News

Question 1): How long can the war in Iran continue before it negatively impacts Republicans politically? Answer 1): It’s already affecting Republicans, and in a very negative way. It’s highly unusual for the U.S. citizenry to oppose American entry into armed conflict at the outset –any opposition usually comes later. Not so this time. A […]

Question 1): How will we remember Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s final State of the State address? Answer 1): She’s been great for the legacy news media. She sounds good. She’s attractive and likeable. She does a great job of branding herself — that’s why she’s described as popular while we’re told her three predecessors weren’t. True, […]

Back in the day, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s childhood ambition was to be an ESPN sports commentator. That obviously didn’t happen, but as a politician her interest in athletics hasn’t flagged. In fact, she cares so much about sports that, on her most recent trade mission to Europe, she took a side trip from Germany […]

Early this month, a group called Americans for Citizen Voting (ACV) aiming to tighten voter ID rules and require proof of citizenship to register in Michigan announced it has collected more than enough signatures to make the November 3 ballot. Although the group needs to collect at least 446,196 valid voter signatures — which it […]

Question 1): One proposal for sure will be on the statewide general election ballot next Nov. 3, and it will be Proposal 1 –whether the State of Michigan should convene another Constitutional Convention (Con-Con). The state’s current Constitution mandates that this question must be put to the voters every 16 years. Three previous such questions […]

President Donald J. Trump has unveiled his “Board of Peace” as part of the oversight of the Gaza ceasefire plan. The panel, already controversial, is a complex, three-tiered governing structure for Gaza that places Trump and pro-Israel officials at the top, while Palestinians are relegated to municipal duties. Trump has invited more than 60 countries […]

Whatever happened to ‘Minnesota Nice’? Actually, it’s still with us, and that may be a contributing factor to the bad vibes emanating recently from Golden Gopherland. In a state of some 5.8 million people, 43% claim at least partial Scandinavian heritage — the highest percentage in the country. There are around 410,000 Swedes in the […]

Question 1): Rep. Matt HALL (R-Richland Township), Speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives, has vowed to push some form of property tax relief in the Legislature this year, almost certainly involving at least one statewide ballot proposal next Nov. 3. What are his chances of success? Answer 1): It’s a longshot as a matter of […]

Here is a TBR New Year’s Special, courtesy of Lake Superior State University (LSSU): It’s LSSU’s Annual List of Overworked Words and Phrases that have become Meaningless and Should be Banished for 2026: Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie, MI, has just released its 50th anniversary edition of its popular ‘Banished Words List’ […]

DEVOS SCIONS IGNORE EXISTING LAW, VOTE FOR NAME CHANGE TO KENNEDY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS Last February, just weeks after Donald J. Trump began his second administration, he fired several members of the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. Trump then named new members, […]