Sunday Roundup (POLITICS)
This week the nation looked on, horrified, as a silverback gorilla threatened a captive who looked unable to escape. I'm talking, of course, about Donald Trump, who is turning out to be every bit as dangerous and unstable as predicted. After he continued to attack the judge in the Trump University lawsuit, the judge unsealed documents showing how staffers were encouraged to prey on the vulnerable. "It was really a fraud," said New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, "from beginning to end." And in that way, a true reflection of its namesake. But perhaps it sealed the deal for Speaker Paul Ryan, who, after hesitating, endorsed Trump, showing his principles to be worth as much as a Trump U real estate class. Rising to the occasion were Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, who declined to endorse Trump, and former CIA and NSA chief Michael Hayden, who described Trump's rhetoric as "feeding" ISIS's recruitment videos. And you don't have to be a genius to see Trump for who he is, but it doesn't hurt. He's "a demagogue who seems to appeal to the lowest common denominator," said Stephen Hawking. Nothing theoretical about that.