Political Science

I gotta say, it hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be.Last year about this time I was concerned about four major policy areas where I thought Trump could ruin things. He's been active in all of them, but as I suggested, he's done the most damage in the area where he has the most direct control: Immigration. Trump's attempt at a Muslim ban fell apart pretty quickly … [Read more...] about The First Year of President Trump

Ever since her speech at the Golden Globes, people have been floating the idea of Oprah Winfrey for President. This is, of course, a silly idea. Or it would have been, before Trump. Oprah, like Trump, has no experience in government. Like Trump, Oprah is a celebrity who has had considerable success at business. And like Trump, Oprah embraces junk science. If not for the example … [Read more...] about Oprah For President?

On the Reuters news wire, Dan Levine reports on the breakdown of a gentleman's agreement between state Attorneys General not to target each other in elections: For years the national political organizations of both Democratic and Republican state attorneys general observed an agreement not to target the other party's incumbent office-holders in elections.That hands-off … [Read more...] about The AG Cartel Breaks Down

I got bored writing about the State of the Union addresses a few years ago -- Obama was the same thing every year -- but maybe the new guy will be more interesting. Let's see what Donald Trump had to say in his State of the Union Address. I'm just going to think out loud a bit here. I warn you now: It's not going anywhere important.(I'm really tired of hearing why this … [Read more...] about The State of the Union in 2017

I expect the Trump presidency to be a disaster. And given what we've seen so far, I think there are four possible areas where Trump is likely to ruin things. They break down into short-term ruin, medium-term ruin, and long-term ruin, plus a wildcard.We've already seen activity in the short-term area of ruin: Immigration. This is a policy area where the President has a lot … [Read more...] about Four Ways President Trump Can Ruin Things