It is no less stunning to watch people who once mocked Mr Obama for being too soft on Russia suddenly discover the virtues of Mr Trump's "pragmatism" on the subject. Mr Trump has called for rewriting libel laws in order to more easily sue the press. Mr Trump's candidacy, and so far his presidency, has been Lincoln's exhortation in reverse. They became our political semioticians, ascribing pattern and meaning to the rune-stones of Mr Trump's mind. Mr Trump clearly had never heard of the group, but he liked the phrase and made it his own.

Source: Wall Street Journal March 04, 2017 21:00 UTC