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1. Large government is inevitably inefficient, but so, too, is large private enterprise.
2. George W. Bush, a charming and utterly gracious man, was a catastrophic twofer. He took the United States to war in Iraq, a wrenching debacle: more than 4,000 Americans dead, nearly 32,000 wounded, and the Middle East destabilized with Iranian influence enhanced.
3. To anyone other than an adamant social conservative, Pence is shockingly unreasonable. But he is also shockingly hypocritical.
4. Something about the Clintons sets the GOP to howling at the moon.
5. The grieving are surely owed our empathy, but capital punishment can neither right a wrong nor prevent another from happening.
6. Heroism is a matter of choice.
7. There is only so much chaos a nation can stand.
8. Trump’s juvenilia stands in stark contrast to Obama’s measured words.
9. Maybe the best example of the unmuscled hero is Humphrey Bogart in ‘Casablanca.’ Bogart was 15 years older than Ingrid Bergman, and it did not matter at all. He had the experience, the confidence, the internal strength that can only come with age.
10. A presidential candidate needs a slogan.
11. The ultimate question is whether the name Donald Trump will be attached to an era — whether he will so change America that it will never be the same afterward.
12. If every senator looks into the mirror and sees a future president, then every president looks into that same mirror and sees himself on Mount Rushmore.
13. Lots of men have failed as presidents, as Trump surely will, but few fail so dismally as role models. He’s a boy’s idea of a man. He’s a man’s idea of a boy.
14. Private enterprise cannot rebuild the nation’s infrastructure or keep our research institutions vibrant. Government must do what only it can do.
15. I came of age when jobs were plentiful and college not exorbitantly expensive. I graduated with debt, but it was manageable, and I set off to do something I loved — journalism.
16. Trump lies when confronted with the truth, since any crack in his narcissism might spread like an Ebola of the soul, and he would deflate like one of Macy’s balloons on the Friday after Thanksgiving.
17. Harvey Weinstein does not personify American liberalism any more than Bill O’Reilly personifies American conservatism.
18. I served in the Army. I worked at blue-collar jobs. I washed dishes and bused tables.
19. It has become commonplace to call Trump a reality TV star. That is said as an aspersion, the way Ronald Reagan was called an actor. But Reagan’s acting experience, his ability to talk to the camera and not yell to the hall, is what helped make him such a good politician. It is the same with Trump.
20. It has become increasingly difficult for states or the federal government to apply the death penalty. But why even try? Nothing is accomplished, and while the chances of making a mistake are now diminished — DNA can prove guilt as well as innocence — life in prison is a worthy substitute.