Every single time you engage in the delusion that Trump has a "policy position" on traditional issues you normalize him. Trump has no beliefs, no traditional policy views. For him, policies are like his blue suit & dumb long red ties, a costume he wears to hide who he really is. He is a terrorist calling himself a freedom fighter. This election is not about his tax policy versus that of Kamala Harris, even if he has proposals in that area. It is about the fact that he is a criminal, a traitor, a fraudster, a liar, the worst president in our history...

Given the number of ways that a candidate can communicate directly with voters--the relevance and wisdom of doing so through intermediaries who will filter the news and who often will bend it to suit other agendas has diminished. That seems reasonable to me. The argument that the press is the objective presenter of facts has been weakened as virtually all media seek to adjust their presentation of content to suit business or political objectives. There are fewer and fewer journalists who can be relied upon to seek objective truth.

The argument that Harris is somehow not speaking enough to the press is ridiculous on several levels: 1.) She actually does speak to the press, 2.) She has been visible constantly since she became the candidate, 3.) She has been clear and detailed about all her policy goals. 4.) She has been readily available to the press for four years. There are few questions about her that have not already been asked and answered. 5.) The goal of the campaign is for her to communicate with voters. So far, they seem to have responded well to what she has said.

Folks, if you want a US policy toward Israel and Gaza that is more focused on relieving the suffering the people of Gaza and achieving a lasting, just peace, disrupting the campaign of the one person most likely to deliver that is a bad idea. Especially when... ...she has indicated a willingness to meet with groups that share your views. She may not agree with all of your ideas and suggestions. But she is by far your best and only legitimate hope of change and weakening her is a crazily self-destructive process.

To all the geniuses who feel Harris should have picked Shapiro to "win Pennsylvania" I ask, um, when was the last time that was the reason a VP was picked? (Hint: It is seldom if ever the reason a VP candidate was picked.) Here, let me do some quick math for you. Biden certainly didn't pick Harris to win a contested state. Trump picked neither Vance nor Pence to win contested states. HRC picked Tim Kaine to help in Va., that's true, and he helped. It was an outlier.

The recent discussion about Biden has gone through phases. The first was about the debate performance. The second was about whether that was a signal of potential problems to come. But we are now in a third phase which turns more fears about the state of the campaign. These concerns are largely from political professionals (not commentators). They turn not just on setbacks since the debate but on the fact that the campaign was seemingly spinning its wheels even beforehand. I sense a bunch of it is from worried folks down the ballot.

It's pretty clear. Biden is standing for, believes in and still fights for the values that led Americans to the beaches of Normandy 80 years ago. And Trump and the MAGA movement oppose and seek to undermine all those values. Trump is on the wrong side in the struggle that caused World War II. He is on the side of fascism. Of the enemy. He derogates our heroes. He seeks to undo the gains we made by winning that war. He attacks our allies and our alliances. He supports our enemies.

In traveling through Eastern and Central Europe, the level of despair and palpable fear that Trump may return to office is off-the-charts. A Trump victory is seen as a win for Putin and the beginning of a new round of tectonic changes in the structure of Europe. In some countries along Russia's borders or near to them, the prospect of a Trump enabled defeat in Ukraine, a weakening of NATO and tacit or explicit U.S. support for Putin and his proxies spells real trouble for democracy and the balance of influence on the continent.

The mistake too many inside and out of the administration make is thinking that Netanyahu is a just a difficult ally, even a very difficult one. He is not an ally. He is, in fact, an enemy of America's goals, interests, and values as well as a political foe of President Biden. Israel is our friend. Peace in the region is our goal. Security, self-determination and dignity for Israelis and Palestinians alike is the only way to that goal. Netanyahu, like Hamas, actively opposes that goal and seeks to make it impossible.

I, for one, am a bit surprised at the general acceptance of the degree of deference that has been shown to Trump in this case. He was given far too much time and too many chances to return the documents he stole from the government. As the subsequent seizure of the documents revealed, they were extremely sensitive in nature and put our national security at risk every moment they were held by Trump in the insecure locations he kept them or were referred to by him in meetings with visitors and associates.

The book on how to indict an ex-president has not been written--until now. Chapter One was by Alvin Bragg. Ch. Two was by Jack Smith, informed by Chapter One. Ch. Three, likely by Fani Willis, will be informed by the other two experiences. So by the time we get to Ch. Four... which is probably the most consequential of the cases, about how Trump led an insurrection against the US government and a systematic effort to defraud American voters, there will be quite a lot to draw on, to help get each element right.

I regularly go through a debate in my mind about who is worse at their jobs, sports show analysts or political pundits. (You would think weather forecasters might be included in the mix, but the reality is that their predictions are vastly better than the other two groups.) With the sports analysts, the level of BS is just shameless. Day-in and day-out they speak with great conviction, some of them banging the table or shouting at their guests or audiences, asserting they know what's going to happen next in one sports event or another.

This debt deal will rank with the most significant legislative accomplishments of Biden's first term. In a situation that should not have happened, created by his opponents, with immense stakes, he and his team produced the best possible outcome for the country. Like so many other Biden accomplishments-from the rescue package to the infra bill, from the inflation reduction act to the CHIPs act-Biden was underestimated, he achieved progress despite his opponents' obstructionism, he didn't play media games & let the work speak for itself.

I’m one of those crazy progressives who think supporting the most progressive president in roughly six decades is progressive, who thinks avoiding an economic disaster that would leave millions of the most vulnerable among us suffering. I’m one of the woke mind virus sufferers who thinks progressive doesn’t mean letting the perfect be the enemy of the good, who thinks maintaining power is the key to advancing progressive goals.

Stealthily, without proportionate recognition, Joe Biden is not just having a good presidency, he's having one that is historic in its concrete achievements and successes. The fair & balanced types in the media won't characterize it fairly because to do so, would "feel" biased. The opposition won't cover it because it is not in their interests to tell the truth. (It's why they never do.) Editors and producers will shy away from it because positive stories don't sell like conflict does. Consequently most of the media won't present the simple facts.

I worked with Henry Kissinger. In retrospect, I shouldn't have. Deep in the foreign policy establishment as I was, it seemed like a kind of validation. He was the guy we discussed around our dining room table when I was growing up. He was undoubtedly brilliant. He picked me. My parents were impressed. But we all knew that we were sweeping a lot of his history under the rug in order to celebrate my move to Kissinger Associates. While I was there, I also have to admit that Henry was generous with his time and taught me a great deal.

Joe Biden is a master Congressional negotiator. Was during Obama. Is now. Especially in the face of the toughest kind of opposition. He's the Congress whisperer. That is the seeming message of the deal we're currently hearing floated. If we had heard what essentially amounts to a freeze come out of normal budget talks with a radicalized House GOP seeking to blow up all social spending, we would see it as a big win. They still could have used a gov't shutdown as leverage then.

I have a theory. It is premature to share it. But if I don't share it prematurely and wait a few days, it's likely to sound like conventional wisdom. So here goes: When all is said and done, the debt disaster will be averted and Biden will get major credit for how he managed it. At the same time, while McCarthy will not get anywhere near what he wanted, he too will get some credit for achieving budget cuts and avoiding disaster. (Though that fact will be due in part to how Biden chose to handle this.)

I wonder why so many refer to the 14th Amendment as an option. Is it the only optional amendment to the Constitution? Its language is crystal clear: "The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… In the same vein, why is the issue "testing the 14th amendment." Isn't the issue that Congressionally mandated process of "lifting the debt ceiling" is unconstitutional? @tribelaw

So much of the GOP's playbook relies on the press presenting their lies as "political positions" or "opinions" and their most egregious tactics as though they were normal. Two current examples are McCarthy holding the debt hostage and the spin that Durham "debunked" Trump-Russia. Neither position stands up to any scrutiny. But because the press insists on describing the debt situation as though Biden were as responsible for it as the GOP, as if it were a typical negotiation, because they both-sides it, it looks to the world like it is one.

Note to journalists: If you run a headline or article parroting McCarthy saying "Biden wants default" or "Biden will lead us to default" you are assisting him with his reckless extortion gambit. McCarthy is the one linking budget talks to the debt ceiling. He's the one putting the economy at risk. He's the one tying together two very different issues in a way the GOP never did under Trump. Don't just quote him or Tweet his quotes without making this clear. It actually increases the risk we face of default by strengthening his hand.