A couple of weeks ago I pounded Mr. Douthat rather heavily, in a short piece titled Et tu, Ross? Aka “Catty Monday”, ridiculing the poor man for sighing over the faded plumage of the Catholic Church in a column he called “Make Catholicism Weird Again”, noting that “recently, all 34 Chilean bishops have offered to…
Author: Alan Vanneman
Political notes from all over
Maxine Waters is 1/536th as obnoxious as Donald Trump, Republicans admit Well, they would if they had any honor, which of course they don’t. Yes, Maxine has an affection for conspiracy theories, and, furthermore, she is a black chick who doesn’t act white, which in conservative circles is an unforgivable sin. Yo, Maxine! Get a…
Charles Krauthammer was a wonderful man and a shameless liar
If you want to read kind words about Charles Krauthammer, well, go ahead. By all accounts, in his private life Krauthammer was gracious and kind to everyone he met, regardless of their political convictions. But Charles isn’t famous for being a nice guy; he’s famous for being a political commentator, and as a political commentator…
Cory Lewandowski didn’t get the memo
Well, he didn’t. He didn’t get the memo saying that you should only make fun of adults with disabilities, rather than, you know, kids! In other words, this, not this. Frankly, it’s hard to blame Cory. I mean, if it’s okay to take kids away from their parents, why isn’t okay to make fun of…
Republicans have a god but no honor, Steve Chapman discovers
Steve Chapman is confused. God-fearing Republicans used to hate communism. Now they love it! What’s the deal? The deal is, Donald told them so. “For communist dictators such as Xi Jinping and Kim Jong Un, Trump exudes admiration and amity. To the anti-Western Russian President Vladimir Putin, he offered congratulations for winning a rigged election.”…
The Windsors on Netflix: Cheaper than malt liquor, and way better for you!
Yeah, I know, it’s tough livin’ in the age o’ Trump, and, particularly, livin’ in the land o’ Trump, and the temptation to crack a forty before noon weighs heavily on a lot of us, but stiff that desire, friends, there’s a better way: The Windsors, the low-comedy antithesis and antipodes to the much lamented…
It Is Happening Here
What’s the big deal? Trump said he was going to torture women and children, didn’t he? Isn’t keeping his campaign promises a president’s job? There’s more than a whiff of fascism here—the glorification of brutality. Ruthless? Hell, yeah, we are! That’s what keeps us safe! It’s “amusing”—amusing in the sense that it makes you want…
Maybe you should have thought of that before
“I am extremely disappointed that a candidate like Corey Stewart could win the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate. This is clearly not the Republican Party I once knew, loved and proudly served. Every time I think things can’t get worse they do, and there is no end in sight,” sigh tweeted former Virginia Lt. Gov….
Shorter Donald Trump: What’s the deal with evil? It ain’t so bad! Hell, sometimes, I feel a little evil myself!
Yes, the lion lay down with the lamb in Singapore, with the meeting of El Donaldo and Kim Jong-un. The only problem was, no one could tell which caudillo was which. Okay, I’m being unkind to El Presidente, as is more or less my wont. He rips children from the arms of their parents, but…
Those Mean Old Disestablishment Blues: Why it’s so hard to put Humpty-Dumpty together again
Dreary old Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump by almost three million votes, despite being deeply loathed by millions of voters, many of whom held their noses and voted for snatch snatchin’ Don. Post election, Trump’s poll ratings have never reached the 45% mark, despite a booming stock market and a steadily expanding economy. So why…