The Odd Couples of the Democratic Party - The New York Times

Gail: The only thing I know for sure is that I do not want to be involved in a serious international conflict while You Know Who is in the White House.

Bret: The question is what happens next. I would be surprised if the Iranians opted to strike at us or our allies militarily, because it would give Trump the excuse he needs to hit them very hard.

My guess is they’ll stick to their political options. So far, they’ve taken careful steps away from the nuclear deal (though I doubt they’ll dramatically increase production of nuclear fuel) and used their influence in Iraq to get its Parliament to push for the withdrawal of American forces.

Still, a larger war could happen, especially since wounded national pride is at stake. If so, it will either hand Trump an easy re-election if the war is swift, contained and decisive; or hand him a massive defeat if it’s not.

Gail: Neither of those options is desirable in any way, shape or form. Let’s go for a complicated, messy and nonviolent resolution that doesn’t satisfy anybody. And by the way, I noticed that while this administration was going nuts about a political demonstration in Iraq, nobody was saying a thing about the fact that Vladimir Putin is bragging about his new cool weapon that can supposedly carry a nuclear warhead 3,800 miles an hour.

Bret, this has now been about three times as long as we’ve ever talked about foreign affairs, and I’m ready to duck back into my domestic bunker. What do you think is going to happen on the impeachment front?

Bret: I wouldn’t be surprised if nothing happens, at least for a while. It’s what the Russians call a “frozen conflict.” Democrats get to tell their voters they’ve fulfilled their pledge to impeach the president and blame Senate Republicans for refusing to conduct a fair trial. Republicans can retort that Democrats were unable to muster anything more than a partisan impeachment, and now lack the courage of their convictions.

Source: The New York Times

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Keywords:

History of the United States Democratic Party • White House • Donald Trump • Nuclear fuel • Iraq • Islamic Consultative Assembly • Donald Trump • Demonstration (protest) • Iraq • Vladimir Putin • The New Cool (book) • Nuclear weapon • Nuclear weapon • Impeachment • Russian Empire • Frozen conflict • Democracy • President of the United States • United States Senate • Republican Party (United States) • Right to a fair trial • Republican Party (United States) • Democracy • Partisan (political) • Impeachment •