Cagle.com

The plague in search of diesel

Becs — Mon, 12 Oct 2026 14:38:44 +0000

THE PLAGUE IN SEARCH OF DIESEL

by Becs, Cagle.com

Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to face severe diesel shortages that hamper military logistics in the ongoing conflict with Ukraine. The shortages stem from sanctions, refinery attacks, and high consumption rates. The cartoon uses the plague metaphor to underscore how these fuel problems compound existing crises for the Russian leadership. It portrays Putin as burdened by the search for diesel while larger threats persist.

Midterm Stress Fuels Candy Binge

Joe Heller — Mon, 12 Oct 2026 14:30:59 +0000

MIDTERM STRESS FUELS CANDY BINGE

by Joe Heller, Cagle.com

With the 2026 midterm elections approaching, voters report heightened stress leading to increased candy consumption in the weeks before Halloween. The cartoon uses a parody of the Twelve Days of Christmas to illustrate the binge, ending with a call for additional sweets. It highlights how political tension manifests in everyday habits and pokes fun at the intersection of election anxiety and seasonal candy demand.

Midterm Stress Triggers Candy Binge

Joe Heller — Mon, 12 Oct 2026 14:01:22 +0000

MIDTERM STRESS TRIGGERS CANDY BINGE

by Joe Heller, Cagle.com

With the 2026 midterm elections weeks away, voters report heightened anxiety over campaign outcomes and policy stakes. This pressure coincides with the Halloween season, prompting increased candy purchases and consumption. The cartoon highlights how election tension manifests in personal stress responses like emotional eating. It pokes fun at the overlap between political deadlines and seasonal candy availability. The piece suggests that campaign stress is so pervasive it overrides normal restraint even in households preparing for trick-or-treaters.

US Diesel Purchases Fund Russian Missiles

John Darkow — Mon, 12 Oct 2026 14:00:09 +0000

US DIESEL PURCHASES FUND RUSSIAN MISSILES

by John Darkow, Cagle.com

The United States continues importing diesel fuel from Russia years into the Ukraine war. Revenue from those sales helps finance Russian cruise missiles striking Ukrainian targets. The arrangement creates a direct contradiction between stated US support for Ukraine and actual financial flows that sustain Russian military operations. Critics argue the policy undercuts sanctions and prolongs the conflict by supplying Moscow with hard currency. The cartoon frames the purchases as self-defeating, with American taxpayers effectively subsidizing the weapons aimed at Ukraine.

Ilhan Omar Under Federal Probe

Randall Enos — Mon, 12 Oct 2026 13:07:10 +0000

ILHAN OMAR UNDER FEDERAL PROBE

by Randall Enos, Cagle.com

Federal investigators have opened a probe into Rep. Ilhan Omar's interactions with the Department of Homeland Security. The inquiry examines whether her actions as a member of Congress have interfered with or influenced department functions. Such scrutiny matters because it tests the boundaries between legislative oversight and operational independence at a key security agency. The cartoon portrays Omar in a dominant position over the DHS figure, suggesting the probe targets overreach rather than routine review. It frames the episode as a case of congressional power colliding with federal law enforcement boundaries.

Pollster Seeks Fetal Position Refuge

Gary McCoy — Mon, 12 Oct 2026 12:14:13 +0000

POLLSTER SEEKS FETAL POSITION REFUGE

by Gary McCoy, Cagle.com

A woman answering a pollster's question at her door expresses willingness to hide curled in the fetal position on her bathroom floor if the election were held today. The exchange captures widespread voter anxiety in the weeks before the 2026 midterms. The cartoon argues that polling interactions now reflect deep-seated fear rather than standard preference questions.

Trump Questions Free Livestream Execution

Jimmy Margulies — Mon, 12 Oct 2026 11:51:47 +0000

TRUMP QUESTIONS FREE LIVESTREAM EXECUTION

by Jimmy Margulies, Cagle.com

President Donald Trump expressed frustration to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over the free livestream of an execution covered by CNN. The broadcast reached a broad audience without charge. Trump noted the potential for substantial pay-per-view earnings instead. The episode highlights ongoing debates over public access to sensitive government proceedings and the commercialization of official actions. The cartoon portrays Trump's reaction as focused on lost financial opportunity rather than the event itself.

Trump Hears Putin's Greatest Lies

Steve Nease — Mon, 12 Oct 2026 10:56:08 +0000

TRUMP HEARS PUTIN'S GREATEST LIES

by Steve Nease, Freelance

Donald Trump has long faced scrutiny over his relationship with Vladimir Putin and Russian influence efforts. Recent developments continue to raise questions about alignment between the former president and Moscow's positions on key issues. The cartoon portrays Trump as receptive to Putin's messaging, underscoring concerns about foreign sway over American political figures and policy directions.

Combined Holiday Greeting

Bob Englehart — Mon, 12 Oct 2026 09:00:59 +0000

COMBINED HOLIDAY GREETING

by Bob Englehart, Cagle.com

A man shakes hands while offering a single greeting that merges Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Hanukkah into one phrase. The moment captures the growing tendency to collapse multiple holidays into one commercial event. The piece pokes fun at the resulting linguistic and cultural mashup rather than any specific policy or election.

Trump Deports Zelenskyy Installs Putin

Marian Kamensky — Mon, 12 Oct 2026 07:49:50 +0000

TRUMP DEPORTS ZELENSKYY INSTALLS PUTIN

by Marian Kamensky, Austria

In this 2026 scenario, former President Trump directs the removal of Ukrainian President Zelenskyy with a deportation order to El Salvador while Russian leader Putin takes the presidential seat in Kyiv. The move reflects ongoing tensions in US support for Ukraine against Russian aggression and questions about American commitment to the conflict. The cartoon argues that such a policy shift would hand victory to Moscow and abandon Ukrainian sovereignty.

Midterm mania: Top ten cartoons of the week

Daryl Cagle — Thu, 08 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

With just about a month remaining until November's midterm elections, the focus in Washington is whether Democrats will take control of Congress and offer real checks and balances to President Donald Trump.

Closer to home, it's all about the non-stop attack ads plastered on billboards and filling every commercial break on TV. Dave Granlund mocked the dirty politics with our most-reprinted cartoon of the week, featuring candidates so covered in mud it's impossible to tell who's winning.

I also enjoyed Bob Englehart's popular cartoon, featuring a leaf staying green to stick around through the midterms. Chris Weyant's midterm cartoon was also funny, a jab at Trump and all the baggage he's bringing to this year's election.

Here are our top ten most reprinted cartoons of the week:

#1. Dave Granlund

#2. John Darkow

#3. Bob Englehart

#4. Dave Granlund

#5. Adam Zyglis

#6. Dave Whamond

#7. Christopher Weyant

#8. John Darkow

#9. Christopher Weyant

#10. Christopher Weyant

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Daryl Cagle is the publisher of Cagle.com and owner of CagleCartoons.com, a syndicate that distributes editorial cartoons and columns to over 500 subscribing newspapers. See Daryl’s blog at DarylCagle.com and watch his video podcast about editorial cartoons at Caglecast.com

Hospital consolidation is a costly problem Congress can fix

Charles Sauer — Thu, 08 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Healthcare costs have surpassed nearly every other issue on voters' minds heading into the 2026 midterms. Recent polling from the Kaiser Family Foundation finds close to 90% of voters say health costs will shape how they vote this fall.

That should come as no surprise. Health costs ate away as much as 20% of national wage growth in 2025. Lawmakers who want an edge in tight races will need to respond to these concerns.

One of the biggest culprits of high healthcare costs is hospital consolidation. Hospitals have notched roughly 40 mergers and acquisitions in just the first half of 2026, the fastest pace since 2020.

While mergers and acquisitions are normally a good vital part of the economy, these deals are proven to drive up the cost of care. This is primarily because most hospital M&As can be linked to Medicare’s reimbursement policies, in which Medicare pays hospitals more than independent physicians for identical services. This increased reimbursement gives hospitals a financial incentive to buy up independent practices, bring them under the hospital umbrella, and continue cashing in on higher reimbursement rates.

When large hospitals buy independent competitors with excess capital from government overpayment, they are breaking the healthcare market. These hospitals aren’t buying up independent physician offices to gain innovation or efficiency. They are buying practices to arbitrage bad public policy.

Americans cannot afford a broken healthcare market. A recent study from the National Association of Community Health Centers found that over 100 million Americans lack access to primary care, and a similar study found the average wait time to see a specialist is 31 days.

But Congress has a solution to the consequences of runaway consolidation: “site-neutral" payment reform, which would pay hospitals and independent providers the same rate for the same service regardless of where it's delivered. The Same Care, Lower Cost Act would put that principle into law and remove the Medicare payment discrepancy that's fueling the current wave of hospital mergers.

Medicare's rationale for higher hospital payments is that higher reimbursement buys better care, specifically hospitals with larger staffs and higher-quality equipment compared to independent providers. Yet this theory doesn’t hold up in practice – independent physicians routinely match or beat hospital-affiliated outcomes at lower costs. A 2026 Chicago-market study found independent physicians' Medicare patients cost 26% less for primary care and 23% less for cardiology than hospital-affiliated physicians' patients, all without sacrificing quality.

Site-neutrality could also prevent Medicare’s eventual insolvency. The program's hospital insurance trust fund, which pays for inpatient hospital care via payroll taxes, is now projected to run out of money in 2033. By contrast, analysis estimated comprehensive site-neutral reform could save Medicare up to $153 billion over a decade, plus another $94 billion in lower beneficiary premiums and cost-sharing. These savings can give policymakers leeway to find a permanent solution to the trust fund's financial struggles without risking 70.5 million American patients’ care along the way.

The benefits wouldn't just apply to Medicare patients, either. Because private insurers frequently base their own hospital rates on what Medicare pays, closing this payment gap would affect the commercial market too. A broader Niskanen Center analysis projected that a wide-reaching site-neutral policy could save enrollees roughly $152 billion over ten years in out-of-pocket costs, through a combination of lower Medicare Part B premiums and reduced private insurance costs.

Policymakers are finally starting to act on an idea that health economists have championed for years. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' proposed 2027 rule for hospital outpatient payments already extends site-neutral pricing to certain imaging services like MRIs, which could save approximately $260 million in its first year. This is progress, but if finalized, it would be a partial fix limited to one area of treatment. Congress should step up and expand site-neutrality to all medical services and treatments without delay.

This legislation would do exactly that: slow the pace of hospital consolidation and lower healthcare costs simultaneously. With healthcare affordability now driving voter behavior more than almost any other issue, passing the bill is good policy and good politics.

Congress can’t afford to wait around for another solution, and must pass The Same Care, Lower Cost Act without delay.

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Copyright 2026 Charles Sauer, distributed by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.

Charles Sauer is the president of the Market Institute and the author of “Profit Motive” Sauer can be reached at charles@marketinstitute.org.

Musings on mustaches

Alexandra Paskhaver — Thu, 08 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Some mustaches carry a great deal of weight, particularly where my parents are from.

Ukraine, if you must know. That is, now it’s Ukraine.

Back when they were getting ready to split, Ukraine was a Soviet republic. A little piece of a country called the Soviet Union, the same way New Jersey is a little piece of the United States.

Well, that “unbreakable union,” as the anthem went, done got broke in 1991. Not with a bang, but with a whimper.

To this day, Belarusian textbooks — Belarus is another little former Soviet republic — still say the Cold War just “ended.” Not that anyone “won” or “lost.”

It ended. We moved on. Today, few people wear mustaches, walrus or otherwise.

I cannot grow a mustache, no matter how hard I try. But that doesn’t prevent me from being tempted by the mustache mindset.

To put down some names, I’m not tempted to become Joseph Stalin and run Purges and throw people in gulags and everything associated with his particular mustache.

There are new and subtler roles to play. Not that I want to play even them!

I want to be with my family, raise cabbages, and scribble a bit. Mostly humorous things.

Funny thing about Joseph Vissarionovich is how he wanted people to remember him. Not as “Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili,” because that’s a Georgian name.

Georgia is another little former Soviet republic. Also a U.S. state. Amusing, isn’t it?

He chose the name “Stalin.” Because in the language of a big former Soviet republic, it roughly translates to “Man of Steel.”

Here, that’s a moniker for Superman. Well, Clark Kent. But everyone remembers Superman.

Elsewhere, Superman sounds awfully like Übermensch…

See, none of us are immune to the mustache mindset.

I’m not really talking on the level of countries here, but on the level of individuals.

There’s a reason these ideas crop up with the same frequency as facial hair.

If you follow some ideas to certain ends, they have the potential to become distinctly hairy.

Some ideas. Certain ends. And if you follow them.

‘Cause there’s something else to note. At least, this particular scribbler is choosing to note it.

Dear Virginia, please remember.

Santa Claus has a mustache. Yet he brings joy to millions of children each year.

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Copyright 2026 Alexandra Paskhaver, distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.

Alexandra Paskhaver is a software engineer and writer. Both jobs require knowing where to stick semicolons, but she’s never quite; figured; it; out. Feel free to contact her at alexandra.paskhaver@gmail.com

The Cornell 7 and the continued failure of universities across the country

Elwood Watson — Wed, 07 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The sordid issue of rape has reared its sadistic presence again in the wake of the Cornell 7 assaults.

Seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity at the prestigious Ivy League campus in upstate New York are now being sued by a Cornell student, identified as Jane Doe, who said she was “commanded” by one of the seven to snort ketamine off of his body as the others sexually attacked her in October 2024, according to the Manhattan Supreme Court filing.

According to the lawsuit, more men came to the room and joined in the assault after a message was sent to a Snapchat group. Her phone was on the other side of the room, and she felt that there was no way to escape, according to the documents. The lawsuit further stated that the accused only faced temporary suspensions and “were afforded the opportunity to mitigate their conduct by submitting essays” to the university — an allegation Cornell University denies.

Some may call this an aberration or say my skepticism is premature, but we have seen this to be standard operating procedure for colleges across the country. According to the American Psychological Association, 90 percent of campus sexual assaults go unreported. According to Gitnux, a data research firm, only 12 percent of assaults reported resulted in expulsion, and less than 7 percent resulted in criminal charges. These depressing and demoralizing statistics do not reflect a system that’s trying and falling short – they reflect a systemic failure to protect women. Is it any wonder why so many women decide to remain quiet and suffer in silence?

In response to massive public outrage, Kyle Kimball, Cornell’s vice president for university relations, responded in a September 21 statement, “We take sexual violence extremely seriously. The Presidential Task Force on Campus Sexual Assault was launched shortly after this incident and issued a report in March 2026.”

That report revealed 35 percent of undergraduate female students at Cornell said they experienced nonconsensual sexual contact in 2025 — up from 23 percent in 2023. Not surprisingly, a segment of the population has gone on the defensive, declaring such sadistic and abominable behavior by a few men does not represent all men. In fact, some conservatives have expressed sympathy for the young men and have challenged the character and motives of the young woman in question.

Fraternities are, by inception, organizations founded on solid friendships. Such affinity can often create a powerful sense of belonging. Contrarily, it can also cultivate an environment where intentionally shielding fellow members from facing justice is a perverse priority. Cornell University, among other parties, is named as a defendant. According to Doe, the school’s police force did not fully investigate her allegations. And, she said, university officials gave only rudimentary discipline to her accused.

In a statement, the university responded that “Any suggestion that the University did not impose consequential punishments for those involved is false.”

Matthew Van Houten, the Tompkins County DA, said in a statement that in Doe’s sworn testimony weeks after her alleged sexual assault, she “did not allege that she was drugged against her will or gang raped.” But with renewed attention on the case, Van Houton announced on September 28 he has reopened the investigation into what happened to Doe at the Chi Phi fraternity house.

Attorneys for some of the accused men have already denied various allegations, including those involving drugs. More denials are likely to follow, and it will soon be the survivor who must defend herself, even though false accusations of rape are rare, according to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center. The underreporting of sexual violence is far more common.

Victims also report a complex range of emotional difficulties: isolation, anger, sadness, shame, guilt, and fear. Post-traumatic stress disorder, major depression, and anxiety disorders are also common among victims. Thus, many women allow themselves to drown in harrowing feelings of mental anguish instead of speaking out. Hopefully, Jane Doe will seek the support she may require.

The grim facts are that sexual assault is a menacing social evil performed by men against women. Its sole objective is domination. It is a vice that results in untold psychological issues that can traumatize victims for life. Such a vile and vicious act must be combated with unrelenting force, and those who engage in such sadistic and wicked disregard for the dignity and humanity of others must be held accountable and severely punished.

NOTE: For individuals who have been the victims of rape and sexual assault and wish to seek help, they can contact RAINN at either (202) — 544–1034 or 1- (800)-656-HOPE (4673) or by e-mail at info@rainn.org.

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Copyright 2026 Elwood Watson, distributed by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate

Elwood Watson is a professor of history, Black studies, and gender and sexuality studies at East Tennessee State University. He is also an author and public speaker.

Is your fire extinguisher ready for action?

Danny Tyree — Wed, 07 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Tyrades! by Danny Tyree

In the coming months, millions of Americans will be firing up their heaters (electric, gas, wood, wishful thinking, etc.), so I thought it would be an appropriate time to remind y’all of fire safety.

(It’s also an appropriate time to remind you about identity theft safety. That frantic voice pleading, “Grandma, I’m in Italy and my passport caught on fire and I need you to Venmo me the money to buy a fire engine” is probably not your grandson.)

I feel qualified to perform this valuable public service because (a) fire extinguisher inspection is one of my responsibilities at my day job and (b) I was quite the firebug as a high-spirited youth. (Let’s face it: amateurs put baseball cards in bicycle spokes. Napalm all the way, baby!)

For starters, never cut corners where the safety of your family, pets and priceless keepsakes is concerned. It pays to invest in a reputable brand of fire extinguisher. The very name “First Alert” instills a great amount of confidence, although some cheapskates are willing to settle for the knockoff Last Rites.

(“If you liked our fire extinguisher made with slave labor, you’ll love our caskets made with slave labor.”)

I’ll bet a high percentage of you have already memorized the acronym PASS (Pull, Aim, Squeeze, Sweep) for using a portable fire extinguisher. Alas, the remainder think that PASS stands for Panic, Agonize, Scream, Scapegoat. (As Smokey Bear famously advises, “Only YOU can prevent forest fires – but we’ll throw Grandpa under the bus about the chicken-and-dumplings left boiling on the stovetop. That bird will NOT be rising like a phoenix from the ashes!”)

Here’s some flame-control trivia: the typical portable fire extinguisher can discharge its entire contents in eight seconds. This is one of many reasons that older men spend an inordinate number of their waking hours being envious of fire extinguishers. Just imagine a fire extinguisher with a prostate gland. (“Hang on, Mr. Grease Fire. I’ll be back in two hours…and then two hours after that…and…”)

Smoke detectors are another way to keep your family secure. Of course, you need to remember to keep the batteries updated. Some people do this by instituting a routine of replacing them on a certain date, such as New Year’s Eve. (“Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind…Dad got tipsy, fell off the ladder, that’s how he busted his behind.”)

Me? I’m a little fuzzy about the last time I replaced the batteries. I know I was distracted by Mrs. O’Leary’s cow mooing, but beyond that…

Autumn is the perfect time for replacing all your extension cords that have gotten frayed. Bonus feature: you can use the decommissioned cords to choke the neighbor who keeps using his leaf blower during “Wheel of Fortune.”

A wise homeowner knows to keep flammable objects (clothing, newspapers, restraining orders from Leaf Blower Guy who can’t take a joke) away from the heaters, formulate an escape plan and keep exits clear of obstructions. Admittedly, this is not easy when your domicile could serve as the filming site for “The Junk Drawer That Conquered the Rear Hallway.”

I hope my (embarrassingly unsolicited) advice helps you stay both snug and safe this fall and winter.

In closing, I am in …uh, Portugal…and my brain is fried and I need you to Venmo me the money to buy a closing joke…

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Copyright 2026 Danny Tyree, distributed by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.

Danny Tyree welcomes email responses at tyreetyrades@aol.com and visits to his Facebook fan page “Tyree’s Tyrades.”

Josh Shapiro and the pro-life movement

Christine Flowers — Tue, 06 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is one of those men who pride themselves on supporting women.

That is a good thing. My father was my biggest booster and basically used threats and candy — he started early on — to ensure that I would follow in his footsteps and become a lawyer. He never treated me any differently than my three younger brothers, and I think of him when I think of the smarmy phrase “Girl Dad,” which he would have hated.

Josh is possibly like my father in his devotion to the women in his life, doting and solicitous, loving and proud. But for some bizarre reason, he seems to think the only thing we women care about is abortion.

Every time I see one of his ubiquitous social media posts, I am flung into the “women’s health” fallacy about abortion. I am told the governor will protect my access to “reproductive health,” which at this age means I will not be reproducing too much flatulence. But I digress.

Josh is one of those men who posture about abortion to pander to the sort of woman who writes things like this on my Facebook page:

“’I’m proud of our governor for letting women choose what to do with their bodies because no government, state or federal, has a right to tell anyone what to do with their bodies and Josh Shapiro is an amazing Governor who stands up for the women in Pennsylvania and if you don’t like it, you can just keep your mouth shut because you don’t know what these women go through … It seems like you’re the type of woman that doesn’t care about anything like that … I’m going to give you one piece of advice: stay in your own lane.”

There was a lot more that this poster wrote, but I have a word limit in this column so I picked out the most salient points. I would note that telling me to stay in my lane on my own Facebook page is unintentionally funny.

This, however, is a very typical response from the “WHLJ,” the women who love Josh. They have fallen for his narrative that he will stand between them and the evil pro-life protestors in this beloved commonwealth, a kind of Captain Pennsylvania with, on his shield, a bloody coat hanger in the place of the American star.

Josh has even convened conferences where abortion advocates lie about the violence they encounter at clinics. You know, those old ladies with rosaries and those retired men with their Phillies hats can be pretty darn threatening to a woman intent on extinguishing the life in her womb.

I have stood outside a variety of abortion clinics and simply prayed. I have also planted myself in front of a federal courthouse with a bullhorn to condemn the flawed and politically-motivated prosecution of Mark Houck, a man who was peacefully protesting at Planned Parenthood. And I have exposed the pernicious doxxing conducted by a former state representative, placing three teenagers in danger. I did not threaten, coerce or harm. On the contrary. I’m a lawyer, and I know how to stay on the sunny side of the legal street.

But protesting peacefully, which is what happens almost every day at abortion clinics, is protected conduct, as long as you don’t block access. The FACE Act guarantees that women seeking abortions, and the people who provide abortions, are protected.

That’s why these dog-and-pony shows conducted by Captain Pennsylvania on behalf of his happy harem, these aggrieved Madame Ovaries, are agitprop.

It is also being done for another reason. Shapiro uses social media as a weapon against his opponents more than as a way to get his own rather jaundiced message out to the public. If he and his acolytes can make pro-lifers like me look dangerous, he will have won back territory lost when the Supreme Court decided the Dobbs decision, which overturned Roe. And Captain Pennsylvania is nothing if not a warrior for abortion rights.

That is why we will keep speaking out, peacefully but forcefully. That is why you will continue to see the rosaries and the baseball hats, the young teens with the “Generation Pro Life” signs, people like me who take a moment to stop in front of Planned Parenthood on their way to work to say a silent Hail Mary, and the magnificent icons of the movement like Dr. Monique Ruberu and Pat Stanton devoting their hearts and their presence to the 40 Days for Life campaign.

This is the face of the movement, and the defamatory comments that are made by our governor and the women who love him will not and cannot cancel out the truth of the message: All Lives Matter, even the ones we cannot yet see.

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Copyright 2026 Christine Flowers, distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.

Christine Flowers is an attorney and a columnist for the Delaware County Daily Times, and can be reached at cflowers1961@gmail.com.

The MAGA Senate needs to drown in a blue wave

Dick Polman — Tue, 06 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

It’s easy to imagine how James Madison would’ve felt about a MAGA Missouri meathead like Eric Schmitt.

As the prime architect of our Constitution, Madison envisioned the U.S. Senate would be respected “for its wisdom and virtue,” that it would not be a forum for “sudden and violent passions.” He would surely have been appalled the other day when Schmitt, armed only with impassioned BS, sought to smear ex-special prosecutor Jack Smith – only to disgrace himself by mistaking the Iowa Hawkeyes with the Atlanta Hawks.

Despite the fact he’d morphed into a national laughingstock, Schmitt felt no shame whatsoever. He didn’t correct himself. He didn’t apologize. Instead he fled to the friendly confines of The Charlie Kirk Show, where he lapped up praise for his lies and buttressed his faux image as a “fighter.”

We badly need a midterm blue wave that would sweep the senatorial MAGAts out of power. A Democratic Senate would make the lawless lord of the White House construction site at least somewhat accountable for his ongoing fascist abuses. But I’d foresee a second benefit. A blue wave that flips the Senate would markedly reduce the clout of performative clowns like Schmitt and restore at least a modicum of sanity to a chamber that was once proudly called “the world’s most deliberative body.”

Granted, the Senate has often failed James Madison, trafficking many times in “sudden and violent passions.” In 1856, Massachusetts Sen. Charles Sumner was bloodied unconscious on the Senate floor by a cane-wielding House member who’d invaded the chamber. A century later, Joseph McCarthy conducted commie-hunting hearings that drove his often innocent victims to unemployment or suicide.

But our era of hyper-partisanship, digital media, and MAGA pestilence feels tragically unique - stoked by the toddler at the top.

Consider what happened not long ago on the Senate floor, where MAGA Alabaman Tommy Tuberville – surely one of the stupidest senators in this or any era – tried to warn us that flying was unsafe because pilots might be dressing in a furry costume.

Tuberville was mocked from coast to coast, but what matters is he didn’t care. To ensure his stunt went viral, he doubled down by posting a string of social media inanities, such as: “I know the deranged Democrats don’t like the fact that I called out the insane FURRY CULTURE this week. But the truth is, there is an ALARMING number of these DERANGED people working in our airline industry,” while offering no evidence of whatever.

Tuberville won’t be on the Senate ballot in November - he’s a lame duck, running for governor - but MAGA Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas certainly is. The fact Marshall is seriously endangered, in a red state that Trump won two years ago by 16 points, says a lot about the current political climate.

My favorite Marshall moment came a few years ago while questioning another MAGA enemy, Anthony Fauci. Marshall demanded to know Fauci’s salary. He said, “There’s an air of appearance that maybe some shenanigans are going on…We’ll continue to look for it. Where would we find it?” He also demanded that Fauci agree to submit a financial disclosure form to Congress. Whereupon Fauci replied that his salary had been public information for all his 37 years in government: “All you have to do is ask for it.” Then Fauci muttered this accurate remark into his mic: “What a moron.”

Kansas might flip, electing its first Democratic senator in 94 years. Some of these red states (or even all) could flip blue as well: Alaska, Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas. Maine, a blue state in presidential elections, could flip its Senate seat if Susan Collins has finally worn out her welcome. What was once a tall order for Democrats has now become doable. It’s imperative that they cull the roster of spineless MAGA lickspittles and performative liars for whom shame is an inconceivable concept. But a fed-up electorate is required to make it happen. Only then can we begin to hold Donald Trump accountable.

Matt Lewis, a veteran conservative commentator who’s voting blue this fall, warns that if a blue wave fails to materialize, “(Elected) Republicans will conclude that their safest bet is still to stick with Trumpism…All it will do is ensure Trump has zero accountability as he drives America into a financial ditch with one hand and crumples the Constitution with the other.”

The choice – the patriotic choice – should be obvious.

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Copyright 2026 Dick Polman, distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.

Dick Polman, a veteran national political columnist based in Philadelphia and a Writer in Residence at the University of Pennsylvania, writes the Subject to Change newsletter. Email him at dickpolman7@gmail.com