Politics, Moderate
/Politics
'Trump Is the Picasso of Corruption'
Trayon White, a member of the city council in the District of Columbia, just walked away from a hung jury in a bribery trial. The facts were kind of wild. Though White admitted to accepting $35,000 in cash from a city contractor (who turned out to be an FBI informant), and the prosecution presented evidence that he tucked white envelopes full ...Read more
Trump's Populist Image Is Dead
As predictions of a blue wave swell, it's worthwhile to remember that polls are sometimes wrong, that surveys have tended to undercount Trump voters (though they have been better in midterms), that professional prognosticators can err, and that Allan Lichtman is only right when he's lucky. And yet, if there has ever been a politician who has ...Read more
What's the Matter with Kansas' Senators?
The home of Dwight Eisenhower and Amelia Earhart is rarely part of the national conversation -- but that could be about to change. It is becoming clear that the race for Senate this year could be a huge upset. In the 19th century, Kansas was the scene of violent clashes over slavery, which temporarily earned it the moniker "bleeding Kansas," ...Read more
Not Quite Grateful for a Broken Arm, but It's a Reminder of People's Amazing Resilience in the Face of Disabilities
On the Sunday evening of Labor Day weekend, after a delightful dinner with close friends, I tripped over one of those ubiquitous electric rent-a-scooters. I went down hard, landing on my knee and arm, though luckily not hitting my head. At home that night, I couldn't even bend my left elbow enough to remove my earrings or necklace. For those ...Read more
Vance Called El-Sayed Evil -- He's One to Talk
In a year when Democrats have the wind at their backs and a shot at winning even in Texas, primary voters in Michigan have chosen a Senate candidate in Abdul El-Sayed who needlessly alienates many voters. But of all the Republican politicians to criticize El-Sayed, JD Vance may be the least well suited, because when it comes to tolerance for ...Read more
They Will Try to Steal the 2026 Elections
The Supreme Court gave us a start yesterday, with what looked, at first glance, like a win for Trump's efforts to suppress mail-in ballots. But, as Andrew Egger explained, that isn't quite what happened. In broad outline, the Court stayed a lower court injunction while the legality of Trump's attempted interference will be decided later. It ...Read more
Todd Blanche's One Promise: Dishonesty
Todd Blanche was Donald Trump's personal attorney, so it was natural that when he was elevated to attorney general, a journalist asked whether he would "pledge that the Justice Department will always act independently of the White House?"
The correct answer to such a question is obvious: The Justice Department and I are committed to the ...Read more
Trump Promised to Be a Dictator. Now We Know Which One
It was already one of the most clownish (if sinister) moments in the Trump administration -- the Department of Justice actually brought criminal charges against former Olympic canoeist David Hearn for sabotaging the president's big, beautiful reflecting pool. It then dropped them for legal reasons that amounted to: "We screwed up."
But now we...Read more
Trump Was Never Funny
In a display of Stockholm Syndrome, the White House Correspondents' Association invited Donald Trump to be the keynote speaker at their annual festival of self-appreciation. Because he is who he is, he did not take the opportunity to do the kind of gentle press ribbing that past presidents have engaged in, and he certainly declined to engage in ...Read more
The DSA Is a Gift to MAGA
Should those of us who want to defeat the proto-fascists in charge of the Republican Party be worried about a few blue districts that have recently indulged their ids and voted for members of the Democratic Socialists of America? Yes. If their victories become a trend, it could sabotage the Democratic Party.
In a way, Democrats should be ...Read more
Triumphal Arch?
If completed as planned, Donald Trump's triumphal arch outside Arlington National Cemetery will tower over the graceful Memorial Bridge, obstruct the view of the Lincoln Memorial from the cemetery (and vice versa) and offend anyone whose taste is north of Liberace.
But there's another aspect of this grotesquery that deserves some attention: ...Read more










