Posts by James Joyner

James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is a Professor of Security Studies. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.

Colbert on Romney and Oaths

A touching tribute to doing the right thing.

Iowa Shifting the Narrative?

The media coverage continues on script.

Senate Acquits Trump On Party Lines (Minus Mitt Romney)

Donald Trump is the third President to be impeached by the House and acquitted by the Senate.

Rush Limbaugh’s Presidential Medal of Freedom

Another controversy amid a reality show State of the Union address.

SOTU Ends Pretense of Normalcy

The State of the Union is petulant.

The Iowa Caucuses Debacle

It’s more embarrassing than we thought.

Rush Limbaugh Has Advanced Lung Cancer

Sad news from the conservative talk icon.

A Year in Which Nothing Happened

We’re right back where we started.

Did Taxpayers Spend $3.4 Million for Trump Super Bowl Party?

The real scandal isn’t the price tag but the beneficiary.

John Kerry Almost Certainly Not Running for President

He’s tanned, rested, and ready. But it ain’t happening.

West Virginia to Allow Smartphone Voting

Cyber security experts are quite alarmed.

DNC Making Up Rules as it Goes

Proposed mid-stream changes could help Bloomberg, hurt Sanders, and divide the party.

Trump’s Acquittal and American Democracy

Has this precedent permanently damaged the country? Or is it just politics as usual?

Senate Republicans Think Trump Guilty, Shouldn’t Be Removed

A binary choice will produce a worse outcome than necessary.

Mike Bloomberg’s $11 Million Super Bowl Ad in Perspective

It’s literally the equivalent of buying a large pizza for the average American household.

Guy Named John Delaney Ends Campaign Nobody Knew About

This. Changes. Everything.

We Don’t Need Witnesses

What difference at this point does it make?

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Paperwork and the Poor

Our measures for preventing abuse of our social welfare system are preventing those who need it most go without.

Feinstein and Three Democratic Moderates Leaning Toward Acquittal?

Surprising news from an unsurprising process.

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The Hidden Left-Liberal Divide

One side is arguing over rules while the other is focused on consequences.

Kobe Bryant Killed in Helicopter Crash

The basketball legend and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, were among five fatalities.

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Newspaper Endorsements At Odds with Polls

The leading papers in Iowa and New Hampshire are backing Klobuchar and Warren, respectively.

Joe Rogan, Bernie Sanders, and the Intellectual Dark Web

Politics makes strange bedfellows.

Why Democrats Have to Play By Different Rules

The Republicans are playing a different game.

What if November’s Loser Refuses to Concede?

There’s a very real possibility the legitimacy of the 2020 election will be contested.

No, Citizens United Didn’t Ruin Our Democracy

Money has increasingly dominated American politics but the court case had little to do with it.

Jim Lehrer, 1934-2020

A legendary newsman has passed.

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Are We Ruining American Politics?

A political scientist argues that college-educated intellectuals are doing politics wrong.

Explaining the Sanders-Warren Flap

Two progressives enter. One progressive leaves.

Disney Drops ‘Fox’ Name

More fallout from the consolidation of media brands.

Trump May Be Even Less Popular than it Seems

The 45th President polls worse than other prominent Republicans.

11 US Troops Injured in Attack Where No US Troops Were Injured

Claims by the President and Defense Department about the Iranian response to the Soleimani raid were untrue.

Trump Impeachment Trial Underway

And now the real farce begins.

Virginia Putting ERA over the Top?

The Commonwealth is about to become the 38th State to ratify the Nixon-era Amendment.

The free high-resolution photo of street, bicycle, asphalt, vehicle, hat, park bench, homeless, stockholm, packing, baby carriage, drifter, norrm larstrand , taken with an DMC-FS10 01/29 2017 The picture taken with 10.0mm, f/3.8s, 1/640s, ISO 80 The image is released free of copyrights under Creative Commons CC0. You may download, modify, distribute, and use them royalty free for anything you like, even in commercial applications. Attribution is not required. The free high-resolution photo of street, bicycle, asphalt, vehicle, hat, park bench, homeless, stockholm, packing, baby carriage, drifter, norrm larstrand , taken with an DMC-FS10 01/29 2017 The picture taken with 10.0mm, f/3.8s, 1/640s, ISO 80 The image is released free of copyrights under Creative Commons CC0. You may download, modify, distribute, and use them royalty free for anything you like, even in commercial applications. Attribution is not required.

What Now with Iran?

President Trump has a huge decision to make.

Democratic Primary Reset?

The 2016 frontrunners at this stage won their nominations easily. But that’s often not the case.

The Framers Aren’t All They’re Cracked up to Be

The men who gathered in Philadelphia to write the Constitution were geniuses. But they couldn’t predict the future.

Michael Bloomberg Poll Numbers . . . Interesting

The newest entrant is outperforming most rivals but is intensely disliked.

The Rising Blue Tide

A conservative columnist explains how once-Republican states are switching sides.

LTC Vindman Update

Revisiting a recent post.

Air Force Adopts ‘Indefinite Enlistment’ for NCOs

The newest branch of the US Armed Forces has made a long-overdue policy change that others should copy.

LTC Vindman Could be Court-Martialed for Testifying to Congress

Defying the Commander-in-Chief’s order will almost certainly ruin a good man’s career.

No, Trump’s Courting of Senators isn’t ‘Bribery’

The President is committing enough high crimes and misdemeanors without us manufacturing them.

RealClear Reveals Whistleblower Name, Foments Conspiracy Theory

The man who sparked the investigation into the President’s illegal conduct has been outed in a futile attempt to discredit it.

NCAA Allows ‘Image and Likeness’ Compensation

Bowing to Immense political pressure to pay college athletes will dramatically change the game.

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No, Medicare-for-All Wouldn’t Be a Tax Cut

We shouldn’t need bad arguments to sell good policies.

Executive Privilege and Impeachment

George Washington invented the concept and was quite clear that it did not apply to impeachment proceedings.

Where Has the Decade Gone?

No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun.

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Trump Orders Feds to Cancel NYT and WaPo Subscriptions

The President is tired of all the fake news.

EU to Grant ‘Flextension’ on Brexit

The UK is being given yet more time to figure out the obvious.