Certainly on the Republican side, the presidential race has crashed through the looking glass into Alice’s Wonderland replete with Mad Hatters and tea parties.  The Republican debate last Thursday reaffirmed this condition, dare we say in spades.  Three of the candidates are incredulous and most likely unelectable.  The fourth was the only adult on the stage and hence unlikely to win the nomination.   How America got to this point is useful in informing how we extricate ourselves from the grim electoral prospects that lie ahead especially if the leading Democratic candidate is indicted for mishandling classified material on private e-mail accounts.  Only in America….   Donald Trump is, at [...]

A country is at great risk when the irrational overtakes and becomes the surrogate for the rational. And a country is at graver risk when the public succumbs to a willing suspension of disbelief in this free fall descent into irrationality. Yet, this could be the state of American politics and governance today---a condition that eludes adequate description by the English language and the current vocabulary.   Regarding the presidential campaigns, some argue that the anger and resentment of many Americans towards the failures of government have created the means for irrationality to reign.  One of the candidates has concluded that the “stupidity” of government is the root cause of [...]