“Here’s a clue people and Courier editorial staff: Will McAvoy is a fictional character on HBO’s ‘The Newsroom’ series. The GOP Requirements letter is a direct quote from Sunday night’s episode. As a former Republican I tend to agree with the script.” — Louisville Courier-Journal reader Mike Hammond
An approach to the debt ceiling that says one will not vote for its extension unless ObamaCare is defunded is the political equivalent of playing Russian roulette with all the chambers of the gun loaded. It is the ultimate no-win strategy.
— Former Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH), writing for The Hill.
Amount that a single trader lost in the final weeks of the 2012 election placing 1.2 million Intrade bets on Mitt Romney, according to a new academic paper examining presidential betting — perhaps to “make the Republican nominee’s chance of victory appear brighter,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Of Americans believe the federal government has too much power — a record high — while 32% now say the government has the right amount of power, a new Gallup poll finds.
I think he ought to play golf… Because I know what it’s like to be in the bubble. And I know the pressures of the job. And to be able to get outside and play golf with some of your pals is important for the president. It does give you an outlet.
— Former President George W. Bush, telling the Golf Channel that President Obama should not be criticized for playing golf.
We’re not nearly as political as everyone thinks we are. We don’t sit around all the time talking about this. We swim in the late afternoon every day. And if either one of us even mentions a political topic we will stop the other one and just talk about the weather or whatever.
— Bill Clinton, in an interview on PBS, about life with Hillary Clinton.
The rate at which home prices have risen over the past quarter, but not all markets are doing well. “Walkable urban” is hot, while “drivable suburban” lags. Overbuilding in the latter category was largely responsible for the recent mortgage meltdown.
“Tailgunner” Ted Cruz must’ve sensed he was in trouble
When McConnell and Cornyn pulled their support on the double.
Cruz’ call for a filibuster
Lost much of its luster
When the GOP’s Senate heavies burst his Obamacare bubble.
Boy, white people did some wacky stuff during the Civil Rights era. Here’s one example.
In 1959, after being compelled by the Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Topeka Board of Education to stop maintaining separate “but equal” public schools, the Confederate Daughters of America (CDA) in Jacksonville, Fla. exacted revenge. They led a successful drive to name a public high school after none other than Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK).
Spiteful and childish move, amirite? I bet you’re thinking it didn’t take long to correct that little work of malice. Well, you’d be wrong. Because to this day, students in Jacksonville continue to graduate from Forrest High.
Sure, over the years, there have been various attempts to have the name changed. After all, Forrest, a Tennessee native, had no relationship with Jacksonville. In fact, he never even visited the town. The CDA just looked around for the worst example of a white guy they could find, and there, like a shimmering star, was Nathan Bedford Forrest.
In the diplomatic ranks, trained professionals toil,
To keep the peace and tamp down foreign turmoil.
But for Greek ambassador,
Trump picked an artful dodger —
The grifting, drunken blackmailer Kimberly Guilfoyle.
A record number of women are running for state legislative seats this November, more than two-thirds of whom are Democrats, reports Florida Phoenix. Across the 46 states with legislative seats on the ballot, a total of 3,824 women are running — up from 2022’s previous record of 3,621 women candidates, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. Women make up 35.5% of all state legislative candidates this cycle. Currently, women hold about one-third of state legislative seats across the country — a record level of representation but nowhere near parity.
“Prediction markets about the 2026 midterm elections have surpassed $1.4 billion in trading volume as Election Day fast approaches,” CNN reports. “This year has seen massive growth in the prediction industry, where people can bet on real-world events like sports, entertainment and the weather. While small-scale election markets have been around for a while, they gained traction before the 2024 presidential election and have seen huge numbers for the 2026 midterms.”
G. Elliot Morris: “Low-knowledge 2024 voters say they backed Trump by 8 points, according to our poll. Today they give him a net job approval of ?27, a 35-point shift. Compare that to Trump’s approval rating among voters who got both questions right: These voters backed Harris by 1 point and now give Trump a net ?24 approval, a 23-point shift. … Low-information voters have moved against Trump at a higher rate than high-information voters, by 12 points.”
President Donald ?Trump’s approval rating fell to a record low as Americans worried about high gasoline prices and appeared ready to punish his Republican Party in the November 3 congressional elections, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that closed on Monday. Some 31% of Americans approve of Trump’s ?performance in office, down a percentage point from two weeks earlier and the lowest level in ?either of his presidential terms, the four-day poll showed.
KFF Poll: “With the 2026 midterm campaigns in full swing and early voting about to begin, there is a wide enthusiasm gap between partisan voters, with Democratic voters 25 percentage points more likely than Republican voters to say they are ‘more motivated’ than usual to vote (63% vs. 38%).”