TODAY, THE ROLE OF PAULINE KAEL WILL BE PLAYED BY MICHAEL KINSLEY in the New York Times, who asks, “Is It Possible There Is Nothing Nice to Say?”

Donald Trump is a hated figure — more hated than any political figure in America. In Washington you can just assume that any random person you talk with agrees with you about that. The only comparable person in American politics is Richard Nixon, who my mother told me was despicable when I was about 6, long before Watergate — and she was right!

47 million Americans voted for Nixon in 1972, giving him nearly 20 million more votes than George McGovern. And Nixon, a big government-loving Republican, has had an increasing amount of strange new respect from the left in recent decades — including Timesmen such as Paul Krugman and the late Tom Wicker.

Kinsley probably doesn’t know any actual Trump or Nixon voters — I wonder though, if he can feel their presence in a darkened theater?