Opinion

It would undoubtedly be of consequence and consolation if Donald Trump were held civilly liable for January 6, especially if he managed by hook, crook or Supreme Court to escape blame for his four criminal indictments. At this point, however, the civil lawsuits against Trump do not seem to be faring any better than the criminal lawsuits against him.

After nearly four years post January 6 and Trump’s failed insurrection, the former president’s tactics of delay, delay, and delay for both his criminally and civilly related lawsuits have been enormously successful. As of the November 5th presidential election, Teflon Don will still be escaping from seven out of eight election interference cases that have resulted in one criminal trial, 34 felony convictions, and no sentencing.

And he’s handling his debate loss the same way he handled his 2020 loss: by lying about it.

Trump's post debate spin alternates between “I won” and “the debate was rigged,” as if people won’t wonder why he’d say it was rigged if he’s also saying he won it. Is he saying it was rigged so he won it? Or does he not understand basic logic, that winning a rigged contest isn’t really winning at all and it’s not in his best interest to claim it is?

I usually write what I hope are thoughtful pieces about American politics that feature something like a beginning, middle and end. But today, I’m going to comment on short videos I have seen throughout the week.

Some refer to the news. Others refer to universal themes of our democratic condition. Either way, I think they say something interesting and important about our country, our politics and the moment we’re in.

Now that the debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris is over, let’s resist asking whether it’s going to have any impact. I think it will, but I also think asking about its immediate electoral consequences cheapens what happened. No one has done what Harris has done.

His ego is glass.

A listener called into my program recently and asked, “Is Donald Trump the Antichrist and, if so, will he reveal himself at the debate?”

I passed on drawing a conclusion, but then the lines lit up with a steady stream of people over the next few hours offering their “proofs” that Trump was, in fact, the Evil One come to ravage the Earth. That he’s a literal and iniquitous thaumaturge. My first caller clearly hit a nerve.

The Times came out with a new poll. It suggested the honeymoon for Kamala Harris is over. She had enjoyed a sizable lead over Donald Trump, but now they are in a statistical dead heat. Some pundits now say the stakes for tomorrow’s debate are even higher. She has to beat him Tuesday to win the presidential election in November.

I don’t think “beating” him is her objective, though. It is, or should be, to minimize and put him in a box. Then she can say what she wants to do for the American people and why.

These are nervous, precarious times and I have turned around a lot of copy lately, but I felt it imperative that one of the most grievous, haughty, tone-deaf editorials I have ever come across was answered with the disdain it deserves.

Most of you are aware of my passion for journalism, and concern that we are being abandoned by our working press at this absolutely critical juncture in American history.

A long time ago, I was an English composition instructor at Georgia Southern University. My job was to teach first-year students how to write college-level essays and how to communicate effectively. With rare exception, all my students brought with them a habit borne of childhood. To achieve success in my class, they had to break it.

What habit? The habit of depending on a grown-up to do the work of understanding what they are trying to say. To be sure, we all do this in casual conversation. However, you can’t do that in public writing or in public speaking. In a formal setting, you are 100 percent responsible for what you are trying to say, and if I don’t get it, that’s on you.

Donald Trump has made good use of the propaganda technique known as the Big Lie 1.0, famously claiming that the 2020 “election was stolen” from him.

And now he’s preparing to use Big Lie 2.0 to shut down our government this fall, believing it’ll hurt the Biden administration and thus the Harris/Walz campaign.

The devil went down to Arlington

Looking for some votes to steal

The US Department of Justice said yesterday that Russia is once again attacking the sovereignty of the United States by mounting yet another campaign to influence the outcome of a presidential election.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said a federal indictment alleges that a Tennessee company got millions in funding to spread Russian propaganda across social media. The effort has been at the direction of Russian leader Vladimir Putin since at least 2022. It involves a slew of fake news sites and a host of popular rightwing commentators.