You Asked: How hard is it to defeat an incumbent in a primary?
On Patreon (really, go support us on Patreon), we ask supporters to occasionally toss questions over to us that they want answered that are a little bit harder to get an answer to than something you might ask on Quora. For this, the fourth piece in our new series You Asked, everyone is suddenly interested in primary challenges for some reason. I’ve seen a lot of … Continue reading You Asked: How hard is it to defeat an incumbent in a primary?
March 4: Corporations, Congress, and Conspiracies
Prior to the 20th Amendment, the designated day for presidential inaugurations was March 4. This, like much of our Constitutionally-determined election schedule, was based on the realities of travel in a nation where the horse was by far the fastest and most reliable way to get around. Once it was possible for news to travel by telegraph and presidents-elect to travel by train, lawmakers decided … Continue reading March 4: Corporations, Congress, and Conspiracies
GOP efforts to stymie voting demonstrate that they know they lost in 2020
Republican candidates, by and large, did not have a great 2020. Georgia ousted its Republican senators, Trump-backed Republicans struggled in moderate Congressional districts, and Trump himself lost the White House. For the months that followed – and as recently as this week, at CPAC – Trump and his cronies have maintained that wide-scale election fraud was behind their defeats. But in state legislatures around the … Continue reading GOP efforts to stymie voting demonstrate that they know they lost in 2020
Republicans deploy heavy-handed metaphor to explain Trump relationship
Concerned that Americans might not fully grasp the relationship between Trump and mainstream conservatism, a group of Trumpists deployed a massive golden idol to the Conservative Political Action Conference, which began in Orlando on Friday. If you’re not familiar with the Bible story of the Golden Calf, the gist is that some folks built a big calf of gold to worship because they weren’t so … Continue reading Republicans deploy heavy-handed metaphor to explain Trump relationship
Joe Biden’s lousy first month
Joseph R. Biden Jr. became the forty-sixth President of the United States on January 20, 2021. It has been, give or take a day, one month since then, and if you ask Biden’s voters how they think the first month went you’ll get two very different responses. One group, relieved from the stress of the Trump administration, will praise Biden as a return to normalcy. … Continue reading Joe Biden’s lousy first month
Trump probably won’t run in 2024, but that doesn’t mean Senate Republicans were right to acquit him
The United States Senate, in its infinite wisdom, says Donald Trump is not guilty of inciting a riot in January on the grounds that although he absolutely did do that and should be convicted he is no longer in office and therefore, apparently, cannot be. This result, though not unexpected, is going down poorly, in part because the legal consensus is that Trump absolutely could … Continue reading Trump probably won’t run in 2024, but that doesn’t mean Senate Republicans were right to acquit him
Oops, you believed the Subway story
At the end of January, someone lied to you and you believed it. I could just leave it at that. People lie pretty frequently, usually about mundane things. But I’ve got a specific whopper in mind – or, more appropriately, a specific footlong in mind. See, you almost definitely saw a story about Subway, the famed sub chain, that maligned its tuna sandwich. Here’s what … Continue reading Oops, you believed the Subway story
Biden wants bipartisan action on student loan debt. But even some moderate Dems say it’s time to be bold.
Charles Schumer, New York’s senior senator and the current Majority Leader, is not exactly what you would call a leftist agitator. Not in good faith, anyway. Schumer is a liberal, almost a liberal in the classic mold: business is okay, labor should be protected, consumers have a right to understand the products they purchase. But now, he’s staking one of the boldest positions in the … Continue reading Biden wants bipartisan action on student loan debt. But even some moderate Dems say it’s time to be bold.
No one is scared of reddit investors
There have been a lot of memes circulating since the WallStreetBets reddit began its Wall Street rampage last week. Most of those memes focus on how redditors are some kind of ragtag group of misfits who are destabilizing the market and have professional investors quivering in their $50,000 shoes. But just how accurate is this image? Are investors really scared of what is happening and … Continue reading No one is scared of reddit investors
Deqification
In the aftermath of World War II, the victorious Allies faced a daunting task. Not only had the war had a devastating impact on Germany’s industrial and economic might – since mangling the German industrial machine was essential to defeating its military – but the Allies were faced with a territory that had undergone years of intense propagandizing. Stationed for many years in Berlin, CBS … Continue reading Deqification