republican politicians this year have faced a dilemma over whether to support their party<u+2019>s unusual presidential nominee and how much enthusiasm to show if so. democrats face a parallel question: do they depict donald trump as a deviant figure or as a typical republican, if an unusually colorful one? elizabeth warren, the senior senator from massachusetts, is all in the latter camp. looking like a loser of late, trump has been making noises about a <u+201c>rigged<u+201d> election, although, as the wall street journal notes in an editorial, <u+201c>he tends to conflate his two <u+2018>rigging<u+2019> claims about electoral fraud and media bias.<u+201d> trump<u+2019>s rhetoric has prompted wide bipartisan criticism<u+2014>though in warren<u+2019>s case it would be better described as hyperpartisan. follow james on twitter <u+201c>trump<u+2019>s argument didn<u+2019>t spring from nowhere,<u+201d> warren complains in a washington post op-ed. <u+201c>it<u+2019>s just one more symptom of a long-running effort by republicans to delegitimize democratic voters, appointees and leaders. for years, this disease has infected our politics. it cannot be cured until republican leaders rethink their approach to modern politics.<u+201d> warren quickly makes clear she suffers from the same ailment. much of her piece is an effort to delegitimize republicans: she is quite mistaken in her characterization of shelby county v. holder , the 2013 ruling that struck down section 4 of the voting rights act on the ground that it discriminated among states based on information that was long out of date. it was no unceremonious act but one that the justices had signaled four years earlier, in northwest austin municipal utility district no.<u+00a0>1 v. holder : <u+201c>whether conditions continue to justify such legislation is a difficult constitutional question we do not answer today,<u+201d> chief justice john roberts wrote for the court in 2009. the democrats who then controlled congress could have taken up the challenge and updated the act<u+2019>s criteria for what is known as preclearance. instead, to use warren<u+2019>s term, they remained on the sidelines. warren concludes with a feint toward nonpartisan good citizenship, followed by another partisan punch: it is true that trump<u+2019>s <u+201c>rigged<u+201d> rhetoric is far from novel, although we can<u+2019>t think of an example of a candidate who made it central to his closing argument. reason<u+2019>s jesse walker cites an isolated exception: <u+201c>in 2008, john mccain himself warned in the third presidential debate that we might be headed toward <u+2018>one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy.<u+2019><u+00a0><u+201d> mccain was referring to acorn, the scandal-plagued <u+201c>community organizing<u+201d> group with which barack obama had once been associated. as we recall, no one made much of that comment at the time; obama certainly didn<u+2019>t during the debate. but democrats have also made such charges, and our impression is that they do so more than republicans do. walker: <u+201c>george w. bush was dogged throughout his presidency by accusations of stealing elections<u+2014>not just after the messy ending of the 2000 campaign, but after 2004 too, when figures as influential as robert f. kennedy jr. and publications as prominent as vanity fair and harper<u+2019>s questioned the count in ohio.<u+201d> further, as nevertrump stalwart george will notes, <u+201c>mr. trump has a point if he would just make it more clearly<u+201d>: and then there is this, from the washington post<u+2019>s aaron blake in january 2015: blake gently debunks warren<u+2019>s contention that the system is rigged, pointing out that lower-income americans simply tend not to register or vote: this year someone like warren tried, with mixed success. in the primaries he attracted to the polls hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, of citizens who don<u+2019>t usually vote. but he had trouble broadening his appeal and now looks set to lose. so like elizabeth warren, donald trump is becoming four words of populist rhetoric that warm the cockles of progressive<u+2014>or reactionary, whatever<u+2014>hearts everywhere. two papers in one! fox butterfield, is that you? <u+201c>justin bieber asks his fans to stop screaming at his concert: <u+2018>i don<u+2019>t feel like i<u+2019>m being heard<u+2019><u+00a0><u+201d><u+2014>headline, etonline.com, oct.<u+00a0>19 out on a limb <u+201c>psychologists have long studied what power does to the mind. it isn<u+2019>t always pretty.<u+201d><u+2014>headline, vox, oct.<u+00a0>18 we blame george w. bush <u+201c>melania trump: <u+2018>i believe my husband, he didn<u+2019>t do anything,<u+2019> please blame billy bush<u+201d><u+2014>headline, gothamist, oct.<u+00a0>18 what would we do without experts? <u+201c>ecuador ordered assange<u+2019>s internet cut off to tilt election toward clinton, experts say<u+201d><u+2014>headline, foxnews.com, oct.<u+00a0>18 america<u+2019>s unrivaled navel power <u+201c>in the final weeks of his presidency, obama contemplates himself<u+201d><u+2014>headline, washington post website, oct.<u+00a0>18 how can they bar that? <u+201c>y<u+2019>all ready for this? n.o. bars hosting presidential debate watch parties<u+201d><u+2014>headline, times-picayune (new orleans), oct.<u+00a0>18 hypothesis and proof make that 13 generalissimo francisco franco is still dead <u+201c>trump remains divisive to the bitter end<u+201d><u+2014>headline, las vegas sun, oct.<u+00a0>19 with dnc in mind, city bans carrying urine, feces <u+201c>clinton campaign bus accused of illegally dumping <u+2018>human waste<u+2019> on side of georgia road<u+201d><u+2014>headline, washington free beacon, oct.<u+00a0>18 problem and solution<u+2014>i problem and solution<u+2014>ii the lonely lives of scientists <u+201c>fur real: scientists have obsessed over cats for centuries<u+201d><u+2014>headline, smithsonian.com, oct.<u+00a0>18 hey, kids! what time is it? <u+201c>big tobacco 2.0: time to get smart about marijuana reform<u+201d><u+2014>headline, realclearhealth, oct.<u+00a0>18 question and answer<u+2014>i question and answer<u+2014>ii question and answer<u+2014>iii news of the tautological <u+201c>report: why renters choose to rent<u+201d><u+2014>headline, greenwich (conn.) times, oct.<u+00a0>17 news you can use <u+201c>unusual ways to donate your body: criminal justice, cadaver dog training, human compost<u+201d><u+2014>headline, chicago tribune, oct.<u+00a0>18 bottom story of the day <u+201c>vogue endorses hillary clinton for president of the united states<u+201d><u+2014>headline, vogue.com, oct.<u+00a0>18 lock him up? <u+201c>nearly one in four millennials prefer a giant meteor strike destroying humanity than [sic] witnessing a hillary clinton or donald trump presidency, according to a new poll,<u+201d> the hill reports: that last option is a bit of a non sequitur. what would obama go to prison for? follow @jamestaranto on twitter. join fans of best of the web today on facebook. subscribe to the best of the web email with one click. (carol muller helps compile best of the web. thanks to tony lima, ray hull, daniel lepanto, irene deblasio, mark zoeller, mordecai bobrowsky, michele schiesser, dan schwartz, michael smith, kris shull, chris papouras, debbie wells, matthew laflamme, george brix, macrena sailor, jillian melchior, michele ingrassia, terry holmes, dave tinkle, charles rosett, jay weiser, ethel fenig, shep shepherd, avi mogilyansky, tom mayer, mike singer, roger hipp, eric winig, richard klingler, john donigan, anthony francois, barry spaeth, t.k. smyth, wes van fleet, miguel rakiewicz and mark finkelstein. if you have a tip, write us at opinionjournal@wsj.com , and please include the url.)
same old rig-marole - wsj
james taranto