Thiessen Balances His Policy Defense Of Trump

Thiessen Balances His Policy Defense Of Trump

Several days ago I posted on Marc A. Thiessen’s defense of 10 policies by Trump in WaPo.  I must now credit him with today on New Year’s Eve in the same venue publishing a column “The 10 worst things Trump did in 2019.”  Good for him, some balance after all.  I agree these are all bad things, although I disagree with some of his analysis of them, with a few caveats especially on a couple of the foreign policy items.  However, I shall just list them with Thiessen’s conclusion.

10. He ridiculously claimed “Our country is FULL”

9. He used anti-Semitic tropes to attack his enemies.

8. He said the Soviet Union was right to invade Afghanistan and congratulated China on the 70th anniversary of the Communist takeover.

7. He lost a needless government shutdown.

6. He used his emergency authority to circumvent Congress on the border  wall.

5. He continued to spread the canard that the United States is fighting “endless wars.”

4. He continued to attack dead people.

3. He asked the president of Ukraine to investigate Hunter Biden.

2. He invited the Taliban to Camp David.

1. He gave Turkey a green light to invade Syria and attack out Kurdish allies.

Thiessen concludes with the following paragraph:

“In past years, many entries on my ‘worst’ list were mistakes of style, not substance. But this year, the number and seriousness of the president’s substantive mistakes grew.  On balance, the good still outweighs the bad in the Trump presidency.  But the bad is getting worse.”

Again, Happy New Year, you all!

Barkley Rosser