“You made me love you

I didn’t want to do it

I didn’t want to do it

You made me want you

And all the time you knew it

I guess you always knew it

You made me happy sometimes,

You made me glad

But there were times, dear,

You made me feel so bad.”

I dedicate this song to John Cornyn and Thom Tillis (and to Susan Collins and even Lisa Murkowski and all the others), who really don’t like Trump, but really do, because he made them (and continues to make them) love him. As they will show, probably today, when they vote the nomination of Todd Blanche out of committee to become our next real, as opposed to acting, Attorney General. Even as they leave office. Even as they continue to be castigated by the president. It makes no difference.

Why? What it is that binds them?

“That old black magic has them in its spell

That old black magic that he weaves so well

Those icy fingers up and down their spines

The same old witchcraft when his eyes meet thine.

The same old tingle that they feel inside

And then that elevator starts its ride

And down and down they go

Round and round they go

Like a leaf that caught in the tide

They should stay away, but what can they do?”

[pronouns changed in this one]

Yes, they don’t write them like they used to. And yes, what they wrote back then takes on new meaning today.

In the meantime, as the Republicans go lockstep into an abyss, as they usually seem to, the Democrats too are playing to character as they are standing in a big circle firing weapons at each other, hoping that they remain standing while their so-called comrades in arms fall. Tonight, we will hear the results of one of the last big primary days of the 2026 mid-terms. All eyes will be on Michigan, and the race in the Democratic primary for Senator between Congresswoman Haley Stevens and former Detroit health officer Abdul El-Sayed.

It looks like El-Sayed is going to win, although the polling has been a bit here and there. But he certainly has captured the interest of younger Michiganers and of Michigan independents. He is a good campaigner, attractive, well spoken and appealing. She seems to be none of those things, and that is a problem. In part, it’s a problem because, they say, he might have difficulty beating the Republican in November in this close, battleground state, and, those same “they” say, she would have less of a problem. That of course supposes that those who support El-Sayed in the primary would vote for Stevens in the final race with the same enthusiasm, rather than just sit it out at home. To me, that is not obvious.

El-Sayed is no Ilhan Omar, struggling into the country from her birthplace in Somalia. El-Sayed is a Detroit area native, a graduate of the University of Michigan, a Rhodes Scholar with a degree from the University of Oxford, and an epidemiologist with a medical degree from Columbia. No slouch, El-Sayed. Haley Stevens is a native of the same Detroit suburb as El-Sayed, went to American University here in Washington, and has worked for Democratic political campaigns (Clinton, Obama) since her graduation and before her 2018 election to Congress.

As usual, the contest centers around the Jews. What else? Stevens is a moderate and, as I understand it, a firm supporter of Israel (not necessarily of Netanyahu), and a major recipient of funds from AIPAC. El-Sayed is a progressive (his word), but not a socialist (he repeats this again and again) and not a member of the DSA. El-Sayed, perhaps obviously, is a Muslim and, if elected, would be the first Muslim ever elected to the U.S. Senate. His position on Israel is fairly typical for the left wing of the Democratic Party – the war in Gaza was/is a genocide, Israel should not receive (unlimited, at least) military support from us, and Israel should treat its Palestinian citizens as it treats its Jewish citizens.

But it gets tricky when El-Sayed is asked (1) whether Israel should exist, and (2) whether Palestinians outside of Israel should have a “right of return”. His answers on these two questions are more equivocal, and as you parse through his words, you tend to reach that never-never land of one big Middle East country filled with Muslims and Jews, where everyone has equal rights and one vote, and where they all get along, irrespective of whether a particular government cycle has more Muslim or Jewish participation. Of course, this could never happen, which makes the concept of one big state (from the river to the sea for both groups) impossible.

On the other hand, on all other issues, I think that El-Sayed would play a much more important and helpful role in the American Senate. So, it’s a tough choice. Glad it’s a decision that I don’t have to make.

Michigan song?

“Oh, I got a gal in Kalamazoo,

Don’t wanna boast,

But I know she’s the toast

Of Kalamazoo.”

And then come the best lyrics of all time?

“K-A-L-A-M-A-Z-O-O,

Oh, what a gal, a real pipperoo,…

Zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo

Kalamazoo”

Yes, they don’t write them like they used to.