Busy with some things.
Thursday, April 30, 2026
Mills Out
I've avoided getting sucked into the Platner discourse, as my beautiful mind is already occupied by too many things, but Schumer recruiting Mills was an obviously ridiculous step.
Gov. Janet Mills of Maine, the Democratic establishment’s choice to run for the Senate seat long held by Senator Susan Collins, a Republican, suspended her campaign on Thursday, saying she no longer had the financial resources to compete against Graham Platner, a progressive political newcomer.
Her exit paves the way for Mr. Platner, an oysterman who has led her in polls, to become the Democratic nominee in one of the most important Senate races in the country.
Strait Flushed
The fundamental stalemate is that there is nothing Iran would agree to - especially when we all know that President Deals is not bound by deals - that would satisfy Trump's ego and his need to semi-plausibly claim HE WON.
I shouldn't have been, but I was a bit surprised he went back to posting threats. Or, at least, a bit surprised his staff didn't stop him.
Wednesday, April 29, 2026
The Stonk Mystery
Oil prices soar, stocks keep going up, or at least stay flat.
Yes they're down a bit today, now, but hardly panic selling.
Leaf Eaters
We are ruled by people who were like my middle school cohort - almost everything you do means you're "gay" (effeminate, not a real man, etc.).
Continuing to address military culture, Cao said the services needed “meat eaters” instead of “leaf eaters.”
Aesthetics of masculinity aside, the one bit of diet advice which is likely more important than any other, at least in the context of a typical American diet, is: almost everybody needs to eat more fiber.
Certainly more than none!
At Least The War Is Over
Here in Ye Old Blogosphere, we've long joked that the political press are like 6-year-olds playing soccer, just chasing wherever the ball is kicked, but it's quite funny that a major international military and economic crisis can be largely forgotten because of a minor security incident where they were all assembled.*
*And, yes, a guy with guns - in America! - who didn't fire a shot (almost certainly) and didn't get through security is an extremely minor security incident, even if the Secret Service started shooting.
The Peak Comeback Kid Column
It was David Broder rooting for his boy, Bush, in 2007.
It may seem perverse to suggest that, at the very moment the House of Representatives is repudiating his policy in Iraq, President Bush is poised for a political comeback. But don't be astonished if that is the case.
He gave the game away about what motivated the column:
He has been far more accessible — and responsive — to the press and public, holding any number of one-on-one interviews, both on and off the record, leading up to Wednesday's televised news conference. And he has been more candid in his responses than in the past.
Journalists got their special treat - a candid off the record talk with the preznit! - and what could be more compelling than that!
Newsworthy
You would think insane unhinged rants by the president - in this case on the flagship public affairs/news show! - would be newsworthy, but instead it is always something to be smoothed over and hidden.
CBS News’s 60 Minutes cut out large portions of its interview with President Trump in which he rambled about his ballroom, how hot his Secret Service agents are, and how the No Kings protests are just like the Ku Klux Klan.
An analysis by Decoding Fox News revealed that many portions of the interview, which took place Sunday following the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, simply never made it to air.
As has been the case since I have been blogging, other top journalists are strangely quiet on clearly indefensible practices by their colleagues.
That's one aspect of the news ecosystem that I think has become worse over the years. There used to be more "internal" media criticism. Much of it was bad, of course, but there was at least some insider reflection on what was happening.
Now there are plenty of critical voices (good!) but they are all outside the room, not in it, making it easier to just ignore them.
TNR (linked) used to be inside the room, when it was right-wing-masquerading-as-center-left, and now it isn't. Funny how things work.
Tuesday, April 28, 2026
Popularity and The Press
Have the hacks started referring to Trump as "unpopular" yet? I haven't seen it.
Soon he will announce more and more shit and they will treat each bit of vaporware as his comeback kid moment.
L
America's greatest president.
WASHINGTON, April 28 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's approval rating fell to the lowest level of his current term, as Americans increasingly soured on his handling of the cost of living and an unpopular war with Iran, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll.
The four-day poll completed on Monday showed 34% of Americans approve of Trump's performance in the White House, down from 36% in a prior Reuters/Ipsos survey, which was conducted from April 15 to 20.
The Only Thing Americans Care About
I don't think that's true, really, but it probably is true of the generally confused group of "swing voters" that have a big impact on election outcomes.
Gasoline prices in the United States rose on Tuesday to their highest level in four years as peace talks between the United States and Iran appeared at an impasse.Of course if they come down soon enough, they'll remember how that nasty Biden caused them to jump in the first place. Such are swing voters.
The average cost for a gallon of regular gasoline is $4.18, according to the AAA motor club. The price at the pump has not been that high since April 2022, shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine. Tuesday’s jump of 1.6 percent was the highest percentage increase in more than a month.
Georgetown Law's Finest
The connection between Barry Jr. and Cole Allen is an exercise left to the reader.
I'm sure this will be defended because it's a "joke" which "references" when Obama said, "If I had a son, he could have looked like Trayvon Martin." But what's the joke? WHAT'S THE JOKE, MOTHERFUCKER???
It's just proving Obama's point, of course.
It Is 2006... It is 2026...
Criticism of the White House press and their annual dinner has been going on for decades. The criticisms remain basically the same, even as the details change somewhat:
They are the highest paid and most celebrated journalists, even though their journalism is entirely access journalism which produces no genuine scoops. Whoever sucks up the most gets the press releases first.
They identify with the people and the institutions they cover. It is "we" not "us and them." They are on Team White House, and they rise and fall together.
They are quite defensive of the people they cover, both because of access reasons and in the same way that I can criticize Philadelphia but you had better fucking not. Their home, not yours.
They tend to be incredibly thin skinned about their own work, of course.
As journalists at the top of the food chain - salaries, status, fame - they are often quite dismissive of "lesser" journalists. You know, the ones with actual "scoops" which they are often unable to read or remember.
Access journalism includes a lot of "save it for the book" stuff. Aside from the obvious, a problem with failing to publish what you know is that you end up talking and writing around it. "Peter Hegseth says [lie which is refuted in my book out in 18 months]." It's a version of "catch and kill." Tell journalists the truth but embargo it. They have to pretend they don't know it.
They often run cover for their sources. Way too obvious case: Maggie Haberman with Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
For various reasons, these tendencies are much worse and less hidden during Republican administrations. Arguably this is mostly because Republican administrations are "better" at manipulating them, better at their care and feeding (and corrective punishments at times), and not because of ideological affinity, but that is not preferable!
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