CARLOS LOZADA

Maybe Mexicans are lazy except when they’re taking everyone’s jobs.

History privileges no right side, and the arc [of history] can bend so that it loops back upon us.

American presidents get the scandals they deserve. Richard Nixon's paranoia produced Watergate. Ronald Reagan's indifference contributed to Iran-contra. Bill Clinton's appetites led to impeachment. And Donald Trump's delusions - about his singular abilities and the impunity of his office - are propelling the crisis of legitimacy threatening his presidency. No matter how distinct presidential scandals appear in their origins, however, there is also a weary sameness to how presidents react to them, how Washington mobilizes for them, how history looms over them.

Viciousness and prejudice flow from economic dislocation, and in turn feed it.

For Trump staffers and enablers, the dilemma is different. There are few illusions about their leader left to be shattered. Their true challenge is less about surviving Trump's eruptions than simply living with the choice they've made, convincing themselves that service to the nation - passing a tax cut, forestalling a war, reducing immigration - is worth it.

These [rich peoples] movements sell their efforts not as benefitting the rich alone—that would be too … tacky. Instead they claim to protect freedom, promote growth, safeguard the Constitution or fend off the ever-more-intrusive government.

During presidential scandals, the White House peddles the illusion that the president and top aides are undistracted, that the nation's business remains foremost in their minds, when in fact the political challenges threaten to overpower all else.

The nature of politics is to subtract meaning from language.

The current president does not even attempt to save face. Fact-checkers have documented so many of Trump's false or misleading statements during the 2016 campaign and into the first year of his presidency that there is no presumption of honesty left to squander. Even when Trump dismisses the fact checks as fake news - in effect, being dishonest about his dishonesty - it doesn't seem to matter. Trump's relentless attacks against anyone seeking to hold him accountable help neutralize the impact on his supporters.

The nature of politics is to subtract meaning from language.

These [rich peoples] movements sell their efforts not as benefitting the rich alone—that would be too … tacky. Instead they claim to protect freedom, promote growth, safeguard the Constitution or fend off the ever-more-intrusive government.

History privileges no right side, and the arc [of history] can bend so that it loops back upon us.

Viciousness and prejudice flow from economic dislocation, and in turn feed it.

Maybe Mexicans are lazy except when they’re taking everyone’s jobs.

American presidents get the scandals they deserve. Richard Nixon's paranoia produced Watergate. Ronald Reagan's indifference contributed to Iran-contra. Bill Clinton's appetites led to impeachment. And Donald Trump's delusions - about his singular abilities and the impunity of his office - are propelling the crisis of legitimacy threatening his presidency. No matter how distinct presidential scandals appear in their origins, however, there is also a weary sameness to how presidents react to them, how Washington mobilizes for them, how history looms over them.

The current president does not even attempt to save face. Fact-checkers have documented so many of Trump's false or misleading statements during the 2016 campaign and into the first year of his presidency that there is no presumption of honesty left to squander. Even when Trump dismisses the fact checks as fake news - in effect, being dishonest about his dishonesty - it doesn't seem to matter. Trump's relentless attacks against anyone seeking to hold him accountable help neutralize the impact on his supporters.

For Trump staffers and enablers, the dilemma is different. There are few illusions about their leader left to be shattered. Their true challenge is less about surviving Trump's eruptions than simply living with the choice they've made, convincing themselves that service to the nation - passing a tax cut, forestalling a war, reducing immigration - is worth it.

During presidential scandals, the White House peddles the illusion that the president and top aides are undistracted, that the nation's business remains foremost in their minds, when in fact the political challenges threaten to overpower all else.