I'm Just Saying.

Trump says he renamed Lake Ontario because: Lake Ontario is a “tremendous asset to the United States” and part of the nation’s heritage. Because the deepest parts of the lake are in U.S. territory, the United States “claims most of the Lake’s volume.” The lake has long been important to American exploration, settlement, commerce, and defense. It served as a critical artery for American trade, commerce, and military logistics. It was important to Fort Oswego, Sackets Harbor, shipbuilding, and naval operations during the War of 1812. It helped move goods, settlers, and industrial cargo between the American interior, eastern markets, and the Atlantic. Great Lakes–St. Lawrence Seaway commerce generates substantial economic activity, American jobs, and business revenue. The system ...

John Roberts, despite his obvious concern for his legacy, will be remembered as one of the worst chief justices in American history, which is quite an achievement considering that he followed William Rehnquist. During his confirmation hearings, Roberts sold himself as a modest judge who respected stare decisis . He warned that overturning precedent delivered “a jolt to the legal system” and compared judges to umpires who merely call balls and strikes. Then he got the job. One of the clearest early demonstrations of the fraud was Citizens United . The case was heard twice. After the first argument, the Court could have resolved the narrow dispute before it. Instead, Roberts’s Court ordered the case reargued and specifically directed the parties to address whether major campaign-finance precedents should be overturned. The case was argued in March 2009, set for reargument in June, and heard again in September. The precedents were overturned. Apparently, a “jolt to the legal...

January 6 was a peaceful demonstration. That is what Donald Trump’s defenders, including members of Congress who were inside the Capitol while it was happening, now expect Americans to believe. If it was peaceful, why were they hiding? Why were doors barricaded with furniture? Why were lawmakers rushed from the chambers under armed guard? Why were some crouching behind seats while police officers drew their weapons? Why were others sheltering in secure rooms and calling for Trump to stop the mob? These people did not learn about January 6 from television commentators or partisan reports. They were there. They heard the windows breaking, watched the mob invade the building, and fled for their own safety. And they knew exactly what had happened. It was only years later, after Republican leadership and other bad-faith actors began rehabilitating January 6 and recasting the attack as a “peaceful demonstration,” that the rest of the party largely joined the bandwagon. Though t...

I’m so tired of Harry Enten treating poll numbers as though they were delivered from Mount Sinai in a golden chariot. He’s concerned almost entirely with the numbers, not what they represent, why they reflect what they reflect, or what forces shaped them in the first place. To him, the number is the meal . Context is just cauliflower pushed to the edge of the plate. And this isn’t new. He was just as excited about poll numbers before the 2024 election, when the spread was usually two points at most and often much smaller. Once you factored in the margin of error, half of what he was breathlessly analyzing wasn’t movement at all. It was statistical pink noise . There he stood in front of his magic wall, treating every tiny fluctuation inside the margin of error like democracy had just handed him a notarized confession. That’s the problem with so much political polling coverage. The number goes up. The number goes down. One candidate gains a point. Another loses two. Suddenly, we’r...

In May 2025, former FBI Director James Comey was vacationing on the North Carolina coast. During a walk along the beach, he came across seashells that someone had arranged to form a four-digit number. Comey photographed them and posted the picture on Instagram with the caption, “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.” Trump allies quickly manufactured an assassination threat out of the post. Comey removed the photograph, explaining that the violent interpretation had never occurred to him and that he opposed violence. Trump then personally endorsed that interpretation, insisting the number meant Comey wanted him assassinated. The administration subsequently turned that interpretation into a federal investigation and, eventually, an indictment. Donald Trump explained that “86” is a Mafia term meaning “kill.” To make the point, he asked, “You ever see the movies?” Well, yes. I have seen the movies. If Mafia movies are evidence, The Godfather is Exhibit A. It is by far the greate...