Free Republic

Plausible deniability is a politician’s best friend. It’s something politicians seek to maintain in all circumstances by giving vanilla statements that offer future wiggle room. For President Trump, though, plausible deniability is a way of life. The ability to pretend he didn’t actually say what he seems to have just said is something Trump has weaponized and exploited. It’s something he wields against his opponents in an effort to constantly muddy the waters and rally his supporters against a common enemy. The controversy in recent days over Trump’s tweets shows exactly what he’s doing: He is constantly trolling by saying...

Here is just a tiny, tiny sample of the reaction on the Huffington Post to the announcement that William Kristol will be writing a weekly column in the New York Times: “William ‘the Bloody’ Kristol is a beady eyed warmonger.” “Worthless suck up Kristol should be cleaning toilets in public restrooms for his GOP ‘friends.’” “I will never, ever, buy another issue of the newspaper, I will never again be a subscriber to your newspaper and I will do my level best to avoid any purchases from any NY Times advertiser.” “If the New York Times is going to hire...