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The term Latinx is supposedly needed as a gender-neutral word to describe voters of Latino or Latina origin. For the most part, pressure to use Latinx comes from Anglo radicals and liberals, not from Hispanics. Now, a reputable pollster has confirmed that most Latinos and Latinas—98 percent, to be precise—don’t like the word. For starters, Latinx violates the architecture of the Spanish language. Spanish solves the gender problem in its own way—using a to indicate female, and o to signal male. You got a problem with that? [...]

GDP grew at just 1.9 percent in the third quarter, well below last year’s average of 2.9 percent and far below the Trump administration’s prediction for 3.2 percent for all of 2019. Trump will be lucky if the economy delivers 2 percent growth for the year. The Fed duly cut rates, but low interest rates can only do so much. Mainly, they are pumping up a speculative stock market. Why is the economy slowing? Global growth is weakening, and [...]

It was the deep state that killed Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State—and Trump’s impetuousness, love of dictators, and abrupt troop withdrawal that almost destroyed the secret operation. Trump’s spin, bragging about an operation that he damn near upended, immediately collapsed. What is the deep state? It is career public officials, civilian and military, who have a sense of integrity and patriotism; people who have risked their careers to testify in the impeachment investigation against the wishes of the [...]

Goldman Sachs is no longer the ultimate giant squid, wrapping its toxic tentacles around the whole economy. Goldman has fallen to second place. First place goes to Amazon. There is a Whole Foods in my neighborhood. I shop there as little as possible, but once in a while, it can’t be helped. They used to have a terrific selection of teas. Yesterday, I noticed that most of the favorite brands have been expunged, in favor of Whole Foods’ crappy [...]

For several days, Democrats and Republicans alike have been puzzling over why President Trump would sell out America’s most loyal and key geostrategic allies in the Mideast, the Kurds. The current explanation is that Trump, after a phone call with Turkish President Erdogan, impulsively decided to consult no advisers, and withdrew the 5,000 U.S. troops who had been preventing Turkey and Syria from overrunning the Kurds. This move strengthens not only Syria and Turkey but also the influence of [...]

Far too often, the Democratic nominating process is a prolonged demolition derby, one that goes on far too long, leaving bad feelings, a divided party, and a wounded candidate. By some bizarre mix of random events and luck, this could be the year when the nominee is effectively known before the first primary. As readers of these posts will know, I have been a huge admirer of Elizabeth Warren since I first met her more than 15 years ago. [...]

Economic growth is clearly slowing. Manufacturing output is down, as are exports, thanks to Trump’s trade cold war with China. The government has run out of stimulus tricks. Even interest rates that are close to zero, plus an immense fiscal jolt in the form of a trillion-dollar deficit (courtesy of Trump’s tax cut for the rich) isn’t fixing what’s broken. Corporate America is sitting on trillions in profits that it can’t find ways to invest. Thus, stock buybacks. (This [...]

At some point, Republicans are going to have to admit that the king is mad. Trump’s latest gambit, his contention that House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff should be arrested for treason—for accurately summarizing the whistleblower complaint—shows just how unhinged Trump has become. Many commentators had argued that a formal impeachment investigation would be risky. Their argument was that impeachment would divert attention from pocketbook issues, the Democrats’ strong suit, on whose basis Democrats made big gains in the [...]

I take my hat off to The New York Times and The Washington Post for their superb investigative coverage of Trump’s self-immolation. However … There is another aspect of the Times that demonstrates just how out of touch the Paper of Record is with the way most people actually live—its fawning over elite consumption and food. The Times Food section yesterday included a three-page photo spread called “The World at Dinner.” In a stab at multiculturalism, the feature displayed happy families, with children and parents around dining room tables, [...]