When Michael Moore released his anti-Trump screed Fahrenheit 11/9, in 2018, I was still in a mood of electoral shellshock. I was very much seeking an answer to the question the director posed in voice-over at the beginning of the film: “How the f--- did this happen?” It’s amazing how time has made armchair pundits out of all of us. Hindsight being what it is, Trump’s … [Read more...]
‘Fahrenheit 11/9’: No solutions, but deeply entertaining anger
Michael Moore’s voice-over during the prologue to Fahrenheit 11/9 adopts the tone of an enthusiastic parent reading a nation its bedtime story. And why shouldn’t it? It’s Nov. 7, 2016, and history is soon to be made: The future first female president is about to begin Election Day, and by all accounts will cruise to a landslide victory. Pollsters place her chances of … [Read more...]
Letter from Edinburgh: No love lost in Scotland for Trump
By Chloe Elder As an expat living in Scotland, I often find myself in conversations disparaging the state of my homeland. My American accent simply seems to invite a political discussion. Even a trip to the local fish and chip shop welcomes remarks like, “Oh, you’re American? That’s too bad.” The sentiment, however, is one of commiseration rather than accusation. The … [Read more...]
Historian Meacham optimistic Trump can be more presidential
By Dale King Citizens seem destined to continue protesting, arguing about and fretting over the status of the American presidency and the capacity of newly installed office holder Donald J. Trump to lead the nation. In the midst of this turmoil, an expert in presidential history, Jon Meacham, visited Boca Raton on Monday evening as part of Festival of the Arts Boca’s … [Read more...]
Lapham: History’s lessons may help us save our democracy
Lewis Lapham is not impressed by the anti-Trump demonstrations that have erupted since the inauguration. Democracy, says the former editor of Harper’s Magazine, has been under “systematic assault by a kind of plutocracy, a government for the rich by the rich,” for 30 years. Donald Trump, he says, is a symptom of of anti-democratic trends long brewing, not the cause of … [Read more...]