Choices for November

For John, BLUF:  Changes will not always give us what we thought we would get.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Shrink presidency to improve candidates

The sub-headline in Law Professor Glenn Harlan Reynolds' USA Today article is:  "Less power and celebrity might attract White House hopefuls more likable than Trump or Clinton."

Here is the lede plus two:

The primaries are over, it looks like it’s going to be Hillary Clinton vs. Donald Trump, and a lot of people are unhappy.

“Don't let anyone steal that disgust from your heart," Michael Brendan Dougherty writes in The Week.  "Don't let anyone tell you that the nearly uncontrollable urge to retch at the thought of this election is disproportionate, or somehow uncivil.  When you contemplate the fate of your country in 2016, you have the right to be depressed, or even despairing.”

Well, as Adam Smith observed centuries ago, there is a lot of ruin in even a great nation.  But it does feel like we’re putting that observation to the test right now.

I take the Professor's point.  We have a problem.  I am not sure we all agree on the causes, but the candidacy of Mr Trump has shown the Democrats that the profligate abuse of power by Mr Obama would not be desirable in the hands of a Mr Trump.

But all of the above does not mean there isn't a dime's worth of difference between the two presumptive candidates, Ms Clinton and Mr Trump.  Mr Trump about who we don't know enough and Ms Clinton about who we know too much.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff