The government of the United States is the most complex and diversified administrative organization in the world, with responsibility for a vast array of tasks, from disaster relief and tax collection to managing the world’s biggest economy and protecting the country from unstable regimes with nuclear missiles. President Trump, though, is trying to run it like a simple family business. And there is a clear favorite in this family operation: Jared Kushner, Trump’s 36-year-old son-in-law, daughter Ivanka’s husband.
Kushner has been given a portfolio that would normally be shared by a full team of seasoned diplomats and economic experts. His duties include overseeing relations with Mexico, Canada and China; finding a solution to the decades-old conflict between Israelis and Palestinians; and running the White House Office of American Innovation, which is tasked with reinventing the entire federal government. When he is not saving the world and fixing the bureaucracy, Kushner is also expected to massage the internal politics of the White House and enforce staff changes.
A lot of people think it is crazy to ask any one human being to oversee such a daunting array of projects, especially when that person has no experience whatsoever in foreign policy or domestic economics. Kushner’s primary professional experience has been in running his family’s New York City-based real estate development company, although, at the age of 25, he dipped into the journalism world when he spent $10 million to buy the New York Observer and make himself publisher. He and the publication’s veteran editor, Peter Kaplan, did not get along. Kaplan is quoted as telling a colleague that Kushner “doesn’t know what he doesn’t know.”
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Republicans are trying to ignore the FBI elephant in the room. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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Donald Trump pushes against the pillars of democracy. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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The small print on the red Trump cap. (David Horsey / Los angeles Times)
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Donald Trump has tweets on the brain. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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Steve Bannon puts Rex Tillerson in his place. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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The winners and losers in Paul Ryan’s healthcare plan. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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Tillerson and Pence try to quiet Trump’s brash outbursts. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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Donald Trump is drenched by leaks. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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Bernie Sander’s takes the lead in anti-Trump resistance. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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ICE immigration raids tear apart families. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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Trump administration hits a wall of resistance on the West Coast. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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The president of the United States rationalizes Putin’s political murders. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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Trump news takes over the media. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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Trump has a curious cast running his White House reality show. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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Trump and Bannon want to rule by edict, with no criticism allowed. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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It’s easier to think about sex than climate change. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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Donald Trump leads the cavalry charge at Standing Rock. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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Trump inspires millions to take to the streets -- to oppose him. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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Trump takes the oath and takes offense. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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Trump and Putin may be creating their own new world order. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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Mainly B-list bands play at Donald Trump’s inaugural celebration. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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Trump voters demean rich celebrities -- after electing one as president. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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Will Donald Trump remodel the White House in the style of the Kremlin? (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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House Republicans prepare to set off a land rush to develop federal lands. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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Most Americans love their country, but are not so fond of their fellow Americans. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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Dread of the Trump presidency is weighing on many American families. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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Donald Trump has the whole world in his hands. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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A look back at the characters in a crazy political year. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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If Democrats wanted to win working class voters, they should have nominated Bernie Sanders. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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With drought, California needs a water miracle ()
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The rat race of work has returned for Millennials ()
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Religious folk wince at gay marriage, an Encore cartoon ()
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ISIS is viciously cruel in mind, heart and soul ()
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Mideast peace process seems doomed, an Encore cartoon ()
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Boy Scouts resist allowing gay Scoutmasters, an Encore cartoon ()
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“Mad Men’s” Don Draper reaches old age with Sally ()
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Missouri House Speaker John Diehl gets caught sexting to an intern ()
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Obama is skeptical of Saudi desire for a closer alliance ()
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Texas Gov. Abbott bows to right wing paranoia ()
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CEO salaries just keep rising to outlandish levels ()
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Garland, Texas, shooters fell for fantasies of jihad ()
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Republicans serve billionaires and ignore poor in cities like Baltimore ()
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Bernie Sanders version of socialism is not all that radical ()
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Baltimore mom Toya Graham is ‘Mother of the Year’ ()
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Republicans and Democrats are in a demographic showdown ()
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William Shatner wants to pipe water from Seattle to LA ()
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Civil War 150th anniversary ends; Reconstruction remembrance begins ()
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Hillary Clinton begins her campaign as a Republican target ()
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Cruz, Bush and Rubio are the GOP’s “three amigos” ()
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GOP Congress is eager to send somebody else’s kids to war ()
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Cop who killed Walter Scott brought deadly force to a traffic stop ()
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Cheap gas has a high environmental cost ()
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Indiana religious objectors see gay marriage as an abomination ()
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California growers face drought-driven water shortage ()
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Republican hawks want to boost defense spending by billions ()
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Ted Cruz is Sarah Palin with a jurist’s brain ()
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Flashers need to keep up with the sexting world (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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Right wing media eager to dig up old Clinton scandals ()
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Sen. Tom Cotton prefers military action to diplomacy with Iran ()
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Talking race at Starbucks could be a little risky ()
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Hillary Clinton’s e-mail habits will not sway voters ()
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50th anniversary of the Selma march draws 50,000 people ()
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Two stories from the Mississippi Delta ()
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Sketches from the last day in the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. ()
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Some would prefer to forget the South’s segregated past ()
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Old radicals and big media descend on Selma (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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Tea party Republicans want a rewrite of American history ()
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Moderate Muslims are the biggest target for ISIS ()
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Obama faces a tough challenge eradicating Islamic State infestation ()
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Tough Texans freaked out by gay marriage ()
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‘American Sniper’ shoots blanks on Oscar night ()
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Oscar smiled on Eddie Redmayne; not so much on Steve Carell ()
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Some extra Oscars for Meryl Streep and J.K. Simmons ()
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Amy Pascal and Seth Rogen deserve a special Oscar ()
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Jeb Bush chooses his father’s realism over his brother’s idealism ()
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50 Shades of Grey not as kinky as the Koch brothers ()
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U.S. military aid may throw gas on Ukraine’s fire ()
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CNN gets snowed by the big storm that missed New York ()
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David Horsey / Los Angeles Times ()
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Muslims riot in response to Charlie Hebdo cartoons ()
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Christie and Bush both want to milk Romney’s cash cow ()
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Willy Brown and Bay Area Democrats block Villaraigosa ()
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Saudis can be depended upon for stability and more floggings ()
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Message of Clint Eastwood’s ‘American Sniper’ eludes political pigeonhole ()
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Joni Ernst is the new face of the right wing GOP ()
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Republican response to Obama’s State of the Union is “No!” ()
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Obama’s capital gains tax hike will be laughed out of Congress ()
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Lethal injection proves to be a messy method of execution ()
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Saudi Arabia hopes low gas prices will curtail U.S. oil boom ()
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“Je suis Charlie Hebdo” is a rallying cry worthy of Delacroix ()
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French cartoonists’ killers are a death cult ()
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Billionaires pick the presidential nominees, not the voters ()
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American is made more beautiful by new immigrants ()
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Obama renovates creaking Cold War Cuba policy ()
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The cost of cheap gas is more global warming ()
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Bankers get a Christmas present from Congress ()
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Internet porn gives kids free and easy access to images of extreme sex ()
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Eric Garner is part of a bloody history of race in America ()
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2016 presidential campaign begins with the new year ()
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North Korea’s Sony hack would make a great Seth Rogen movie ()
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President Obama faces a tough Republican team in the fourth quarter ()
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Strangely, ice storms may be evidence of global warming ()
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CIA torture program betrayed U.S. constitutional principles ()
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Protests are not about Michael Brown, they are about unequal justice ()
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Los Angeles sun is a reminder of endless California drought ()
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Chuck Hagel left out of White House inner circle ()
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Obama tosses an immigration skunk into GOP party ()
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Keystone XL pipeline pumps pollution and profits, not jobs ()
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Obama is wary of Republicans promises on immigration ()
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California legislators go to Maui on lobbyists’ dollars ()
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China-U.S. climate change deal could help avert a bleak future ()
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Barack Obama is the big loser in the midterm elections ()
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Republicans catch a big wave in 2014 election that drowns Democrats ()
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Sen. Jim Inhofe, climate change denier, to head environment committee ()
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President Obama has only a veto to counter Mitch McConnell’s majority ()
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Midterm electorate favors GOP while Democrats do better in presidential years ()
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Ebola panic is worse than the disease ()
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Voter fraud is as imaginary as the tooth fairy ()
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Corporate super PACs buy campaigns and politicians’ souls ()
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2014 election may be in the hands of inattentive voters ()
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Red state Democrats parrot the Republican line ()
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If Republicans capture the Senate, Obama’s goose is cooked ()
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Leon Panetta backstabs his old boss, Obama ()
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Ebola is making Americans jittery about aches and pains ()
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Joe Biden offends Turks with awkward truths ()
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Supreme Court lets gay marriage come to cowboy country ()
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Secret Service agents may be bored by White House duty ()
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Do not expect 2014 congressional elections to stop gridlock ()
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Right wing cheers Eric Holder’s resignation ()
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Franklin Roosevelt could not survive today’s scandal-seeking media ()
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Voters in Scotland reject independence from the United Kingdom ()
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Unlike Theodore Roosevelt, today’s politicians happily serve big corporations ()
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Exit strategies are an illusion in the War on Terror ()
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Congress will let Obama go it alone to fight Islamic State ()
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Rural voters have bigger clout in choosing Congress ()
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History of economic oppression still hinders black Americans ()
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Hackers steal nude photos of Jennifer Lawrence and other celebs ()
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Parents let their little girl handle an Uzi; a man ends up dead ()
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Mitch McConnell is addicted to corporate campaign donations ()
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President Obama reluctantly returns from vacation ()
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African elephants being driven to extinction by poachers ()
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Islamic State shows its evil face with James Foley beheading ()
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Fictional 1960s Mayberry cops are a far cry from today’s police commandos ()
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If Cliven Bundy were young and black, he would be dead by now ()
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Barack Obama is being pulled back into Iraq’s troubles ()
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Robin Williams’ comic genius came from a spark of madness ()
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Americans cannot escape the clinging sands of the Arab world ()
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Botox and cosmetic surgery turn quest for beauty into a bad trip ()
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History of religion marred by unceasing intolerance ()
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U.S. leads the world in consuming energy ... and most other things ()
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Clark Kent would have gotten a less friendly greeting from border ‘patriots’ ()
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Barack Obama may trade White House for Rancho Mirage compound ()
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Vladimir Putin evades responsibility for Malaysia Airlines disaster ()
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Rick Perry accuses Rand Paul of being an isolationist ()
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The plan to divide California into six states -- revised ()
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Sarah Palin defines craziness for the Republican Party ()
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Many Central American migrant children will not be sent back home ()
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Right wing goofball Victoria Jackson buys into any lie about Obama ()
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Murrieta anti-immigrant protests reject Statue of Liberty’s message ()
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Civil rights heroes fought and died for our freedom ()
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Violence of Islamic extremists is an offense to Allah ()
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Ann Coulter is a creature of conservatism and pop culture (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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Fracking wastewater shaking things up in Oklahoma ()
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Dick Cheney is just the guy to mislead ISIS invaders. ()
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Brian Schweitzer offends political world with unscripted words ()
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Kevin McCarthy wrestles the upstart alligators in the House GOP ()
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Iraq’s war between Sunnis and Shiites is not America’s fight ()
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Conservatives turn any good news from Obama into bad news ()
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Tea party takes down a former hero, Eric Cantor ()
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Gun worship is America’s true religion ()
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Bowe Bergdahl gets an uncertain welcome from Barack Obama ()
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Republicans’ Benghazi fishing expedition is stuck in the mud ()
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Educated girls are a threat to fundamentalist extremists (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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Mitch McConnell scoffs at national climate change report ()
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Bill and Hillary Clinton consider a move back into their old house when Obama moves out ()
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Obama’s White House Correspondents joke looks familiar ()
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Koch brothers and utilities aim to stifle competition from solar energy ()
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Toyota exit from Torrance inflames Texas/California rivalry ()
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Donald Sterling and Cliven Bundy share weird, antique racial bias (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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Putin’s Ukraine incursion brings back the bad old bear (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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Crackpot Cliven Bundy waves the flag and flouts the law (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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Koch brothers and big utilities campaign to unplug solar power (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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Cliven Bundy’s militiamen are neither terrorists nor patriots (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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Corporate success should be shared with workers, not just CEOs (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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Obscenely high CEO salaries are stark marker of U.S. wealth gap (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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Stabbings at Pennsylvania school add a new wrinkle to gun debate (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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Ft. Hood shooting is part of the scenery in a gun-crazy nation (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton may play a Game of Thrones (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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Rich gain clout as Supreme Court kills political spending limits (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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Horsey on Hollywood | Hollywood action movies: Could they be any worse? (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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FBI stung Sen. Yee, but Sacramento’s worse corruption is legal (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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G-7 expels Putin from a club to which he no longer wants to belong (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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Horsey on Hollywood | A flood of reaction to ‘Noah’ (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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Democrats may face bigger Obamacare blowback from voters in 2016 (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
It is almost certain that, in his multiple new roles, Kushner truly does not know many things, but his advocates say he is willing to admit as much. If so, then he is way ahead of his father-in-law who thinks he knows everything and repeatedly proves he is ignorant of anything that cannot be explained in a tweet. Essentially, the president has made Kushner deputy president. Trump seems to want the young man to do all his homework for him while he does the stuff he really likes to do — giving campaign-style speeches, watching cable news and playing golf.
This may be a ridiculous way to run a government, but it could be worse. Trump could have appointed his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., as junior commander in chief. If that had happened, we would now have two Twitter-obsessed Trumps sending out silly messages inspired by kooky misinformation dredged up from the depths of the right-wing blogosphere.
Kushner is a much calmer, more circumspect guy. A lifelong Democrat until he signed on to run the social media effort for the Trump presidential campaign, Kushner leans toward moderation. Americans should probably be grateful he has an office in the West Wing because he not only has a chance to temper the president’s wilder impulses, he may offset the malign machinations of Stephen K. Bannon, Trump’s ultra-nationalist, government-loathing senior advisor.
Kushner is said to be no fan of ideologues and zealots. According to a report in Politico, conservatives are very upset about Kushner’s pragmatic influence and jealous of his unshakeable position as the president’s right-hand man.
Trump has joked to his daughter that he has stolen her husband. Maybe that is why she has been given a White House office — to see her spouse once in a while. Reportedly, Kushner is often the last person Trump sees at night (First Lady Melania seldom sleeps at the White House) and is always with him on weekend jaunts to Florida.
Even though he already has more duties than anyone in the Trump administration, this week Kushner added a trip to Iraq to his itinerary. It seems like way too much. On the other hand, producing peace in the Middle East may be simple compared with Kushner’s most daunting challenge: keeping his father-in-law from doing something truly nutty and dangerous.
David.Horsey@latimes.com
Follow me at @davidhorsey on Twitter
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