Trump has left a trail of devastation in the wake of his presidency, from a fragile democracy to broken families — Christmas 2016 started like all the ones before, offering no indication that the season of giving could take so much away. Each family brought their signature dish, bags of gifts, and an appetizer or bottle of wine to share. …

Millions of Texans go without electricity for days, shining a light on Texas’ power problem — in more ways than one — After “Snowmageddon 2021” resulted in widespread power outages in Texas, some Texans condemned the “new government” for the power failure. Considering that Texas retained a Republican state government trifecta in the last election, it was apparent they weren’t blaming Republican officials in the state. …

43 Senate Republicans picked up the excrement that desecrated the U.S. Capitol on January 6th and smeared it all over the memory of Abraham Lincoln — It looks like I’m going to have to burn my glass-half-full t-shirt. The optimism that enough Senate Republicans might vote to convict Trump, or allow a conviction by their absence, dissolved into my drink like an antacid tablet. After hearing the verdict, I tossed it back with a shot of…

Some Republicans turn a blind eye to the evil incited on January 6th, while some skip the trial altogether. Even so, an acquittal is not a foregone conclusion. — As former President Trump’s impeachment trial progressed in the Senate, many observers noted that some Republicans were adopting a “hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil” approach to the proceedings. They turned a blind eye to evidence presented by the impeachment managers while others weren’t even present.

What congressional votes reveal about the character of the Republican Party and its constituents — In his book Profiles in Courage, President John F. Kennedy explored what he considered the “most admirable of human virtues — courage.” He lamented that the most virtuous among us are often forgotten in history; the assault to their reputations for opposing the majority never vindicated with the passage of…

We are a divided country facing a crucible for the ages. What will our legacy be? — It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of critical thinking, it was the age of spreading outlandish conspiracy theories, it was the epoch of belief in free and fair elections, it was the epoch of incredulity that “dear leader” could have…

History seems to be repeating itself with the proliferation of another Big Lie, and here’s why we must amplify the truth. — “How could we have lost? Victory was stolen from us!” Sound familiar? While these words have echoed across social media for months regarding the 2020 presidential election results, that outrage was expressed over a century ago when the Weimar Republic signed an armistice in November 1918 to end World War…

Let’s toss another log on the massive bonfire of lies that fuels the extremism in Trump supporters — As I was writing a piece on the Dirty Dozen — the senators planning to object to the electoral vote count — I came across information that one of them, Tommy Tuberville, believed World War II was fought “to free Europe of socialism.” I stared at this information incredulously. As…

Silenced by the social media giants, Trump is becoming increasingly unhinged in his final days in office. — It finally happened. After years of slinging insults, lobbing lies, amplifying fake news, dog-whistling hate groups, and spreading conspiracy theories, the social media gods, Twitter and Facebook, banned Trump from their platforms. Twitter had been a virtual paradise for Trump. He exercised divine-like powers to create his ideal universe, an…