This morning I started the day with the great John Oakley on Toronto's AM640. In light of the latest revelations re Donald Trump - he raped at least one of his wives!!! his kids have killed and grilled every single animal on the endangered species list!!!!! - we discussed the way the normal rules of American politics apparently do not apply to the new GOP frontrunner.
Given that the "normal rules" of American politics have delivered America into the hands of a permanent ruling class content to preside over a hyper-regulated, corrupt, cronyist, indebted borderless ruin mitigated according to taste by a deranged hyper-sexualized identity-politics totalitarianism hunting down homophobic bakers and confederate-flag decals, I'm rather relaxed about that. Your mileage may vary. But the fact is that in a two-party system the Democratic Party is relatively effective at delivering to its voters the world they want to live in. The Republican Party not so much. Responding to my attack on the GOP's consultant class, one of its most eminent members, Rick Wilson, responds:
@WillvonKaenel @MarkSteynOnline Weird. There are twice as many elected Rs in the county [sic] today than 15 years ago. Yeah, we built that.
Built what? If the purpose of a political party is to elect officeholders to sit in offices, you're doing great. But that's kind of Trump's point, isn't it?
Whether the Trump bubble can last till the New Hampshire primary is certainly doubtful. But then the conventional wisdom has it that calling Mexicans "rapists" will damage Republican outreach plans for a mariachi arrangement of "Hail To The Chief", while Trump has insisted all along that he's every Hispanic's dream ticket. And whaddaya know?
POLL: Trump Leads GOP Field Among Hispanics
~John and I also discussed climate change and, to be honest, my preferred Donald - Donald Sutherland, a great actor, albeit one of drearily predictable political bent. Click below to listen:
~Re that book that John mentioned, it's Climate Change: The Facts, and I'm happy to autograph it for you. But don't overlook my new one: it's all the fun of a DC Superior Court brief, but with cartoons. (They're already talking about it at Yahoo!)
~One Canadian who probably skipped this morning's Oakley show chit-chat is reader Ken Baskin, who writes apropos Monday's TV appearance on Hannity:
Love it when your hands clutch a keyboard - clutching a microphone, not so much. Timing, Mark, timing. I almost pity Sean Hannity as you brush aside his next question to continue a monologue. Much like the McEnroe brothers who destroy good tennis matches, you seem to be paid by the word. Brevity, Mark, brevity. Please.
Ken Baskin
~On the subject of running long, as one of the few guys not yet dead or in the witness protection program, I'll be speaking at interminable length in Copenhagen on the tenth anniversary of the Danish Mohammed cartoons (unless the Allahu Akbar guy takes the same attitude to my rhetorical style as Mr Baskin does and decides to detonate early). A UK reader writes to say there's really no excuse for you Brits not to be there en masse:
Just a quick one – worth noting re Mark's Copenhagen gig that return flights on the day itself from Luton Airport with good old Ryanair are currently as low as £20. Mo-nanza!
Tim Collins
Book early! More details on my Danish foray here.
