People say things are “unbelievable” more often to express amazed admiration than to convey genuine incredulity. President Trump does it all the time, as when he said, “We are going to have an unbelievable … turnout for the inauguration.” It was a boast, not a warning that he’d make implausible claims.
It’s worth remembering this when reading the Atlantic magazine’s story about the president insulting American war fighters. Meaning depends on context. Even aside from any dishonesty among the magazine’s anonymous sources — many on-the-record sources say the claims are false — there is room for skepticism about the horrible malignancy of some of Trump’s reported comments.
For example, he is said to have stood with Gen. John Kelly at the graveside of Kelly’s son, Robert (killed in action in Afghanistan in 2010), and turned to the bereaved father and remarked, “I don’t get it. What was in it for them?”
Kelly took this as a ham-handed effort to compliment the selflessness of the armed forces. That’s how it struck me, too, and, given that, is a logical interpretation in the circumstances. Only later did Kelly think it reflected crass inability to understand martial valor. Trump is undoubtedly crude to the point of brutality on occasions but even oftener is merely clumsy. His comment seems to be a stumbling effort by a guy who talks like a Queens construction worker to say something admiring and sympathetic. He did it poorly, but characteristically.
You have to want to see the worst to believe without doubt that Trump was frankly dismissive to the grieving father. Trump’s detractors portray him as the ugliest of monsters, far worse than even his genuine and serious limitations fairly allow.
As we approach Nov. 3, a big doubt about Joe Biden is whether he controls or is controlled by the Left. Our cover illustration captures this perfectly, with a puny Biden clinging to a tiger by the tail. Reporter Joseph Simonson digs into the question, and it doesn’t seem that the candidate is resisting the ravenous predations his party is planning for America’s future.
Commentary Editor Philip Klein also focuses on the issue of who is in control, writing that the Left has already beaten the largely willing news media into submission with accusations that they helped Trump filch victory from Hillary Clinton in 2016. In penance, media outlets (see above) are doing their utmost to drag Biden across the finish line to the Oval Office.
Life & Arts contains excellent offerings this week. Philip Terzian reviews Byron York’s new bestseller, Obsession, about the Democrats’ monomania with impeaching President Trump. Naomi Schaefer Riley disembowels a woman called Risher, who can’t cope with being richer. Eric Felten hopes he can take off his mask next spring to smell the flowers he’s planting this autumn. And Rob Long ponders the efficacy and profit available in doing nothing.
