A Capital in Crisis? For President Trump, an already chaotic week that began with the firing of FBI Director James Comey ended with two of the most dreaded words in U.S. politics: special prosecutor. The appointment of former FBI head Robert Mueller to investigate the role of Russian meddling in last year’s presidential election marked just one in a handful of headaches for Trump this week. And as RealClearPolitics’ Rebecca Berg and James Arkin report, the drama is taking a toll on Republican lawmakers. “A shift among Republicans was immediately visible. Whereas GOP lawmakers had previously pressed the White House to provide answers and explain fresh scandals, party lawmakers are now beginning to take action themselves,” write Berg and Arkin. During a week in which the White House was forced to juggle multiple crises -- from reports that the president disclosed classified intelligence to Russian officials to claims that he had pressed Comey to end the investigation of a former official -- the frustration had clearly spilled over to Capitol Hill. “I think there should have been a lesson learned from Nixon," Sen. Chuck Grassley told RCP. And if, as Trump implied, tapes of private conversations with Comey do indeed exist, then it’s time for the president to come clean, said the Iowa Republican. “[T]here’s no way that’s going to be kept secret.” The week of controversies has left many in Washington wondering aloud if the Republic itself is under attack. Not so fast, says RCP co-founder and publisher Tom Bevan: “So far from being under assault or being eroded, the checks and balances of our constitutional Republic appear to be responding exactly as we would want them to -- and as the Framers intended.” Controversy is certainly nothing new for any White House, and it appears as though the embattled Trump administration has been studying one of the masters of Oval Office crisis management. Reporting on the president’s remarks Thursday, RCP White House correspondent Alexis Simendinger explains: “Trump repeatedly proclaimed his innocence, blamed political enemies for his troubles, vowed to defend himself on behalf of the American people, and said he would not be diverted from his commitment to better Americans’ lives.” “It was vintage [Bill] Clinton, channeled anew by the 45th president,” writes Simendinger. Meanwhile, the current president’s job approval rating stands at negative 14.9 percentage points in the RealClearPolitics average. Congress should only be so lucky: Its approval is at negative 50.7 in the RCP average. Topics du Jour
Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sat down this week with Tom Bevan to discuss her new book, “Democracy: Stories From the Long Road to Freedom.” In the interview, Rice expounds on the state of global democracy, and lists what she considers the four horsemen of the apocalypse for the Western world: populism, nativism, protectionism, and isolationism. “[T]here's a backlash from people who think they haven’t really benefited from globalization, and populists give you easy answers to why you’re not doing well,” Rice told RCP. “They say, ‘It’s the foreigners’ or ‘It’s the others.’ If you’re on the left they’ll say, ‘It’s the big banks.’ … “We’ve got to get back to a sense of an American identity, and that identity is not nationality or religion or ethnicity,” the secretary said. “It is a particular idea, and that idea is that you should live in liberty and you should be able to pursue happiness.” Rebecca Berg also reported on efforts by Charles and David Koch’s network of conservative groups to get the Republican Party’s legislative agenda back on track. Utilizing the controversial EB-5 investor visa program, one developer hoped to build a Chinese Disneyland in the Catskill Mountains. Kevin Sullivan of RealClearWorld has more on the plan and obstacles that have scaled it back.
In Other Originals
In the latest episode of RCP’s “Politics Is Everything” podcast, Caitlin Huey-Burns discusses the politics of commencement speeches with former White House speechwriters Cody Keenan and Peter Wehner. RealClearMarkets editor John Tamny argues that Chinese consumers want the same thing as the rest of us: stuff. RCP elections analysts Sean Trende and David Byler unveil a new interactive tool that allows readers to test out possible outcomes in the 2018 Senate elections. Writing for RealClearPolicy, Lawrence Spiwak of the Phoenix Center dives into the contentious net neutrality debate, and the widely misunderstood “Title II” provisions. RealClearDefense contributor Todd Crowell highlights the difficulties in a potential pre-emptive strike scenario against North Korea. Steve Miller reports in RealClearInvestigations on how states are expanding hate crime legislation to protect police officers and other first responders. On the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, Indiana University professor Richard Gunderman remembers Martin Luther’s contributions to literacy in RealClearReligion. Immigration, contrary to popular belief, provides an engine for the U.S. economy, writes Kristie de Pena for RealClearPolicy. In RealClearSports, associate editor Cory Gunkel profiles Hunter Nichols, an American head football coach in Prague. Troyen Brennan of CVS Health explains in RealClearHealth why doctors continue to prescribe brand name drugs: “Pharmaceutical detailing -- a common marketing practice whereby physicians receive sales visits from pharmaceutical reps -- is pervasive and can keep certain drugs top-of-mind for physicians, influencing their prescribing behavior.” Bette Grande of the Heartland Institute details for RealClearEnergy the lessons of the Dakota Access Pipeline controversy. Finally, RealClearScience editor Ross Pomeroy has some bad news for the “gluten intolerant.” | 
