is not engaged in making up stories. Of course, after Judith Miller, I could be wrong.
Obama was less of an amateur than the current president and was better educated in the mechanics of government and more committed to working with our allies than picking fights with them. He was also committed to a view of the planet as interconnected and our relationships within it as not being zero-sum games in which someone has to lose for us to win.
Trump has shaken up our relationships with North Korea and China, to be sure, but what will come of it remains to be seen. Without any mechanisms in place for monitoring North Korea, the nuclear accord is as empty an accomplishment as Trump Casinos, University, Steaks, etc.
Tariffs, trade wars, backing out of treaties are disruptive, but what are they designed to accomplish? Staffing the Cabinet with incompetent individuals whose goal seems to be to destroy their agencies is admirable if you are an anarchist, but not so much if you want government to function.
Whether or not you agree with Colin Kaepernick, he is exercising his First Amendment rights to peacefully protest. It is ludicrous to suggest that protesting where it is “allowed” makes any difference. Tell that to the Boston Tea Party and the Freedom Riders.
The “Trump” expansion, when looked at historically, began when Barack Obama was elected and took the country from the brink of an economic disaster. That the recovery was the slowest one in memory was due as much to Republican obstruction in Congress (remember the deficit hawks of the Tea Party?) as to anything Obama did or did not do.
A quick search of Edward Klein’s bibliography shows such titles as “Blood Feud” and “Guilty as Sin” (about Hillary Clinton), “The Amateur” (Barack Obama), and books about Jackie Kennedy. A quick search of [articles] includes, among others, one by The Guardian which eviscerates “Blood Feud” as filled with inaccuracies.
The books are published by Regnery Publishing, “The Leading Publisher of Conservative Books,” including books by Ann Coulter, David Limbaugh and Dinesh D’Souza. Klein is also the author of “All Out War: The Plot to Destroy Trump.”
In short, Klein specializes in badly researched hit jobs against Democratic politicians.
And finally, Donald Trump was never amusing to 60 percent of the country which continues to believe that he is not qualified for the office he holds.
Don Lesser
Amherst