“Are Democrats spending money quixotically and stretching themselves too thin? Is there any chance Democrats can win in places that Donald Trump has consistently won by double digits? Especially in Senate races that could seal control of the upper chamber? Yes, there is a chance. Probable, no. A chance, yes.” (10/20/26)
“The House’s control over its own membership does not put members beyond the reach of the ordinary law. A representative who takes a bribe can be investigated, indicted, and convicted like anyone else, and nothing in Article I stands in the way. A conviction is not among the qualifications and does not by itself cost anyone a seat. What is different about the Omar investigation is its purpose. It is not aimed at punishing a crime but at taking away one of the three constitutional qualifications for the office she already holds, her citizenship. … The House may have ultimate control over its membership, but the attempt to short-circuit that authority by abusing other processes does real damage. The House would keep its power on paper while being dared to assert it, and to assert her privileges as a member in full standing.” (10/19/26)
“[M]aking homelessness invisible generally means forcing people into shelters, or letting the weather do that for you. But solving homelessness? That is more complicated.” (10/19/26)
“The Roman world lasted 2,000 years, transforming from a kingdom to a republic and finally to an empire. At 250, what can the United States, which has been through its own stages, learn from Rome? As Americans prepare for what seems like a pivotal election—amid not just rising prices but, more seriously, rapid systemic decay—they may profit from an examination of what made the long-lasting Roman and Chinese civilizations so successful.” (10/19/26)
“Donald Trump loves to put his name on things, and when it comes to the recent burst of inflation, it’s totally deserved. Trump and Republican politicians are doing their best to try to make a simple story complicated. But there is no doubt that Trump is the lead and almost sole author of the inflation we are now seeing.” (10/20/26)
“For years, the idea of speaking forthrightly to China would evoke an admonition from the US State Department and most of the American policymaking class: ‘We can’t do that. They won’t like it.’ They’d often add, ‘China has red lines, don’t you know?’ There are things you are told you just can’t say – questioning China’s political system, Taiwan, democracy, human rights and China’s ‘development rights’ (challenging China’s right to do anything it wants – legal or illegal – to develop its economy and industry). In short, you can’t mention any of the things that make communist China such a threat to peace and prosperity. … When it comes to the Chinese Communists, if you won’t say it in public – as Reagan did with the Soviets – it’s a win for the communists.” (10/19/26)
“Imagine that the U.S. had a gifted progressive president, with a common touch and a large majority in Congress. That’s basically what Britain has today with its new prime minister, former Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, whose Labour Party has a working majority of 167 seats in the House of Commons. For a generation, Labour had been badly fragmented into Corbynites on the left and Blairites on the center-right, as well as a middle group representing a ‘soft left’. Burnham mercifully bridges over yesterday’s schisms. He has explicitly repudiated neoliberalism (both Margaret Thatcher’s and Tony Blair’s), espousing and defining a new kind of leftism that he calls business-friendly socialism, rooted in his success as an effective northern mayor far from the infighting of Westminster.” (10/20/26)
“Modern grocery stores are amazing. You can walk into one virtually any time and find an incredible selection of fruits, vegetables, meats, snacks, treats, and drinks. Out of season? No such thing. Want strawberries in January? No problem. Grocery stores are so amazing that it’s hard to believe no one is in charge. How do they manage to have all the things we want, all the time? Who coordinates the farmers, food processors, truckers, and store owners to make this happen? The answer, of course, is no one. The invisible hand of the free market takes care of it for us. And it does a spectacular job.” (10/19/26)
“A little later than expected, flying cars have arrived. Welcome to the 21st century. A rockets-enhanced Roadster can zoom up a nearly vertical ramp and execute a flip in mid-air before landing. Also, ‘on cold gas thrusters,’ the prototype can jump into the air from a stationary position on the ground, fly for a few seconds, and do a flip before landing.” (10/19/26)
“Last week, not only did Oregon’s restrictive gun laws fail to stop a shooter intent on killing innocent people, but a passing good Samaritan had to violate those laws to end the murder spree. Fortunately, authorities don’t appear intent on prosecuting Kaylub Giamanco, father to two girls who attend the school, for ignoring the ban on guns on school grounds to save lives. But the law is clearly more of a threat to people with good intent than it is to those bent on doing harm. Such laws should and must be defied, but lawmakers need to remove these legal minefields before they do more damage.” (10/19/26)
