Cagle.com

Changing Congress won’t change the Iran War

Peter Roff — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Democrats want voters to believe they'll stop Trump's war of choice in Iran if they're given control of the House and Senate in the November election.

It’s a bad bet. In the American system, changing congressional majorities may rearrange power on Capitol Hill, but it does not alter the military chain of command.

Since Operation Epic Fury began on February 28, Congress has taken up an Iran war-powers measure at least nineteen times. The House has passed measures directing an end to hostilities multiple times, most recently on September 15. But the Senate buried it, meaning the White House never had to act.

If the Democrats capture the Senate in November, things still are unlikely to change. A 51- or 52- or 53-seat majority isn’t enough to move legislation subject to a filibuster. The 1973 War Powers Act. on which the Democrats rely. invites political theater, not policymaking. It lets members of Congress bluster, bellow, and vote against war at no risk to presidential powers or troops in the field.

War opponents can claim Congress is on record officially rebuking U.S. policy, but so what? The secretary of war and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff don’t make policy based on congressional rebukes. They follow the instructions of the president, who would undoubtedly veto any measure that tied his hands. And since an override would need two-thirds of both houses — 290 House members and 67 senators — it’s highly unlikely it would happen, even if the election turns out to be a blue tsunami.

War opponents point to congressional “power of the purse” as the ultimate step, but it’s a power Congress almost never exercises. An appropriations rider barring funds for offensive strikes can be drafted in a day, but it still must pass the House and Senate to be effective.

And that’s not a sure bet either. The money that funds overseas military operations and weapons procurement is linked to soldiers’ and sailors’ pay, munitions already under contract, and the protection of troops around the world. No one wants to be blamed for holding that up, stranding people in harm’s way.

At least 21 American servicemen and women have died. More have been wounded. A new Democratic majority that campaigned against the war won’t vote to cut off the coordination that keeps the rest of them alive. Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. John Fetterman is already voting with the Republicans. He won’t be the only one if a vote to defund the war against Iran becomes synonymous with endangering the troops.

Ongoing military operations don’t end because a new Congress begins. The administration sent a message to Capitol Hill announcing hostilities were “terminated” by the April cease-fire. The theory that restarts the clock on the War Powers Act is contestable, but it is the theory under which ships now sail. Courts have for decades deferred to the chief executive when hostilities are ongoing. They will not block the commander in chief from acting just to give the Democrats a favorable headline in The New York Times.

The current Congress would also sit through a lame-duck session following the election. Trump has already told audiences a settlement may not come before the election, until which there will be no unprovoked military strikes on Iran. An institution that held nineteen votes that didn’t change the conduct of the war doesn’t get new power because the majority leader’s office changed hands.

When the war ends, it will be because the president has decided that Iran’s capacity for violence and intimidation has been sufficiently reined in. Or because Tehran has lost the will to fight. A Democratic House speaker and Senate majority leader can call as many votes as they like, but without a bipartisan, veto-proof coalition behind them, they’re just ringmasters presiding over a political circus.

Congress doesn’t get to demote the commander because a generic-ballot poll says he’s unpopular. Anyone who wants the war to end — especially on terms more favorable to Iran than to the United States — needs to keep an eye on the White House, not the Capitol.

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Copyright 2026 Peter Roff distributed by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.

Peter Roff is former U.S. News and World Report contributing editor and UPI senior political writer now affiliated with several DC-based public policy organizations. He writes for numerous publications and appears regularly on international television talking about U.S. politics. You can reach him at RoffColumns@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @TheRoffDraft.

Trump Urges Pretend Ballot Inclusion

John Darkow — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 14:54:58 +0000

TRUMP URGES PRETEND BALLOT INCLUSION

by John Darkow, Cagle.com

Donald Trump has repeatedly floated the idea of closer formal ties with Vladimir Putin amid ongoing election cycles. The suggestion that the Russian leader could appear on U.S. ballots highlights the personal rapport between the two men. The cartoon portrays the notion as absurd and potentially damaging to democratic norms.

Happy hunting

Jase Graves — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Now that temperatures in East Texas have dipped below the mid-hundreds and there's a slight crispness in the air – and not just in the earthworms seared to my driveway– the thoughts of outdoor enthusiasts all over the region have turned to deer hunting.

During this time of year, I always feel left out of manly-type conversations about important hunting-related subjects like deer corn inflation, how to make yourself smell more like dirt, and safe methods for going "number 2" in the woods during rutting season.

It's not that I have anything against hunting. In fact, some of my best friends and close family members are masters of the wildlife-execution arts.

But hunting just isn't for me, and there are some important reasons why.

First and foremost, woodland animals have determined that if they stay active only until around 10:00 in the morning, they have nothing to fear from the likes of me. Even on good days, if I have to get out of bed before eleven, I feel like I'm undergoing intense rehab after a serious freight train accident. So, my chances of getting up before dawn by choice, and going to a location without proper restroom facilities, are pretty slim.

Next is the expense. A hobby that requires hunting leases with all the trimmings, camo drip (that's clothes for those of you allergic to teenagers), pickup trucks the size of Air Force One, and elaborate weaponry would significantly cut into my Mexican food budget. In case you were wondering, I do own a gun, and I even think I know where it is.

Believe it or not, I have been deer hunting before – once. In the days when I was dating my wife-and would do pretty much anything to convince her that I wasn't a complete doofus-my kind and patient future father-in-law invited me to go with him to his hunting lease, complete with a one-room cabin and an outdoor toilet that featured actual toilet paper-and a shovel. Looking back, I think he already had me figured out and just didn’t want to hurt my feelings by excluding me. He even provided me with one of those aluminum and vinyl lawn chairs for the 45 seconds of sleep I got.

On the so-called “morning” of our hunt, he drove me out to an indeterminate location amid the pitch-blackness of the woods, had me climb up and sit on a couple of 2x4s nailed between tree branches about 8 feet off the ground, handed me a hunting rifle, told me, “Whatever you do, don’t leave this spot,” and left me for dead.

I have to admit that watching and listening to the woods “wake up” on a misty fall morning was pretty cool, just not cool enough for me to get up that early to do it ever again. I even spotted a couple of young deer grazing in the leaves-which made me wish I had a Chick-fil-A chicken biscuit.

And my father-in-law did come back for me several hours later-even though he probably had to think long and hard about it.

So, to all the hunters out there, I offer my best wishes for happy hunting and ample amounts of toilet paper. When you’re out watching the woods wake up, I’ll be hunting for the cool side of the pillow.

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Copyright 2026 Jase Graves distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.

Graves is an award-winning humor columnist from East Texas. His columns have been featured in Texas Escapes magazine, The Shreveport Times, The Longview News Journal, and The Kilgore News Herald. Contact Graves at susanjase@sbcglobal.net.

Russian Figure Sings Kalinka Enthusiastically

Pierre Ballouhey — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 14:42:17 +0000

RUSSIAN FIGURE SINGS KALINKA ENTHUSIASTICALLY

by Pierre Ballouhey, Cagle.com

The cartoon depicts Vladimir Putin singing the Russian folk song Kalinka with open mouth and raised hand, hearts floating above, while a smaller suited figure clings to him affectionately. The scene plays on Putin's public embrace of Russian cultural symbols. Published on October 15, 2026, the image arrives during a period of heightened Russian diplomatic activity and domestic messaging. The visual emphasizes enthusiasm and closeness rather than confrontation. It uses the familiar tune to underscore national identity themes that recur in Russian leadership communications.

Trump ratings and Midterms

Paresh Nath — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 13:24:00 +0000

TRUMP RATINGS AND MIDTERMS

by U.T. Independent, India

Donald Trump's approval ratings have fallen sharply in the months before the 2026 midterms, raising alarms within the Republican Party about potential losses in congressional races. The cartoon captures the view that Trump's personal standing is actively harming GOP candidates rather than helping them. It argues the party risks electoral damage by remaining tied to his leadership.

RESTRICTIONS: Not for sale in UAE

Hegseth Enforces Strict Loyalty Tests

Milt Priggee — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 13:20:39 +0000

HEGSETH ENFORCES STRICT LOYALTY TESTS

by Milt Priggee, Cagle.com

The cartoon shows Pete Hegseth directing a scene with a clapperboard reading Livestream Execution while listing excluded groups and ending with traitors. It responds to debates over military recruitment standards and loyalty requirements in late 2026 by portraying the enforcement of an oath to the Constitution as a purge mechanism.

RESTRICTIONS: This image may NOT be purchased by any newspaper or WEB site in Washington State

Doctor Blames Inflation for Patient Condition

Becs — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 13:00:44 +0000

DOCTOR BLAMES INFLATION FOR PATIENT CONDITION

by Becs, Cagle.com

On October 15, 2026, concerns over election security intensified as political rhetoric from Trump-aligned forces raised alarms about potential interference in ballot processes. The cartoon responds by depicting Trumpism as a predatory force consuming the ballot box, underscoring the stakes for democratic institutions. Critics argue this dynamic risks undermining voter confidence and institutional stability ahead of key votes. The piece takes the position that such extremism directly endangers the integrity of American elections and demands stronger defenses for voting rights.

Zacharia Volunteers Legal Services

Randall Enos — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 12:33:34 +0000

ZACHARIA VOLUNTEERS LEGAL SERVICES

by Randall Enos, Cagle.com

A cartoon depicts a lawyer named Zacharia sprinting toward an injured individual at an accident scene while loudly volunteering legal representation. The image highlights the common practice of attorneys seeking clients immediately following mishaps. It comments on the aggressive recruitment tactics employed in personal injury law.

Inflation Rises Ahead of 2026 Midterms

Jimmy Margulies — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 12:28:13 +0000

INFLATION RISES AHEAD OF 2026 MIDTERMS

by Jimmy Margulies, Cagle.com

Inflation has climbed steadily in the months leading into the 2026 midterm elections, emerging as a central concern for voters evaluating congressional candidates. Both parties face pressure to address rising costs that affect household budgets and economic confidence. The trend threatens to shape campaign messaging and voter turnout in key races. The cartoon highlights how this economic reality intrudes on the electoral contest, underscoring the challenge inflation poses to candidates seeking to win over anxious voters.

Trump Pins Down Rival for Medal

Rayma Suprani — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 12:21:20 +0000

TRUMP PINS DOWN RIVAL FOR MEDAL

by Rayma Suprani, Cagle.com

The image shows Donald Trump pinning a rival to the ground in an apparent effort to secure a medal. Papers and a bird lie nearby on the floor. The composition highlights a physical contest over the award.

Palmer Luckey Defense Industry Path

Peter Kuper — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 11:44:05 +0000

PALMER LUCKEY DEFENSE INDUSTRY PATH

by Peter Kuper, PoliticalCartoons.com

Palmer Luckey, co-founder of Oculus and Anduril Industries, received a $2.9 billion U.S. military contract for lethal autonomous weapons through Project Meridian after supporting Donald Trump. The appointment shifts focus to battles under the earth and beyond the moon. The cartoon criticizes this transition from tech innovator to arms supplier as a dangerous escalation in defense profiteering.

Trump Blames Biden for Inflation

Michael de Adder — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 10:59:01 +0000

TRUMP BLAMES BIDEN FOR INFLATION

by Michael de Adder, CagleCartoons.com

Donald Trump continues to attribute ongoing inflation to former President Joe Biden's policies. The claim comes as the Republican Party faces voter concerns over rising costs and economic management. In 2026 the issue remains a central flashpoint in midterm and presidential messaging. The cartoon highlights the political risks of externalizing responsibility for economic conditions that developed under Republican leadership. It suggests the strategy may backfire with voters experiencing the effects directly.

Medicare’s bad incentives are costing taxpayers billions

Charles Sauer — Wed, 14 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Costco, the multi-billion-dollar retailer, just partnered with health insurer SCAN Group to offer Medicare Advantage plans in select states.

This new offering of the popular alternative to Medicare, which lets beneficiaries choose among competing private plans, shows how mainstream these plans have become. They are incredibly popular: over 10 million Medicare-eligible patients have signed up for these plans since 2020, and over half of all eligible Americans are on Medicare Advantage plans in 2026.

But Medicare Advantage has flawed incentives that put the program at financial risk. Part of the program’s funding is set to run dry by 2033, and some of this funding shortfall is due to the program’s incentives to “over-diagnose” patients.

Under Medicare Advantage, contracted insurers get reimbursed more for sicker patients, encouraging insurers to fabricate patient diagnoses to reap larger government reimbursements. Last year, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services estimated that it paid nearly $24 billion in improper payments to its contracted Medicare Advantage insurers.

Without reform, these incentives will continue to drive unnecessary Medicare spending, raising costs for taxpayers and beneficiaries while rewarding insurers for coding more diagnoses rather than delivering better care. Lawmakers have the opportunity to fix these incentives through bipartisan reforms like the No UPCODE Act.

The key issues with Medicare Advantage stem from the program’s insurer reimbursement rates, which are calculated using patient risk scores. Risk scores estimate a beneficiary’s expected healthcare costs based on factors including age and documented health conditions. The higher the risk score, the more Medicare reimburses insurers. This reimbursement structure creates a financial incentive for insurers to identify and document additional diagnoses that inflate patient risk scores.

Medicare Advantage insurers can conduct health risk assessments, including in-home visits by contracted health professionals, to identify and document beneficiaries’ health conditions. During these assessments, insurance representatives often add diagnoses without the testing or treatment history needed to verify them. In 2023, roughly $7.5 billion in excess payments can be directly attributed to patient diagnoses given during these health risk assessments, according to an Inspector General’s report.

Many insurers are also accused of “upcoding,” or increasing the severity of existing diagnoses without patients receiving corresponding care. Recently, the Department of Justice reached a settlement against one home health company for alleged Medicare Advantage upcoding. The company allegedly submitted fraudulent patient diagnoses for ailments like malnutrition and substance use disorder that were either clinically inaccurate or “did not require or affect patient care.”

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission estimates coding differences alone will increase payments to Medicare Advantage plans by roughly $22 billion in 2026. Overall excess payments to Medicare Advantage plans are expected to increase Medicare Part B premiums by about $11 billion this year.

The payment system also rewards insurers most aggressive about documenting diagnoses, allowing plans to collect more taxpayer dollars without necessarily providing better care. That creates an uneven playing field in which financial success can depend as much on coding practices as on keeping patients healthy.

Medicare Advantage’s incentives don’t just fail patients – they also pass costs onto taxpayers. When introduced in the 1990s, Medicare Advantage was promised as a lower-cost alternative for Americans paying a large share of their tax dollars toward traditional Medicare. Now, partly because of high coding intensity and potential fraud, experts expect that Medicare Advantage to cost 14% more per enrollee than its traditional counterpart.

It’s why bills like the No UPCODE Act are so necessary. Introduced by Senators Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Or.), the bill would rework Medicare Advantage’s payment incentives to reduce the financial rewards for aggressive coding. It would limit the use of diagnoses gathered through health risk assessments, revise the risk-score formula to be less sensitive to upcoded diagnoses, and require two years of diagnostic data for risk-adjusted claims instead of just one year – directly addressing the problems plaguing Medicare Advantage.

These reforms are necessary to put Medicare Advantage back on course. By reworking the program’s reimbursement incentives, Medicare can reward insurers for quality care and value rather than coding intensity, and policymakers can restore trust in a program that serves over 35 million people.

Medicare Advantage is attractive to patients for a reason, and beneficiaries should be free to choose these plans without paying the price for government inefficiency. Lawmakers sold Medicare Advantage as the best of both worlds: private-plan choice and high-quality Medicare coverage at a fair cost to taxpayers. It’s time Congress made sure patients and taxpayers actually get what they were promised.

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Copyright 2026 Charles Sauer, distributed by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.

Charles Sauer is the president of the Market Institute and the author of “Profit Motive” Sauer can be reached at charles@marketinstitute.org.

Could you write a 'tell all' memoir? 

Danny Tyree — Wed, 14 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Tyrades! by Danny Tyree

“I’m a b-a-a-a-a-d boy!” - Lou Costello

You’ve probably seen the recent tidal wave of “tell all” memoirs by celebrities such as Sylvester Stallone, Alice Cooper, Christopher Lloyd and Michael Douglas (with Willie Nelson’s “The Last Leaf” due in November).

I aspire to write my own biography someday, but don’t expect it to be as juicy and riveting as the reminiscences of the aforementioned A-listers . I mean, Cooper’s life story is titled “Devil on My Shoulder” and Douglas’s is titled “One Helluva Ride.” Mine would probably be “Ear Hair on My Shoulder” or “How Do You Get This Thing Out of Second Gear?”

Still, the glitterati haven’t cornered the market on attention-grabbing exploits. I suppose many of y’all can regale listeners with tales of championship trophies, illicit love affairs, vicious exes, drunken brawls and high-speed chases; but my life has been more low-key. My best anecdotes are “borrowed” from other people.

My fuddy-duddy nature started with my parents. They had their quirks but they never traumatized me the way the parents of famous singers and actors seem contractually obligated to.

For instance, “Show and Tell Day” meant sharing one of my father’s Army souvenirs or one of my mother’s antiques, not shouting, “Please! No detention hall! I didn’t realize Mom’s pimp was going to shoot Ralphie’s pet hamster!”

And Thanksgiving meant drawing “hand turkeys,” not drawing cocaine-infused hand turkeys.

My “turbulent” teen years revolved around family, school, church, after-school job and comic books – leaving no time for broken curfews, fake IDs and steamy car windows. Ironically, many a Thursday night was spent watching Michael Douglas and Karl Malden patrol “The Streets of San Francisco.” (I now suspect Malden’s “Don’t leave home without them” commercials for Travelers’ Cheques served the double purpose of reminding Douglas about certain essential products.)

My adult life has been rich and rewarding, especially the 35 years of marriage. (35 years and counting – counting the number of complaints about my snoring, counting the number of times we have to visit just one more shoe store, counting the …but I digress.) But it has not been a period marked by lottery jackpots, rehab, public meltdowns, flings, burned bridges, brunches with royalty, trendy eating disorders (other than grinding my teeth at the bathroom scales) or whatever else The Other Half does.

I’m certainly never pursued by the paparazzi. Even Flock cameras declare, “I see nothing! I know nothing!” when I drive by.

I guess the celebrities releasing memoirs this year are getting their stories told “while the gettin’ is good,” because the plummeting number of Americans who read for pleasure will straitjacket future autobiographers.

Not everyone can handle condensing 37 orgies, five Truman Capote slap-fights, six offspring born to stalkers and 11 requests to “get your Mercedes off the top of the Eiffel Tower, mon ami” into a single Bazooka Joe bubblegum strip.

How will you spend your free time in the coming weeks? Curled up with a confessional by your favorite Hollywood luminary? Checking off another wild and crazy bucket list goal? (“Finally remembered to buy another mop bucket. Break out the faux champagne!”) Tentatively jotting down some memorable experiences that can’t be made public until five years after your great-grandchildren are deceased?

Me? I’ll muddle through with my favorite anecdotes.

Because, if my father, Kirk Douglas, told me once, he told me a million times…

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Copyright 2026 Danny Tyree, distributed by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.

Danny Tyree welcomes email responses at tyreetyrades@aol.com and visits to his Facebook fan page “Tyree’s Tyrades.”

Are you ready for some... more injuries?

Peter Funt — Tue, 13 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

For many of us among the roughly 40 million Americans hooked on fantasy football, this season is off to a particularly unpleasant start.

Matthew Berry, arguably the nation’s most prominent fantasy football expert, said, “I feel like through four weeks it has been a worse injury year than ever before. Just too many big-name stars going down early.”

Berry acknowledged that “every year there are brutal injuries,” but he said this season has been especially tough.

As one who abhors violence, I’ve always been conflicted about football. The only way I manage to rationalize hours of research on my fantasy lineups, followed by obsessive multi-screen viewing of each week’s games, is to imagine that players, covered as they are from head to toe, are characters in a video game rather than real guys who are being bashed, twisted and concussed.

As part of my research for a book about football in the 1960s, I recently visited the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Posted on the wall is this statement:

“Player protection is the top priority of the NFL. Since its earliest days, the NFL has continuously taken steps to ensure that the game is played as fairly as possible without unnecessary risk to its participants.”

For a multibillion-dollar business, that makes about as much sense as Donald Trump insisting that owners of AI companies can effectively police themselves.

The NFL has modified some rules and urged manufacturers to improve protective gear, but as Matthew Berry noted, there are still “brutal injuries” every year. The game is so dangerous that the best (read: highest paid) players skip preseason games entirely for fear of injury. The annual all-star game, the Pro Bowl, has been played in recent years without tackling, flag-football style, and this season will be scrapped altogether.

I asked Jake Ciely, fantasy football expert at The Athletic, what’s going on.

“I believe we're in an age where the athletes are freakier than ever due to science,” he said. “Players run blazing fast despite being 6-2 and 240 pounds. You see everyone cutting and moving more explosively than we've ever seen. It's the same in baseball, with pitchers' arms blowing up more frequently. The human body is still fragile, and we're seeing the fallout of peak athleticism slamming into other peak athletes, unfortunately.”

Ciely says NFL injuries are “up a tick” this season, but the situation seems even worse because so many marquee players, especially quarterbacks, have fallen. Week 1, it was the Vikings’ Kyler Murray and the Seahawks’ Sam Darnold; Week 2, the Commanders’ Jayden Daniels, the Bears’ Caleb Williams, and the Giants’ Jaxson Dart; wWeek 3, the Buccaneers’ Baker Mayfield, and Week 4, the Ravens’ Lamar Jackson.

Receivers such as the Bengals’ Chase; tight ends including the Raiders’ Brock Bowers, and running backs such as the Eagles’ Saquon Barkley, have also been knocked out of games.

Running backs are pivotal when it comes to injuries because of what fantasy managers call handcuffs. A handcuff is the next man up — the player who would step in if the starter is hurt. All positions have backups, of course, but the most coveted handcuffs in fantasy are the running backs, whose replacements can instantly become valuable for fantasy purposes.

Increasingly, my rooting interest — whether I like it or not — is all about injuries. When my guy has the ball, I hold my breath, hoping he won’t get hurt. When my fantasy opponent’s player has the ball, I’m — well, let’s just say I’m semi-rooting for a painless, non-career-threatening injury that’s just serious enough to send him into the blue medical tent, then the locker room, then the X-ray room, and then onto the Injured Reserve list, where he must miss at least four weeks.

Barkley hurt his hamstring on the second play of the Oct. 4 game. His replacement was Tank Bigsby, whom I’d been stashing on my fantasy bench for just this situation. Two quarters later, Bigsby got hurt and was placed on the IR. The following week Bigsby’s replacement, Will Shipley, injured his foot and was knocked out of the game.

This, to use a sports term, sucks.

Many of us remain sold on the undeniable pleasure of football at its injury-free best. But unless the NFL finds a way to meaningfully reduce the physical toll, the current game is not something I’m keen on being handcuffed to.

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Copyright 2026 Peter Funt distributed by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.

Funt’s book, “Inside Fantasy Football: America’s Favorite Non-Contact Sport,” is available through Amazon.

Republican senator reveals how the right-wing sausage is made

Elwood Watson — Tue, 13 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I will concede Republicans this much. They are usually masterful at transforming an issue into a scandal, even when such supposed evidence is absent from reality.

They deftly comprehend the fundamentals of a mainstream media that salutes and handsomely acknowledges searing political drama. The conservative apparatus routinely functions in unison to construct a high pitch, gut wrenching televised confrontation cultivated to politically enthrall the party base.

It begins with a Republican levying a dramatic, if not scurrilous allegation. Afterwards, right-wing personalities, pundits and media outlets fiercely ignite the charge, prompting the allegation to evolve into an intense “gotcha” moment. Party politicians and assorted lackeys secure airtime on various podcasts and Fox News to rehash the accusations. By the time the truth is revealed, the original allegation has become catnip for conservatives to devour.

That was clearly the agenda of Senator Eric Schmitt’s (R-Mo.) histrionic and botched performance last month during a hearing with former special counsel Jack Smith. Republicans tried and failed to recast Smith, the prosecutor who indicted Trump for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results and alleged mishandling of classified documents, as the bad guy of a biased and partisan Justice Department. Smith, for his part, fervently stood behind his case, passionately declaring “Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in serious crimes against our nation.”

Republican senators made the premeditated calculation to relitigate Jan. 6th by rummaging through Smith’s records in a frantic effort to locate any potential smoking gun. Rather, what they exposed was misinformation and rank confusion over the name of a basketball team – Smith went to see the Iowa Hawkeyes in Maryland, not the Atlanta Hawks down in Georgia.

Schmitt’s entire conspiracy theory about Smith being in Atlanta to coordinate anti-Trump efforts was built on basic untruths, rank incompetence and falsehoods. The performance – he called Smith a "dirtbag" – was clearly designed to increase Schmitt’s national profile just as a garish, televised lambasting of one of MAGA’s most reviled foes was ready to transpire. What resulted instead was one of the most spectacular political waterloos of any recent Senate hearing.

There is something deeply bizarre about a United States senator arriving at a televised hearing thoroughly convinced he has caught a former special counsel in perjury, only to come to the blatant realization the primary factor in his supposed conspiracy theory was a bird mascot shared by both teams.

We eventually learned that a band of right-wing influencers had their talking points ready to unleash upon social media the minute Schmitt’s supposed gotcha dropped. Fox News’ Sean Hannity initially praised Schmitt before eventually deleting his post on X. Raging white supremacist Benny Johnson declared Schmitt caught Smith perjuring himself. Other conservative commentators circulated the clip as proof that Smith had been caught in a lie — and then quietly abandoned the claim and privately wiped the egg off their stained faces.

Rather than conceding he made a mistake, Schmitt doubled down. Appearing afterward on “The Charlie Kirk Show, the senator continued to insist he had been justified in asking the question. When targeted later by TMZ with the truth, Schmitt replied: “My job is to ask the question.”

Among fellow Republicans, the mishap was palpable. A heavily shared video of Sen. Katie Britt, (R-Ala.,) flashing a petrified look quickly circulated online. One Republican senator anonymously argued the bad intel came directly from the White House. Schmitt’s general counsel, Ethan Harper, who stood behind him holding the inaccurate and faulty poster, learned his potential White House staff position was suddenly in immediate jeopardy.

But what the episode really reveals is how today's conservatives never let the truth take precedence over the art of personal and palatal advancement. Schmitt declared victory despite being publicly embarrassed and humiliated.

Schmitt’s defenders have also engaged in the same nefarious antics, treating a false perjury accusation as permissible because it was geared toward shedding light on exposing potential corruption. It was a moment Republicans intended to go viral and it certainly did, just not in the way they intended.

The ample level of gross incompetence of such a botched and aborted effort does not change the outcome nor intent.

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Copyright 2026 Elwood Watson, distributed by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate

Elwood Watson is a professor of history, Black studies, and gender and sexuality studies at East Tennessee State University. He is also an author and public speaker.

The day a cyberscammer attacked my mother

Tom Purcell — Mon, 12 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I got to my 89-year-old mother’s home just in the nick of time.

She’d been using her computer when her screen locked and a large image appeared:

“You’ve been compromised,” the red letters said. “Call Microsoft immediately at 800-xxx-xxxx!”

She was on the phone with the fake tech support agent when I arrived.

New era of AI scams

Remember when email scams were easy to identify?

Misspellings, broken English and awkward phrases, such as “kindly send to me,” were dead giveaways.

Those days are gone.

Scammers use AI to produce flawless emails that mimic your bank, your boss or a government agency — or clone a loved one’s voice from a short audio clip.

Consider these recent real-life frauds:

After receiving a frantic call from her daughter, Bay Area mom Deborah Del Mastro wired $5,400 to “kidnappers.” But her daughter wasn’t kidnapped. Scammers used an AI app to clone her voice.

In Michigan, Brian and Wendy VanDoeselaar wired $66,026.92 to their loan officer — but the account was fake and the loan officer’s voice was also an AI clone. They lost the money and the property.

A finance employee at construction giant Arup joined a Zoom meeting with his CFO and other colleagues, who told him to wire funds to a new vendor — which he did. His “colleagues” were AI deepfakes and the scam cost his company $25 million.

The elderly at risk

When I arrived at my mother’s home, the fake tech-support agent had already gotten my mother to download remote-access software. I stopped him before he could activate it.

Had he succeeded, he might have searched her computer for passwords and financial records. He would have found a Word document labeled “PASSWORDS” — a dangerous practice she no longer follows.

With access to her financial information, he might have connected her with a fake bank fraud investigator, who would claim her savings were in danger and persuade her to move the money to a supposedly safe account controlled by the criminals.

The fake investigator likely would have coached her through the process, directing her to wire funds, buy cryptocurrency or purchase gift cards and read out the codes.

In 2025 alone, the FBI received 17,000 reports of such tech-support scams.

One couple in Maine lost $1.1 million, a New Hampshire woman lost $1 million and two women in Rhode Island and Massachusetts lost $200,000 each.

Beware traditional scams

Scammers are still using traditional telephone calls to carry out fraud.

In 2019, a 79-year-old widow in Pittsburgh answered a call from a man who claimed to be a DEA agent.

He said her identity had been stolen and that she was caught up in an international drug-money scheme; if she did not help, he warned, she could be investigated and lose her Social Security number.

Over the next four months, she wired roughly $4.3 million into a scam Bitcoin account — her life savings gone.

Cybersecurity awareness month guidance

Many people still assume cybersecurity is mainly a problem for large companies and government agencies.

In reality, individuals — especially older adults — are the most frequent targets.

According to a landmark 2020 study by Stanford University, human error — clicking a phishing link, sharing sensitive information on fake forms or falling for trick calls — is the primary driver behind up to 88% of all digital compromises.

That is why a key National Cybersecurity Alliance theme this year is “Don’t Make It Easy for Them.”

The new defensive rule of thumb is straightforward:

Treat every unexpected urgent request — especially one involving money, remote access or account “protection” — as potentially fraudulent until proven otherwise.

Do not talk to suspicious characters on the phone or click links and download software.

Do call your bank, Microsoft or the family member back using only legitimate phone numbers or websites — never the number or link the caller just gave you.

No legitimate financial or government official will ever ask you to move money into a “safe” account or buy Bitcoin or gift cards.

Always avoid and report phishing emails; use strong passwords, passphrases and a password manager; enable multifactor authentication; and be sure your software is up to date.

Prepare for increasing scams

To keep abreast of emerging scams, review free resources available at cisa.gov/cybersecurity-awareness-month and staysafeonline.org.

If you or a loved one is targeted, report it immediately at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and ic3.gov. Adults 60 and older can also call the National Elder Fraud Hotline at 1-833-FRAUD-11.

Everyone is at risk of being scammed in the “wild west” digital world in which we all now live.

We must learn how to protect ourselves and our elderly loved ones as scams multiply and grow more sophisticated by the day.

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Copyright 2026 Tom Purcell, distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.

See Tom Purcell’s syndicated column, humor books and funny videos featuring his dog, Thurber, at TomPurcell.com. Email him at Tom@TomPurcell.com.

Cornell’s Jane Doe and protecting people’s reputations

Christine Flowers — Mon, 12 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I was standing at the corner of Broad and Chestnut this week when a small group of youngish women and about three or four oldish men marched by, most of them chanting, “We Are Jane Doe.”

The men were uncomfortably silent, likely realizing how ridiculous they looked. They didn’t tie up traffic, and they were basically well-behaved. They were a lot more polite than the Free Palestine crazies who occupied a corner of Rittenhouse Square earlier in the week. In terms of a protest, it was lukewarm, somewhere between Kumbaya-with-Patchouli and a riot.

We’ve all been bombarded with punditry about the Cornell Rape saga. I’ve expressed my own opinion that given the peculiarities of New York criminal statutes, any prosecution seems doomed. And so far, we’re only dealing with the lawsuit from “Jane.” So this little parade down Broad Street was so unremarkable that it shouldn’t even rate a column.

Yet there was one aspect that struck me and does merit attention: Why are self-professed victims of assault given the significant protection of anonymity while the accused are hung out like red meat for the public’s consumption.

I’m not saying victims’ identities should be revealed. Quite the opposite. Sexual assault is a heinous crime, so heinous that it has a generational impact. The abused very often become abusers themselves, as the tragic statistics bear out.

But that’s my point. If the crime is so reprehensible, perhaps we need to be very careful about disseminating the names of anyone involved, until guilt or innocence, civil liability or not, is established.

Reputation is one of the most precious things that we possess. Shakespeare recognized that when he put these words into the mouth of Cassio, Othello’s betrayed friend: “Reputation, reputation, reputation! O, I have lost my reputation! I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial.”

At best, the loss of your good name carries social stigma, financial loss and emotional distress. At its darkest, it can result in tragedy. I once wrote a column about the Duke lacrosse players after they had been found “actually innocent” of any crime. This was even before the toxic heyday of the MeToo movement, when witch hunts abounded. I received an email in response that broke my heart.

It was from a mother whose son had been accused of sexual harassment by a high school classmate. He lost his spot on the football team, was suspended from school and fell into a deep depression. The girl eventually recanted her claim. But the damage was done. Unable to recover from the shame and suspicion, he hanged himself. He was 19.

Therein lies the problem with identifying people accused of rape. Even if they are never convicted of anything, there will always be an asterisk next to their names. And that is a sentence, in and of itself.

Some will argue that in this case, Jane Doe has only filed a civil suit. That is irrelevant. Loss of reputation is not limited to the criminal context. Being sued in court for money or prosecuted as a civil defendant has the same reputational impact.

So I’m hoping that one day, as we realize how truly unfair it is to allow accusers to hide behind friendly marchers crying “I stand with Jane Doe” while she gets to point a finger at her alleged abusers, we will start giving “John Doe” the benefit of the doubt.

His life might depend on it.

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Copyright 2026 Christine Flowers, distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.

Christine Flowers is an attorney and a columnist for the Delaware County Daily Times, and can be reached at cflowers1961@gmail.com.

Happy 30th birthday, Fox News. No gifts for you.

Dick Polman — Mon, 12 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I marked my birthday Oct. 8 and thought it’d be fun to Google the notables who entered our world on that date. What a bounty! I share it with filmmaker Edward Zwick, Netflix bigwig Reed Hastings, longtime Saturday Night Live cast member Darrell Hammond, Matt Damon, and Sigourney Weaver

Duly emboldened, I expanded my search to Oct. 7 and saw rocker John Mellencamp is one day older than me. It also turns out Oct. 7 was the 30th birthday of Fox News.

Talk about buzzkill.

Is there anything new to say about that cesspool of lying liars, that festering cancer on the body politic, that disinformation propaganda shop that masquerades as journalism and pumps crackpot Kool Aid into the veins of credulous millions? Nope, I have nothing new. But I can’t let this big birthday pass without noting the historic destruction it has wrought on this country - because one can argue that without Fox News, we would’ve been spared the pestilence of Donald Trump.

I'll spare you a list of Fox's greatest grifts – including its serial lies about the 2020 election and the revolving door that links the network and the Trump team – and study after study that show Fox viewers are far more misinformed than news consumers who get their info elsewhere.

One small episode is sufficient to tell the big story. It happened 15 years ago, when Fox breathlessly reported President Obama wanted to tax Christmas trees.

In November 2011, I received a string of emails raging at Obama for (supposedly) imposing a tax on Christmas trees, which the angry readers took as fresh evidence of the (alleged) socialist Muslim’s (alleged) war on Christmas and Christianity in general. And naturally, these readers were angry at me for ignoring that tax, and how typical that was of the “liberal media.”

So I clicked around the Internet, which made it clear the truth - no surprise - was far more benign.

A trade group, the National Christmas Tree Association, had suggested a 15-cent fee per tree in order to better promote domestic trees, and thus compete more effectively with artificial trees from China. The idea had been around for 20 years, and this time the Obama adminstration’s Department of Agriculture had agreed to consider such a fee, as a way to help the domestic tree industry.

Presto, Fox News framed it as an Obama anti-Christian plot, more (purported) evidence that he was (probably) Muslim and not a real American.

That wee Fox report died a quick death, subsumed forever in the outlet’s relentless sludge. But it’s a classic example of what Fox chairman Roger Ailes said years ago about the core Fox mission. In his words, he loved to “create some bulls-” and feed it to his audience, which he described as “guys who sit on their couch with the remote all day and night.” I can annotate that. He was talking about older white guys who want to marinate in culturally conservative grievances and gawk at leggy blonde anchors.

Ailes, who exited Fox in 2016 with a golden parachute amid allegations of serial sexual harassment, correctly intuited that millions of potential viewers hated diversity and pluralism and inclusion. Turns out, lots of people love to be lied to. They want to be conditioned cogs in the Fox machinery that paved the path for MAGA.

In essence, Fox has marketed “the paranoid style in American politics,” a phrase coined 62 years ago by historian and public intellectual Richard Hofstadter, who wrote a sizable cohort of Americans feast on “heated exaggeration, suspiciousness, and conspiratorial fantasy.”

For the average “paranoid,” Hofstadter wrote that civility is the enemy: “He does not see social conflict as something to be mediated and compromised…Since what is at stake is always a conflict between absolute good and absolute evil, what is necessary is not compromise but the will to fight things out to a finish. Since the enemy is thought of as being totally evil and totally unappeasable, he must be totally eliminated - if not from the world, at least from the theatre of operations to which the paranoid directs his attention.”

Paranoids who marinate in fantasy, abhor compromise, and threaten free elections now run the government, and paranoid viewers long nurtured by Fox still await their cues. They got one the other day when a host reported the news in this way: “Priority No. 1, 28 days out from midterm Election Day, Republicans must maintain their majorities in the House and Senate.”

But there’s an upside on this 30th birthday, modest though it may be. Over the past week, Fox has been cutting away from Trump’s rallies - because the tinpot tyrant’s latest round of rants are apparently too nuts even for Fox; and because his cratering polls (30 percent approval, according to Pew Research) are apparently bad for business. And now Trump is raging at Fox. Any day when that happens is a good day. We need to take what we can get.

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Copyright 2026 Dick Polman, distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.

Dick Polman, a veteran national political columnist based in Philadelphia and a Writer in Residence at the University of Pennsylvania, writes the Subject to Change newsletter. Email him at dickpolman7@gmail.com