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The Conversation

Weirdest Presidential Highlights of 2017

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By Gail Collins and Bret Stephens

Dec. 19, 2017

Bret Stephens: Gail, we may never have a chance to start a conversation quite this way again, so here goes: Extraterrestrials. Should we be pro or con?

Gail Collins: Bret, you’re referring to the news that Harry Reid, the former Senate leader, got funding for a quiet little Pentagon program for keeping track of, um, visitors. I think it sounds great. What was the price tag, $22 million? That’s about two-thirds of LeBron James’s salary.

Bret: That, plus the news, prominently reported by The Times, of some close encounters over the Pacific between a pair of naval aviators and an unidentified flying object. The story just seemed to cap a year in which I constantly felt as if I was living in a “Twilight Zone” serial.

Gail: Or “The Day the Earth Stood Still.” All I remember is that the outer space visitor Klaatu and the robot Gort brought peace to the universe. And that when things go wrong, you can say, “Klaatu barada nikto.” Maybe on New Year’s Eve we should all join hands and call out “Klaatu barada nikto.”

But what were your “Twilight Zone” images?

Bret: A few reminders: Donald Trump’s “American carnage” inaugural speech (neatly summed up by George W. Bush as “some weird” stuff, though he used a more pungent word than “stuff”). The crowd-size debate. “Alternative facts,” via Kellyanne Conway. Trump’s speech at C.I.A. headquarters. (“You’re going to get so much backing. Maybe you’re going to say, please, don’t give us so much backing, Mr. President, please, we don’t need that much backing.”) The phantom hunt for the phantom illegal voters who, Trump claims, gave Hillary Clinton her popular margin of nearly three million votes.

Anyway, that was just the first week, before he got really going by firing Jim Comey and describing the news media as the enemy of the American people. What are your Weirdest Presidential Highlights for 2017?

Gail: Well, every time he tells us how much the tax bill is going to hurt him and his friends, I do get that otherworldly feeling. Like when he told some Democrats he felt “so bad for rich people I had to throw in the estate tax just to give them something.”

Then there was that special celebration for Women’s History Month when he asked a White House women’s empowerment panel, “Have you heard of Susan B. Anthony?”

And how about the big speech he made to the South Korean Parliament, when he threw in a plug for his golf course? I could imagine that eerie “Twilight Zone” music playing then. Rod Serling walking out, looking worried …

Bret: Or when he seemed to suggest that Frederick Douglass was still alive, or shared the amazing news that Abraham Lincoln was a Republican. Did I say “Twilight Zone”? Perhaps what I really had in mind was “Zoolander.”

Anyway, we’ve now had nearly a year of a Trump presidency, and my (very provisional) conclusion is that so far it is more of a farce than a tragedy. The economy is doing very well, defying many expert expectations. We’ve defeated the Islamic State in its heartland. Who knows what will happen with North Korea, but the administration seems to be quietly sober about it despite Trump’s “fire and fury” outbursts. Steve Bannon is finally being exposed as the political buffoon that he is. And we’re mostly getting on with our lives.

Or am I being far too sanguine?

Gail: Alabama certainly gave us a surprise holiday lift. I do find it hard to be totally mellow when there’s still the whole North Korea two-crazy-leaders problem. But Democrats are hoping that if 2018 goes as expected, they can undo some of the truly horrific parts of the current tax bill.

Bret: Careful! Democrats should be careful about reading too much into the current polling. “It’s the economy, stupid” is still the rule when it comes to how most people vote, meaning they’re prepared to forgive a lot of bad presidential behavior if their 401(k)s are performing well.

Gail: Yeah, this will be the ultimate test of what we’re willing to tolerate for rising stock prices.

I guess my most bottom line is that I do feel really bad about the way the rest of the world now views us as a nut-case nation.

Bret: Well, at least a nation run by one. Since I live in Germany much of the time, I’ve noticed most conversations about American politics have a more-in-sorrow-than-in-anger quality. It’s like someone extending condolences on the news that your dad is in a psychiatric ward: “Hope he gets well!”

Gail: Looking back on the year which we are — thank God — about to leave behind, any other big thoughts, regrets, good moments?

Bret: Personally speaking, it’s been a “no regrets” year; that is, no regrets for having joined The Times. I know I’ve been an, ahem, acquired taste for some of our readers, but I can’t begin to tell you how thrilling it is to be part of a news organization with so much influence, depth, competence, drive and reach. And since the president has decided to pick a fight with us and the rest of the news media, it’s taken on a more-than-personal significance. Truly a case of belonging to something larger than yourself.

Gail: And we are happy to have you. Especially me, since I get conversing rights.

Bret: The larger story of the year — not just for me, but for many Americans — has been the rediscovery of our shared liberalism. I mean that in a philosophical and nonpartisan sense. There are more important things in life than tax cuts and other items of partisan combat, starting with the fabric of a decent civil society. In his perverse and unintended way, Trump has reminded all of us to cherish, maintain and repair that fabric, because he’s shown us how easily it can be torn. If that’s the net result of his presidency (crossing fingers and toes) we might come out of all of this oddly better off.

Gail: That’s a fine thought. And in honor of it, I’ll dispense with any dark comments about how we managed to get ourselves in this hole to begin with. Let’s just have a holiday toast to climbing out. And since we won’t be talking again until 2018, Bret, have an excellent new year.

Bret: And a very Merry Christmas!