Michael Winship

January 4, 2021 – Ever since it first was published in 1956, there has been a joke about John F. Kennedy’s book Profiles in Courage (largely ghosted by speechwriter and advisor Ted Sorensen), historical portraits of eight US senators who demonstrated bravery in the face of enormous political opposition. Kennedy himself and others kidded that the volume […]

December 29, 2020 – And it came upon a midnight clear during this holiday season that after weeks and months alternating between negotiation and inertia, Congress finally reached agreement with the White House and passed a new $908 billion relief bill that provided a stimulus payment of $600 to each qualified citizen. Or so they […]

November 19, 2020 – In Mary L. Trump’s book about her family, Too Much and Never Enough, there’s a moment referred to in the index as the “mashed potatoes incident.” Apparently, young Donald was a major pill almost from birth, undisciplined, rude and nasty to his siblings and his mother. One night at dinner, he was, […]

November 2, 2020 – November 3rd is upon us. At the risk of overstating the obvious, if you haven’t already done so, and in the name of all that’s good and fair, please exercise your right to vote. It’s more crucial than ever. Truly. I come by this attitude honestly. Somewhere around here I have a […]

April 27, 2020 – What’s the smartest thing Donald Trump could say to the American people right now? I mean, other than, “I resign.” How about, “I’m sorry?” Back in the day, three-time New York City mayor Fiorello LaGuardia admitted, “When I make a mistake, it’s a beaut,”and voters loved him for his seeming humility […]

February 5, 2020 – As Dear Leader wound up his State of the Union, and Nancy Pelosi tore its pages in quarters as she stood behind him, I had the same reaction that many colleagues out in the Twitter universe had. We all instantly recalled George W. Bush’s words at the end of Donald Trump’s […]

Oct. 17, 2019 – “I have done nothing to harm these people but they are angered with me, so what do they do, doctor up some income tax, for which they have no case… to harass a peaceful man.” You could be excused for thinking that Donald Trump spoke these words of self-pity. In fact, […]

Sept. 3, 2019 – Amidst a roiling hurricane and another fusillade of Texas gunshots, like many, I was struck by a statement in the new memoir, Call Sign Chaos, written by former Trump Defense Secretary James Mattis with former Reagan Assistant Defense Secretary Bing West. Both men began their careers of public service as US […]

July 26, 2019 – At the end of Wednesday’s marathon appearances by special counsel Robert Mueller, I looked over at the American flag that flies across the street from my apartment building. It looked more bedraggled than usual, as if it had just endured one of those cringe-inducing Donald Trump flag hugs and now faced […]

July 5, 2019 – On March 12, 1938, the vaunted German army was to make its triumphant entry into Austria—the infamous Anschluss by which a compliant Austrian government surrendered to the Nazis without a shot. A grand parade of the Third Reich’s might was scheduled for the Austrian capital Vienna but the army’s tanks were […]

December 20, 2017 – In 1814, First Lady Dolley Madison helped hide the White House’s famous portrait of George Washington from the British when they burned and sacked the capital. But if the current pack of brigands raiding DC has its way, by the time they’re done, that painting and every other piece of government […]

August 3, 2017 by Michael Winship This post first appeared on BillMoyers.com. Donald Trump is not a president but he plays one on TV. And a terrible one at that. Watching him last week during what were, arguably, the worst of many horrible days of this presidency, was to see pure, rampaging id. Aggressive, needy, […]

July 6, 2017 -This post first appeared on BillMoyers.com. A tune was running through my head all this past Fourth of July weekend, and it wasn’t “I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy.” No, the earworm that afflicted me was the opening number from the 1980 musical Barnum, a Broadway extravaganza that glorified the master showman and […]

May 4, 2017 – Gene Tunney, the champion prizefighter of the 1920s, wanted to promote an image of himself as a great intellectual. Trying to prove it, he always carried in his pocket a copy of Shakespeare’s sonnets. Many members of the press weren’t buying it. When Tunney published a volume titled A Man Must […]

This post first appeared on BillMoyers.com. October 11, 2016 – If there was the tiniest doubt left in your mind that Donald Trump holds no regard for the principles and ideals of a representative democracy — or that he views this country as anything more than a podium for his grandstanding ego, base dictatorial instincts […]