Certain uncertainty

The vacillation and capitulation around Trump's tariffs reflect a larger modus operandi.

My teeth were still half-numb from the hygienist’s excavation when the dentist arrived at my station for the idle chit-chat that usually precedes an unsavory assessment. I should see a gum specialist, the doc instructed. Dentists do four years of schooling, spend another two years in residency and yet when it comes to the soft pink tissue that surrounds your 32 teeth, they punt you to another office. It wasn’t their forte, so best to pass the baton. Funny as it may be, it dawned on me this week that’s what a horde of political reporters at the White House should do when assigned the bewildering task of covering tariff policy — particularly that of this president — but any president really. As reporters sat in the White House briefing room on Friday, I