Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks at a roundtable event with President Donald Trump in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026.

The American Way of Execution

by James D. Zirin October 22, 2026October 23, 2026

Pete Hegseth’s plan for a public execution got scotched but with this Supreme Court, it may one day get the green light.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani attends an October 7 anniversary vigil in New York City and faces both an outcry from Jewish groups and Hamas supporters. It was the third anniversary of the Hamas attack

Politics

The Mamdani Tightrope is Slippery

by James D. Zirin October 12, 2026October 13, 2026

Jewish leaders and Hamas supporters condemn Mayor Mamdani as New York commemorates October 7.

A portrait of the late Dolly Parton surrounded by flowers and cards in a memorial sits outside her home Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026, in Brentwood, Tenn.

In Memoriam

Good-Bye, Dolly: Farewell to an American Icon

by James D. Zirin August 28, 2026August 31, 2026

Let’s hope this isn’t the last time we’re capable of being united in admiration.

The White House and its new helipad and the ballroom, right, under construction, are pictured on the South Lawn, as seen from the Washington Monument, August 23, 2026, in Washington.

Law and Justice

The Roberts Court: Poised to Bless the Trump Ballroom

by James D. Zirin August 24, 2026August 24, 2026

Roberts allows construction to continue until the court considers the case. Translation: The disastrous, Congress-skirting monstrosity will get built.

Politics

Fauci Agonistes: It’s Time to End the Republican Witch Hunt

by James D. Zirin August 1, 2026August 10, 2026

The right danced a jig of joy over Dr. Anthony Fauci’s invoking the Fifth Amendment before Rand Paul’s Senate Homeland Security Committee. The Kentucky Republican knew in advance that Fauci would give no substantive testimony. Yet he paraded the 85-year-old doctor before the cameras to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights over a hundred times, then […]

President Donald Trump speaks at the 2026 White House Correspondents' Association dinner.

Politics

Trump’s Anger Management Problem

by James D. Zirin July 27, 2026August 10, 2026

Donald Trump is an inveterate hater. He hates everyone and everything unless they fit neatly into his version of reality. He is the most vindictive and vicious president in American history. As the nation’s chief law enforcement officer, he has prosecuted his political enemies for crimes as dubious as taking a picture of seashells on […]

Law and Justice

Trump’s Election Integrity Speech Was Even Worse Than You Thought

by James D. Zirin July 18, 2026July 18, 2026

When President Donald Trump addressed the nation regarding alleged vulnerabilities in the U.S. election system, he proclaimed that “no country can be great without fair and honest elections.” No argument there. What he said, however, was mostly not new, and what was new was riddled with overstatement and exaggeration. While he promised the truth lay […]