The good:
It’s been nearly a century since Kansas voters sent a Democrat to the Senate.
But Adam Hamilton, a prominent pastor, is looking to make that jump
as Republicans grow more and more unsettled about incumbent GOP Sen.
Roger Marshall’s chances in the heartland.
“It’s all or nothing in a sense, because the story is that after 96
years, a Democrat could win a Senate seat in Kansas, but it also could
be that there’s a reason for it not happening in 96 years, that Marshall
pulls it out simply because it’s so difficult,” said Bob Beatty,
professor of political science at Washburn University in Topeka.
Elections analysts have moved the Kansas Senate race to the left in
recent weeks as polls indicate that, like elsewhere around the country, President Trump’s low
approval rating is dragging down Republican candidates. Cook Political
Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia both
shifted the race to “Lean Republican” from “Likely Republican” last
week.
Kansas is generally a red state, although it has sometimes elected
moderate Democratic governors. Trump won Kansas in 2024 by 16 points.
But his approval rating in the state now hovers around 40 percent, while
Hamilton polls slightly ahead of Marshall at 45 percent to 43 percent,
according to a recent Emerson College/Nexstar poll.
That mirrors many other red states — like nearby Iowa — where
Republican candidates are facing negative public opinion about tariffs,
the war in Iran and the resulting high prices.
Beatty said Hamilton is a uniquely strong Democratic contender to
capitalize on that national trend. Hamilton has never held political
office but has been the pastor of a network of United Methodist churches
he founded in the Kansas City metro area for 36 years...
MAGAt Marshall also has a documented history of suing low-income patients when he was an ob/gyn, as the article and this great Hamilton ad points out:
Meischa was Roger Marshall's patient. This is her story.
[image or embed]
— teamhamiltonhq.bsky.social (@teamhamiltonhq.bsky.social) September 25, 2026 at 10:38 AM
If Hamilton flips this deep red seat, it will truly be a blue tsunami mid-term election.
The bad:
U.S.
Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz had a difficult time on Sunday
articulating what exactly President Donald Trump is still trying to
accomplish in Iran, attempting to push the narrative that the U.S. is
trying to destroy the country’s nuclear capabilities despite the
president repeatedly claiming they are already “obliterated.”
“We
know that we obliterated their ability to enrich in a number of these
facilities. But we also know they moved and dispersed highly enriched
uranium,” Waltz told NBC’s “Meet the Press” after Kristen Welker aired a clip of Trump himself claiming the U.S. has already addressed Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
On Saturday, Trump rejected an Iranian proposal
to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days and end the war,
saying, “They want to make a deal … because they’re losing so badly.”
Asked about the rejection, Waltz defended the rejection Sunday, telling CNN’s “State of the Union” Iran was “asking for everything up front” and that Trump is “just not confident that the Iranians are coming in good faith.” {Ed.: if there's anyone who knows about bad faith, it's the Malignant Fascist and his lickspittle regime.]
During his speech in the U.N. General Assembly, Trump threatened to “annihilate” Iran.
A recent Wall Street Journal report also says the president is expected
to resume bombing Iran following the midterm elections. Iranian Foreign
Minister Abbas Araghchi told “Meet the Press” that Iran is prepared for a resumption of aggression.
“We
stand firm in the face of any new aggression, even if it comes to a
doomsday war,” Araghchi said. “But at the same time, we stand ready for
diplomacy. It is up to President Trump to choose.”
Operation Epic Quagmire -- a mindless war started by a mindless moron with disastrous consequences for our country and the world, and no end in sight.
The ugly:
Eight gunmen with AK-47 rifles and pistols shot patrons outside a bar
and then moved inside to continue their deadly rampage, killing at
least 17 people Saturday in one of three mass shootings in South Africa in the space of six days this week.
A total of at least 38 people were killed and nearly 30 were wounded in the separate late-night shootings in impoverished townships
near South Africa’s three biggest cities. Two of the massacres happened
in the space of a few hours late Saturday night and in the predawn
hours of Sunday.
South Africa’s mass shootings often differ from
lone gunman mass shootings seen in the United States and other
countries. The shootings in South Africa are mostly connected to
criminality, rather than ideological motive or personal grievance. [snip]
Authorities say many of the mass shootings are linked to criminal
gangs fighting turf wars or using violence to establish control over
communities and areas.
Saturday night’s mass shooting at the bar
near Johannesburg occurred in an area where residents said there was a
history of violence by illegal mining gangs.
The acting provincial commissioner said police were investigating a
possible lead that the shooting was a revenge attack as one of the
victims was connected to a previous shooting.
Illegal mining gangs
are notorious for terrorizing communities in the gold-mining areas
around the Johannesburg region, where they are involved in the lucrative
illicit gold trade. In other parts of the country, including Cape Town, gangs involved in selling illegal drugs or extortion rackets have been responsible for mass shootings...
Until these over-the-top mass shootings, it's likely few people had heard of this scope of gang violence in South Africa. It's been associated with gang violence in Mexico and South America involving drug cartels for a long time, but obviously it's a problem that spans the world. And everywhere, the innocent often pay with their lives along with the criminals.
