National Democrats
Recovering from Defeat
The day Al Qaeda murdered American soldiers outside Kabul airport young Congressman Madison Cawthorn tweeted a video showing him waving a letter to Kamala Harris; square-jawed, square-shouldered, voice indignant, mimicking Trump, Cawthorn demanded Harris defrock Biden by using the 25th Amendment – to prove his point he intoned (what he called) “eternal, weighty, and wise”…
Read MoreFingers of Blame
The Taliban is a terrorist group. Trump made a deal with Taliban to withdraw our soldiers from Afghanistan. It didn’t work out. Taliban took over. Trump roared it was Joe Biden’s fault. Biden, pointing fingers, shot back Trump signed the agreement with Taliban. It was Trump’s fault. Neither ever admitted he made a single mistake.…
Read MoreA Political Earthquake Rocks Biden and Trump
John Bolton and I both supported Reagan in 1976; four years later when Reagan’s campaign emerged from the New Hampshire primary dead-broke John told me: The Congressional Club needs to do an independent campaign for Reagan. Puzzled, I asked: What’s an independent campaign? Americans for Reagan spent millions to help elect Reagan. Last February as…
Read MoreHanding an Enemy a Gift
If you’d asked me, Leave Afghanistan? a year ago I’d have nodded, said, Yes. We had tanks, jets, helicopters, drones – and Taliban didn’t – but we botched the war. But it turns out escape was an illusion. It’s an old story. We fight an enemy. We hand our enemy a gift. And the chickens…
Read MoreThe Republican World Today
Eyes locked on a television set, sitting ramrod straight, lean-faced, Dan stared at Joe Biden – in the middle of a sentence Biden lost his train of thought, stammered, waving his hands, face blank. “He’s senile.” Turning, Dan glared at me. “Those two polls about Trump that John Bolton or you did were a joke.”…
Read MoreThe Swamp: Alive and Well
The other day Mitch McConnell told Chuck Schumer that not one Republican Senator would vote to raise the debt ceiling…then in the next breath told Schumer how to raise the ceiling on his own without a single Republican vote. Schumer shot back: ‘This debt is Trump’s debt. It’s Covid debt. Americans pay their debts.’ To…
Read MoreThe Deadliest Fruit
Standing on stage at his rally in Ohio Trump bragged, ‘I won by a landslide’ – beside me, watching Trump’s video, my friend nodded. I leaned toward him. ‘Give me one fact that proves Trump won?’ He laughed. ‘Do I think the Democrats would steal an election…yes, in a minute.’ He didn’t need facts –…
Read MoreThe Result: Polarization
I clicked, up popped a long list of newspaper headlines on Twitter: Hate Crimes Against Asian Americans… Transgender athletes banned… Matt Gaetz accused of sex trafficking … Marjorie Taylor Greene calls Rep. David Cicilline, ‘Rep. Mussolini…’ Rep. Cicilline tells Greene ‘get lost…’ Biden stumbles three times… Trump rules the GOP… Howls rolled on. People cheered,…
Read MoreRolling Downhill
Profound faith: Laying wounded on a gurney staring up at the emergency room ceiling, an assassin’s bullet lodged an inch from his heart, hemorrhaging internally, Ronald Reagan said a prayer for the crazed young man who’d just shot him; later, fighting to win the Cold War, Reagan warned, If we forget we are one nation…
Read MoreLyin’ Eyes
When I was ten years old walking along a muddy dirt road beside a wide creek at the foot of a hill I glanced down, saw a black tree branch lying in a patch of sunlight in the mud – behind me my gray-haired uncle said, Stop. A snake reared up in the air in…
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