“If you want to make a difference in America, you need to be prepared for a very long, very frustrating slog.” IfsWantNeedsLongAmericaDifferencesPreparedMaking A DifferenceBe PreparedFrustrating Author:Kevin Drum
“I hate the idea that we might lose even a few talented future leaders because they fell for Bernie Sanders's spiel and then got discouraged when it didn't pan out.” IdeasMightHateLosesLeaderI HateDiscouragedFuture Leaders Author:Kevin Drum
“If you don’t want your followers to give up in disgust, your inspiration needs to be in the service of goals that are at least attainable.” IfsWantNeedsGivingInspirationGoalGiving UpFollowersDisgusting Author:Kevin Drum
“The media should be embarrassed and humiliated and keep its mouth shut and just listen for a while.” ShouldMediaMouthsEmbarrassedJust ListenHumiliated Author:Kevin Drum
“The media here is the opposition party. They don't understand this country. They still do not understand why Donald Trump is the president of the United States.” StillsCountryStatesPresidentUnitedPartyUnited StatesMediaTrumpOppositionOpposition Parties Author:Kevin Drum
“Actually, I think we all understand just fine why Donald Trump is president: because he ran a racist, boorish, epically mendacious campaign and Republicans all decided to go along with it. And even that wouldn’t have been enough if Trump hadn’t gotten some additional help from his pals James Comey and Vladimir Putin.” IfsThinkingHas BeensEnoughHelpingPresidentFineTrumpRepublicanDecidedCampaignsRanRacistPutinPals Author:Kevin Drum
“In any case, to the extent that the media is dedicated to exposing lies and reporting the truth, it is indeed the opposition party to people like Bannon.” PeopleLyingPartyCasesMediaOppositionDedicatedExposingOpposition Parties Author:Kevin Drum
“Despite more than a year of spittle-flecked fury at Hillary Clinton for using a private email server, most Trump voters probably don’t even know what a private server is. Nor do they care. It was just a buzzword that somehow meant Hillary was a crook.” KnowsYearsCareTrumpClintonDespiteVotersEmailFuryCrooksServer Author:Kevin Drum
“[David] Muir tried four or five times to get a straight answer about [Donald] Trump's idiotic claim that 3-5 million noncitizens voted, and Trump just flatly wouldn't engage.” AnswersMillionsFiveFourTrumpClaimsIdiotic Author:Kevin Drum
“I’m just some white guy in California, and nobody in Flint is going to pay any attention to what I’m saying. I don’t blame them. Nor do doctors want to publicly agree with me, because nobody wants to downplay the effects of lead poisoning. I get that too. I can already imagine the number of tweets and emails I’m going to get demanding to know why I think Flint is no big deal.” ThinkingKnowsWantI CanBigsGuyWhiteDealsNumbersPayAttentionImagineEffectsDoctorsAgreeBlameCaliforniaEmailBig DealTweetPoisoningWhite Guys Author:Kevin Drum
“Why aren't Democrats voting against President [Donald] Trump's cabinet nominees en masse? Is it because they're just a bunch soft-headed Beltway lifers who don't understand that the base is pissed and wants them to fight fight fight?” WantFightingPresidentTrumpDemocratBunchVotingCabinets Author:Kevin Drum
“If Democrats vote against everyone sight unseen, then Republicans will vote for everyone sight unseen. However, if Democrats demonstrate that they’re considering each candidate on the merits, they have at least a fighting chance of defeating one or two of Trump’s nominees.” IfsTwoFightingChanceTrumpRepublicanVoteSightDemocratMeritCandidatesConsideringUnseen Author:Kevin Drum
“Betsy DeVos, for example, has shown that she’s flatly ignorant of an astounding amount of basic education policy. It might be possible to persuade two or three Republicans to oppose her on these grounds - but only if the entire confirmation process isn’t a pure partisan battle.” IfsTwoMightThreeProcessPolicyExampleAmountRepublicanBattlePureIgnorantPartisansConfirmationBasic Education Author:Kevin Drum
“During the [Barack] Obama presidency, the Dow doubled in real terms. What's more, its growth has been remarkably steady.” Has BeensRealGrowthTermBarackSteadyPresidency Author:Kevin Drum
“I can't fault [Donald] Trump for firing [Craig] Deare. Then again, I also can't fault Deare for going berserk. Sometimes a marriage just doesn't work.” I CanSometimesTrumpFaultsFiringBerserk Author:Kevin Drum
“Note to conservatives: sometimes you just have to give up. Do you really care that much about killing lots of bad guys as opposed to letting them rot in prison for the rest of their lives? It might be time to let go and save your energy for other battles. This one is getting absurd.” GivingSometimesMightCareGuyEnergyBattleLetting GoGiving UpPrisonNotesKillingAbsurdBad GuysTime To Let Go Author:Kevin Drum
“The reporting is fake. Look, look...You know what it is? Here's the thing. The public isn't - you know, they read newspapers, they see television, they watch. They don't know if it's true or false because they're not involved.But I'm involved. So I know when you're telling the truth or when you're not. I just see many, many untruthful things.” IfsKnowsLooksWatchesTelevisionInvolvedNewspapersFakeTelling The TruthTrue Or False Author:Kevin Drum
“We had Hillary Clinton try and do a reset. We had Hillary Clinton give Russia 20 percent of the uranium in our country. You know what uranium is, right? This thing called nuclear weapons, like lots of things, are done with uranium, including some bad things.” KnowsGivingTryingCountryDoneWeaponsPercentClintonIncludingNuclearRussiaOur CountryBad ThingsNuclear WeaponsResetUranium Author:Kevin Drum
“In other words, in the same way that mass incarceration surged because of a real thing, it's finally starting to ebb because of a real thing: the actual, concrete decline in violent crime that started in the early 90s and which appears to be permanent. America is simply a safer place than it used to be, and looks set to stay that way.” WayLooksRealAmericaUsedCrimeMassStartingViolentUsed To BePermanentDeclineConcreteReal ThingsIncarcerationMass IncarcerationViolent Crimes Author:Kevin Drum
“The fallout from the Supreme Court halfway killing Obamacare would likely be more serious than conservatives believe...Even their own base, which has been told relentlessly that Obamacare represents the end of the America they love, might start to demand a fix once it becomes clear just what they’re missing - and what all those blue states with their own exchanges are getting.” BelieveHas BeensEndsStatesMightAmericaClearMissingSeriousDemandBlueCourtKillingSupremeSupreme CourtHalfwayObamacareFallouts Author:Kevin Drum
