That headline, while meant to be amusing, is contemplating a rather broad definition of the historical political metaphor. The term "lame duck" actually predates its use in politics (according to Wikipedia), and was first used in a political sense in America in 1863. Political cartoons depicting lame ducks date back over a century. Used in the traditional sense, the term refers to the period between when politicians lose their bid for re-election and when the new Congress and/or president is sworn into office. The congressional session after the November elections but before the new Congress is sworn in has long been known as the "lame-duck Congress."

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Donald Trump just signed a new "deal" (or maybe: a "new" deal) with Denmark and Greenland. The scare quotes are there to signify the fact that this really isn't a new deal at all -- it mostly just reaffirms the existing agreement that has been in place since the dawn of the Cold War, back in 1951. But the leaders of Greenland and Denmark were smart enough to know that repackaging what was already in place would soothe Trump's bruised ego and gave him a performative signing ceremony he could brag about. This shows the rest of the world that coddling Trump the way you would a small infant is often the best path forward for other world leaders.

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The 2026 midterm elections are going to answer several open political questions, for the next few years at least. The answers to these questions might wind up being murky -- with some outcomes and evidence pointing one way, and some the exact opposite. The narrative of this election hasn't been defined by the pundits as of yet, but likely will be after the vote-counting is done. What is the conventional wisdom going to be, come mid-November? That will all depend on the results, of course, but for the moment we can at least identify some of the big questions.

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This week, Donald Trump addressed the fears many are having over artificial intelligence by sending out a message: "The only control or 'guardrails' that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades!"

Many people's reaction to this was simple: "OK, so it's official then... we're screwed." Plenty of other scathing comments appeared online, with our favorite being: "You didn't know there was a 'b' in the word dumb."

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Today was another day where I just had too much to do in real life to devote the time to writing a new column, so I will begin with my apology for the interruption in service.

I looked back for a column to run again today, and found one I wrote at the very start (written only a few days in) of Trump's war of choice with Iran. I find it has stood the test of time fairly well (especially the part about it devolving into a war of attrition), which is why I decided to run it again today, just for a look back.

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This week, the Supreme Court actually did the right thing. That statement shouldn't be as astonishing as it is, but these days it is a rather rare thing to behold. The justices ruled that Donald Trump's scheme to hand the U.S. Postal Service extraordinary powers to determine which mail-in ballots were acceptable and which were not was unconstitutional and therefore could not be implemented before this year's midterm elections (which are roughly a month and a half away).

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There is no better example of the maxim "Everything Trump touches dies" (or just "ETTD") than the ongoing saga of the once-proud John F. Kennedy Memorial Center For The Performing Arts. Today, the board -- chaired by none other than Donald Trump himself -- voted to close the Kennedy Center indefinitely, because those meanie judges won't let Trump slap his name on the outside of the building. Trump's planetary-sized ego won't rest until everything he sees in Washington D.C. has been renamed to honor him, plain and simple. So the likely outcome (barring other judicial interventions) is that the Kennedy Center will remain dark until the next president is sworn into office. Because ETTD.

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Did this year's "October surprise" happen early? I have been pondering this question all weekend, after several major developments have taken place in the increasingly regional war in the Middle East. Could these developments affect the American midterm elections in the way that traditional last-minute political "surprises" have in the final weeks before the public votes? So far, the answers seem unclear, but the potential certainly exists, even though few have commented on this possibility.

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We're going to begin today with a record-setting number. Today, the nationwide average of the price of diesel fuel hit a new high of $6.05 per gallon. It's the first time in American history that diesel has sold for more than six bucks a gallon, in fact. The price of diesel has risen around 20 cents within the past week, which is going to be felt by everyone. Your car or truck may not run on diesel, but you know what does? Farmers' tractors and all their other farm equipment. And the trucks and trains that transport all the food farmers produce -- as well as just about everything else you buy -- to your local stores and supermarkets.

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In all honesty, that title is (to be charitable) an exaggeration. To be uncharitable, it is a lie. Donald Trump did not actually tell 5,000 lies in his speech to the Republicans' odd midterm convention last night, and I for one am glad he didn't (to do so, he would have had to speak for a lot longer than he did, and for Pete's sake the speech was long enough as it was...). But he did tell a whole bunch of whoppers, no matter what the accurate tally of them actually was. And the biggest lie he told last night was the one about how "every adult citizen" in America would get $5,000 to spend, but only if the GOP won enough seats to retain control of both the House and Senate.

To anyone salivating at the prospect of spending five grand of free cash in the near future: don't. You are never going to see that money, period. It just ain't gonna happen.

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