Latest posts
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The Strongman Starter Pack: From Manila to Mar-a-Lago
Rodrigo Duterte’s rise in the Philippines wasn’t an accident—it was a case study in how democracies willingly hand the keys to strongmen when fear, spectacle, and fatigue collide. Donald Trump is running the same script in America: cult of personality, demonization of enemies, attacks on the press, selective empathy, institutional erosion, and an endless blurring…
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When Congress Governs by Split Screen
Democracy has always been a little theatrical. The marble halls, the pomp, the roll calls delivered like Broadway overtures—it’s part politics, part melodrama, part daytime soap. But lately the Capitol has taken the metaphor too literally. On one screen: a government funding bill collapsing in the Senate. On the other: a resolution sanctifying Charlie Kirk,
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A Royal Circus, a Domestic Inquisition, and the Death of Late Night: Trump’s September Trifecta
The Pageant in Windsor There’s no such thing as a small Trump visit. Not when the U.K. rolls out Windsor pomp for a man who treats Buckingham Palace like a casino floor. King Charles III, looking every bit the monarch who once had to weather tabloids about tampon fantasies, gamely escorted Donald Trump through ceremonial
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The One-Vote Miracle: How Ilhan Omar Survived the House Thought Police
The censure of Ilhan Omar was supposed to be a slam dunk. It had all the ingredients the Republican caucus adores: an immigrant woman of color, a Muslim, an outspoken progressive, and a social media post they could contort into the crime of the century. The House floor was primed for the ritual humiliation—strip her
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The Return of Red Scares: Trump and Vance Turn Grief Into Witch Hunt
From Mourning to McCarthyism The assassination of Charlie Kirk should have been a tragedy contained by grief, accountability, and legal process. Instead, it became fuel. Within days, the White House pivoted from mourning to manufacturing a new Red Scare. President Donald Trump, flanked by Vice President JD Vance and professional apocalypse salesman Stephen Miller, decided
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The Glitterball Hunger Games: Dancing With the Stars Season 34 Kicks Off by Breaking Its Own Math
Opening Night, Chaos Optional “Dancing With the Stars” opened its 34th season like only an American reality juggernaut can: too many contestants, too much glitter, and not nearly enough functional technology. Fourteen couples poured onto the ballroom floor, the disco lights blinded half the audience, and the producers announced no eliminations this week—as if America
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Newsom vs. Grandpa Trump: California Declares a Code Red
A Rally Instead of a Requiem California Governor Gavin Newsom has finally embraced his destiny as the Democratic Party’s loudest hype man. Forget policy briefings or sleepy pressers—this week he staged something closer to a revival tent. A rally, a roast, and a roadmap rolled into one. In the shadow of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, while
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Kash Patel’s Senate Hearing: When Oversight Becomes Cage Match
The Director in the Hot Seat The FBI director is supposed to radiate calm authority. Buttoned-up, even boring. Kash Patel did not get the memo. At his Senate Judiciary oversight hearing, Patel delivered spectacle instead of stability—part wrestling promo, part courtroom drama, part Fox primetime audition. Patel denied politicizing the bureau, denied purging Trump critics,
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The Death of Charlie Kirk and the Politics of Selective Grief
Violence Is Not the Answer Let’s start with the obvious: I condemn political violence. All of it. Every bullet, every act dressed up as “justice,” every attempt to turn disagreement into bloodshed. No cause, no grievance, no ideology makes murder acceptable. And yet here we are, talking about another assassination carried out on a public
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The Half-Mast Presidency: Selective Empathy as a National Ritual
Flags for Some, Not for Others There is nothing quite as American as fighting about flags. We argue about who can kneel before them, who can burn them, whether rainbows belong on them, and now—who gets the honor of lowering them. President Donald Trump ordered U.S. flags lowered nationwide for Charlie Kirk. A right-wing commentator