Mornings

P. J. O’Rourke

Photo: Newsradio WGAN

P. J. O’Rourke

J. O’Rourke has written nineteen books on subjects as diverse as politics and cars and etiquette and economics. Parliament of Whores and Give War a Chance both reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. He is a regular panelist on NPR’s Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me,a contributing writer for the Washington Post editorial page, and the editor in chief of the free web magazine American Consequences. He lives in rural New England, as far away from the things he writes about as he can get.

 In his new book, A CRY FROM THE FAR MIDDLE:  Dispatches from a Divided Land, the man who has covered wars in the Middle East, Central America, the Balkans, and other places around the world is now confronting the political battles at home.   

  “While this book was being written in 2019,” he writes in a Pre-Preface that was completed just before the book went to press in June, “America was deep in an era of idiot populism and hooligan partisanship. Our country was engaged in a sort of socio-political Peloponnesian War. That is, we were in the midst of a long, confusing, tedious, useless, foolish conflict that threatened to destroy democracy and left ordinary commonsensical people feeling ‘It’s all Greek to me.’”

Local Headlines

5 hours ago in Local

Backers of Maine Red Flag Drill Down Argument Ahead of Vote

Supporters say the law could have helped stop the Lewiston mass shootings two years ago.

12 hours ago in Local

Maine Ballot Questions Reflect National Political Issues

Two ballot measures represent the latest efforts to put two hot-button national issues directly before voters in Maine.

18 hours ago in Local

Maine Agency Issues Recall of Cannabis Vape Cartridges

The recall is for Yani adult use vape cartridges called "Watermelon Chimera."

National Headlines

6 hours ago in National

Hegseth says US carried out 3 strikes on alleged drug-running boats in eastern Pacific, killing 14

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the U.S. military carried out three strikes Monday in the waters of the Eastern Pacific against boats suspected of carrying drugs, killing 14 and leaving one survivor.

4 days ago in National

States worry about how to fill the gap in food aid ahead of a federal benefits halt

Officials in Louisiana, Vermont and Virginia pledged Thursday to keep food aid flowing to recipients in their states, even if the federal program is stalled next month because of the government shutdown.

4 days ago in National

Trump says he’s ending trade talks with Canada over TV ads

President Donald Trump announced he's ending "all trade negotiations" with Canada because of a television ad opposing U.S. tariffs that he said misstated the facts and called "egregious behavior" aimed at influencing U.S. court decisions.

5 days ago in National

Trump backs off planned surge of federal agents into San Francisco after talking to the mayor

President Donald Trump said Thursday that he's backing off a planned surge of federal agents into San Francisco after speaking to the mayor, as protesters gathered outside a U.S. Coast Guard base where they were located.