Henry Olsen, election-watcher extraordinaire, joins us today to analyze the results of the interesting South Carolina primary and the fact that across three Republican primary contests, Donald Trump is winning decisively, even overwhelmingly—but with around 40 percent of the primary electorate choosing someone else (mostly Nikki Haley). What does this portend for November? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 26, 2024•1 hr 11 min
Today's podcast points out that, as we move into the third year of Russia's effort to swallow up Ukraine whole, the great dysfunction seems not to be taking place in Ukraine, or Russia, or on the battlefield, but inside the American political process—with majorities supporting aid to Ukraine but the House unwilling to allow a vote. Can this stand? What is going on? And what is going on with AI? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 23, 2024•1 hr 15 min
Eli Lake joins us today to discuss the bomb dropped in the middle of the Joe/Hunter/Jim Biden investigation with the indictment and arrest of a confidential source who alleged direct payments to the Bidens around $10 million. Does this kill the case? And what about the Squad's electoral hopes in the wake of October 7? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 22, 2024•57 min
The podcast today takes note of Nikki Haley's interesting announcement that she will be staying in the GOP race until she is mathematically eliminated. What's the purpose of such a move and what does it reveal about the relative strength and power of Donald Trump in the race? Is she exposing an underbelly just at the moment when Trump is liable for $87,500 a day in fine money he has to pay? And what about this poll showing Trump winning with Jews in New York? Give a listen. Learn more about your...
Feb 21, 2024•1 hr 7 min
Today's podcast asks what the practical effect of the murder of Alexei Navalny might have on the general debate over how to handle Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine. Then we go into the judgment against Donald Trump in a New York courtroom and whether Joe Biden is turning on Israel at the UN. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 20, 2024•1 hr 12 min
An essay in New York Magazine that tells the story of a 40something writer and the mental breakdown that leads her to want to divorce her husband tells the entire story of 21st century elite and pop culture singlehandedly. It's called "The Lure of Divorce," and we devote most of the podcast today to explaining its inadvertent importance as a cultural document that defines our time. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 16, 2024•1 hr 17 min
Adam White joins today to discuss his article "The Power Broke Her," about the powerful Washington bureaucrat Lina Khan and her agenda. We begin, though, with the alarming word of an undefined national security threat and the fact that conventional opinion now seems obsessed with denying Israel a victory in its war on Hamas. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 15, 2024•59 min
The special election in New York not only went to Democrat Tom Suozzi—he also won by eight points. We debate whether this means Republican hopes for immigration as a killer issue for them might be problematic, and whether the behavior of the Republican House these past two weeks is giving Democrats a serious chance of putting meat on the bones of running against the "do-nothing GOP." Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 14, 2024•1 hr 12 min
Tucker Carlson went to a conference in a Mideast oil city and announced that America was the dad of the world and was perpetuating evil the way a dad would if he took sides in a fight between his children. We ask some questions about this bizarre notion of proper parenting before raising more questions about what it says in relation to the rising New Right and its attitudes about this country. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 13, 2024•1 hr 7 min
Was the RFK Jr. Super Bowl ad good or bad? Was the game good or bad? Was Biden's effort to get himself into the news on Super Bowl Sunday without being interviewed good or bad? Is the polling for the Squad good or bad? Was what Trump said about NATO and Nikki Haley's husband good or bad? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 12, 2024•1 hr 2 min
Today's podcast examines the consuming disaster that was Biden's day yesterday and what on earth will happen going forward. Can he stay on the ticket? Will someone in his ambit bring up the 25th amendment? Will Democratic enthusiasm begin to resemble a flatline? And why did he throw Israel under the bus? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 09, 2024•1 hr 21 min
James B. Meigs joins the podcast today to discuss new revelations about the possible cover-up of the origins of COVID and the role of leading figures in politics and science who participated in it. And we lament the Secretary of State's words in Israel. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 08, 2024•1 hr 9 min
Well, that was quite a day for House Republicans, losing two votes in 15 minutes the chamber's leaders didn't seem to know they were going to lose. What does this portend? Will this help Biden—or will the image of a dysfunctional Washington help Trump? And how about that trip to the Middle East with Secretary of State Blinken getting his hat handed to him by Saudi Arabia? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 07, 2024•1 hr 6 min
The collapse of the border deal that Republicans negotiated and then killed themselves; the trouble now with aid to Ukraine and Israel; and a general sense that things simply don't work in American politics any longer—these are what we discuss today. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 06, 2024•1 hr 12 min
Today's podcast takes up the NBC News poll that shows Biden not only losing to Trump, but with only 23 percent of Americans saying he has the mental and/or physical stamina to be president. Yikes. How will this affect the discussions over the Senate's version of a new bill dealing with the border crisis? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 05, 2024•1 hr 7 min
Today's podcast looks at some very good economic statistics on job and wage growth and wonders whether fortune is favoring the president and his chances in November. Then again, what about the fact he said he was going to strike in response to the deaths of Americans in Jordan and hasn't done so? Also, the Commentary Podcast Mailbag! Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 02, 2024•1 hr 7 min
Today's podcast looks at the relationship between superstars Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce and expresses both annoyance at their omnipresence and disgust at the effort by MAGA to turn their relationship into something pernicious and evil. And speaking of pernicious, what about the latest American "peace plan" as laid out by Thomas "I Talked to a Cab Driver" Friedman? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 01, 2024•1 hr 14 min
Today's podcast discusses the beating of a Chabad rabbi by a ride-share driver in DC and what it suggests about the spate of violent acts against Jews after 10/7, how this might tie into the border issue, and Congressional races in which this kind of thing will play a role. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 31, 2024•1 hr 4 min
Today we get into the growing UNRWA scandal and how it exposes the deep, structural absurdities of the agency's very existence. We also talk about the American elite's twisted view of U.S.-Israeli relations and whether Joe Biden should pay attention to younger Americans who oppose his support for Israel. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 30, 2024•57 min
Today's podcast worries over Joe Biden's next steps relating to Iran and its proxies attacking Americans in the Middle East and the temptation to do just a little bit and not a lot to respond, which will only make things worse. It's even more puzzling given how vulnerable Biden is in an election year against Donald Trump on this issue because Trump can favorably contrast his record on Iran with Biden's in a way Biden will be hard-pressed to counter. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choice...
Jan 29, 2024•1 hr 3 min
Today's podcast discusses all the efforts to end things in DC—negotiations over border legislation, the Nikki Haley campaign, the process by which the Republican Party functions—and why everybody who's working to stop things might be acting in a short-sighted and self-destructive manner. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 26, 2024•1 hr 8 min
Today's podcast looks at the peril to Ukraine and Israel aid now that the Republicans in the Senate are turning away from any kind of deal with Joe Biden on the border. Does this give Biden a talking point on the border against Trump? And where exactly is there an argument against Ukraine aid that isn't disingenuous? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 25, 2024•59 min
Eliana Johnson joins the podcast to discuss the strange triumphalism of Nikki Haley's loser speech last night in New Hampshire and the strange negativity of Donald Trump's winner speech a few hours later. Does this portend a season in which Haley exposes Trump's flaws as she continues her run? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 24, 2024•1 hr 10 min
With the Republican contest all but over and almost ten months to go to the election, there are so many variable possibilities for 2024 it's impossible to game them out. Could this be the most interesting year ever? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 23, 2024•1 hr
Chris Stirewalt joins the podcast to talk about the DeSantis departure from the race, whether Ron is angling for veep, and the composition of the two parties over the past 20 years. Also, Harvard goes pernicious yet again. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 22, 2024•1 hr 9 min
Today's podcast looks at a stunning new poll of the attitudes of Americans who earn more than $150,000 a year, have a graduate degree, and live in in densely populated areas. Those attitudes are so profoundly in opposition to those of Americans who make less and have less education that they explain a great deal about the continuing strength of Donald Trump. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 19, 2024•1 hr 11 min
Today we take up the news that Nikki Haley's most prominent endorser has announced that he expects her to come in second in New Hampshire. Is it over? It kinda feels like it. But this opens up a slim path for Ron DeSantis. We also discuss the Biden administration's wrongheaded foreign policy and wonder whether Joe Biden and Antony Blinken even mean what they say about a Palestinian state. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 18, 2024•59 min
Political savant nonpareil Steve Kornacki joins the podcast today to break down the Iowa results, look ahead to New Hampshire, and make recommendations about what to look for on Tuesday if you want to get a real sense of where this race (if it is a race) might be going. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 17, 2024•1 hr 8 min
Today's podcast wrestles with questions relating to Donald Trump's smashing victory in Iowa last night. Does the tiny number of caucusgoers represent anything? Does anyone have a path besides Trump now? Where do Bugs Bunny, Donald Duck, and the obscure movie Clockwise come in to the discussion? Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 16, 2024•1 hr 9 min
Today's podcast takes up a jaw-dropping New York Times article that asks how important, really, is Israel to the religion of Judaism. Yes, you read that right. Also, the Iowa caucuses are upon us, and it looks like the Republican coronation might be commencing. Give a listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 15, 2024•1 hr 8 min
