Opinion

Good morning. I’m Paul Thornton, and it is Saturday, Oct. 12, 2019. Beginning on a positive note, we should celebrate the fact that the Dodgers will avoid losing three World Series in a row. Let’s take a look back at the week in Opinion.Last Friday, the Kurds in northern Syria went to bed after yet another day existing precariously between warring factions that would brutalize them were it not for the skeletal presence of U.S. forces. On Monday, the Kurds faced a military incursion from Turkish forces and a renewed threat from Islamic State made possible by a sudden American withdrawal. What happened?This is one of those rare cases in which a president like Donald Trump can have immediate, deadly and long-lasting consequences, thanks to both the vast powers vested in the position of commander in chief and the malignant incompetence of the person holding it.President Trump deserves blame for mishandling a number of issues, but a problem like the trade war with China was … [Read more...] about Newsletter: How dangerous is Trump? Ask the Kurds

For better or worse, we no longer live in a media environment where any one news anchor matters that much. So, as the rest of the media expresses obsessive shock over the sudden and immediate departure of long-time Fox News mainstay Shepard Smith, it is easy to conclude that this story is being overplayed out of classic media narcissism. In this particular case that would be a false assumption. You can make a strong argument that, because of the timing and circumstances, this is the most significant move of its kind in the post-Internet era of news media — probably even more substantial than the demise of Brian Williams and Matt Lauer at NBC. Let’s first stipulate that, based on the current factual record, it’s hard to see how Smith made this decision totally of his own free will. He said today that it was his idea and that Fox News asked him to stay on, but this doesn’t appear to be the full story. We are heading into one of the most substantial periods of news … [Read more...] about Shepard Smith’s Fox News Exit is a Huge Deal

Things that made me nod, scratch or shake my head this week: Finally: For more than two years, dirt and crabgrass marked the spot where 3-year-old Zayden Lawson was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Maplewood. The boy suffered fatal injuries on June 7, 2017, at the hands of his foster mother’s boyfriend. Both are serving time in prison. Given that Lawson was a ward of Ramsey County, relatives could not place a headstone at the boy’s burial site on their own. in a Sept. 21 column. “He was a beloved child technically but he was also a beloved brother, nephew, son, grandson and cousin. That’s what we would like said on it.” County officials explained part of the delay was due to not hearing back from relatives about a possible design for the headstone. It wasn’t until May of this year that the county ordered the headstone, which apparently was placed on the slain boy’s grave in recent days.“Thank you!! Not what we wanted but something … [Read more...] about Rosario: On a slain boy, security bills and baseball trades

Ben Shapiro has some serious issues about independent schools, gay rights and Beto O’Rourke. What has Shapiro so riled up this time?! During a CNN Town Hall, Thursday night which focused on the rights of LGBTQ+, O’Rourke curiously advocated for forcing religious institutions to support gay marriage or lose their tax-exempt status. “There can be no reward, no benefit, no tax break for anyone or any institution or any organization in America that denies the full human rights and the full civil rights of every single one us,” he declared. “So as president we’re going to make that a priority and we’re going to stop those who are infringing upon the human rights of our fellow Americans.” This dubious comment was pretty much immediately derided as unconstitutional by conservatives and progressives alike, but Shapiro’s piqued response was next level. “You want a culture war in America,” the diminutive conservative … [Read more...] about Ben Shapiro Threatens Beto O’Rourke Over Religion

Brendan Smialowski /Getty Image Last night, according to even this website, Democratic co-frontrunner Senator Elizabeth Warren “brought down the house” at the CNN “Equality Townhall” with a “drop the mic” moment. While extremely well received among progressives, this remarkable exchange with a questioner is also sure to become a ready-made Trump campaign ad if she ends up winning the Democratic presidential nomination. The question was about how Warren would speak to a “traditional” person of “faith” on the campaign trail regarding her support of same-sex marriage. Her response, while clearly designed for the woke crowd in the room, was a shocking unforced error for someone who will likely have to win at least either Pennsylvania or Florida to defeat President Donald Trump. Her initial reaction was, inexplicably, to presume rather contemptuously that such a question is so dumb and bigoted that it could only come from a … [Read more...] about Media’s Enabling of Elizabeth Warren is Giving Trump a Shot