• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

JON ZAL

Your front-row seat to my nervous breakdown

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact

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:

Read the rest »

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.”

Read the rest »

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:

Read the rest »

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
Read the rest »

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.

Read the rest »

Filed Under: Politics

Moving on … but you can come with me.

October 16, 2017 7 Comments

NOTE: The post below is the last one I published at my old blog, much of the content from which I’ve since republished here at JonZal.com.

I launched this blog almost 12 years ago. The writing I’ve done here, and the feedback I’ve gotten from many of you, has made this the most fulfilling creative endeavor of my life thus far.

Read the rest »

Filed Under: Life, Politics

Guns are not dangerous, the NRA does not own the Republican party, and other lies

October 12, 2017 4 Comments

Last week, in the immediate aftermath of the deadliest mass shooting in modern history, Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) went on television and defended civilian ownership of the AR-15, a military-style assault rifle that the Las Vegas shooter used to kill 59 people and injure more than 500. Cole — one of many Republican Congressmen who, not coincidentally, has received thousands of dollars from the National Rifle Association — argued that the weapon is not dangerous “when used appropriately.”

During U.S. Army basic training, I was taught the appropriate use of the M-16, the military’s fully automatic version of the semi-automatic AR-15. I distinctly recall the description that the other trainees and I received of what the bullets our weapons fired were capable of doing to the human body.

Read the rest »

Filed Under: Politics Tagged With: Gun control, Guns, NRA, Wayne LaPierre

Why this veteran is taking a knee

October 8, 2017 23 Comments

Recently, I tweeted this:

I was a Military Police K-9 handler. I reject police brutality & support peaceful protest.#TakeTheKnee #VeteransForKaepernick pic.twitter.com/ILB3YRkGi0

— Jon Zal (@OfficialJonZal) September 25, 2017

I have more to say about it than a tweet will allow. Here goes.

Read the rest »

Filed Under: Politics, Uncategorized

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to page 3
  • Go to page 4
  • Go to page 5
  • Go to page 6
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 20
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

FEATURED POSTS

Is it November yet?

Daddy Vader

If not for The Force, Darth Vader would have totally gotten his ass kicked, because that suit? Not very practical.

An Open Letter of Apology to President Barack Obama

Van Halen (or, The Band That Ate My Life)

No, really: This job-search thing is like shooting fish in a barrel

Hell hath no fury like white-male privilege threatened

Gene Simmons on stage

Dear Gene Simmons of KISS, a.k.a. My Childhood Hero: I think there’s been a terrible misunderstanding. Either that, or you’re an overly sensitive dick.

There must be a reckoning

Take Me Out to the Therapist… Take Me Out to the Shrink…

Zombie Dinner Party … with your chef, Dr. Hannibal Lector

Don't miss a thing!

Sorry for yelling. Just trying to generate some excitement. Anyway ... enter your email address and you'll get a notification when I publish a new blog post. (I will never spam you.)

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…
Read the rest »

Archives

Search

Instagram

Hold my calls. 🤙🏻 Hold my calls. 🤙🏻
Hey now from the Jersey shore. 🤙🏻 Snooki say Hey now from the Jersey shore. 🤙🏻
Snooki says “Hi.”
When the @celtics & @nhlbruins both have a playoff When the @celtics & @nhlbruins both have a playoff game on the same night. 🙄 (Might put the @redsox on my iPhone after I post this.) #BostonStrong
The kind of Type-A madness that compels me to hang The kind of Type-A madness that compels me to hang 700 lights on a tree of this height and size is both a curse and a blessing. Love having this spectacle in my yard & spreading the holiday cheer. Enjoy! 🎄
We did it! The last time I ran an official 10K ra We did it!

The last time I ran an official 10K race, I was 18 and in Basic Training/Military Police School at Ft. McClellan, Alabama. Let's just say I'm a bit longer in the tooth and wider in the waist than I was then. 🥵

Proud to have legged it out with my boy yesterday to support @travismanionfoundation. Thanks to all who donated. (FYI: Donation link, which is in my IG bio, remains open through the end of the year.)

Official time: 55:28

#RunWithTheMarines
#MCM10K
The last time I visited the Marine Corps War Memor The last time I visited the Marine Corps War Memorial with my son, he was in utero. 😳 This Sunday, I’ll visit it with him again after we cross the finish line at the MCM 10K.

I’m running in honor of my late grandfather, Finn, a Marine who fought on Saipan, Tinian & Iwo Jima with the 4th Division during World War II.

My son and I are are also running to support the great work of the @travismanionfoundation. If you would be willing to help me reach my fundraising goal, I’d really appreciate it. Link to my fundraising page is in my bio. Thanks!
Follow on Instagram

© 2000–2023 JON ZAL / Contact Me
JZ logo
Twitter / Instagram
Back to Top