Middleboro Review and so on

By  Ben Jacobs Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) calls on a reporter during a press conference at the Capitol on March 25. | Francis Chung/POLITICO ‘A 90’S DEMOCRAT’  — One of  the most enduring and hackneyed lines  in American politics is the most dangerous place in Washington is between Chuck Schumer and a television camera. Long before Schumer had risen to become the top Democrat in the Senate, let alone even been elected to the Senate, the New Yorker was known for his zeal in pursuing earned media. His Sunday news conferences  became landmarks  and occasionally punchlines as he created content for reporters often focusing on local concerns that would be easily digestible for the 11 o’clock news with simple solutions that the government could take to address them. Who can forget  his public crusade against Four Loko  , the highly caffeinated malt liquor drink which was all the rage in the early Obama era? Schumer has continued to be...

  By  Ian Ward Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) speaks to the press outside the Capitol after the House passed legislation to fund the government through September 30. Massie was the only Republican to vote against passing the legislation. | Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images MAGA NON GRATA  — Republicans today narrowly passed a continuing resolution to fund the government, averting a March 14 shutdown deadline. But the one Republican vote against the CR exposed an unexpected test of President Donald Trump’s control over his party. And this test has a name: Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky. Massie — an idiosyncratic, libertarian-minded conservative from Northern Kentucky’s 4th District — has long been a thorn in the Trump administration side, having refused to fall in line behind Trump on several key votes during Trump’s first term. Just last month, Massie was also the only Republican to vote against the  “big, beautiful” budget bill  that the White House was pushing ...