politicians

Reviews of the politicians kissing babies and running governments around the world; applaud and criticize the decisions they make and their implications.

Netanyahu’s Election Nightmare: No Majority, No Easy Path Forward
Exit polls show Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc falling short of a parliamentary majority. Likud remains the largest party, but its lead has shrunk. The opposition bloc also lacks the 61 seats needed to govern. Neither side won a clear mandate. Coalition negotiations and court dates now dominate the agenda.
By Jinabout an hour ago in The Swamp
Fukuyama's “End of History”: A Liberal Triumph or an Unfinished Debate?
Author's note: I originally published this article several years ago. Returning to Fukuyama's argument in October 2026, I wanted to reconsider its philosophical foundations, the relationship between economic and political freedom, and whether the contradictions of contemporary societies challenge the possibility of a final historical destination.
By Sergios Saropoulosabout 2 hours ago in The Swamp
Understanding Trickle-Down Economics: A Critical Perspective
The Promise of Prosperity There is something interesting about the way economic policies are presented to the public. Governments frequently promise that particular reforms will create prosperity, encourage investment and eventually improve the living standards of society. Yet behind these familiar promises lie questions that are rarely examined with the same enthusiasm. Who is expected to benefit first? Who must wait for the benefits to arrive? And what happens when an economy grows without producing a comparable improvement in the lives of those whose labour sustains it?
By Sergios Saropoulosabout 3 hours ago in The Swamp
Lula Won the Election. The System Won the Term.
The count was clear. As of 21:20 Brasília time on October 25, with 99.83% of polling stations counted, Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court reported Lula at 64.116 million votes, 51.76% of valid votes. Flávio Bolsonaro had 59.755 million, 48.24%. The margin was about 4.36 million votes. Fewer than 0.2% of stations remained, not enough to change the result. Turnout was 80.79%, up from 78.92% in the first round.
By Jin2 days ago in The Swamp
Serbia’s Strongman Lost in One Night. The Defeat Took Two Years.
Serbia’s Strongman Lost in One Night. The Defeat Took Two Years. On the night of October 25, Vučić stood at the podium at Progressive Party headquarters. He did not dispute the count. He did not call supporters into the street. He did not ask for a rerun. He said, “It is clear that we lost this election.”
By Jin2 days ago in The Swamp
Europe Is Burning (and It's Not About Ukraine)
The tents outside Poland's Constitutional Tribunal have been up for three weeks. October rain has made the sleeping bags heavy, but no one is pulling out. Every morning a middle-aged man in an army-green jacket hands a thermos to the people on shift. A faded sticker on the thermos reads: "2015, we won." He does not explain what it means. Across the way, the curtains in the presidential palace stay drawn.
By Jin4 days ago in The Swamp
Trump’s $400 Million Midterm Bet Is Running Into $6.50 Diesel
President Trump said on Truth Social that his political operation has spent more than $300 million on the midterms and will push past $400 million by Election Day. The money most likely flows through MAGA Inc., his super PAC. It lands alongside roughly $80 million from Michael Bloomberg on the Democratic side and $50 million in Republican National Committee transfers to party groups. Republican networks enter the final two weeks with a cash edge that Democratic networks cannot match dollar for dollar.
By Jin5 days ago in The Swamp
Wu Yanni Can Hit 12.6 in Training. Why Does the Race Clock Keep Disagreeing?
Wu Yanni said she can reach 12.7 and 12.6 in training but cannot produce those times in competition. Pull that sentence out of context, put it next to her false start at the Asian Games and her 0.04-second loss at the National Games, and it looks like stubborn talk. In track, faster training times than race times need no such explanation.
By Jin5 days ago in The Swamp
Zelensky Said Yes to 75%. The Word That Matters Is Freeze.
On October 21, 2026, Brian Kilmeade put a condition to Volodymyr Zelensky on Fox & Friends. Would Ukraine accept a peace deal that freezes the front “as it is now” if Kyiv kept 75 percent or more of its territory? Zelensky said yes. “We need to stop now,” he said, “and I think that’s the real way to end this war. We declare a ceasefire, or a stop the killing, as President Trump called it. Freeze and stop.”
By Jin5 days ago in The Swamp
What Happens After Election Day 2026 Could Be Worse Than You Think
On November 3rd, Americans will decide who controls Congress, how much power the White House can exercise, and what the next two years of American government might look like. Then comes the scary stuff!
By Jason Morton7 days ago in The Swamp
One Day, Two Parises: How a Peaceful March Turned Into a Night of Broken Glass
On the afternoon of October 17, near Place de Clichy in Paris, someone was pushing a speaker and leading a chant of “On est là.” The song spread across France with the 2018 Yellow Vests movement. Now a younger generation was singing it again. The crowd moved north along Avenue de Magenta. Some people wore flags. Others held handwritten cardboard signs. One sign showed a pink pig in a suit, with the words “Money should go to the people, not into your pockets.” Another read “Eat the rich,” and more than one copy appeared in the crowd. Some people dressed as characters from One Piece or Naruto . Others came as Batman, weaving among demonstrators waving flags. Several young people climbed onto the base of the Monument to Marshal Moncey, a statue commemorating the 1814 defense of Paris. They covered the pedestal with slogans.
By Jin7 days ago in The Swamp
When a Society Stops Replacing Itself: The Consequences of Declining Birthrates and the Path Toward Recovery. AI-Generated.
Introduction: The Consequences of a Changing Population In Part One, we examined the changes that reshaped American family formation across more than sixty years. From the expansion of contraception and changing marriage laws to rising living expenses, declining religious participation, increasing chronic illness, digital socialization, changing relationships between men and women, and the growing complexity of raising children, numerous developments have contributed to the conditions surrounding modern reproduction.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast8 days ago in The Swamp