So instead of an informal agreement over what the press would or would not cover, the relationship today has become much more direct: report the story in a way the White House finds objectionable, and access to the President may become part of the fight.
So as the United States celebrates 250 years, and as a new look takes to the skies carrying its President, it is worth remembering that the appearance of the aircraft has changed before and likely will again.
So, where is the accountability when public officials cross lines that once would have carried institutional consequences?
Accountability delayed doesn’t fade—it accumulates.
For those of us who grew up in the 1980s, there was a word for this kind of move: “psyche.” Someone would wind up like they were about to head-butt you, pause just long enough to trigger panic, then brush their hair back and say, “Psyche.”
That, in effect, is what played out here — except this time it wasn’t a schoolyard fake-out. It was federal policy.
May your New Year’s celebrations be bright, and may the return to work after the holidays be less stressful. See you on the other side.
So the shutdown did not end because a genuine compromise emerged, in the viewpoint of this blogger. It ended because the escalation curve broke open, and only one side was prepared to continue up it.
Younger candidates are challenging Case with a much more nuanced — and far less taboo — appeal to generational change. What Case once invoked against Akaka, and paid dearly for, is now tolerated, even expected, by an electorate seemingly more comfortable weighing leadership through the lenses of age, urgency, and readiness.
Charlie Kirk’s passing now poses the same challenge for TPUSA: can an organization built on his energy adapt to new leadership, or will it remain frozen as a reflection of its founder?
In the end, it’s a mixed bag so far – some deep cuts where support is most needed, and a few glimmers of consistency that, if nothing else, show someone’s still reading the fine print. For Native Hawaiians, it’s not the full erasure feared by some, but it’s certainly no full-throated embrace either.