Trendlines, Not Headlines

Watch President Clinton outline the state of the world as he opens yesterday’s session of the Clinton Global Initiative.  There is so much to be hopeful about — as seen more clearly in the trendlines than the headlines — and so much in what he and his team have helped catalyze since leaving office to marvel at.

Watch President Obama address the state of equality — and pretty much everything else — at the DNC’s LGBT dinner in New York last night.  He was in a good mood.  [UPDATE: Oh, nuts – that link is to C-SPAN’s coverage of last years’s speech.  As soon as I can find a link to this year’s, I’ll fix.  But here’s the transcript — though you’ll miss some priceless facial expressions.]

And behold The Donald’s tax plan.  He would cut taxes for almost everyone — and cut from 39.6% to 25% the top rate on the best off and from 35% to 15% for corporations — even as he scraps Obamacare and gives great private health care “to everybody” at government expense, ramps up military spending, repairs our crumbling infrastructure, and deports 11 million or more folks so Americans can pick their own tomatoes — think of it!  10 million great jobs brought back from China and Mexico with 11 million fewer people to do them . . . surely no inflationary pressure on wages or upward pressure on interest rates in that scenario, yes? . . .  less tax revenue and higher expenditures yet, presumably, because it’s Donald Trump, a yuuuuge budget surplus because growth will be so beauitful, it will be so amazing, you won’t believe how great the growth will be, even better than it was under Reagan/Bush (about 3% a year, during whose 12 years the National Debt quadrupled).

The great thing about “Trump Wall” — did I mention this? — besides being really beautiful and impenetrable and paid for by Mexico — is that it will have a beautiful door for most of those 11 million to come right back through.  Wait!  I’ve got an idea!  How about instead of spending a fortune to round up 11 million people, totally disrupting their lives and those of their employers . . . and then processing, say, 10 million of them back through, leaving behind only the drug dealers and rapists . . . why not just sign into law the comprehensive immigration bill the last Senate already passed 68 to 32 that would accomplish the same thing without all the expense amd disruption?  Just round up the the million rapists and drug dealers instead?

The Donald is entertaining, for sure, but will not be the nominee.

Watch two real presidents — amazing presidents — above.

(And contrast them with the very likeable George W. Bush, who didn’t know who the president of Pakistan was — but how much do you really need to know about stuff to be a good president and lead the world effectively if you’ve got good gut instincts and love America?)