At least Joe Biden did in 2020. During the dark days of the George W. Bush Presidency—before the who-knew-it-could-get-so-much-darker days of Donald Trump—pollsters and pundits had an explanation for why voters chose the bumbling Bush over the competent Al Gore (in 2000) and John Kerry (in 2004). Setting aside the debatable issue as to whether...

The FCC is allowing your favorite local TV station to become Fox “News,” and you probably haven’t even noticed. “Our government rests in public opinion,” Abraham Lincoln once observed. “Whoever can change public opinion can change the government.” The point made by this nation’s first Republican President is one that today’s GOP has taken to...

Watergate’s Woodward went wayward as hundreds of thousands of Americans died. You just breathe the air, and that’s how it’s passed,” Donald Trump confided to journalist Bob Woodward way back on February 7, 2020, before most Americans had even heard the word coronavirus for the first time. It’s “more deadly than even your strenuous flus,”...

Fans of Trump’s musical-chairs circus over the last four years may remember Scott Pruitt, former head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as one of the most entertainingly corrupt clowns of all time. Pruitt spent $43,000 in taxpayer money to install a soundproof phone booth in his EPA office, had a 24/7 security detail following...

Trump and U.S. Billionaires got richer while high school kids outpaced the federal government’s response to the pandemic. As bad as you may think Donald Trump and his ad­ministration’s failed response has been to the coro­navirus pandemic, it’s far worse—in blood and treasure. The blood cost in the United States far exceeds that paid by...

There is no question that Donald Trump reigns supreme as the biggest buffoon in the history of the GOP, and that’s saying a lot, considering the stiff competition. Trump’s ginormous ego sucks all the air out of the circus tent, leaving little limelight for the other right-wing bozos on Capitol Hill. So it’s high time...

An unregulated Wall Street investment firm has become so powerful that it now controls the U.S. economy. To most people, if they are familiar with it at all, BlackRock helps pension funds and retirees manage their savings through “passive” investments that track the stock market. But working behind the scenes, it is much more than...

A former U.S. senator and diplomat warns that “survival of our democracy” is now at stake as Election Day nears. It seems unimaginable. But for many it was unimaginable that Donald Trump could become President of the United States in the first place. So ignore this warning at your peril. Former U.S. Senator Timothy Wirth...

In the fourth grueling year of Trump’s reign, many Republicans have finally come around to admitting that the man is an idiot and jackass unfit for office. Jeff Flake, Ann Coulter, John Bolton, George Conway and two groups— the Lincoln Project and Republican Voters Against Trump—among others, have made the case recently. But some diehards...

The President, who describes absentee voting as “FRAUDULENT,” would certainly know. What is it about Republicans, Palm Beach and voter fraud? Pretending that there’s systemic voter fraud by Democrats, the Republican Party has gone all out to buttress voting restrictions that actually suppress perfectly lawful—not to mention predominantly Democratic-leaning—voters. I’ve reported on this con for...

The federal government’s financial response to the coronavirus proves that “debt and deficit” was always an excuse. For years politicians, pundits and the media told us America was broke. We can’t ensure healthcare to every American as a right, not a privilege. Too expensive! Who do you think we are—every other civilized nation on Earth?...

Libertarians are a strange lot. If you were to bioengineer a hybrid creature, half elephant and half donkey, that would be the perfect mascot for a true libertarian: about half conservative and half liberal. You might find yourself agreeing with them on a lot of things, but then they do something absolutely batshit crazy. The...

The rise of Donald Trump inspired a small army of conservative dimwits and grifters to follow in his footsteps. If such an ignorant buffoon could gain the highest office in the land, then any damn fool could run for higher office with a chance of winning. A prime example is the current Republican governor of...

Once the coronavirus and Trump administration have passed, the disease infecting the Justice Department will still linger. When this nightmare ends, and it will, there is going to be a lot to restore beyond the death and economic devastation. Cleanup of the Trump Administration’s American carnage should begin with the rotting core of what was...

The telecom company is resisting demands to make its cell phones accessible to government agencies. Let’s give it up for Apple! It’s not easy to commend a hugely profitable company for simply doing what’s right for its customers and bottom line, but the tech giant is doing something much more praiseworthy. With CEO Tim Cook...

As the presidential race hit the starting gate, were GOP dirty-tricksters behind the caucus-night meltdown in Iowa? The initial nominating contest of the critical 2020 Presidential election—America’s last firewall against full-on authoritarianism—began disastrously for Democrats in Iowa. The voting itself went well enough, but the reporting of publicly witnessed precinct results from some 1,700 caucus...

Some of the most influential movers and shakers in politics are not household names. They don’t hold public office, host a talk show or donate millions to candidate campaigns; they operate more or less in the shadows. This profile fits one of D.C.’s most powerful divas, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the big, bad blond wife of...