Sunday Roundup (POLITICS)
This week, the nation watched as the Republican Party continued its awkward attempt to pretend Donald Trump is something other than a dangerous buffoon. On Thursday, Trump met with Paul Ryan, with the two calling the talk a "positive step toward unification," and Ryan adding that Trump is a "very warm and genuine person." If Ryan ends up endorsing Trump, he must be held accountable for what he's endorsing. As Senator Harry Reid said of his GOP counterpart, "Since Sen. McConnell has so enthusiastically embraced Trump, you can only assume he agrees with Trump's view that women are dogs and pigs." Rough stuff but he has a point: You either believe we should deport 12 million people or you don't. You either believe there should be a religious test to enter the U.S. or you don't. But the GOP isn't alone in its attempts to white-wash Trump. The New York Times referred to Trump's racism as "a reductive approach to ethnicity." This is how someone like Trump can actually get to the White House in 2016: because of the reluctance -- by political leaders and the media -- to call out racism when they see it.