Even on a good day,” Senator John Kennedy (R-Louisiana) said, “most Americans look at Washington, D.C., and they ask themselves, ‘How did these people make it through the birth canal?’ That’s on a good day.” But good days have been hard to come by lately, as the House devolves into chaos and the vacant speakership into an Emmy Award-winning soap. And while there’s not much Senate Republicans can do to rescue their House counterparts, that doesn’t mean they won’t try.

Over the past few weeks, England’s Daily Mail has published several articles about the growing political unrest in South Africa and the rise of Julius Malema, head of the Economic Freedom Fighters, an expressly “Marxist-Leninist” party calling for “seizure of private property without compensation” and nationalization of the country’s gold mines, banking institutions and other industries. Malema has declared his plans to “destroy South African capitalism” and turn the country into Cuba, which he describes as a “successful socialist state.” Malema follows the Marxist playbook, demonizing entire classes of South Africans -- mostly white farmers -- and calling for their deaths. His followers are listening; in 2023 alone, there have been 42 murders of white farmers in South Africa -- more than one a week.

Acommon theme in political news coverage over the past few years has been how “fractious” and “divisive” politics has become. Newspapers, magazines and social media have countless articles of political disagreements that have torn families apart and destroyed longtime friendships. It seems to many observers that the political divisions in our country are growing larger and more difficult to navigate.

Call it the 10% rule: If 10% or more of the workers in a particular congressional district were civilian federal employees in 2022, then that district elected a Democrat to the House of Representatives.

Wednesday’s second Republican presidential primary debate bore a striking similarity to the first debate one month earlier. Post-debate polls and focus groups indicated Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis won (albeit in less than knockout fashion), while former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and smarmy “entrepreneur” Vivek Ramaswamy delivered polarizing performances that one either loved or hated.

The United States Senate, once known as the “world’s greatest deliberative body,” now permits its members to grace its chamber floor wearing whatever clothes -- no matter how casual or unprofessional -- they happen to fancy on any given day. Following Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-New York) decision last week to have the sergeantat- arms cease enforcing the Senate’s longstanding dress code, senators might be forgiven for trading in their traditional Brooks Brothers wares for that most chic of modern haberdashers: the local homeless shelter. There is one reason and one reason only for Schumer’s distasteful change in policy: The brain-damaged junior senator from Pennsylvania, Democrat John Fetterman, insists on it. In addition to his lingering physical health issues stemming from a 2022 stroke and mental health issues for which he admitted himself into a hospital earlier this year, the hoodie- and shorts-toting Fetterman has become known in the nation’s capital as perhaps the first U.S. senator to ever dress for the job like a bona fide slob.

After the Texas Senate voted Sept. 16 to acquit Attorney General Ken Paxton, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick issued a strong call to his legislative colleagues to consider revisions to the impeachment process. Patrick said he would like to seek a constitutional change during the next session.

Terence P. Jeffrey When the Senate debated the Inflation Reduction Act on Aug.

Thursday’s indictment of presidential prodigal son Hunter Biden on three gun-related criminal counts is the latest twist in the long, winding and rapidly escalating saga that is the Biden crime family.

President Barack Obama took the oath of office for his second term on Sunday, Jan. 20, 2013, in a private ceremony inside the White House. As of that day, the total debt of the federal government was $16.43 trillion.