I’m exhausted by politics. I’ll bet you are too.

For years, following politics in the United States has felt — at least to me — like trying to take a refreshing sip of water out of a high pressure fire hose. In other words, overwhelming, painful, and ultimately unsatisfying. I’m burned out. Sincerely. I don’t have any idea how people can find any of […]

Why are there still Democrats jumping into the race for president?

There are currently 17 candidates running for the Democratic nomination for president in 2020, and there seems to be a little something for everyone? Do you want to vote for a socialist? Well, I’ve got great news for you, because socialism is the new black in the Democratic Party, and you’ve got plenty of people […]

ABC News demonstrates why so many Americans distrust the media

Most people in this country don’t trust the media. Gallup, which runs an annual tracking poll on public perception of the media, asks a rather simple question to people every year. “How much trust and confidence do you have in the mass media — such as newspapers, TV and radio — when it comes to […]

Our opulent government will never change

I know I have said this before, and I will likely say it again, but neither side in the American political debate takes government finances seriously. One party pretends to care about deficits and (rightly) lowers taxes while (wrongly) allowing spending to continue to grow exponentially. The other party pretends that our debt problem doesn’t exist, and […]

Can someone please define emergency for me?

As I write this column, Maine’s Legislative Council — which consists of 10 lawmakers, six Democrats and four Republicans — is beginning to work through the process of considering the roughly 400 bill requests submitted by lawmakers for the second session of the Legislature. The second session, for those not up to speed on Maine’s […]

Risk everything, even if it means sacrificing money from China

“A threat to justice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” These two quotes, both from the late Martin Luther King, Jr., were widely posted — among others — on social media to mark the 50th anniversary of his assassination. The […]

A tale of two China scandals

On two separate occasions this week, Americans have offended China, and prompted the country to react. First, the National Basketball Association was put in an awkward position when the General Manager for the Houston Rockets, Daryl Morey, tweeted an image with the message “Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong.” The Rockets, at the time, were […]

The unstoppable impeachment train

Let’s be honest, this was always the way this was going to happen. As we all know by now, on Aug. 12, a whistleblower complaint was filed with the inspector general of the intelligence community by a CIA officer who had worked at the White House. The complaint, as we now know, alleged wrongdoing by […]

Climate change skepticism 101

On Monday, the United Nations held its 2019 UN Climate Action Summit, which was intended to push the world into advancing “climate action” on greenhouse gas emissions. It featured government officials, speakers, activists, intellectuals and academics, and of course plenty of scientists. On Tuesday, I had a long conversation with a friend of mine, who […]

Cancel culture claims Shane Gillis

I will admit that I have not been a regular viewer of Saturday Night Live for a long, long time. In my opinion, it has been about 15 years since it was consistently funny and featured cast members that I actually like. But I do still keep track of what they do occasionally, and will […]