In several of the South’s major college football strongholds — Alabama, LSU, Florida State, Florida, Mississippi, and others — there is little patience for an underperforming football coach. Lose a game, particularly a rivalry game, and the natives get restless. Lose a few, and you’d think the coach had committed a felony. Faster than you could organize a “Hang Mike Pence” rally on January 6, makeshift gallows seem to appear outside the coach’s home. These fans take their football very seriously. Winning is expected; losing is practically a capital offense.
What fascinates me is how that same passion for accountability seems to disappear when it comes to politics, particularly the president. These are voters who will go ballistic over a football team’s losing record but seem remarkably tolerant of political performance that falls well short of expectations.
They complain about rising food, medical, and gasoline costs, the consequences of tariffs on their businesses and pocketbooks, and the uncertainties of a poorly prepared war strategy. Yet, come November, many will dutifully return to the voting booth and support the very political leadership they have been complaining about.
Apparently, the standards for a football coach and a president are entirely different. One is expected to deliver results every Saturday or pack his bags. The other can keep losing and still enjoy the loyalty of the home crowd.
In football terms, the president and his party are sitting on an 0–11 record. And yet, nobody seems to be calling for a coaching change.
Interesting definition of accountability. Even more interesting voter judgment.
For the last two weeks, I was on a cruise ship, traveling the rather calm waters of the North Atlantic and the St. Lawrence River. However, back home, I continued to see the deleterious effects of the tsunami that is Trump.
I spoke to a few Canadians on the cruise who asked me: “How is Donald Trump still president? And how did you Americans allow—and keep allowing—Trump to be president?”
As one travels through Canada, one senses a certain civility and calmness among the population, seemingly satisfied with its leadership, culture and government.
Normalcy!
I’d be hard-pressed to think of many Republicans who deserve to be reelected—or elected in the first place—particularly in the House of Representatives. As far as I am concerned, most of them are cowards.
I don’t believe in the polls. I have been sorely disappointed by what I expected in 2016 and 2024. The only way I will be happy with the results of the 2026 elections is if the Democrats control both the House and the Senate. I am not sure that this will necessarily save the state of our union, but maybe it will at least limit the clown show currently performing.
I’m pretty sure that the last chance to save the country occurred in November 2024. So much damage has been done, and much of it may be unrecoverable—especially when it comes to the trust we once had with our allies and neighbors.
That’s gone for decades!
I’m stunned that Darline Graham, Lindsey Graham’s sister and, in my opinion, one of the least capable candidates for elective office, is leading in the polls for the South Carolina Senate race. Yeah, I know. It’s South Carolina!
It’s also concerning that James Talarico does not have a 20-point lead in the Texas Senate race over Ken Paxton.
Yeah, I know. It’s Texas!
I’m still waiting for the press to make a demonstrable stand against the White House—and, in particular, against the administration’s exclusion of CNN, Politico and MS NOW from the White House. Trump announced on September 18 that he was banning the three organizations from the White House, and the following day reporters from all three were denied access, with press credentials being deactivated or confiscated.
Just to be spiteful, why don’t these news outlets document the many lies and false claims of the Trump administration? It’s probably a more useful exercise than actually covering stories from Trump or any of his Cabinet.
I’m not sure what they can do to limit appearances or interviews with Republican candidates or officials, but I would sure as hell make it very uncomfortable for any of them to come on those venues without having to answer questions about their views on freedom of the press.
I confess that I get most of my news from so-called liberal or mainstream media. Every now and then, I take a quick peek at Fox News. I don’t do it for long, as my brain cells begin to decline within minutes of listening to any of their news or programming.
One would think that a network that incurred millions of dollars in legal liabilities over its coverage of the 2020 election would have a little more humility.
A researcher from Anthropic recently warned that AI could destroy humanity by the end of the decade. Evan Hubinger, Anthropic’s alignment-science lead, said he personally believes there is a greater-than-10% chance that AI could kill all humans within the next decade.
I wish that the huge concern and apprehension about this possible event four years from now could somehow be translated into more immediate concern about how our inept president could create a lot of economic and financial damage within the next year.
