by MS NOW | Aug 5, 2026 | Letter to the editor, Opinion
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To the editor:
Regarding the Aug. 5 news analysis, “What El-Sayed’s primary win in Michigan means for the Democratic left”:
I find it strange that people consider “radical” the idea that Americans want to earn a living wage, afford groceries and health care, purchase a home, and send their children to college. Isn’t that what most Americans want? If that is radical, we need to rethink what it is to be an American. These are ideas that make a society better for all people. This really should be considered mainstream. That Abdul El-Sayed won favoring these ideas should be celebrated.
Mike Tiktinsky
Concord, California
To the editor:
It’s said that Democrats never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity — and the Michigan results seem to bear that out.
When Republicans had their MAGA revolution, Democrats laughed. But many voters will see Abdul El-Sayed as an extremist in the other direction. And what serious Republicans and independents will vote for left-bubble candidates? Tell me, what is the extreme left’s answer to balancing the budget — with a war in progress and the United States desperately in need of the expensive, slow-to-build missiles whose supplies are rapidly depleting?
What are the realistic answers to housing issues, medical expenses, deteriorating infrastructure and antiquated rail systems — and future electricity and water shortages between the Mississippi and the West?
The unessential lights need to go out now.
by Ja'han Jones | Aug 5, 2026 | Congress, elections, Opinion, White House
It’s official: Michigan’s Amir Hassan has notched the most humiliating loss for MAGA world during this primary election cycle.
Hassan, a Black man who received a late endorsement from Donald Trump and who formerly served on Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s security detail, was vying for a seat representing Michigan’s battleground 8th Congressional District — one that could prove crucial in deciding control of the House of Representatives this fall.
But he just got shellacked by Thomas Smith, a nondescript white dude who suspended his campaign weeks ago, citing a lack of funds after complaining he couldn’t reach the help desk at the Federal Election Commission. Smith’s name remained on the ballot — he is the official nominee now — but still, this situation is like losing a foot race to a dead man. Harsh lessons abound for MAGA world, it seems, as the president’s endorsement proves worthless in this case.
As the Michigan Advance explained, the district was “one of 13 congressional districts nationwide that voted for Trump in 2024 while simultaneously electing a Democrat to the House of Representatives.”
On one hand, it’s fair to wonder if Republican primary voters in the district might not have been thrilled about the prospect of nominating a Black man named Amir Hassan who has claimed to be Muslim and Christian during the same campaign — whether endorsed by Trump or not. Judging from some of the memes mocking the results, it’s clear many people suspect MAGA bigotry played a key role, which Trump ally Laura Loomer basically confirmed in this Islamophobic tweet.
But the robotic Hassan was also an objectively bad candidate, and his failed campaign offers
by Paul Waldman | Aug 5, 2026 | Congress, elections, Opinion
President Trump may believe that “affordability” is a word “made up by the Democrats” to undermine him. But in Texas, a state Trump won by 14 percentage points less than two years ago, one of the most loyal MAGA candidates is abandoning the culture war and hopping on the affordability bandwagon.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, after ousting incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in the Republican primary, is in a tight race with state Sen. James Talarico. At first, Paxton and his allies focused on defining his opponent as “low-T Talarico” — a radical left-wing ideologue bent on sapping the testosterone from manly Texas men. But last week Paxton changed tunes, introducing an economic plan with new and expanded tax breaks for things like health care, child care and housing. The accompanying ad sounds the same notes you’ll hear from most of the Democrats running for office in this election. “Washington is making it harder than ever to get ahead,” he says in the ad. “And the American Dream is slipping away as the cost of everything from housing to health care rises.”
Wait — doesn’t Trump say we’re living in a “golden age” of boundless prosperity?
In one way, what we’re seeing from Paxton is a familiar pivot from the primary campaign to the general election. But this is unfamiliar ground for him.
What could be more of an insult to the president to whom Paxton has devoted himself than to say that even with Trump in the Oval Office delivering his glorious economic stewardship to a grateful populace — not to mention Republicans controlling both houses of Congress and every lever of power in
by Ja'han Jones | Aug 5, 2026 | Opinion
Happy Tuesday! Here’s your Tuesday Tech Drop, some of the past week’s top stories from the intersection of technology and politics.
Morocco cites misinfo in immigration crisis
Morocco’s government blamed online misinformation as a major factor in the scenes that unfolded when large numbers of immigrants attempted to cross into Spain. Conservatives leaped at the opportunity to portray the situation as some sort of hellacious scenario that justified the MAGA movement’s racist and xenophobic anti-immigrant rhetoric.
So it’s certainly noteworthy that, at least according to Morocco, a major contributor was a crisis the MAGA movement has helped fuel: the spread of misinformation online.
According to CBS News:
“They were the outcome of the interaction of several overlapping factors, foremost among them the malicious exploitation of digital platforms, the dissemination of misleading information, the role of human trafficking networks, and the misinterpretation of legal and administrative information aimed at creating the false impression that entry into the European area could be achieved easily and without legal consequences,” said Ministry of Interior spokesman Rachid El Khalfi.
Some Moroccan migrants told CBS News they saw social media posts stating, “Spain is an open door,” along with videos of people swimming from Morocco to Ceuta. It was unclear who was behind the social media claims.
I’m reminded here that, back in 2022, the Biden administration established a Disinformation Governance Board to help combat misinformation that was helping fuel the U.S.-Mexico border crisis. But Republicans peddled so much disinformation about the board itself that the administration eventually killed it.
Tech official on leave after remarks on vets
A top technology official at the General Services Administration was put on administrative leave after publicly complaining
by Stephanie Ruhle | Aug 5, 2026 | Business, elections, Opinion
This election is about the economy.
The rise of the Democratic Socialists of America, or DSA, is about the economy.
President Donald Trump losing support because he was not honest with his base is not about integrity — it’s about the economy.
According to the latest CNBC All-America survey, 61% of Americans are pessimistic about the economy and where it is going. That is not a partisan read, it’s everyday Americans’ economic assessment. People feel they cannot get a leg up, and while there is much blame to place on Trump, frustration with the entire system is apparent in these primaries.
Play
‘Medicare for All’ being put to the test in Michigan Dem Senate primary
August 4, 2026 / 08:04
This election is also taking a close look at the definition of power — which is most often equated to money. In terms of campaign war chests, Republicans have the biggest one, and it is only growing.
The richest among us have grown significantly richer, while millions of Americans are struggling to support themselves. That divide and anger is growing — resulting in more big-dollar donations being funneled to Republican candidates. The Trump administration’s biggest wins have been regulatory relief, tax cuts and, of course, a stock market that keeps climbing. All of it is good for the C-suite and the investor class, and campaign dollars want to keep that party going.
However, Trump’s tanking poll numbers, along with the rise in anti-establishment candidates on the left, have everyone looking at a possible massive shift in power. These outlier candidates do not appeal to voters because of radical positions like “defund the police.” Rather, their draw comes from speaking
by Jason Page | Aug 4, 2026 | culture, Opinion
Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham has been unapologetically blunt in her belief that transgender girls and women have zero place competing with cisgender females. That view on its face is one that is shared by a majority of Americans. But there are those looking to legitimately protect the safety of girls and women in sports and those looking to use the issue to demonize the transgender community as a whole — and Cunningham’s actions, more than her words, appear to put her far closer to the latter.
Cunningham claims to love everybody, insists she isn’t anti-trans and says her comments are about protecting women. But in choosing to pose for postgame photos on Sunday with outspoken trans critic Riley Gaines — the former swimmer who was one of the first people to speak out on trans women competing in sports with cisgender women — one could easily wonder if Cunningham is telling us a different story with the company she chooses to keep.
Why would a person in Cunningham’s position, with her platform and claims of loving everybody, choose to embrace Gaines?
Gaines gained notoriety after finishing in a fifth-place tie with trans swimmer Lia Thomas during an NCAA swimming competition in March 2022. Because organizers only had one fifth-place trophy and opted to give that to Thomas, Gaines had to receive her trophy at a later date. Using this dubious “I was victimized by a trans woman” narrative, Gaines operates under the guise of protecting girls and women in sports. But her rhetoric about the trans community at large shows a disdain that goes beyond the pale. From calling a Minnesota high
