Joel Mathis
@joelmathis.bsky.social
Opinion at @kansascity.com and @kansas.com. Was in Philly once upon a time. Journalism will never love you back. Occasionally deactivate my account for a day or so to clear my head.
https://joelmmathis.substack.com/
https://joelmmathis.substack.com/
Pinned
Joel Mathis
@joelmathis.bsky.social
· Aug 14
I'll try to make this the last time I tout my little project, but I wrote about our "Crockpot & Criterion" for the @kansascity.com opinion newsletter:
Reposted by Joel Mathis
If I walk up to you with hammer and say “I could break your knees if you don’t give me $20 but I won’t,” would you feel relieved that I’d ruled out breaking your knees?
January 21, 2026 at 2:17 PM
If I walk up to you with hammer and say “I could break your knees if you don’t give me $20 but I won’t,” would you feel relieved that I’d ruled out breaking your knees?
Had a snippet of song stuck in my head for the last two days and couldn't figure out what it was and just realized it was "Tomorrow Belongs To Me" and my subconscious isn't being all that subtle.
January 21, 2026 at 2:22 PM
Had a snippet of song stuck in my head for the last two days and couldn't figure out what it was and just realized it was "Tomorrow Belongs To Me" and my subconscious isn't being all that subtle.
WSJ's most popular opinion pieces this morning.
January 21, 2026 at 1:45 PM
WSJ's most popular opinion pieces this morning.
Not sure I agree with the premise that sets up the question.
January 21, 2026 at 1:20 PM
Not sure I agree with the premise that sets up the question.
After a decade, I am a little sick of this genre. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
What Happened to Pam Bondi?
How the attorney general became a person who loves telling Trump yes
www.theatlantic.com
January 21, 2026 at 4:57 AM
After a decade, I am a little sick of this genre. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
Board of Peace is the new Coalition of the Willing.
January 21, 2026 at 3:54 AM
Board of Peace is the new Coalition of the Willing.
We're "rushing assets" to the Middle East because as big and bad as our military is, we don't have quite enough conventional power to rule Venezuela AND Iran AND Greenland all at the same time. Stuff that goes one place is not in another.
Choices will have to be made.
Choices will have to be made.
The Pentagon rushed more F-15E Strike Eagles to the Middle East in recent days as the U.S. military is reinforcing its airpower in the region amid high tensions with Iran. President Trump has been weighing military action against the country. www.airandspaceforces.com/pentagon-f-1...
US Sends F-15s to Middle East as Trump Weighs Action Against Iran
The Pentagon moved F-15E Strike Eagles to the Middle East as the U.S. military is increasing its forces while tensions with Iran rise.
www.airandspaceforces.com
January 21, 2026 at 1:49 AM
We're "rushing assets" to the Middle East because as big and bad as our military is, we don't have quite enough conventional power to rule Venezuela AND Iran AND Greenland all at the same time. Stuff that goes one place is not in another.
Choices will have to be made.
Choices will have to be made.
I had some brief end-of-MLK holiday thoughts about the language MLK used in his "Letter From a Birmingham Jail" versus Stephen Miller's "iron laws of power" rant on CNN post-Venezuela. open.substack.com/pub/joelmmat...
January 20, 2026 at 11:25 PM
I had some brief end-of-MLK holiday thoughts about the language MLK used in his "Letter From a Birmingham Jail" versus Stephen Miller's "iron laws of power" rant on CNN post-Venezuela. open.substack.com/pub/joelmmat...
Reposted by Joel Mathis
Trump has always been the anti-restraint president by temperament and on policy. He is the enemy of restraint. People that pretend not to know this at this point are either terrible analysts or regime apologists.
January 20, 2026 at 10:56 PM
Trump has always been the anti-restraint president by temperament and on policy. He is the enemy of restraint. People that pretend not to know this at this point are either terrible analysts or regime apologists.
(Curses and punches self in the face.)
January 20, 2026 at 10:31 PM
(Curses and punches self in the face.)
Reposted by Joel Mathis
Great timing on WaPo ed page today!
January 20, 2026 at 10:19 PM
Great timing on WaPo ed page today!
Rod Dreher: Trump taking Greenland is bad because it will damage hard-right Euro parties. www.thefp.com/p/trump-cant...
Trump Can’t Win Greenland Without Losing Europe
The European right is winning elections by promising sovereignty and dignity. Trump’s Greenland gambit threatens both.
www.thefp.com
January 20, 2026 at 9:41 PM
Rod Dreher: Trump taking Greenland is bad because it will damage hard-right Euro parties. www.thefp.com/p/trump-cant...
Newsom in opposition and still playing Ugly American is too much.
Easy for Newsom to say that in that place and in that forum. The rest of the developed world should be asking him “What is YOUR COUNTRY’s problem, and why is it our responsibility to fix it?”
Gov. Newsom at Davos rips into world leaders who think they can appease Trump: “I should have brought a bunch of knee pads for all the world leaders.…this is pathetic”
January 20, 2026 at 7:07 PM
Newsom in opposition and still playing Ugly American is too much.
Oh, we’re all about to learn.
off to learn about de-dollarization
January 20, 2026 at 6:49 PM
Oh, we’re all about to learn.
Reposted by Joel Mathis
"America has adopted Putinism as its modus operandi for foreign affairs. So tell me: Why would America not also adopt Putinism in its domestic affairs?"
Read @jvl.bsky.social's latest Triad, only @thebulwark.com. Warning: it's dark. www.thebulwark.com/p/this-is-th...
Read @jvl.bsky.social's latest Triad, only @thebulwark.com. Warning: it's dark. www.thebulwark.com/p/this-is-th...
This Is the End
Putinism abroad always morphs into Putinism at home. And we chose this path. Why? Because something-something the price of eggs.
www.thebulwark.com
January 20, 2026 at 6:21 PM
"America has adopted Putinism as its modus operandi for foreign affairs. So tell me: Why would America not also adopt Putinism in its domestic affairs?"
Read @jvl.bsky.social's latest Triad, only @thebulwark.com. Warning: it's dark. www.thebulwark.com/p/this-is-th...
Read @jvl.bsky.social's latest Triad, only @thebulwark.com. Warning: it's dark. www.thebulwark.com/p/this-is-th...
American conservatives always told us how inspired they were by RED DAWN, but we didn't know they thought the Russians were the heroes.
An insane timeline.
"Canada does not have the number of military personnel or the sophisticated equipment needed to fend off a conventional American attack. So the military envisions unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military or armed civilians would resort to ambushes, sabotage, drone warfare…"
January 20, 2026 at 5:43 PM
American conservatives always told us how inspired they were by RED DAWN, but we didn't know they thought the Russians were the heroes.
Canada's leader is delivering the eulogy for the world we have known.
Carney: "American hegemony in particular helped provide public goods, a stable financial system... this bargain no longer works. Let me be direct. We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition... recently, great powers have begun using economic integration as a weapon. Tariffs as leverage ... "
January 20, 2026 at 4:02 PM
Canada's leader is delivering the eulogy for the world we have known.
His defense is not that the president is acting in accord with the Constitution, but that the president really wants to do it and the Supreme Court should let him do it as a result.
Bessent on tariffs: "I think it's very unlikely that the Supreme Court is going to strike down a president's signature economic policy. It didn't with the ACA, also known as Obamacare."
January 20, 2026 at 2:42 PM
His defense is not that the president is acting in accord with the Constitution, but that the president really wants to do it and the Supreme Court should let him do it as a result.
Reposted by Joel Mathis
One of my priors is that things are really bad if I am coming across news related to the bond market.
*DANISH PENSION FUND AKADEMIKERPENSION TO EXIT US TREASURIES
January 20, 2026 at 1:57 PM
One of my priors is that things are really bad if I am coming across news related to the bond market.
Text from teen son:
January 20, 2026 at 1:12 PM
Text from teen son:
If only the little father knew!
Tillis: "To be clear -- I'm not critical of the president. I'm critical of the bad advice he's getting on Greenland."
January 20, 2026 at 1:03 PM
If only the little father knew!
Reposted by Joel Mathis
the international far right’s embrace of trump, and trump’s attempts to force the rest of the world to adopt miller’s international segregationism, is a reminder that even the “globalist” attack was projection. They want to use american power to remake the whole world into fash ethnostates
January 20, 2026 at 12:43 PM
the international far right’s embrace of trump, and trump’s attempts to force the rest of the world to adopt miller’s international segregationism, is a reminder that even the “globalist” attack was projection. They want to use american power to remake the whole world into fash ethnostates
Trump’s belated MLK proclamation sounds more like a mafia threat than words of honor.
January 20, 2026 at 11:50 AM
Trump’s belated MLK proclamation sounds more like a mafia threat than words of honor.
So this is Bill Self's last season, right?
January 20, 2026 at 2:37 AM
So this is Bill Self's last season, right?
Curious what tonight's lead story on CBS is going to be, though.
Trump basically acknowledges the administration is losing the political battle over ICE.
January 19, 2026 at 10:35 PM
Curious what tonight's lead story on CBS is going to be, though.