MONDAY, JANUARY 29, 2024Relevant language from Frost: The poem was written about the decision to seek independence from England. In January 1961, Robert Frost recited the poem from memory at President Kennedy's inauguration. The poem began, and begins, as shown:The Gift OutrightT … | Continue reading

MONDAY, JANUARY 29, 2024Something we may be withholding: "It is finished," Jesus is said to have said.That's what Jesus is said to have said. In our country, it's just getting started!We refer to this year's campaign for the White House. Rather plainly, the general election campa … | Continue reading

SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2024Tired old has-beens find work: In recent weeks, we've been writing about the new messaging regime which is being implemented at Fox. Under this new approach, the red tribe channel's propaganda claims are trafficked through the dull-witted offerings of an a … | Continue reading

SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2024Kevin Drum goes to the border: Given recent circumstances, we'd like to give his site a brief rest.That said, we were thrilled by Kevin Drum's most recent post. Very much just for starters, we were thrilled when, headline included, the new post started lik … | Continue reading

SATURDAY, JANUARY 27, 2024When Lindsey still [HEARTed] Joe Biden: We live in somewhat peculiar times—and we don't mean that as a compliment.Consider the long-forgotten piece of videotape in which Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) waxed about Joe Biden. The videotape was recorded during … | Continue reading

SATURDAY, JANUARY 27, 2024Also, the rise in border encounters: Without any question, it was a major news story. Under the following headline, the news report appears on the front page of this morning's New York Times:Jury Orders Trump to Pay Carroll $83.3 Million After Years of I … | Continue reading

FRIDAY, JANUARY 26, 2024Though possibly not a third: We agree with Kevin Drum about quite a few things.For example, we agree with him about the utter foolishness of the annual "Who got snubbed by the Oscars?" folderol.We haven't seen Barbie, and he did, so we have no personal opi … | Continue reading

FRIDAY, JANUARY 26, 2024So said a trio of sages: Greetings from Yugoslavia! In slightly overstated fashion, Peter Baker describes the two-nation world we ourselves have been writing about.From today's New York Times:BAKER (1/26/24): [T]he general election matchup that seems likel … | Continue reading

THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2024Again, you get two choices: We're glad we watched last night's Gutfeld! program—because it was so horrendous.The professional wrestler who knows everything was there, as he typically is. He's on tour as a comedian now too. As usual, two of the other four … | Continue reading

THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2024This morning, we cite a new survey: Can President Biden do it?As we embark on this fateful Year That Will Be, that seems like the only real question. Yesterday morning, we reported a sudden jolt of hope, thanks to one Keystone State survey:New Pennsylvan … | Continue reading

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2024What kind of nation are we? Monday evening, in New Hampshire, the intensely disordered Donald J. Trump made a statement which struck us as uncomfortably accurate. Leaving aside a few points of complication, this is what he said:We have become a nation w … | Continue reading

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2024Plus, a route to successful dances? Yesterday was a very good day at this incomparable site.We got some helpful medical news. We received some much-appreciated pushback from Kevin Drum concerning that possible ghost dance. (See here, then also see this. … | Continue reading

TUESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2024Granite State recollections: By all accounts, Paul Tsongas (D-Mass.) was a good, decent person.He'd been a (one-term) senator from Massachusetts. He had grown up in Lowell, Mass., up near the New Hampshire line.It was Tsongas who won the 1992 New Hampshir … | Continue reading

TUESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2024Quite often, we humans do: Yesterday morning, during the 6 o'clock hour, the Morning Joe gang was reminiscing about Granite State contests past.At one point, John Heilemann, on the ground in New Hampshire, briefly stopped yukking it up. Instead, he tried … | Continue reading

TUESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2024Here's what Trump actually said: We hadn't planned to start with a possible ghost dance today. That said, Kevin Drum—channeling the Biden-Harris campaign—has pretty much forced us to do it.So too with Jonathan Lemire, at 5:05 o'clock this morning—right th … | Continue reading

MONDAY, JANUARY 22, 2024It's time to start sussing that out: Is Joe Biden going to win this year? It's time to start sussing that out.We're not entirely sure that he will or that he can. We're very concerned by the possibility that he might not be able to make it through.We'll be … | Continue reading

MONDAY, JANUARY 22, 2024Intimations of defeat? We're sorry to say it, but we thought we might be watching a type of tribal "ghost dance" on our TV screen last Thursday night.As many readers will know, that historical term dates to the subjugation of Native American peoples in the … | Continue reading

SATURDAY, JANUARY 20, 2024From the top of the online Washington Post: As we type at 2:15 p.m., the article sits at the very top of the front page of the Washington Post's online edition.It runs beneath the funniest dual headline in political journalism today. The headlines in que … | Continue reading

SATURDAY, JANUARY 20, 2024Sometimes a questionable notion: Our car doors opened a few hours later. In a word, there came the sun!That said:On the New York Times opinion page (print edition), we found these four headlines today:In the Shelter of a Weeping Beech (Jesse Wegman)When … | Continue reading

SATURDAY, JANUARY 20, 2024Services should resume: After a long afternoon off-campus, we returned to this nesting spot during a very dark 6 o'clock hour last night.There may be a slight delay today. But services will resume.Needless to say, our car doors are frozen shut this morni … | Continue reading

 FRIDAY, JANUARY 19, 2024Medical treatment calls: Just like that, out of nowhere, medical treatment calls!For that reason, we expect to be suspending our services over the weekend. We expect to resume next week. | Continue reading

THURSDAY, JANUARY 18, 2024Two examples—one tiny, one large: In this morning's report, we mentioned David Frum's new essay for The Atlantic. For whatever reason or reasons, Republican office holders and officials have largely fallen in line behind Donald J. Trump. At one point, Fr … | Continue reading

THURSDAY, JANUARY 18, 2024One caucus goer speaks: For the record, we agree with almost everything David Frum said.Frum is the former Bush speech writer who apparently coined the phrase, "axis of evil," as our nation was on its way into Iraq. He's also a long-time Never Trumper an … | Continue reading

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2024Subscribers, heal ourselves? We haven't played this card for a while. Today, we felt it might again be time.In its online edition, the Washington Post lists its five "Most Read" reports. As of this very minute, the headlines on the five most-read report … | Continue reading

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2024Our blue tribe instructed in "woke:" We've been surprised by one persistent talking-point as we've come to watch more and more of the nation's red tribe "cable news:"We've been surprised by the persistence with which red tribe stars pound away at electr … | Continue reading