Ethical dilemma, July 17, Letters to the Editor,
Because of an editing error, a letter misidentified one of the people in the meeting with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya. The writer was referring to Donald Trump Jr.
From the Rock to Kid Rock (no relation), celebrities are considering public office. What they aren’t considering is whether they’re more qualified for it than a box of rocks.
This being the era of the reality-show presidency, a Trump Effect is at work. Celebrities and their backers are drawing lessons from the president’s surprising political success but ignoring his administration’s rapid accumulation of failures, which has shown that fame is more useful in a campaign than in office.
With politically priceless name recognition and media appeal, celebrities have long been entering politics, sometimes called show business for ugly people. The pioneers are, naturally, California —Ronald Reagan, Arnold Schwarzenegger — and, not so naturally, Minnesota — Jesse Ventura, Al Franken. Much of the latest crop bears Trumpian hallmarks such as a studied vagueness of intent (beyond publicity), a lack of feasible policy goals, and a history of entertainment billed as a form of reality.
Caitlyn Jenner, the star decathlete turned star of Kardashian “reality” programming turned star of her own gender transition, said this week that she might run for Democratic California Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s seat. A celebrity from the party opposite, Stephan Jenkins of the rock band Third Eye Blind, has been floated for the same seat by the tech-funded project Win the Future, which would call its candidate, perhaps fittingly, a “WTF Democrat.”
Kid Rock — who is, like Jenner, a Trump supporter and, like Jenkins, known for a 1990s hit mentioning methamphetamine — insisted last week that his hints at a run against U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, DMich., were “not a hoax.” Partly for fundraising purposes, Democrats hastened to agree that Rock is no joke lest they repeat their fateful underestimation of Trump.
Speaking of candidacies that may be a joke, among those who have threatened a run for the nation’s highest