Pundits say that Mike Pence performed better in his debate than Donald Trump did in his. I’m not so sure. Yes, Pence was better stylistically. He spoke more crisply. He more deftly pivoted away from uncomfortable subjects. But on both trade and national security, Pence hewed to the established conservative script. Trump discarded it. And of the two agendas, Trump’s is more popular, especially among ...
Earlier this month, a search committee proposed that Yeshiva University, the citadel of American Orthodox Judaism, choose as its next president Rabbi Ari Berman. I’ve met Berman only once. I debated him at his former synagogue, The Jewish Center in Manhattan, and although we profoundly disagreed, he couldn’t have been more pleasant. In fact, given that some at the Jewish Center would probably rather not ...
Again and again at Monday night’s debate, Hillary Clinton attacked Donald Trump’s record in business. She accused him of caring only about himself. Again and again, he pleaded guilty. When Clinton quoted Trump as cheering for a housing crisis, Trump responded, “That’s called business.” When Clinton accused Trump of not paying taxes, Trump answered, “That makes me smart.” When Clinton attacked Trump for declaring bankruptcy ...
A new epithet has entered the political lexicon: “theater criticism.” Since the 1980s, wrote Charles Homans in the New York Times Magazine in August, American journalists have been eviscerating candidates for saying things that journalists deem bad politics, whether or not these “gaffes” really matter. Thus, they have been “practicing a kind of theater criticism as much as political reporting.” Earlier this month, Slate’s Jamelle ...
The new issue of Politico Magazine features an essay by the former John F. and Robert Kennedy speechwriter Adam Walinsky about why he’s planning to vote for Donald Trump. Trump, Walinsky argues, will follow in the Kennedys’ anti-war tradition by working with Russia to utterly destroy ISIS. Make sense? Actually, no. Not at all. …
Dear Mr. Greenberg and Mr. Hoenlein, John F. Kennedy liked to quote Dante as saying that “the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in a period of moral crisis maintain their neutrality.” Dante didn’t actually say that. And applying the maxim to a Jewish organization is theologically awkward. But you get the point. …
Last Saturday, The New York Times published an extraordinary story. What made the story extraordinary wasn’t the event the Times covered. What made it extraordinary was the way the Times covered it. On its front page, top right—the most precious space in American print journalism—the Times wrote about Friday’s press conference in which Donald Trump declared that a) he now believed Barack Obama was a ...
In recent weeks, Donald Trump has adopted an odd strategy. He’s begun accusing Hillary Clinton of possessing the very deficiencies that he displays himself. So Trump, who proposed banning Muslims from entering the United States, calls Clinton a “bigot.” Trump, who has repeatedly mused about using nuclear weapons, calls Clinton “trigger-happy.” Trump, who accused Ted Cruz’s father of involvement in the assassination of John F. ...
Except for her gender, Hillary Clinton is a highly conventional presidential candidate. She’s been in public life for decades. Her rhetoric is carefully calibrated. She tailors her views to reflect the mainstream within her party. …
Country A believes that its ally, Country B, is pursuing policies that endanger both nations. Country A repeatedly asks Country B to change course. Country B refuses. Meanwhile, Country B asks Country A to send it a vast supply of weapons. Country A agrees. Then, after the agreement is signed, Country A asks Country B to change course again, this time in a particularly dramatic ...