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:
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.
Make America North Korea Again
I hope the organizers of the Olympics and World Cup are paying close attention.
“It’s completely hopeless now to tour in the U.S..” Many overseas musicians, theater companies and others face new and seemingly insurmountable obstacles to perform in the U.S. with the Trump administration's travel restrictions on 19 countries.
January 19, 2026 at 7:51 PM
Make America North Korea Again
If there WAS a schism, I think we all know Trump would expect to get the Pope title.
And JD would probably give it to him.
And JD would probably give it to him.
Every day we inch closer to a new schism and American Pope JD Vance.
In a historic rebuke, America’s three most senior cardinals are denouncing Donald Trump’s bid to annex Greenland.
Backed by Pope Leo XIV’s warning against a “zeal for war,” it’s the most direct intervention by U.S. bishops in a president’s foreign policy in decades.
Backed by Pope Leo XIV’s warning against a “zeal for war,” it’s the most direct intervention by U.S. bishops in a president’s foreign policy in decades.
January 19, 2026 at 7:38 PM
If there WAS a schism, I think we all know Trump would expect to get the Pope title.
And JD would probably give it to him.
And JD would probably give it to him.
Schmitt hasn't posted anything about the MLK holiday but he HAS posted a thread about denaturalizing Somali immigrant citizens, so, you know, draw your own conclusions.
January 19, 2026 at 7:31 PM
Schmitt hasn't posted anything about the MLK holiday but he HAS posted a thread about denaturalizing Somali immigrant citizens, so, you know, draw your own conclusions.
Waiting for Sen. Eric Schmitt's "actually, America has a rich history of invading countries that have refused to give prizes to the U.S. president" thread on Twitter.
January 19, 2026 at 5:30 PM
Waiting for Sen. Eric Schmitt's "actually, America has a rich history of invading countries that have refused to give prizes to the U.S. president" thread on Twitter.
Yup. A lot of Americans like this stuff!
I do this as a reality check every few days. Yes, Trump is deeply unpopular. No, he's not nearly as unpopular as he should be, or unpopular enough to threaten his hold on power. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
January 19, 2026 at 5:25 PM
Yup. A lot of Americans like this stuff!
This wasn't difficult to predict.
So...what's the worst thing Trump could do on the MLK holiday weekend?
January 19, 2026 at 4:39 PM
This wasn't difficult to predict.
January 19, 2026 at 4:23 PM
The “some progress” on cutting debt is so generous as to be false. Tariff revenue is up, yes, but not nearly enough to match the growth in the debt thanks to Trump’s tax cuts.
January 19, 2026 at 2:59 PM
The “some progress” on cutting debt is so generous as to be false. Tariff revenue is up, yes, but not nearly enough to match the growth in the debt thanks to Trump’s tax cuts.
Minneapolis is America.
Rep. Chuck Fleischmann: "What we're seeing in Minneapolis is a situation devolve into chaos when a city, state begins to embrace issues and ethics and an ethos that is totally antithetical to America. We are Republicans believe in the rule of law, God, country, law enforcement."
January 19, 2026 at 2:09 PM
Minneapolis is America.
Reposted by Joel Mathis
I went to Minneapolis last week. What I saw was horrifying and inspiring in equal measure. Gift link to my latest column: www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/o...
Opinion | In Minneapolis, I Glimpsed a Civil War
www.nytimes.com
January 19, 2026 at 12:56 PM
I went to Minneapolis last week. What I saw was horrifying and inspiring in equal measure. Gift link to my latest column: www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/o...
Trump always looking to redefine “Orwellian.” www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
Kremlin says Putin has been invited to join Trump’s Gaza ‘board of peace’
Putin shows no signs of ending Ukraine war and claim adds weight to accusation Trump favours Russian president
www.theguardian.com
January 19, 2026 at 11:30 AM
Trump always looking to redefine “Orwellian.” www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
“Nothing changes on New Year’s Day.” Bono.
Remember when we were all so happy that 2025 was finally ending?
January 19, 2026 at 11:11 AM
“Nothing changes on New Year’s Day.” Bono.
Paradise Cafe in Lawrence KS. I used to roll out of bed on Saturday morning, go sit on the floor of their lobby with a newspaper until a table finally came open, then did a Grandma's Omelet with the breakfast potatoes and coffee.
Miss it still.
Miss it still.
Sunday night timeline cleanse
please tell me about your favorite lost restaurant (closed for at least 5 years, like I really want you to go back into the vault), why you loved it and what you ate there
please tell me about your favorite lost restaurant (closed for at least 5 years, like I really want you to go back into the vault), why you loved it and what you ate there
January 19, 2026 at 2:39 AM
Paradise Cafe in Lawrence KS. I used to roll out of bed on Saturday morning, go sit on the floor of their lobby with a newspaper until a table finally came open, then did a Grandma's Omelet with the breakfast potatoes and coffee.
Miss it still.
Miss it still.
Reposted by Joel Mathis
My thoughts on the @60minutes.bsky.social CECOT story:
The U.S. government illegally disappeared hundreds of men to be abused in a foreign gulag.
And then the administration used the imagery as later day lynching postcards.
The U.S. government illegally disappeared hundreds of men to be abused in a foreign gulag.
And then the administration used the imagery as later day lynching postcards.
January 19, 2026 at 2:15 AM
My thoughts on the @60minutes.bsky.social CECOT story:
The U.S. government illegally disappeared hundreds of men to be abused in a foreign gulag.
And then the administration used the imagery as later day lynching postcards.
The U.S. government illegally disappeared hundreds of men to be abused in a foreign gulag.
And then the administration used the imagery as later day lynching postcards.
Republicans in Congress who want to save NATO - I am thinking here of Sen. Jerry Moran - don’t seem to realize they are probably already too late. I wonder how many realized they were complicit in real time and how many will only realize in retrospect.
I suspect the vast majority of those Americans assume that one day they can simply say 'reset' to us, and all will be well.
It won't be. America has never ever threatened a European democracy with invasion. Until now. We are in a new era.
It won't be. America has never ever threatened a European democracy with invasion. Until now. We are in a new era.
But Americans who want to save the alliance with Europe must have no illusions about how bad a condition this transatlantic partnership is in.
January 18, 2026 at 10:59 PM
Republicans in Congress who want to save NATO - I am thinking here of Sen. Jerry Moran - don’t seem to realize they are probably already too late. I wonder how many realized they were complicit in real time and how many will only realize in retrospect.