The novelist John Gardner once classified a certain type of hack writer as the “disPollyanna” — a curdled optimist whose wounded, childlike idealism is inverted and weaponized in the form of “crude jokes and images, slang phrases borrowed from foreign languages” meant solely “to shock prudes.” The disPollyanna “simplemindedly long[s] for goodness, justice, and sanity” […]

An obscure government oversight group could make major waves in the 2024 election if President Joe Biden fulfills its wishes. The group, a watchdog of government watchdogs, has suggested Biden fire Department of Homeland Security Inspector General Joseph Cuffari following a four-year investigation and a 1,000-page report. If he does, it could set off a […]

For the first time all week, the average price for a gallon of regular gas in the country decreased on Friday. The new price is $3.209, a very slight drop from Thursday’s price of $3.212. The cost of gas had increased four straight days prior to the release of Friday’s pricing. Gas prices are a […]

Every big campaign event playing out across the United States this election season has its essential ingredients. There’s the chanting crowd, the patriotic festoonery, the smiling candidate, the platitude-stuffed stump speech, and the stirring popular song to start the party. The process of how those songs are chosen, what effect they have, and how they’re […]