Sunday Roundup (POLITICS)
This week Donald Trump crossed the delegate threshold he needs to secure the Republican nomination. And the nation crossed the danger threshold of electing the most unstable, unready and extreme president in U.S. history. But not to worry, says Paul Manafort. In an interview with HuffPost's Howard Fineman, the Trump campaign manager assures us Trump will show America he can "fill the chair." And that ban on Muslims? "He's already started moderating on that," Manafort said. "He operates by starting the conversation at the outer edges and then brings it back towards the middle. Within his comfort zone, he'll soften it some more." The problem is that softened racism, xenophobia and misogyny are no less dangerous. Though the media, which has already retreated to horserace coverage, won't call Trump out, others will. Sheila Foster Anthony, sister of the late Vince Foster, spoke up about Trump's airing of conspiracy theories about her brother's death. "It is beyond contempt," she wrote, "that a politician would use a family tragedy to further his candidacy." But that's where Trump lives. And it should never be a part of America's comfort zone.