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The Fifth Column

Trump's Over-Praised State of the Union: The New Fifth Column

Why Paul Ryan was clapping at policies he's long opposed, how POTUS could be a strong de-regulator, and why the media cares 100x more about presidential theatrics than the war in Yemen

Matt Welch | 3.2.2017 11:18 AM

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After an unseemly hiatus, The Fifth Column, your usually-weekly podcast threesome of Kmele Foster, Michael C. Moynihan, and moi, has come back with a nearly two-hour episode that begins with a lengthy reaction to President Donald Trump's speech to Congress Tuesday night. Sub-themes include:

* His Obama-like, laughably unrealistic grandiosity.

* His economic illiteracy and budget-busting.

* His excellent approach toward the Food and Drug Administration, and potentially other aspects of regulatory reform.

* His insanely bad idea that a border wall will end illegal drug use.

* His cynical and fact-challenged ideas about illegal-immigrant criminality.

* His military re-bloating.

* His Berniesque trade populism.

* And his ballyhooed yet still factually dubious section on Yemen.

Along the way there are analyses of Sweden's refugee/immigration issues, Trump's stupidly controversial photo-up with representatives of historically black colleges, and, of course, Moynihan's Jesse Jackcent. Whole episode here:

You can get your sedition on at iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, wethefifth.com, @wethefifth, and Facebook.

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NEXT: Trump Should Expand Audits of Programs That Waste Taxpayers' Funds

Matt Welch is an editor at large at Reason.

The Fifth ColumnDonald TrumpExecutive PowerDebtForeign PolicyFree TradeGlobalization
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