12 quotes
After Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya, the burden of proof is on anyone who would make the case for military action as a force for good.
Witnessing the Obama Presidency, from Start to Finish (2018)
Progressives find it hard to imagine that there are others who in good faith don’t want the better world they’re offering and will fiercely resist it.
Witnessing the Obama Presidency, from Start to Finish (2018)
"Trump’s lies will linger for years, poisoning the atmosphere like radioactive dust."
A Political Obituary for Donald Trump (2020)
"America under Trump became less free, less equal, more divided, more alone, deeper in debt, swampier, dirtier, meaner, sicker, and deader."
A Political Obituary for Donald Trump (2020)
It’s hard to build a narrative around actions not taken, disasters possibly averted, hard realities accommodated. The story of what didn’t happen isn’t an easy one to tell.
Witnessing the Obama Presidency, from Start to Finish (2018)
Few people are capable of conscious, persistent self-betrayal. A change that begins in opportunism can become more passionate than a lifelong belief, especially when it’s rewarded. Ventriloquize long enough and your voice alters; the mask becomes your face.
"Monopoly of public policy by experts—trade negotiators, government bureaucrats, think tankers, professors, journalists—helped create the populist backlash that empowered Trump."
A Political Obituary for Donald Trump (2020)
Barack Obama was always better at explaining the meaning of democracy than at fighting its opponents.
Witnessing the Obama Presidency, from Start to Finish (2018)
"Trump’s legacy includes an extremist Republican Party that tries to hold on to power by flagrantly undemocratic means, and an opposition pushed toward its own version of extremism."
A Political Obituary for Donald Trump (2020)
More than any modern President, Barack Obama had a keen sense of the limits of American power—and of his own.
Witnessing the Obama Presidency, from Start to Finish (2018)
Barack Obama was a writer before he became a politician, and he saw his Presidency as a struggle over narrative.
Witnessing the Obama Presidency, from Start to Finish (2018)
"In a sense, Americans expected a degree of fabrication from their leaders. After Jimmy Carter, in his 1976 campaign, promised, 'I’ll never lie to you,' and then pretty much kept his word, voters sent him back to Georgia. Ronald Reagan’s gauzy fictions were far more popular."
A Political Obituary for Donald Trump (2020)