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
Political Science
Something Missing From Trump’s Inaugural Address
Okay, I'm still up, and I'd like to talk about that inaugural address. It's all gloom and doom, blamed on elitist politicians and foreigners, leading to Trump's usual calls for nationalism, trade restrictions, and border controls.I was planning to tear into the speech line by line, but I'm too far into the rum to keep it together for as long as that would take, so let me … [Read more...] about Something Missing From Trump’s Inaugural Address
The Highpoint of the Trump Presidency
Eight years ago, when Barack Obama had just taken the Presidential oath of office, I wrote that it was "The Highpoint of the Obama Presidency," and I see no reason not to say just about the same thing about the Trump Presidency today.As the most populist presidential candidate in a long time, Trump's supporters have been projecting their hopes and dreams onto him for almost … [Read more...] about The Highpoint of the Trump Presidency
The Mythical California Problem
Now that we've had a second recent election in which the candidate who won the popular vote ended up losing the electoral vote, lots of people are talking about getting rid of the Electoral College. My gut feeling is that it would be a good idea, because it seems like an unnecessary complication that violates the one person, one vote principle, but I'm willing to be persuaded. … [Read more...] about The Mythical California Problem
Some Observations on Halderman’s Concerns About Election Hacking
Word has been going around that some computer scientists have urged Clinton to challenge the election results because of possible hacking-related voter fraud in key states: Hillary Clinton's campaign is being urged by a number of top computer scientists to call for a recount of vote totals in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, according to a source with knowledge of … [Read more...] about Some Observations on Halderman’s Concerns About Election Hacking