I didn’t know him personally. He was never my senator. But the passing of Lindsey Graham really has struck me. The more I think about his passing — and the responses from those who long worked with him — the more I think I know why.

Is it acceptable to admit I’m conflicted? In our polarized society, it may not be, but I am. I’m talking about the president’s Easter Declaration and feel utterly conflicted about it.

I wanted to vote early to avoid the crowds. I wanted to, but less than a week away from the election I haven’t. The crowds going to vote early dwarf what we normally deal with on Election Day.

After the long holiday weekend, the cable news talking heads returned to their flashy sets. One led with an impassioned speech about the horrors of the October 7 attack on Israel and the tragedy of the hostages killed this weekend — and didn’t immediately pivot to score a partisan point. That encapsulates upstart network NewsNation’s approach.

This will be a weird election, but not in the sense of uniqueness. If anything, 2024 is a race to find out who can best ignore recent history and doom the rest of us to repeat the weirdest aspects of it.

In a parallel universe last week, Iranian drones and missiles were launched against two pro-Western democracies. The same two that received those volleys in our universe; just one bit was different in Universe Two: there, the West scrambled jets to protect Ukraine, leaving Israel to fend for itself.

The news cycle of Holy Week has convinced me: I don’t think we need further separation of church and state, but we need separation of our politicians from church. As a friend likes to quip, “You can help me more by helping me less.”

This week, I saw a meme that gave me a moment of clarity. Donald Trump and Taylor Swift have an awful lot in common. Call me fearless — the last sentence could lead to nearly all of the Internet hating me — but the comparison is worth entertaining to consider our political moment.

The primary season is over. With New Hampshire handing President Donald Trump a decisive win and clear polling in his favor ahead, it’s time for Ambassador Nikki Haley to concede the inevitable and step aside. Er, wait a second… I haven’t voted yet!

Opening up X this week, I noted that the present beverage brewing tempests were the Internet meltdown over Taylor Swift’s new love interest and the honoring of an alleged Nazi in the Canadian parliament during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit. The invisible thread binding them was the Culture Warriors claiming to fight for Jesus who made these the cause célèbre.