Everything Else

July 2026

What's Everything Else? 

It's national politics, so it's Washington, Democrats, Republicans, and Congress; it's issues and insurrections, candidates and curmudgeons, and incidents and accidents, as the song goes. 

It's what's happening with the Supreme Court, with state legislatures, and sometimes, things from around the world.

Both parties are fighting amongst themselves - progressives and moderates on the left, and 'normal' Rs and MAGA Rs on the other side. 

We're in the thick of the 2026 midterms, and yes, we're nearing the start of the 2028 presidential race, with pundits trying to rate the frontrunners, or get an early jump on killing any upstart campaigns before they gain momentum.  We've got the least-effective Congress in years, led by the GOP, and by that I mean both chambers are being strong-armed by the FOTUS, who really controls what's going on, even if some politicians like to pretend otherwise.

And if we thought the 118th Congress was ineffective, how about the 119th! 

The 119th Congress has been historically unproductive in terms of passing standard legislation and setting records for dysfunction, notably featuring a 43-day government shutdown. While raw legislative volume is low, lawmakers have actively focused on repealing agency regulations and passing large, set-piece reconciliation bills rather than smaller, bipartisan compromises. [1, 2, 3, 4]

Yeah, it's that bad. 

Are we still a divided nation? Yep. Are some (many?) pols happy with that? Yep. Do we have a solution on how to come together? Nope - at least, not yet. I can't solve the problems, but I can educate myself and others by discussing them and engaging people.

I'm just getting back into writing after a longer-than-anticipated lapse; with any luck at all, I'll be resurrecting some of these recurring themes:

• TGIF. If it's Friday, I'll usually take a stab at a good week/bad week list. 
• Wondering on Wednesday. A popular theme, it's a (generally) weekly look at some of the head-scratching things that catch my eye.
• Sunday School. A recap of what I found interesting in the Sunday talk show lectures. 
• Poll Watch. This eponymous, randomly scheduled theme tracks public opinion across a variety of sources and topics.
• The Update Desk. Any story, under any heading, that gets a second look when new information becomes available. 
• Sunday School Extra Credit. When there's more than one can reasonably digest in the Sunday Shows, this is where I'll tackle the overflow.
• In Case You Missed It. I get it - sometimes it's hard to stay on top of everything, including blog posts. This is a quick look at posts from the prior week, with snippets and links. 

Drop me a line if you've got ideas or if you're looking for something that I'm not covering.