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JON ZAL

Your front-row seat to my nervous breakdown

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Nothing is more expensive than regret … and no one is less prepared to pay the tab than Donald Trump

April 18, 2018 2 Comments

SPOILER ALERT: Firing James Comey isn’t actually Trump’s “great honor.”

In much the same way that Donald Trump’s limited intellect and malignant narcissism rob him of the ability to demonstrate compassion, empathy or humility, so, too, do they make it impossible for him to process regret. When you’ve convinced yourself that you are the center of the known universe, and that everything you do is the crowning achievement in the history of whatever it is you’ve done, the cognitive dissonance required to accept that you’ve actually done the most moronic thing possible is simply a bridge too far. And, so, instead of admitting — at least to yourself, if to no one else — that you regret the quantifiably stupid thing you’ve done, you double down, like so:

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Filed Under: Politics Tagged With: James Comey, Trump, Trump-Russia

We interrupt this dumpster fire to remind you that we are going to take our country back

April 4, 2018 2 Comments

A year ago last November, America got a wake-up call. Last month, many of us proved we’re still awake by turning out in droves to show our support for the survivors of the Stoneman Douglas High School massacre, and for the strides those brave teenagers are making in the push for commonsense gun-control laws.

A year ago last November, my family and I were not likely to spend a Saturday afternoon hoisting signs at a massive protest with other like-minded Americans who’ve realized that politics and government are not spectator sports.

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Filed Under: Politics Tagged With: Chrissy Houlahan, Guns, March for Our Lives

I will gladly reach across the aisle … to push out of office as many Republicans as possible

March 12, 2018 15 Comments

“The most effective means we have for drowning out the hateful minority that currently holds sway over our government is to turn out in droves on election days and put into office people whom we know share our values and will represent our interests. … Only by doing so can we reclaim our democracy from the vile, greedy, spineless, self-serving cretins whom we’ve allowed to take over.”

The preceding is an excerpt from a piece I published in January titled “Here’s the Thing: A Trump presidency — or one like it — was inevitable.” The premise I set forth is that the many malignant factions of society that have become more noticeable and emboldened during Trump’s presidency exist not because Trump is president, but rather that Trump is president specifically because those factions of society exist and have been allowed to flourish relatively unchecked.

Upon reading said piece, an anonymous reader responded thusly:

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Filed Under: Politics Tagged With: Trump

Trey Gowdy is the canary in the Trump-Russia coal mine

February 5, 2018 2 Comments

Embed from Getty Images

Donald Trump, Paul Ryan, Devin Nunes and the rest of Team Treason on Friday (2/2) released their much-hyped memo … and, as a service to those of you who haven’t had time to read it (it is, after all, a whopping three-and-a-half pages), I’ve gone ahead and worked up this summary:

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Filed Under: Politics Tagged With: Carter Page, Devin Nunes, Nunes Memo, Paul Ryan, Trey Gowdy, Trump-Russia

David Letterman’s interview with Barack Obama & John Lewis will remind you why we must fight on

January 15, 2018 2 Comments

At one point during his hour-long interview with David Letterman, Barack Obama offers some reasoned and detailed remarks about the global economy, at the conclusion of which Letterman responds by saying, “To hear you describe this in a way that I can understand just makes me so happy you’re still president.”

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Filed Under: Politics Tagged With: Barack Obama, John Lewis

Here’s the thing: A Trump presidency—or one like it—was inevitable

January 3, 2018 4 Comments

Embed from Getty Images

The most compelling stories often are those that feature a deeply unlikable villain against whom the forces of good must rally, and when the ink dries on this chapter in American history, the record will show that Donald Trump was that villain. His vulgarity knows no bounds, his incompetence and unfitness for the office he holds are unprecedented, and his utter lack of anything even vaguely resembling the empathy, gravitas, dignity or humility a man in his position should possess makes him an easy and highly deserving target of our collective rage and resistance. As awful as he is, however, Donald Trump is not the sum total of that against which we now must fight; he is merely the most glaring symptom of a larger malignancy. To wit:

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Filed Under: Politics

We’re better than this

November 9, 2017 8 Comments

After spending the day in and around many of Washington, D.C.’s most historic buildings and seeing in action some of the Senators I most admire, I felt compelled to visit the National Mall—the Lincoln Memorial, in particular. I don’t know why; I just knew I needed to see it.

Lincoln Memorial
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Filed Under: Politics

Mr. Zal goes to Washington

October 24, 2017 3 Comments

Jon Zal @ The Capitol

Last Thursday, I spent the day in Washington, D.C., shadowing a colleague (a.k.a. my sister) on the Hill while she met with aides at the offices of several Democratic and Republican Senators. It was my second-ever trip to our nation’s capital, and my first since becoming an overly obsessed political junkie … so, naturally, I was a bit awed by my surroundings.

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Filed Under: Politics

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ABOUT ME

Jon Zal @ The Massachusetts State House, Boston

I was born in 1970, raised just outside of Boston, and now live near Philadelphia. As a child, I thought I was going to be…
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