None of us can escape our own hypocrisy, but how can Hillary blame misogyny for her loss when she was married to a serial abuser (whom she enabled), her assistant’s husband was convicted of predatory behavior, and one of her largest donors is being drawn and quartered for behavior few in the corporate world would ever tolerate.

Trump is accused of pushing too much, losing focus, and overloading Congress. I do not disagree but it probably fits his style. Some leaders (and writers) carefully plan and proceed, and some push multiple inchoate objectives, accept what sticks, and circle back to the ones that failed or move on. They feel they accomplish more by hitting 30% of ten objectives than 50% of four objectives.  It is the runs that are remembered, not the outs.

One morning I bounced between Morning Joe on MSNBC and Fox.  I realize that these have often provided opposing ends of the spectrum but the difference now is striking.  The mood on Morning Joe was depressing and somber, filled with the dread of a president with no redeeming value, motivated by nothing more than ego, ignorance, and destruction.  Fox was, not surprisingly, affirmative on many of the President’s recent initiatives, yet critical of others- particularly his attacks on the press. The difference is more acute than ever in both tone and substance.

One should be most cautious about creating a source of power unless you can imagine that power in the hands of your worst nightmare.  Harry Reid eliminated the filibuster on lower court judges and now Trump is loading the lower courts with Scalias.  Obama expressed disdain for the obstructionism of Congress and usurped legislative powers that are now being used to unravel his accomplishments.  The left’s focus on the courts made it a target for the right and one of the reasons marginal independents avoided Hillary. Their attack on gerrymandering could also come to bite them.

The right thought Obama was a fluke, fortunate in his timing in ’08 of running in the middle of a recession. His legitimacy, however, was confirmed in 2012.  The left may be making this same mistake by focusing more on Trump legitimacy and psychological fitness than their own flaws.  Joan Williams in White Working Class and Mark Lilla in The Once And Future Liberal are challenging the perception of their fellow Democrats but failing to address their policy failures.  Their party is not listening… yet.

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