Now, in a new piece for the Post, Boot is prepared to say that, actually, it is that bad.

“Now I would take Obama back in a nanosecond,” he writes. “His presidency appears to be a lost golden age when reason and morality reigned. All of his faults, real as they were, fade into insignificance compared with the crippling defects of his successor. And his strengths — seriousness, dignity, intellect, probity, dedication to ideals larger than self — shine all the more clearly in retrospect.”

I've just killed my wife […] bit different for you tonight I expect. Happy New Year.”

These were the words of former Ukip-councillor Stephen Searle during a 999 call. Searle, 64, was this week found guilty of killing his wife, Anne. She was 62 years old.

He then quipped: “Bit of a bizarre situation but you know, never mind.”
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During the call, Searle went on to reassure the phone operative that it was safe for officers to enter his house, as “I’m not violent.”

His statement reflects a dangerous and persistent idea that violence, when committed against an intimate partner, isn’t as severe or dangerous as violence committed against a stranger.

This reflects a historic dismissal of domestic violence as being “just a domestic”. It’s seen as an isolated incident, and the perpetrator is not regarded as a danger to the wider public.
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Whether it’s the rapist lured by short skirts or a killer’s “nagging wife”, all too often we place the blame on the victim and seek to excuse the perpetrator. In those excuses, we become complicit in minimising the hurt, pain and violence they have committed.

President Donald Trump’s military parade in DC is likely to cost nearly as much as the now canceled military exercise with South Korea that Trump called “tremendously expensive” and said cost “a fortune,” three US defense officials tell CNN. The parade, which is now scheduled to take place on November 10, is currently estimated to cost approximately $12 million, the officials said. One official called the number “a planning figure,” saying cost estimates could still change as planning develops.

“We save a fortune by not doing war games, as long as we are negotiating in good faith – which both sides are!” Trump tweeted in June following his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore. Pentagon spokesman Col. Rob Manning told reporters earlier this month that the now-cancelled US-South Korea Freedom Guardian Exercise was estimated to cost approximately $14 million.