Texas’s Republican establishment thought it was unshakeable. The blue tsunami that recently swept across the state proved the opposite. The wave culminated with Republicans washed out on the floor of the Capitol, having lost both the governorship and a Senate seat. For Texas Democrats, the ask was plain: Don’t boo, vote. They listened. Pundits did […]

When Spain ceded Puerto Rico to the United States under the 1898 Treaty of Paris, Washington exploited Article IX of the agreement — breaking a historic precedent by omitting the collective naturalization guarantees that had accompanied every prior U.S. acquisition from Louisiana through Alaska. This calculated exclusion instantly manufactured a tier of second-class American nationals, […]

President Donald Trump has been compelled to confront a political reality that has humbled presidents before him: “All politics is local.” Regardless of a president’s accomplishments or ambitions, the American electorate ultimately judges its leaders by the consequences felt in their homes, communities, and pocketbooks. Whatever successes Trump may claim, his inability to bring the […]

The morning after Democrats flipped both the House and the Senate in an historic and stunning midterm tsunami, Vice President JD Vance needed heat diverted away from his catastrophic failures (see: the memorandum of understanding with Iran) and tiredly targeted Israel, his favorite doormat, to take a significant part of the blame. In a long […]

First, congratulations, Democrats. You won convincingly, and your victory can reasonably be described as a blue wave. However, whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, there is a quote by Winston Churchill that seems apropos in this moment: “In war, resolution; in defeat, defiance; in victory, magnanimity; in peace, goodwill.” Second, I sometimes think […]

Californians are facing a litany of issues, from high taxes to unaffordable housing to gas prices. In West Hollywood, leaders have finally decided to deal with a major issue facing their residents: giving legal benefits to throuples. The West Hollywood City Council unanimously approved an ordinance recognizing the legality of polyamorous relationships, allowing people with […]

Everything you heard about a post-Charlie Kirk Christian revival is bunk. When the dust settled on the Republican Party’s crushing electoral defeat, the exit polls revealed that the share of white evangelical voters had decreased by nearly 30% since the previous midterm elections. And the largest religious demographic in the election? Those with no religion […]

“In the end,” wrote Goethe, in the single most depressing line in European literature, “we are all King Lear.” President Donald Trump has been at it for longer than most, spending his second term raging impotently at domestic and foreign enemies. “I shall do such things, what they are yet I know not, but they […]

It was a political bloodbath. Leading up to it, if you squinted, you could see a few paths for the incumbent party to mitigate some of the damage and minimize the impact of the awful fundamentals and historical trends approaching like a freight train. Those paths did not materialize. Many Republican voters were disaffected or […]