Author: Eric Sondermann

Over recent months, the question has come my way multiple times in various forms. “Can you explain to me why Joe Biden is taking all of this heat on the economy?” “The economy doesn’t seem that bad. What gives with Biden’s poll numbers?” “Inflation is much less than it was a year ago. Why doesn’t…

Three weeks have passed since Hamas launched its barbaric and diabolical attack on Israeli civilians. For many of us, the grief and preoccupation have been hard to shake. A volatile part of the world is now aflame. Israel has retaliated largely from the air against Hamas’ base in Gaza. A ground incursion is almost inevitable…

“The Missiles of October” was a long-ago TV series based on the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. If there was to be a sequel about the congressional spectacle of the past month, they could call it, “The Mischief of October.” In a nutshell, the plot could be captured as follows. “Kevin McCarthy, don’t let the door…

The book is simply called, “Things Fall Apart.” Written 65 years ago by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe, it portrays pre-colonial life in Igboland, now southeastern Nigeria. Achebe’s beautiful work was one of the first African novels to receive international acclaim. In partaking of the news over recent days and weeks, the book title sprung back…

This is being written on a Tuesday afternoon after eight House Republicans just kicked their putative leader to the curb. The vote was historic. More than that, it was symptomatic of the chaos of our politics. In watching it unfold, phrases about “reaping what you sow” and “chickens coming home to roost” popped to mind.…

The word “cancer” is enough to stop one in their tracks. Add in the preceding word “pancreatic” – and that spells what is truly a dread disease. Those readers expecting the usual political fare can turn elsewhere this week. Judging by my in-box, there is an ample supply of such commentary. Departing from the norm, I…

Political parties evolve and change. The Republican Party of Ronald Reagan was hardly that of Dwight Eisenhower, much less Abraham Lincoln. The modern Democratic Party bears only a faint resemblance to the assemblage led by John F. Kennedy, to say little of Woodrow Wilson. While Democrats today certainly have their wings, factions and internal debates,…

“No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of…

The human mind is conditioned for steadiness and predictability. It is our nature to assume that the future will proceed in a manner to which we are largely accustomed. We tend to approach life in a linear way of putting one foot in front of the other. However, in looking to the political year ahead,…

August is often the sidebar month of American politics. For those less familiar with newspaper lingo, a sidebar is a secondary story, running alongside a larger, related one. It adds color or offers a different angle or puts a human face on it. But it is usually gravy, not the meat. The hot, doldrum weeks…