It’s over. Mike Pence will not be Donald Trump’s running mate in 2024 (assuming the former president confirms what everyone knows is a certainty and announces his third candidacy for the White House). Close followers of the back-and-forth in Republican party politics would barely bat an eyelash at the notion that there won’t be any “Trump-Pence 2024” bumper stickers to buy for their cars, or sharp looking T-shirts to don to try and be positioned behind the candidate at one of

If the 2024 presidential election were held today, who would you vote for if the choice were between senile president Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump? Among regular readers of this column, the result would likely be unanimous (though it’s possible there’s a small percentage of liberals and #NeverTrumpers lurking around somewhere). If it were up to us, Donald Trump would be the next president of the United States, as well as the previous one. How to tell? I’m start

It’s no big secret that there hasn’t been much good news for the policy-challenged folks in the White House or the distraught and stymied Democrat leaders in Congress lately. Last week was particularly harsh. There was the persistent war drumbeat echoing from the Russian military buildup on the Eastern European bully’s south and western borders -- and then the Vladimir Putin-ordered Russkis actually invaded Ukraine. On top of that, there were more questions about rapidly esca

In case anyone figured the notorious Republican establishment was on the run -- or had already been defeated -- due to the rise of conservative populism under Donald Trump, think again. While it’s certainly true that many folks, myself included, have concluded that the old Republican bluebloods’ say-so in party circles has been vastly diminished ever since Trump rode down the escalator in mid-June of 2015, this doesn’t mean they’ve completely disappeared, or even gone into hi

“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” Boxer Mike Tyson famously replied when asked by a reporter about how he was prepared to deal with opponent Evander Holyfield’s fight plan for an upcoming bout that Holyfield eventually won. Nobody’s ever looked to notorious human being abuser Mike Tyson for ingenious pearls of wisdom on good and clean living, yet the legendary bruiser was correct about one thing -- you can always scheme for contingencies but sometimes

“Where shall I go? What shall I do? “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn… (walks away and fades into the fog) “I can’t let him go, I can’t. There must be some way to get him back…” -- Concluding scene from Gone With The Wind, where Scarlett O’Hara begs Rhett Butler not to leave her. It’s a memorable scene from possibly the most iconic Hollywood production of all time, and the legendary classic is now well over 80 years old and still shown regularly despite its non-woke sub

Almost like the start of a highly anticipated and overhyped movie, it’s safe to say most Americans are looking forward to 2022 beginning its run through the ages on Saturday at 12:01 am. Good news! We only have a few more days and then the dreaded 2021 is history! Try and forget that most blockbuster films that receive tons of promotion and emotional buildup typically disappoint the vast majority of movie fans, but hopefully, 2022 will live up to its lofty billing and erase a

Try, if you will, to hearken back to the days after last year’s presidential election. I know, the memory is painful for Trump supporters, myself included. Who could ever forget the vote totals in several so-called “swing” states not-so-mysteriously moving in Joe Biden’s direction, creeping like a spider on the ceiling towards the Democrats’ column. The steady decline in the incumbent’s vote percentages mirrored the sinking hopes of nearly 75 million people who’d placed their

If you could go back to the day before Election Day (November 3rd) last year, knowing what you know now, what would you say to your #NeverTrump friends and family members? My answer: nothing. This may sound contradictory, because there are volumes and volumes worth of examples to demonstrate that Joe Biden the president is every bit as awful as the millions of enthusiastic Trump supporters, myself included, predicted. This is definitely the case, though I don’t feel a need to

“Put your money where your mouth is.” Or if you prefer a slightly more concise Biblical version, it’s found in Matthew 6:21, which reads, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” It’s something everyone’s heard at one time or another, in church or perhaps on the school playground. The innate human need to self-promote is stronger in some people than others, yet there comes a time in any contested conversation and boastful claim that your counterpart will d

If you’re alone and confined to an island, where do you go? Theoretically, the question’s already been answered in the literary world and by Hollywood over the years. The famous British novel Robinson Crusoe wasfirst published in 1719, thought to be one of the first -- if not the first -- serious work of fiction that paved the way for an entire new genre in publishing, and also made into numerous movies in the 20th century. (Note: Of course, Crusoe was not completely alone on

As devoted students of American cultural lore, we often hear of wisdom one bit at a time. One Charles Dudley Warner quote (often misattributed to Mark Twain) is, “Everyone talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.” Perhaps Warner -- and Twain -- would be heartened by the left’s contemporary push to not only do something about purported global warming and its more recognized cousin “climate change” -- liberals are planning on cooperating with other “science”

It’s hard to imagine something that’s already red-hot getting even hotter, but that’s exactly what’s happened of late with the speculation surrounding who will end up the 2024 Republican presidential nominee. Whereas it’s often alleged that human nature never changes -- and I believe that’s definitely true -- it could also be argued that politics never stays the same. In our modern, internet driven world where the news cycle is literally 24/7/365, a politician’s fortunes coul

There’s a scene in the 1983 classic comedy movie “Trading Places” where one of the story’s two main characters wakes up in his familiar and comfortable surroundings on Christmas morning and declares to his butler standing by his bedside, “It was all a dream. I’ve had this terrible awful nightmare.” Lewis Winthorpe III (played by a young and thin Dan Aykroyd) then elaborates on his epiphany. He thought he’d been dreaming as rotten thing after rotten thing happened in his life;

“I wish this moment would last forever.” The thought passed through my mind the other day as I watched legendary 50-year-old golfer Phil Mickelson make his way through a massive throng of mask-less and jubilantly free spectators to approach the 18th green (at Kiawah Island, South Carolina), pour in his final putt and win the PGA Championship. In so doing, Mickelson became the oldest player ever to win one of the sport’s four majors, a feat that gave hope to everyone who’s sli

That Mitch, he’s a good guy, ain’t he? This isn’t a sample snippet from a conversation between two mafiosos. It’s what a lot of Republican establishmentarians are uttering these days, trying desperately to think of ways to bring the always cautious senate Minority Leader Mitch “murder turtle” McConnell back into the good graces of former president Donald Trump. It’s a poorly kept secret that the two had a tepid-at-best relationship when Trump was battling furiously against th

Happy Birthday, Nancy Pelosi! Most people probably didn’t realize it, but today is our Speaker of the House’s 81st annual commemoration of her existence. Just think, the leftist San Francisco nutjob has occupied space on top of this rotating ball of soil, rock and water for 81 years now. Born in 1940 to a privileged political family in Baltimore, Maryland, (her father was a U.S. Representative from there as well as mayor of the city a few years later, so no wonder the place l

For you parents out there (including dog lovers), how many times did you take something away from your child and have his or her conduct improve instantaneously? Self-destructive behavior is a funny thing (well, not to the people who must put up with it). All of us at one time or another engaged in habits or activities that were contrary to our well-being, which drove our guardians, spouses, teachers and friends crazy. Doctors tell patients that they’d best lay off the booze

Ever since Ronald Reagan’s 70’s and 80’s campaigns we’ve heard a lot about “Reagan Democrats”. More recently, with the rapid rise of the inimitable Donald J. Trump, the term “Trump Democrats” has also been a common refrain, even among charter members of the establishment media. But is there any such thing as… “Joe Biden Republicans”? Don’t laugh. With the internal power struggle in the Republican Party today, it’s certainly possible if not likely that there’s a small but stat

In politics, is having lots of ideas a good thing or a bad thing? The answer depends on your ideological predilection and to some extent, your party affiliation. Liberty-loving conservatives (loosely identified as Republicans), for example, don’t care much for pols who claim they’re planning to “transform” the country that gave them their start and nurtured them with opportunities from their first breath until the current moment. Similarly, people who prefer limited governmen