Amid the rush to judgment in Minneapolis, conservative writer Ross Douthat looks ahead and says the first thing the administration needs to do is back off and straighten up. You can read the story for free. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/10/o...

FactCheck.org, based in the Annenberg Center for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, is the oldest and most comprehensive of the fact-checking services. It sticks to the facts, and I recommend it without reservation. www.factcheck.org/2026/01/expl...

We are increasingly an outlaw nation.

The Next Cold War nickanderson.substack.com

"Americans don’t usually vote on foreign policy. But if any Republican primary race in America is going to test G.O.P. voters’ appetites for intervention abroad and Trump dissent at home, it’s this one." Trump backs Ed Gallrein over Rep. Thomas Massie in KY-04. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/07/u...

"The use of force to seize the sovereign democratic territory of one of America’s most loyal and capable allies would be an especially catastrophic act of strategic self-harm to America and its global influence," says @SenMcConnell, who is exactly correct. www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index...

The Lexington Herald-Leader wants to make the governor's schedule public. It should be. www.kentucky.com/news/politic...

open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa... “Do we have a rules-based international order, or a power-based international order? That’s the fundamental question.” Is America proposing that rules govern the conduct of sovereign nations? “Or are we proposing that all rules emanate from the barrel of a gun?”

Senators elected this fall will find that Social Security’s future insolvency is their problem www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/29/m... The career of Marjorie Taylor Greene touches many threads in American politics, including the role of the news media. One of the more telling things she says in this story is that she no longer watches Fox News because it’s unreliable.

nkytribune.com/2025/12/opin... Happy holidays and new year!

FactCheck.org, based in the Annenberg School of Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, is the oldest of the fact-checking services and the one that usually goes into the most detail. Check out its Whoppers of 2025. www.factcheck.org/2025/12/the-...

www.motherjones.com/politics/202... I don’t think the stakes of this battle are as high as those on both sides argue in this article, but it has become a defining political flashpoint and I’m glad to see a deep dive (no pun intended) into the story of Riley Gaines, former UK Wildcat swimmer.

Trump's net-approval rating in Kentucky (positive minus negative) is now 5 points; the 2-point figure in this column was from Monday. nkytribune.com/2025/12/opin...

www.notus.org/trump-white-... Comer, who has good political fingertips, puts distance between himself and Trump. First he says he favors extending ACA subsidies for a year or two; now this: “I wouldn’t have pardoned those people,” he told NOTUS.

cartercountytimes.com/editorials/e... The rage-inducing, performative approach of national politics is poisoning public discourse at the local level.

apnews.com/article/epa-... The only legitimate debate about human-caused climate change is how much global warming is caused by humans. It’s enough to warrant corrective action, the great majority of scientists and responsible leaders have said for decades.

www.notus.org/congress/aca... Kentucky reporters might do well to inquire of Second District Rep. Brett Guthrie, chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over health care, and see what his position is on this issue, which affects 100,000 Kentuckians.

The court needs at least one justice who's served in elective office and understands politics. The last one was O'Connor. They had a chance to adopt standards to limit partisan gerrymandering in a case from Wisconsin a few years ago; Roberts, the key vote, declined. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/u...

newrepublic.com/article/2040... Beshear says “Democrats need to admit that there are times when we are over-regulated, and we’ve created so many rules that some programs that we believe are essential for the American people simply take too long,” such as Biden’s internet program.

"This whole segment is breathtaking," @JonathanCapehart says, using the term to describe some of this week's work by "a cadre of fools." Yes, it pretty much is breathtaking, and @nytdavidbrooks agrees, saying public discourse has too much "intellectual drug-dealing." www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...

Jonathan Martin: "The brazen corruption, near-daily vulgarity and handing out pardons like lollipops is impossible to ignore and deserves the scorn of history. Yet how the president is spending much of his time reveals his flippant attitude toward his second term." www.politico.com/news/magazin...

This is the first step in making this endowment work; we aim to raise enough to support a full-time faculty member in public-affairs journalism. If you’re interested in supporting the journalism that’s needed to make our democratic republic work, I’d be happy to tell you more about this program!

ci.uky.edu/about/news-a... When Lois Mateus and I created an endowment to support public-affairs journalism at Kentucky’s largest university, I envisioned just the sort of initial appointment that was announced today. Peter Baniak is a first-class journalist and news-media executive. Stay tuned!

www.foxnews.com/politics/202... This is not much of a story but Fox News seems to think it is — or someone at Fox is taking suggestions from Nate Morris, who is already a favorite of Breitbart. The GOP primary for senator from Kentucky could be influenced by the skew of MAGA-oriented media outlets.

The ridiculous irresponsibility of this is hard to overstate. The nation's health department has been hijacked by quacks, so it's high time for state and local health departments to step up, speak out and pick up the slack in protecting public health. Please. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/h...

There’s a BIG difference in Bret Baier and the other real journalists on the Fox News Channel and the opinion hosts who are essentially Trump propagandists. The fact that millions of Americans have failed to recognize the difference is one reason the country is tearing itself apart.

“'Afraid of their own shadow. Afraid of their own president. And unable to even squeak' is how Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) described Congress, including members of his own party." His buddy Tom Massie is facing a primary challenge fostered by Trump but remains the favorite. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

As @GovAndyBeshear heads into the chairmanship of the Democratic Governors Association, he is ramping up toward a presidential candidacy. This piece is trending; little new in it but a more anti-Trump tone and a call for Dems to be the "party of aspiration." www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Senator Paul needs to learn to say “no” to vindictive ideologues.

MTG can take the heat but doesn’t want a defeat on her record and doesn’t want be bloodied up in a primary. She’s looking to the future, pragmatically.

David Brooks asks, "Who is actually going to work with you on your problems? Which party is actually going to help you improve your health outcomes or your kids’ educational outcomes? Which party is actually going to help you achieve the American dream?" www.nytimes.com/2025/11/21/o...

According to Jeff Epstein's brother, Trump called him immediately after winning the 2016 election. Add lying about cutting off contact with Epstein to the very very long list of things Trump has lied about. newrepublic.com/post/203443/...

www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-top-t... One way to look at the Cheney funeral. Liz Cheney said her father “knew the bonds of party must always yield to the single bond we share as Americans. For him a choice between defense of the Constitution and defense of your political party was no choice at all.”

I generally don't like to see journalists get into politics, because it blurs a line that needs to be sharp. But many journalists have migrated into politics, which Beth has done by leaving The Roanoke Times to write books. She has an uphill battle but a good start. cardinalnews.org/2025/11/20/m...

Best story I've read about the hemp loophole. It's not ideal but does explain (sort of) that the 2018 Farm Bill limit applied only to Delta-9 THC, not Delta-8, which is weaker but can be concentrated in products. McConnell and Congress have more work to do. www.nationalreview.com/corner/congr...

These two (an autocrat and a would-be autocrat) are antithetical to democracy and republican government.

As he prepares to become chair of the Democratic Governors Association, @GovAndyBeshear has begun to say that a Democratic governor needs to be the party’s presidential nominee in 2028. It’s the latest increment in his all-but-announced candidacy. www.ktnv.com/news/kentuck...

Another interview with more news from @DaleRomansKY in which he explains how he lost weight, and says he overcame alcohol addiction two years ago. I have read the Thoroughbred Daily News story, but have not watched the interview, so there may be more... www.thoroughbreddailynews.com/dale-romans-...

Lindsey Graham says he's “in the ‘Hitler sucks’ wing of the Republican Party.” Vance is trying to be in both wings. So we have a VP, and would-be president, who won't separate from the hatemongers who are the most energetic element of a party that is losing its soul. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/15/o...

Dale Romans says he won't campaign before 11 a.m. and if elected U.S. senator he will keep training horses! Wonder if he mentioned that to Gov. Andy Beshear, who he says told him that running was "a good idea" (and being a centrist, he told another interviewer). paulickreport.com/features/kee...

nkytribune.com/2025/11/opin... In the last 3 years we’ve lost the governors in office when I was a junior political reporter. Collins’ career and reputation suffered from her husband’s extortion conviction, but she should be remembered as a governor who advanced a state that badly needed advancing.

Running for an open GOP Senate seat as Kentucky's version of Joe Manchin, Dale Romans tells @isaiah_km that @GovAndyBeshear encouraged him to get into the May primary, saying he "could be a different kind of Democrat that could win the general" election. www.whas11.com/article/news...

latenighter.com/news/dick-cl... long overdue

www.mediaite.com/opinion/the-... It’s unlikely to do much for local journalism, where the need is greatest largely because chain ownership has created ghost newspapers and is squeezing TV newsrooms. Also, when you are driven by subscribers, you may be reluctant to say things subscribers don’t like.

A writer cribbed “The Communist Manifesto,” changed its valences to right-wing and a conservative mag printed it, David Brooks writes in a really good analysis. "The right is now eager to embrace the ideas that led to tyranny, the gulag and Mao's Cultural Revolution." www.nytimes.com/2025/10/30/o...

www.vox.com/politics/466... See ranking of how well Democratic prospects beat supposed expectations on their last election. Beshear ranks first by far, but the formula appears to give no or insufficient weight to family name, incumbency, strength of opposition, etc. Would be good to know methodology

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/23/o... “Trump is destroying democratic norms. Democrats have decided to follow him into the basement. When both parties cooperate to degrade public morality, then nobody even notices as it’s happening.” That’s one reason why Dems are focusing on Obamacare, not democracy.

www.sej.org/headlines/sh... Latest evidence that all you need to succeed in the Trump administration is to see clothes on the emperor.