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Time for Dems to get serious about their future
Gee, what’s happened to the “silly season” of U.S. politics?

Trump drives wedges into his own movement
Remember when then-candidate Donald Trump said during an Iowa campaign rally in 2016 that he “could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters, OK?” I quickly put that aside as just another example of the New Yorker’s outlandish braggadocio, but like other political observers I have since been impressed by Trump’s seeming wall of invulnerability to scandal. However, as the Jeffrey Epstein scandal boils up around our ears, I have begun to notice some cracks.

Trump’s name game is a pitch to his base, by Clarence Page
As if he didn’t have enough on his mind in late summer, President Trump has called on two professional sports teams to revert to their former names — which unfortunately sound to many ears like racial slurs.

Is the Epstein scandal behind us? Don’t bet on it, by Clarence Page
When a reporter asked Attorney General Pam Bondi about the Jeffrey Epstein investigation last week, President Trump could not contain himself a moment longer.“Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein?” he said, pushing back against the question. “This guy’s been talked about for years. … Are people still talking about this guy? This creep? That is unbelievable.”

New York’s mayoral race a testing ground for a Democratic comeback?, by Clarence Page
A seasoned veteran of Chicago politics once told me that it often takes Democrats a couple of four-year cycles out of office before they can pull their fractious factions together into a winning coalition.

Did you miss a national holiday, Mr. President?, by Clarence Page
Juneteenth came and went last Thursday, but curiously something seemed to be missing from the annual celebration: a cordial salute from the president of the United States.

Trump embraces South Africans — the white ones, by Clarence Page
President Trump’s refugee policy reminds me of what automaker Henry Ford supposedly said about his company’s Model T: “A customer can have a car painted any color he wants as long as it’s black.”

Will Trump have Chicago to kick around anymore? by Clarence Page
Will Donald Trump have Chicago to kick around anymore? That question, an update of Richard Nixon’s memorable farewell to news reporters as he dropped out of the California governor’s race in 1962, came to mind on the heels of some unusually welcome news about violent crime in Chicago.

Durbin’s departure stirs a scramble, by Clarence Page
As President Trump’s polling takes a tumble 100 days into his second term — and Dick Durbin, the Senate’s second-ranking Democrat, announces his retirement, a very old hit tune by Ethel Waters comes to mind: “There’ll be some changes made.”

Timely pushback against Trump-Musk secrecy deals, by Clarence Page
It’s not easy to steal the spotlight from two seasoned publicity lovers like President Trump and Elon Musk, but Musk’s 4-year-old son X AE A-Xii, or “X” for short, made it look easy during his Oval Office visit.

Enjoy Black History Month—while you can, by Clarence Page
Back when a public backlash began to rise up mostly among white parents against “critical race theory,” I joked as to whether Black History Month might be next. I don’t joke about that anymore.