republicans – Between Hell and High Water

Trump’s Last Speech Was More Telling Than We Are Recognizing

By Mike Koetting July 21, 2026

In the Sixties, there was a bumper-strip that said: “What if they had a war and nobody came?” Donald Trump’s address to the country last week was like that. Half of the major networks didn’t even bother to carry this windbag of previously debunked claims. The next day, virtually the entire country shrugged at the old recitations. There is a temptation to leave it there.

But there was actually something so unusual about this address that it demands more attention than what the country gave it. The speech was built around, and enthusiastically pointed to, a large stack of declassified analyses of possible election fraud. But that “evidence,” claims notwithstanding, showed that our elections were remarkably safe. Some foreign actors fiddling around the edges and a handful of potentially ineligible immigrants voting but mostly a long and careful summary that shows our elections have not been threatened.

In other words, he posted and called attention to his own speech’s rebuttal. This is so beyond normal, had we not been anesthetized by the endless stream of lies and absurd claims, we might have paid more attention.

Deterioration in Political Discourse Leads to Deteriorated Thinking

By Mike Koetting July 7, 2026

A recent Pew Center poll found Republicans were much more skeptical of emerging climate problems than Democrats. I wasn’t at all surprised—and I’ll bet you’re not either.

My second thought was to wonder why this should be. After all, if I asked a random sample of Chicagoans whether the White Sox will make the playoffs this year, I would not expect to see a marked difference in response by political parties. And while there are no end of uncertainties, the factual bases for arguments about environmental predictions are much stronger than predicting baseball outcomes. But here we are with political leaning outstripping other considerations.

Wasn’t Always So

In the 1970’s, as we first started to understand the problems we had unleased, the environment was a totally bi-partisan concern. Richard Nixon enthusiastically presided over the creation of the EPA. By 1997, there was starting to be a spread between Democrats and Republicans on core climate issues—whether climate warming was happening and whether it was caused by humans—but it was only a modest 8%. By 2024, that gap had climbed to 35%.

How Many Deaths for Congressional Republicans?

By Mike Koetting May 13, 2025

In Julius Caesar, Shakespeare writes: “Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once.”

Republicans in Congress are today playing out their own version. By failing to take on any of the winnable small battles, they are slipping toward a situation where the entire foundation of the country could be up for grabs. Most Congressional Republicans understand that Donald Trump is playing fast and loose with the separation of powers—and in the process taking away Congressional power.