This section aims to snapshot big stories – or often just the story of the day amid a mass of headline overload. I’ll aim to use it to link to front pages or editorial cartoons.
In the first couple of seasons I used embedded Tweets to try to capture the often discordant stream of news. But in common with many other longtime Twitter/X users, I tried to be more selective about trusted sources amid the morass of disinfomation.
It always looked like that was going to be a continuing, likely worsening, issue through to the election and thereafter.
So along with many other longtime Xitter users, I finally jumped over to Bluesky shortly after the November 2024 election.
For a more detailed narrative archive from previous years, see Month-by-Month.
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For up-to-date baseball news, click here.
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With the breakneck speed of events, particularly in an election year, there are two blogs by prolific and excellent writers that you really should try to make time to read:
Joe Blogs by sportswriter Joe Posnanski, and
Letters From An American by historian Heather Cox Richardson.
Both brilliantly connect moments in the past to what’s happening in the present. No matter how much you think you know, you will learn something new every day. (And they both have particularly resonant, recent books: Why We Love Baseball, and Democracy Awakening.)
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December 12:
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December 7:
Regime Change, But in Caracas or at The Pentagon?
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December 2:
There’s a significant Special Election today in Tennessee’s 7th House District.
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November 30:
Two kids from West Virginia should have been at home for Thanksgiving.
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November 28:
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November 26:
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November 25:
This week’s column – Piggies, Seditionists and Symbols of Hate
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November 18:
Today’s – maybe – the day. This week’s column…
Mike Luckovich for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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November 7:
This week’s column…
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November 6:
You don’t say… I wonder who the inaugural recipient might be?
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November 5:
Voters Send Forceful Message In Blue Blowout
Donald Trump may not have been on the ballot, but his policies, principles and personality definitely were. And in the first test of the national mood since the president took office, Democrats swept high-profile contests as voters rejected what they’ve seen so far, sounding an optimistic opening bell for the 2026 electoral cycle.
- In Virginia, Abigail Spanberger was elected the state’s first woman Governor, winning her race in this formerly purple state by 15 percentage points. Ghazala Hashmi was elected Lt. Governor, becoming the first Muslim woman to serve in a statewide office in the US. Perhaps most significant, though, were the Democrats’ gains in the state legislature.
- In New Jersey, Mikie Sherrill defeated her Trump-aligned opponent for the Governorship. Voting was disrupted after officials in seven counties received e-mailed bomb threats later determined by law enforcement to be unfounded, the AP reported.
- In Pennsylvania, Democrats retained a 5-2 majority on the state Supreme Court, securing a majority in the key swing state until at least 2028.
- In California, where there were no specific races this year, voters overwhelmingly backed Proposition 50, Gov Gavin Newsom’s legislative response to the GOP’s aggresive redistricting strategy.
- In New York City, the biggest turnout in half a century saw 34-year-old Zohran Mamdani ride an acutely effective campaign based on “affordability” to defeat former Democratic Gov Andrew Cuomo, who had been endorsed by Donald Trump. Mamdani will be the city’s youngest Mayor for a century and its first south-Asian and Muslim incumbent.
In his acceptance speech in Brooklyn, Mamdani said:
“I wish Andrew Cuomo only the best in private life. But let tonight be the final time I utter his name, as we turn the page on a politics that abandons the many and answers only to the few. New York, tonight you have delivered. A mandate for change. A mandate for a new kind of politics. A mandate for a city we can afford. And a mandate for a government that delivers exactly that.”
And Mamdani had four words for Donald Trump: “Turn the volume up.”
“New York will remain a city of immigrants: a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants and, as of tonight, led by an immigrant.
“So hear me, President Trump, when I say this: To get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us.”
As, ironically, Cuomo’s father once said, you “campaign in poetry, you govern in prose.”
Moira Donegan in The Guardian called Mamdani’s victory “a rebuke to the failed strategies of the Democratic party”.
The New York Post was, well, the New York Post.
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Significantly, in his usual effort to deflect responsibility for defeat, the president admitted that the government shutdown – now in record-setting territory – contributed to the Republicans’ defeat.
And Tuesday’s results would not have been possible without independents and some disaffected Republicans siding with the opposition to Trump and his acolytes. But the roughly 30 per cent of citizens who remain fiercely loyal to the president will still be a factor, whatever he might do between now and next year’s midterms.
Meanwhile, Wednesday will see a crucial Supreme Court ruling on the legality of Trump’s controversial tariff policy, another building block in framing the contested political and economic space that will define the extent of presidential power in the coming year.
Pema Levy writes at Mother Jones that the case presents a challenge for the conservative justices.
“Legally, there are a lot of ways the justices could resolve this case. But it will be more illuminating to think of the Republican wing not as judges weighing arguments but as mediators seeking a compromise between two competing factions of the same team.”
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November 4:
Election Day! Go vote while you still can.
Here’s a great guide by Nathanial Rakich on what’s on the ballot in every state today, as well as a guide to timings of poll closings.
Here’s NPR’s rundown of four races to watch, and here’s what to look for, via Politico.
Here’s the NYT‘s Election Guide.
And here’s the WaPo Elections section.
CNN‘s Reliable Sources has some links to where you can livestream tonight’s returns.
There’s rolling coverage here from the BBC.
NYT – Predicting every block of the NYC Mayoral election.
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The president was his usual Truth Social self yesterday. We can probably expect more of this as the evening goes on.
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Finally, RIP CBS News
Interview with Trump was ‘an abdication’
’60 Minutes’ edits out Trump bragging
Trump just loves the revamped CBS. Here’s the ugly backstory.
John Dickerson to leave network
Staffers lose jobs in ‘bloodbath’
’60 Minutes’ chief resigns in emotional meeting
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Meanwhile, the Government shutdown is now in its 34th day and looks likely to become the longest in history. The previous longest was in 2019, when Trump demanded Congress fund a US-Mexico border wall. But there may be hints of progress.
What a judge describes as the “simplest case in the world” begins today in Washington DC. Yesterday was National Sandwich Day and of course, we all need a real Gyro…
See Also:
And…
“In our nation’s 246-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump.” – Dick Cheney.
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September 2:
Garrett Graff wrote yesterday – Labor Day – in a piece entitled It’s Time To Have a Serious Conversation About Trump’s Health – that:
“We know less real information about Donald Trump’s health than any president in modern times — arguably since JFK’s doctors covered up the extent of his pain in the presidency. Much of what passes for health information from Trump is laughably exaggerated, so bare bones as to be equally dubious, or — like this summer’s trickle — only released under pressure.
“Like with many things, Trump lies about things whether they matter or not — which in this reason is something we should worry about. Small lies turn into big lies. Trump’s first-term presidential physician, Ronny Jackson, made outrageous claims about the president’s health — he might live to 200 years old! — was demoted by the navy afterward following a “scathing” investigation of his “inappropriate conduct” at the White House, and then was elected to Congress on a platform of being an uber Trump booster. Again, not exactly a great endorsement of how truthful the White House team has been about the president’s health.”
So we can only wait and see what this is about. Maybe the strangest thing about this story all week has been how none of the major news organizations are talking about it, while social media has spiralled.
However this whole episode resolves itself, the next one is certain to be even more chaotic.
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August 31:
Today’s post:
Schroedinger’s President – Everywhere and nowhere, Donald Trump is whatever you want him to be.
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August 27:
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August 24:
Bill Bramhall for the New York Daily News
Today’s Post –
Masquerading – A lot of what’s happening is theater, but as The Boss said, there’s some serious shit going on.
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August 20:
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August 19:
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August 18:
Ahead of President Zelensky’s visit to Washington today, President Trump took to social media last night to, it appeared, encourage the Ukrainian leader to accept a “deal” based on Russia’s demands.
See yesterday’s post:
A Blood Red Carpet – Trump needs a deal on Ukraine. Putin does not.
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August 6:
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August 5:
The Texas re-districting story gets angrier. Inevitably.
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August 4:
Tom Friedman writes in today’s New York Times that “The America We Knew Is Rapidly Slipping Away”.
It’s a good piece, but if I was being contentious, I’d say it’s already gone.
Even if the president disappeared tomorrow, we’d never be able to put our democracy back to a place where it functions for the benefit of all our citizens.
We’re just too divided and too selfish; and too many have learned how to manipulate others.
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August 2:
This week’s politics post:
Shooting The Messenger – How the trustworthiness of government data is undermined.
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The president fired the Director of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, claiming – without evidence – the agency’s latest jobs numbers were “rigged” to make him look bad.
The risks to the credibility of our economic institutions are very real.
Meanwhile, President Trump said he had deployed two nuclear submarines “to appropriate regions” following a war of words on social media with former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
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July 30:
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July 28:
Trump Tariffs, by Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times Free Press
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July 27:
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July 26:
Donald Trump arrived in Scotland to open his new golf course, the latest distraction in his attempt to escape a week of growing crisis over the Jeffrey Epstein affair.
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‘Whether it’s right or wrong, it’s time to go after people…’
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July 23:
Well, that escalated quickly.
The Epstein story shows no sign of going away anytime soon.
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July 18:
Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal are in the presidential crosshairs this morning after publishing a story that heightens the feeding frenzy over the Jeffrey Epstein case that has only grown potentially more threatening for Donald Trump over the past few days.
Trump has said he will sue the paper. And it’s not even today’s splash…
The unrest among sections of the MAGA base is clearly not going away anytime soon.
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July 15:
President Trump’s commitment to dismantling the Department of Education took a step forward when the Supreme Court overruled a lower court’s temporary hold.
In her dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote: “When the Executive publicly announces its intent to break the law, and then executes on that promise, it is the Judiciary’s duty to check that lawlessness, not expedite it.”
Administration officials have acknowledged that completely abolishing the department would require legislation because it had been created by Congress.
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Meanwhile…
“Cult loyalty is blind, until it isn’t…” Ed Luce writes at the FT on Trump’s first real difficulty subduing a restive and angry base – over the Jeffrey Epstein story, which doesn’t loook like it will be going away anytime soon.
“That Trump himself has previously admitted to being a friend of Epstein for 15 years is creeping into Maga consciousness. The president has since claimed he was “not a fan” and “had a falling out with him a long time ago”. Blaming Bondi and Patel for this latest alleged cover-up, which some Maga influencers are doing, is a distraction. Patel and Bondi are the blind loyalists in this equation. Claiming that the sovereign is being betrayed by his courtiers is as old as history. “If only the Tsar/Stalin/Hitler knew what was being done he would fix it,” they cry. But making sacrificial lambs of Bondi or Patel will not bail him out. It could only work if their replacements uncovered new evidence.
“So how will Trump get out of this? The only previous time he has clashed with his base was over the Covid vaccines. In spite of having presided over “Operation Warp Speed”, which was arguably his greatest first-term feat, he dropped that bragging right when rally-goers started to boo him in 2021. If he could not beat the mob he would join them, even if it meant forgoing credit. Siding with the crowd is not an option Trump seems willing to take with the Epstein files.”
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July 13:
Amazing Grace – Once again, amid the loss of his fellow Americans, the President claims to be the beneficiary of divine providence.
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July 8:
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July 6:
Floods of Tears – The heartbreaking events in Texas put the Fourth of July weekend in perspective.
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July 3:
No Kings.
July 4 1776 – July 3 2025. It was good while it lasted.
After another all night session, the House passed the Trump administration’s “signature legislative achievement” on Thursday afternoon.
Trump is set to sign the bill into law – of course – tomorrow.
And the American people will pay the price – The New Republic.
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July 2:
After a record “vote-o-rama” VP JD Vance provided the casting vote as the Senate passed the Trump administration’s centerpiece tax and spending legislation by a 51-50 margin. The bill is set to increase the deficit, cut Medicaid and provide tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans.
It now moves to the House.
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June 25:
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Details of results and coverage from The New York Times
Former Governor Andrew Cuomo’s bid to become Mayor of New York City hit a hurdle when he lost Tuesday’s primary to relative political newcomer Zohran Mamdani.
Meanwhile in the middle east, honestly, who knows what the fuck is going on?
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June 24:
As New York votes in a fascinating mayoral primary race that will tell us a lot about current – and future – Democratic politics, the surprising front-runner posted the latest contribution of his outstanding social media team.
It’s simply one of the best political messaging spots I’ve seen in a long time.
The significance of that casual final line, “Alright, where are we headed?” is more acute than many people know.
I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.
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June 23:
‘Everlasting Consequences’ – Iran’s warning after Trump takes US into war.
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Everything kind of went south with my Dad about here and i just didn’t have time to keep this updated on a day-to-day basis. Now that I’m writing the Substack twice a week, I will mainly use this page to post front pages and editorial cartoons.
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June 4:
The White House today announced a sweeping new travel ban, affecting a dozen countries and set to go into effect on Monday. There’s an exemption covering next year’s World Cup and Olympics, clearly prestige showpiece events whose serendipitous timing Trump likes to boast about.
Earlier, Donald Trump said he had spoken on the phone with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, before the US President relayed his counterpart’s determination to exact revenge for Ukraine’s drone attack this week.
Separately, Putin also had a call with the US-born Pope Leo XIV. The Vatican confirmed that “particular attention” was paid to peace in the Ukraine war.
Trump also announced an investigation into his predecessor and the Biden administration’s use of Autopen; just one more shiny object to distract from the contentious “big beautiful bill” and the widening rift between the President and his biggest donor over increasing the deficit.
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June 3:
Just days after a deeply strange Oval Office press conference marking his apparent departure from government, Elon Musk launched a broadside against Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill” that adds trillions to the deficit to fund tax cuts for the wealthy.
Trump has, so far, remained silent.
The bill, which passed the House last week but is facing intense opposition from budget hawks in the Senate, is estimated to increase the deficit by between three and five trillion dollars over the next decade.
The Israeli government is again under pressure after another deadly incident in Gaza in which 27 people were killed and many others injured by gunfire early this morning while attempting to get food at an aid site in Rafah. This makes the third consecutive day that Palestinians have been killed while gathering to collect aid.
The UN has called for an investigation.
Over the weekend, a potential plan for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, led by President Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, was clouded in uncertainty.
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June 2:
So much for not holding any cards. Ukraine’s audacious drone raid on air bases across Russia appears to have upended current understanding of the state of Putin’s war against his neighbor and apparently wiped out about a third of Russia’s strategic bombing potential. The move came ahead of the latest round of direct talks between the two sides.
A man was charged with a federal hate crime after an attack in Boulder, Colorado on a rally in support of Israeli hostages in Gaza. The New York Times reported on how the latest attack “contributed to a sense that simply existing in public as a Jewish person is increasingly dangerous.”
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June 1:
‘Well, We All Are Going To Die…’
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100 Days and Beyond…
Time magazine was one of several publications to have an “exclusive” interview with a President who craves attention
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On the hundredth day of his second term in office, Donald Trump told a Michigan campaign-style rally (does he have any other kind?) that “nothing can stop me.” In return, his dutiful admirers once again cheered for an unconstitutional third term.
Trump’s presidency is undoubtedly one of the most consequential in our history. That so many have written so much about this man on this single day alone proves it. But that’s not the same as being the “most successful” as he frequently describes it – or worse, that he can credibly claim the mantle of a predecessor like FDR.
Jonathan Chait writes at The Atlantic that: “Judged against Roosevelt’s record, the first 100 days of the second Trump term can be deemed a miserable failure. The president has passed no major legislation, and his economic interventions have had the opposite effect of Roosevelt’s, injecting uncertainty into a healthy recovery and seeding an economic crisis.”
Yes, Trump returned to office with a very specific game plan to remake – rather, dismantle – government and surrounded himself with loyalists to implement it; but the country’s collective head is still spinning from many of the genuinely shocking extremes that have shaken our institutions and social norms to the core.
Here’s a rundown by the AP of what he’s done and what he hasn’t.
And while his core supporters still appear largely behind him, PBS reported: “About half of U.S. adults say Trump’s second term has had a mostly negative effect on their lives, and a majority believe he is rushing to make changes without considering the effects of his actions.”
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The Center For American Progress summed it up thus:
“In the first 100 days of his second term, President Donald Trump is aggressively implementing a far-right, multipronged plan to create an imperial presidency. Acting far more aggressively than he did in his first term, Trump is casting aside the U.S. Constitution and federal laws, shattering long-established guardrails designed to protect the system of checks and balances, and using government power to stifle dissent.
“The Trump administration is seizing unprecedented power for the executive branch to implement extreme policies that hurt everyday Americans and deprive them of their fundamental rights, at a time when people’s trust in government is already near historic lows. This unconstitutional effort to effectively turn the presidency into an unaccountable autocracy has taken the United States to the brink of authoritarianism.”
Meanwhile, Democracy Docket described his second term so far as ‘An all-out assault on democracy’.
“Congressional Republicans have largely approved of Trump’s actions and most are actively ceding core legislative duties to him, leaving the courts as the only remaining constitutional branch to check him.
“However, the administration is trying to invalidate the judiciary as well by repeatedly questioning the courts’ constitutional authority to review the actions of the government, brushing off or deliberately misconstruing court orders and attacking both conservative and liberal judges who rule against the government.
“The president’s attacks on the courts are part of his efforts to weaken the rule of law and warp the legal institutions into political tools to reward sympathizers and punish his rivals.”
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You can read the archive of States of Play weekly posts here.
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The late night hosts, though, have been having a ball…
Stephen Colbert:
Seth Myers:
Jimmy Kimmel:
The Daily Show:
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States of Play 