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Douglas M. Parker

Blog No. 107. Trump in August: Notes From the Traveling Asylum

An article in the Washington Post on Thursday summed up the current mood in the Republican Party:

Turmoil in the Republican Party escalated Wednesday as party leaders, strategists and donors voiced increased alarm about the flailing state of Donald Trump’s candidacy and fears that the presidential nominee was damaging the party with an extraordinary week of self-inflicted mistakes, gratuitous attacks and missed opportunities.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus was described as “very frustrated” with and deeply disturbed by Trump’s behavior over the past week, having run out of excuses to make on the nominee’s behalf to donors and other party leaders, according to multiple people familiar with the events.

Read More »Blog No. 107. Trump in August: Notes From the Traveling Asylum

Blog No. 106. The End of the Beginning: Historic Conventions and the Candidates They Gave Us

Pic - Hillary smile Trump fistThe Republican and Democratic conventions each produced historic results: the Democrats were the first major party ever to nominate a woman for President and the Republicans produced the most stunningly unfit candidate ever to be nominated by a major party. Now that the conventions have come and gone, we are left with a momentary sense of relief, but also foreboding as to the the next three months of charges and counter-charges and, ultimately, the election in November.Read More »Blog No. 106. The End of the Beginning: Historic Conventions and the Candidates They Gave Us

Special Bulletin. The 4th of July (and Goodbye for a Brief Departure)

PIC blue star borderWe are about to leave on a trip overseas and, with holiday and travel preparations, there has been no time to write anything adequate to the 4th of July in 2016. Rather than letting the day pass without comment, however, we looked for some relevant observations by wiser and more eloquent figures. Some of our favorites appear below: many were written in times that were also challenging, but they all express sentiments that we share.

We will, perhaps mercifully, be away during the Republican Convention but we are confident that the Republic will survive that event. If the election in November is another matter, we will turn to that when we return, and we expect that RINOcracy.com will reappear in late July or early August.

Best wishes to all for a joyous 4th and as relaxing a summer as possible.PIC - stripe and star borderRead More »Special Bulletin. The 4th of July (and Goodbye for a Brief Departure)

Blog No. 104. After Brexit, Now What?

Blog No. 102, “Brexit: Arguments, Consequences and the Trump Factor,” expressed our view that, while the burdens on Britain of membership in the EU were genuine, they were far less than the costs and risks of leaving. Our tone, however, was cautionary rather than alarmist:

The Brexit proposal will be put to the voters in a referendum on June 23, and to the questions “What will happen?” and “What will it mean?” there is clearly only one answer: no one really knows. Without attempting predictions, our view is that if the vote is to leave the EU, the risks to Britain, the EU, and ultimately the United States, could be significant.

Well, we now know what happened, and to some extent why, but what it will mean—for Britain, the EU, global markets and the United States–is something that still no one really knows.Read More »Blog No. 104. After Brexit, Now What?

Blog No. 103. Reflections on Orlando

It was unsurprising, perhaps inevitable, that much of the commentary about the tragedy in Orlando would pass through a prism of preexisting political positions. Republicans tended to view it as a result of the ineffectiveness of the Administration’s responses to ISIS, while Democrats associated it with Republican unwillingness to support any form of gun control legislation. Having our own distinctive prism, we are inclined to believe that there is something to the assertions of each, but perhaps not as much as either appears to claim.Read More »Blog No. 103. Reflections on Orlando

Blog No. 102: Brexit: Arguments, Consequences and the Trump Factor

Even readers who have been preoccupied with the agonies of the Republican and Democratic primary campaigns are probably aware of the political battle being waged across the Atlantic over Brexit. That term, of course, refers to the proposal that Britain (with Northern Ireland, the United Kingdom) exit from the European Union. In more shorthand, the opposing sides are tersely referred to simply as Leave and Remain. The Brexit proposal will be put to the voters in a referendum on June 23, and to the questions “What will happen?” and “What will it mean?” there is clearly only one answer: no one really knows. Without attempting predictions, our view is that if the vote is to leave the EU, the risks to Britain, the EU, and ultimately the United States, could be significant.Read More »Blog No. 102: Brexit: Arguments, Consequences and the Trump Factor

Blog No. 101. Trump: The Endorser, The Pretenders and The Opponent.

The Endorser.

Last week, Paul Ryan dropped the other shoe by issuing his expected endorsement of Donald Trump. It had been clear since Ryan and Trump met on Capitol Hill last month that an endorsement of some sort would be forthcoming, and the only real questions were how long it would take and how tepid it would be. As it turned out, the endorsement arrived in the form of a tweet and an Op-ed column in Ryan’s hometown newspaper. Short of writing the endorsement on the back of an envelope, stuffing it in a bottle, and casting the bottle into the Potomac, it could hardly have been more low key.

PIC Message in a bottle to the sea.

Read More »Blog No. 101. Trump: The Endorser, The Pretenders and The Opponent.

Blog No 100. Robert Kagan on Donald Trump and Fascism in America

Occasionally we believe that  a column or editorial in the media is so cogent and compelling that it deserves reprinting in full for the benefit of readers who may not have seen it. The column below by Robert Kagan from The Washington Post is such a writing.

Robert Kagan is a historian, author and foreign policy expert of broad experience who has served several administrations in varying capacities. Although Kagan is best known for neoconservative views of foreign policy, the column below does not deal with foreign policy. Rather it concerns the candidacy of Donald Trump and its implications for not only the Republican Party but the country. According to Wikipedia, Kagan was a Republican until this year and is now an Independent.

Read More »Blog No 100. Robert Kagan on Donald Trump and Fascism in America