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TOP OF THE DAY by Howard Polskin

May. 20, 2026

Greetings! Shameful. Right-wing media outlets that I’ve surveyed this morning have been remarkably silent about the IRS’s get-out-of-jail-free card to Trump and his $1.8 billion slush fund to aid his buddies. Only Bari Weiss’s The Free Press called his schemes a “scandal”…The progressive Meidas Touch Network’s editor Ron Filipkowski posted a list on X of the Trump sycophants who may be eligible to receive payments from the “Anti-Weaponization Fund.”   The rogues gallery includes Steve Bannon, Peter Navarro, Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell and Jenna Ellis. …Nasty. Newsbusters has a list of what the pub’s Alex Christy considers the worst moments from “Late Night with Stephen Colbert.”…Dept. of Sticks &  Stones: PJ Media calls Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, “the AOC of jurisprudence”…Who’s interested in red-white-and-blue-themed merch to celebrate the nation’s 250th birthday? The Federalist has a comprehensive guide to select knick knacks and apparel to commemorate the nation’s semiquincentennial in style.  Among items The Federalist spotlights: America-themed moccasins, a patriotic wreath sash, a series of America-themed postage stamps designed by Ralph Lauren, and – my favorite – an America 250 t-shirt from the Nixon foundation….Agree! The American Conservative describes Trump’s war with Iran as “disastrous”… Last night I attended the Syracuse University Newhouse School of Public Communications Mirror Awards event honoring the best articles about the media.  Notably, the winner for best commentary was Pamela Alma Weymouth who wrote in The Nation about her grandmother Katharine Graham’s successful stand against a corrupt president and his administration. She was the legendary owner of The Washington Post. The title says it all: My Grandmother Stood Up to Nixon – Jeff Bezos Should Take Note…If you keep reading, I’ll keep Righting. Howard