I Could Be Wrong.

  Handing Him the Matches: How John Roberts Dismantled the Rule of Law For years, the national conversation about American democracy's survival has fixated on one figure. Donald Trump dominates the headlines, the cable segments, and the anxieties of millions. We watch him attack judges, float military operations against civilians, purge civil servants, and promise retribution. In the popular imagination, Trump is the arsonist standing on the front porch with a can of gasoline. That framing is convenient. It’s dramatic. It gives us a singular villain to blame. It is also dangerously incomplete. An aspiring authoritarian can want to burn down the constitutional order all day long, but they cannot do it alone. The gasoline is useless without an ignition source. Trump didn’t conjure the legal authority to rule like an autocrat out of thin air. Chief Justice John Roberts handed him the matches. The Great Institutionalist Myth For nearly two decades, the Washington press corp...

  Since When Is Funding Terrorists "America First"? The Truth About Buying Russian Diesel Take a look at two things happening at the same time right now. Thing number one: Young American men and women in the Navy are standing watch on warships in the Red Sea. Their hands are on the controls, ready to shoot down incoming suicide drones and ballistic missiles launched by terrorists who chant "Death to America." Thing number two: Massive tanker ships full of Russian diesel fuel are docking at American ports. Donald Trump signed off on a special waiver through the Treasury Department, throwing out our own sanctions so we could write a massive check directly to Vladimir Putin for cheap fuel. If that sounds completely backward to you, trust your gut. It makes zero sense. And if you actually believe in "America First," this deal should make your blood boil. The pitch from politicians is always the same: “Fuel costs too much! We had to cut a deal with...

    The Obama Obsession: Why Trump’s "Peace" Record Is a Dangerous Sham Let us cut through the rally chants, the internet memes, and the cable news talking points. Let us talk about cold, hard facts, common sense, and the rule of law. For years now, Donald Trump has aired a constant, bitter grievance: that he was robbed of a Nobel Peace Prize, and that Barack Obama was handed one for "doing nothing." To hear his loyalists tell it, Trump is the greatest anti-interventionist dealmaker in modern history, while the global establishment conspired to keep him from getting his due. It is a neat sales pitch. But when you look at the scoreboard, the "peace president" myth completely implodes. Trump’s diplomatic approach was not peacemaking—it was a volatile mix of personal vanity, unilateral violence, and blatant disregard for international law. From outside-international-law drone strikes blowing up boats in our own hemisphere, to dismantling nuclear guardrai...

  He Has Really Cost Us   We all want America to win. We want solid jobs, wages that actually keep up with groceries, and towns that aren’t hollowed out while Wall Street throws a party.   If you listen to Donald Trump, he fixed it all overnight. The story goes: our country was completely in the toilet; he stepped in, waved a magic wand, and built the "greatest economy in the history of the world." He will tell you that he was the only one who could do this.    It’s a great story, but is it true? If a mechanic tells you your truck is good as new when he just slapped fresh paint over a cracked engine block, you aren’t doing yourself any favors by believing him.   At some point, you must stop listening to the stories and look at the receipts. Not the cable news spin, not the campaign rallies, just the cold, hard numbers from our own government.   Here are just four examples of what really went down. Myth 1: "I Built the Whole Economy from Scrat...