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Trump’s ‘Passions and Interests’

Trump’s ‘Passions and Interests’

Adam J. MacLeod

Over at Public Discourse, political scientist Carson Holloway argued that Republicans should stop treating Trump's supporters as irrational. Those supporters are acting in their own interests, as they assess them, and anyone who wants to woo them should appeal to those interests. Appeal to principles will not do the job. Political realism is required. Holloway thinks that the Founders, who understood the power of interests, would have agreed.

Trump himself is, of course, unprincipled. He acts in his own interests without much regard for moral constraints or enduring or universal principles. He is uncivil, casually throwing around epithets such as "liar," "choke artist," "goofy," and "fool." He is famously sexually incontinent. He was for abortion before he was against it. And so on.

Intolerance from Brown students, progressive religious leaders and the Trumpian strongman
Blogs

Intolerance from Brown students, progressive religious leaders and the Trumpian strongman

Justin Katz

The spectacle of Brown University students' shouting down a peaceful press conference expressing concern about admitting too many Syrian refugees was a brief incident on a relatively minor issue in Rhode Island and would not, on the basis of scale, merit multiple posts (or a forthcoming parody song), but it has the feel of a snapshot of where America is and a warning of where it's headed.

In my recent post, I focused on the Brown Students who strolled over to the State House because they didn't want to hear what some speakers there had to say. But another part of Karen Lee Ziner's article on the event ought to catch our attention:

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