Washington

Tuesday September 15, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday September 15, 2020

In ‘Hoax,’ Brian Stelter Ventures Where No Author Has Gone Before

Aside from a vague sense that time is now divided into “before the pandemic” and “during the pandemic,” it’s hard to have perspective on the events of the past six months. Brian Stelter’s “Hoax: Donald Trump, Fox News, and the Dangerous Distortion of Truth” is among the first books to explore where we are now — and it’s certainly the first to examine how the president’s preferred news source played a role in the dissemination of misinformation about coronavirus.

August 7, 2020

“Fox’s longest-tenured medical analyst, Dr. Marc Siegel, told Hannity on March 6, ‘at worst, at worst, worst case scenario, it could be the flu,’” writes Stelter, who is CNN’s chief media correspondent, in the book’s prologue. “This was shockingly irresponsible stuff — and Fox executives knew it, because by the beginning of March, they were taking precautions that belied Siegel’s just-the-flu statement. The network canceled a big event for hundreds of advertisers, instituted deep cleanings of the office and began to put a work-from-home plan in place. Yet Fox’s stars kept sending mixed messages to millions of viewers.”

In a phone interview, Stelter explained how he became interested in the president’s relationship with Fox because “it’s the only story of the Trump years that’s left.” He said, “It’s not as if Trump is addicted to the best-researched, most in-depth, meticulously sourced material in the world. If he were, we’d all be better off, right?” The book was late — “I had blown through deadlines” — so, “come February and March, we realized that the pandemic was an essential part of the story because of Fox’s downplaying the disease and President Trump’s failures early on.”

January 24, 2017

“Hoax,” now in its second week on the hardcover nonfiction list, was originally called “Wingmen” because “Trump has wingmen, like Sean Hannity,” Stelter said. “My editor gets all the credit for the title. In this war on truth we are all living in, ‘hoax’ is a potent, malicious, ugly little word and Trump has been using it more every year. So has Fox.”

Stelter has been “over the moon” about the response to the book: “I keep hearing from readers who say ‘Hoax’ helps them understand their own family a little bit better. There are so many families that are divided by Fox and Trump. I think a lot of people have been surprised by just how deep and how corrupt the roots are — how there’s been collusion between Fox and Trump right in plain sight the whole time, and yet it’s not often recognized.” (NYT) https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/10/books/review/brian-stelter-hoax.html

Meanwhile, The president visited California after weeks of silence on its wildfires and blamed the crisis only on poor forest management, not climate change. “I don’t think science knows” what is happening, he said. (NYT) 

 

Thursday November 24, 2016

2016-11-24

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday November 24, 2016

Donald Trump Raises Prospect of Keeping Ties to His Firms

Donald Trump indicated Tuesday he was unlikely to disentangle himself from his business empire as fully as he previously suggested, raising questions about potential conflicts of interest while president.

Mr. Trump and his representatives said during the campaign he would have nothing to do with his businesses if he became president, promising a “total and complete separation.”

But since the election, Mr. Trump has met with foreign business partners and involved daughter Ivanka Trump in such discussions, even though he has said his children will run his companies during the presidency as a way to separate their operations from the White House.

On Tuesday, Mr. Trump told the New York Times that “the law’s totally on my side” and that “the president can’t have a conflict of interest.”

Mr. Trump’s comments came after the Republican contended with other concerns overhanging his transition. Trump University disclosed a $25 million settlement Friday resolve litigation involving allegations of fraud at the defunct organization. And Mr. Trump’s charitable foundation said in a tax filing that it had engaged in self-dealing 2015 and prior years that resulted from payments to “disqualified persons,” or foundation insiders.

The president and vice president are exempt from laws that make it a crime for all others working for the executive branch to use their public office for their own enrichment. (Source: Wall Street Journal)

 

Wednesday November 9, 2016

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Wednesday November 9, 2016

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay – Wednesday November 9, 2016

Donald Trump wins, America elects an unthinkable president

President Donald Trump. Believe it.

Trump pulled off the unthinkable once again on Tuesday, this time with colossal global consequences. The Republican businessman and former reality television star was elected president of the United States, completing an astonishing rise from political laughingstock to leader of the free world.

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay - Wednesday November 9, 2016

Trump’s victory, perhaps the most staggering election outcome in the modern history of major countries, was a repudiation of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, who was favoured in polls throughout the campaign but was widely considered dishonest and inauthentic. And it was the biggest triumph yet for the populist nationalism that has shaken countries from Britain to Venezuela.

Trump’s win may produce a period of international political, military and economic upheaval. Even before the race was called, the Dow futures market fell by 750 points, a sharper descent than immediately after the Sept. 11 attacks. Canada’s immigration website crashed.

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Justin Trudeau's fight with the forces of Brexit and Donald Trump Tuesday June 28 2016 Six months ago, Justin Trudeau went to Davos, Switzerland to pitch the World Economic Forum on a vision of shared prosperity, proper leadership and embracing diversity. A day later, David Cameron appeared on stage and tried to explain why he was preparing to plunge Britain into a referendum over its membership in the European Union. "Now, some people ask me, 'Well, why are you holding a referendum?'" he acknowledged, after explaining that his aim was for Britain to remain within a "reformed" EU. "I think it's absolutely essential to have full and proper democratic support for what Britain's place should be in Europe and that's why we're holding the referendum.Ó Oopsie. If Cameron is invited back to Davos next year, it will be as a former prime minister. He will no doubt be asked to reflect on how and why his deeply divided country decided to remove itself from the European experiment in common cause, possibly precipitating the breakup of the United Kingdom in the process. There is possibly a lesson here in how one should be careful and cautious when conducting national debates about foundational matters (like, say, electoral reform). But there are, as well, hints that what happened in Britain on Thursday night was driven by economic exclusion, political alienation and fears about immigration. Precisely the sorts of things Trudeau has seemed eager to be seen as standing against. "Simply put, everybody needs to benefit from growth in order to sustain growth," he said in Switzerland. "I believe in positive, ambitious leadership," Trudeau explained. "We need to trust citizens. "We need societies that recognize diversity as a source of strength," he added. "Not a source of weakness.Ó His is the government of the "middle class" and "real change" and 25,000 Syrian refugees. Back in January, Trudeau's appeal to div

June 28 2016

Clinton and President Barack Obama had called for a comprehensive rejection of Trumpism — his disparagement of women and minority groups, his disdain for democratic norms, his rage. Instead, a majority of white voters, and enough others, rejected their message of inclusion and incremental improvement in favour of Trump’s promise of radical transformation.

They granted immense power to an erratic, never-elected and habitually untruthful candidate whose behaviour and policy positions have alarmed much of the world — and who will face no organized opposition in Congress. Republicans retained control of the House of Representatives and appeared likely to keep the Senate. (Continued: Toronto Star)

Wednesday November 9, 2016

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Wednesday November 9, 2016

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday November 9, 2016

Even before 2016 is over, the race for 2020 is well underway

Long before the first polling places opened on Election Day 2016, the race for the 2020 Republican presidential nomination was already underway.

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator - Wednesday November 7, 2012 'The beginning of a new era in America' Pharmacy's poll finds split between headache and anger reliefÊ President Barack Obama's re-election Ñ in a ferocious campaign dotted by charges of racial anger and minority-voter suppression Ñ hasÊprovided what many blacks say will surely deepen his legacy: irrefutable evidence that his presidency is hardly a historical fluke as he hasÊnow won two national campaigns with overwhelming white support. Obama, the nation's first black president, was already soaked in history, a figure seen in the aftermath of his 2008 victory as theÊculmination of a decades-long civil rights crusade that suffered the assassination of beloved figures who fought and marched for the rightÊto vote and freely pursue the American dream. But Obama's first term as president also saw him pelted with racially charged denunciations Ñ some from politicians Ñ that reopenedÊfestering wounds and even fears in the African American community for his safety. At times it felt as if the W.E.B. Du Bois prophecy ÑÊthe problem of the 20th century would be the color line, he famously opined Ñ had leapt right into the 21st century. "In many ways," said Lonnie G. Bunch III, founding director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture,Ê"Obama's reelection can be seen as resilience on the part of the African American community." But Bunch admitted that he felt, as did many blacks in the waning weeks of the campaign, that Obama Ñ despite accomplishments in theÊwar on terrorism, a strengthening economy and passage of a universal-health-care law Ñ had been mercilessly castigated. There was jubilation on the streets of Washington with Obama's re-election. Janice Brown, 30, a staffing consultant who lives in Suitland,ÊMd., stood in a corner of Busboys and Poets restaurant, excited and relieved. "It's awesome for America. Not only is he a great leader, butÊhe is in

November 7, 2012

It has been unfolding in early primary states, where potential candidates have been introducing or reintroducing themselves. It has been on display in purple battlegrounds where they are helping in down-ballot contests. And behind the scenes, would-be contenders have sought face time with party power brokers eager to size them up.

“I think it’s already happening now,” said Rep. Tom Cole (Okla.), a veteran GOP strategist. Cole identified another significant way the prospective candidates are laying a foundation: by embracing or shunning Donald Trump.

“You’ve seen some pretty dramatic reversals of people deciding they couldn’t be for Trump and they are for Trump. Now, part of that to me is about positioning for presidential contests.”

If Trump loses on Tuesday, Republicans will be forced to choose yet again from a full slate of ambitious candidates-in-waiting with wildly divergent visions for the party’s future. Even if Trump wins, he will begin his presidency far from safe against the threat of a primary challenge, since an ample cross-section of his party has already spoken out against him.

A Trump win would also likely set off a potentially chaotic scramble on the Democratic side to field a challenger in four years. Democrats have failed to build a robust bench during Obama’s presidency, in part because of the down-ballot drubbings the party has experienced in the midterms and partly because Clinton effectively froze the field as she considered her 2016 run.

No Republican has announced they are running in 2020 if Trump loses. Most have avoided even broaching the subject publicly, to avoid appearing presumptuous.

But interviews with more than a dozen Republican strategists, elected officials, donors and rank-and-file voters show that the party has already started pondering its future options and a recognition that the auditions have started.

Among the names most often mentioned are several failed 2016 candidates who eventually — and awkwardly — came around to supporting Trump: Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.), Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.).

Some see Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who has held firm in his opposition to Trump after losing to him, as a possibility. Republicans are also intrigued by Sen. Ben Sasse (Neb.), an early Trump critic. (Source: Washington Post)

 

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay - Wednesday November 9, 2016

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay – Wednesday November 9, 2016 (Drawn at midnight before a declared winner)

 

Wednesday March 7, 2012

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Wednesday March 7, 2012

Super Tuesday voters have their say in GOP race

Mitt Romney is angling to solidify his front-runner status and Rick Santorum to keep it a two-man race as voters in 10 states put Super Tuesday’s imprint on the Republican presidential contest. Newt Gingrich just hopes to keep his struggling campaign alive with a strong showing in Georgia.

With Ohio looming large in the Super Tuesday lineup, textbook editor Heather Froelich outside Columbus gave her vote to Romney, saying: “He understands the economy.”

Enthusiasm was in short supply among some of those casting ballots.

Mr. Gingrich got a reluctant vote from Tricia Tetrault, in Edmond, Okla., where she explained her decision this way: “Ronald Reagan wasn’t available any more. What can I say?”

Mr. Santorum got the support of contractor Matt Howells in suburban Cleveland, but Mr. Howells didn’t expect his ballot would count for much.

With 419 delegates at stake around the country, Tuesday’s voting represents a sizable slice of the 1,144 needed to nail down the GOP nomination.

Mr. Romney, who turned back Mr. Santorum in a close contest in Michigan last week, hoped to continue his winning trend. He has won four consecutive contests, including Saturday’s Washington caucuses.

The GOP front-runner, trying to keep his focus on President Barack Obama, used a speech Tuesday before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee to argue he’d be more effective at containing Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Mr. Santorum and Mr. Gingrich, too, addressed the committee and faulted the president’s record on Iran and the Mideast. (Source: Globe & Mail)