[ Posted Friday, July 10th, 2026 – 16:51 UTC ]
Last week, we warned everyone that July was going to be a sketchy month for us, in terms of our ability to write these Friday columns. So we begin today with a program update. Today's offering is not a complete Friday Talking Points column. It is bare-bones, at best. We're not even really going to attempt reviewing the past week, and we're also not going to write out talking points at the end (although we did complete the two awards sections). Just to warn everyone up front.
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[ Posted Wednesday, July 8th, 2026 – 15:15 UTC ]
As of this writing, Graham Platner has still not officially dropped out of the Maine Senate race. That may have changed by the time you read this, however, because he is reportedly going to make some sort of announcement tonight. Everyone knows what he's going to do already, though. So the two big questions before Maine Democrats now are: who is going to replace him, and how will the replacement candidate be selected?
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[ Posted Tuesday, July 7th, 2026 – 16:03 UTC ]
Once again, the state of Maine is now on the center stage in the American political spotlight. Yesterday, a bombshell report was published with an accusation that Graham Platner -- the Democratic nominee for the Senate race who was going to face Republican Senator Susan Collins in November -- had raped his then-girlfriend only five years ago. Some are calling it "date rape," but at this point quibbling over semantics isn't the important part. The question now is when Platner will bow to the inevitable and drop out of the race, and who will replace him on the ballot?
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[ Posted Monday, July 6th, 2026 – 15:27 UTC ]
A surprise announcement shook up the Democratic primary for an open Senate seat in Michigan over the holiday weekend, as Mallory McMorrow announced she was suspending her campaign. This leaves the race as a two-person contest, which will pit a favorite of the Democratic Party establishment against an upstart progressive.
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[ Posted Thursday, July 2nd, 2026 – 15:39 UTC ]
Once again, it is time for my annual remembrance of the actual facts, rather than the myth that everyone in the country celebrates (a myth that was actually created and endorsed by the Founding Fathers, but no matter...). So join me in lifting a glass in honor of John Adams (and his letter to his wife Abigail), and celebrate with me today the real 250th anniversary of America declaring its independence from the British king!
Originally published on July 2nd, 2012
Happy Second of July, everyone! Happy Independence Day!
Now, you may be thinking: "Has Chris gone bonkers? Why is he jumping the gun, two days early?" The answers to these important queries are: No, Chris has not gone any more bonkers than usual; and, in fact, the rest of you are celebrating a fictitious event on a fictitious anniversary date. So there.
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[ Posted Wednesday, July 1st, 2026 – 18:32 UTC ]
A paroxysm of hand-wringing and pearl-clutching was set off yesterday, as another Democratic Socialist candidate beat a long-standing Democratic incumbent in a Colorado primary. This likely means there will be at least three new members of the House of Representatives who call themselves Democratic Socialists, which is causing certain political commentators to absolutely freak out.
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[ Posted Monday, June 29th, 2026 – 16:16 UTC ]
It is darkly ironic that we are only a few weeks away from celebrating the 250th anniversary of declaring independence from a king while our own Supreme Court continues to advance a vision of American government where the president has powers that can only be described as kinglike. They don't call it that -- they use the term "unitary executive" instead -- but the upshot is the same.
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[ Posted Friday, June 26th, 2026 – 17:06 UTC ]
If anyone needed any further proof that everything that Donald Trump touches turns to schlock (or worse), this week's opening of the Great American State Fair certainly provided some. The initial idea wasn't too bad a concept -- have all 50 states send an exhibit to the National Mall, and it would capture the spirit of state fairs held every year across America. Sounds kind of fun, actually.
But, of course, with Trump in charge of it, things didn't turn out as well as they could have. And that's putting it mildly. The whole thing was supposed to kick off with a big concert, but when the musical artists realized it was a pro-Trump event (rather than a nonpartisan celebration of patriotism), almost all of them immediately pulled out. So Trump, in a hissy fit, said that he'd give a speech instead, with the handful of the few musical artists still willing to perform for him also featured.
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[ Posted Wednesday, June 24th, 2026 – 16:34 UTC ]
Perhaps it is time for some reflection. That (or similar jokes and puns) is now the easiest way to poke fun at Donald Trump's absolute incompetence. Trump subscribes to the Silicon Valley maxim "move fast and break things," which you will note does not include "and fix things" or anything remotely like it. Which is exactly what has happened with the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. This fiasco has now transformed into authoritarian farce, it has all moved so fast.
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[ Posted Friday, June 19th, 2026 – 17:26 UTC ]
It's pretty easy to see who won Donald Trump's war of choice with Iran -- and who lost. All you have to do is look at the deal both sides just signed, which is obviously heavily tilted in Iran's favor. In fact, it is pretty much impossible to claim otherwise -- to claim that somehow the U.S. won a resounding victory and forced a defeated foe to the bargaining table, where the U.S. would dictate terms of the surrender. In fact, it looks a lot more like exactly the opposite happened.
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