Ye Shall Know Them By Their Debt

DONALD TRUMP CERTAINLY knows how to drive the news cycle.

- Matt Welch

When archivists of the future pore through the headlines from September 2017, they will see not only the real-world calamities of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, but such Trump-driven ephemera as calling the leader of North Korea “Rocket Man,” accusing old sparring partner Sen. John McCain (R–Ariz.) of delivering “a tremendous slap in the face to the Republican Party,” and sending the entire country into a culture-war tizzy over the once small number of professional football players who kneel in protest during “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

Jesus taught us that “ye shall know them by their fruits,” but as the Republican-led 115th Congress stumbles from one legislative nonstarter to the next, it’s becoming clearer that the president’s main fruits are his tweets. It took Barack Obama five years to get to the “pen and phone” executive-action phase of his presidency; it has taken Trump around five months. “It’s really caught on. It’s really caught on,” the president reportedly bragged to GOP lawmakers on Day 5 of his fabricated National Anthem feud with the National Football League.