Matthew Thomas, PhD

03/21/2026

Trump has made it to where no country will be willing to trust the US for a long time.

Meanwhile in the US, you have Republicans just agreeing to whatever the guy says while Democratic elites show barely any opposition.

The Danes brought blood supplies, explosives and live ammunition to Greenland as part of contingency plans in case President Trump acted on his threats to seize the island.

03/19/2026

That's an additional 20% on top of the trillion dollar budget they already received.

The request, which the White House has not submitted to Congress, is already encountering some resistance.

03/09/2026

The two groups of people you shouldn't listen to is

- Those that share AI. Take this representative, who uses AI to illustrate how hard she works. At least with fake photo ops by most politicians, they're at least photo ops with real people. This is just lazy, and in a primary season it's even worse.

- Those that share any betting market to make an argument. Polymarket, Kalshi, and all others are not a barometer for anything in politics. In fact, we've seen a lot of insider trading with these markets. Plus, it's gambling. These sites don't make money if they have to give it all away.

03/04/2026

I just watched Republican Senator Tim Sheehy of Montana intentionally shatter and break a Marine veteran's arm.

Over what you may ask? The veteran was speaking his mind about the war in Iran.

Actions always speak louder than words when it comes to supporting military and veterans. That also applies to politicians that have served like Tim Sheehy. He showed he doesn't give a damn about veterans.

And there's going to be a bunch of Republicans insinuate he deserved it. He didn't.

01/17/2026

While Trump plays with tariffs as a leveraging tool that's barely leveraging, other countries are moving forward.

Canada just made an agreement on EVs with China when the US is abandoning renewable energy. Trump's protectionism and brain drain is actively hurting the US.

The European Union and the Mercosur bloc of South American countries have formally signed a long-sought landmark free trade agreement.

01/16/2026

Imagine being so bloodthirsty over immigrants you support assaulting a family with a 6 month old.

A family was caught in clashes between protesters and law enforcement during protests in north Minneapolis, leading to three of their six children, including a 6-month-old baby, being hospitalized.

01/16/2026

An hourly union line worker is held to a higher standard than the billionaire president con man.

The advice from five legal experts boiled down to a blunt workplace reality: employees should watch their mouth if they want to keep their job.

10/05/2025

What do you mean a highly contagious disease that's entirely preventable is spreading?

Oh that's right. Anti-vax proponents like RFK Jr. want people to think Autism is caused by vaccines when that is a lie.

I'm sure the raw milk, essential oils, and thoughts/prayers will solve this.

South Carolina officially has a measles outbreak, even while Georgia deals with a cluster of cases as low vaccination rates in the region raise concerns.

09/26/2025

Blatantly illegal firing for comments from years ago on a blog before he even started working for the federal government.

Loyalty to one person is not a requirement to work in government

Will Rosenzweig was considered a rising star at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Miami.

09/26/2025

I thought he was going to drop drug prices by 1500%, an arbitrary and impossible number. Meanwhile, RFK Jr. is hawking unproven supplements in place of actual public health.

This action will hurt Americans, both physically and financially, but that's all he's done in eight months.

The good news: There are several loopholes in Trump’s proposal that mean the impact of the new taxes may be limited.

09/23/2025

If you're wanting to get into executive politics, this book by William Howell and Terry Moe is a good one that just came out last month.

Trajectory of Power looks at the escalating unilateralism of the presidency. This isn't a book about just Donald Trump, but other presidents too.

Given my focus is more on governors, I will say that whatever limits there may be on presidents is not nearly as existent for many governors. At the same time, outside of exclusive powers of the presidency, any power they have is surely exacerbated at the gubernatorial level. While that might not seem as important comparatively, it's still a dangerous prospect as they seem to follow the lead of the president (or presidents learn from governors).

Ultimately, that's my big issue is because we as a field and as a public don't care nearly as much.