Kids really have zero filter.

In The Wall Street Journal’s latest poll of the 2024 election, President Biden and former president Donald Trump are locked at 46% each. Other recent polls have shown essentially the same thing. While there will be many twists and turns before next November, at this point the race is a toss-up.

If that makes you feel like your country has gone mad, you’re not alone. 

This is not a feeling we talk about much. While political reporters obsess over the anger and resentments felt by blue-collar white men in Rust Belt diners, liberals’ emotions are seldom considered worthy of the same kind of exploration.

How is it that half of our fellow citizens can contemplate for an instant giving Trump all that power again?

Even those who feel this way know it’s an irrational way to approach politics. I could offer you a lengthy and sober explanation of why a Trump-Biden election will be so close. I can give you chapter and verse to detail why it is that a former president who faces four separate criminal indictments, who attempted to overturn a lawful election, who oozes corruption and dishonesty, and who has made clear his intention to practically dismantle the American system of democracy as soon as he gets the chance, is nearly an even bet to take back the White House.

I can describe the power of partisanship in a polarized age. I can explain the incentive structure that keeps Republican politicians in line behind Trump. I can tell you why Biden gets no credit for bringing the economy back from the depths of recession. I can explain why, despite the fact that he has literally the best one-term job creation record of any president in history; inflation has fallen to 3%; and he has signed legislation providing some of the most important investments in decades, most Americans think Biden has done a poor job on the economy. 

I can tell you all that, calmly and reasonably. I’ve done so so many times, when asked by friends, relatives and interviewers. I’ve written so many articles about the nature of Trump’s appeal that I lost count long ago.

Yet part of me looks at those polls and wants to respond not with calm and reason, but with a blood-curdling scream of rage. Or at least with the kind of frustration bordering on despair that usually prompts those questions in the first place.

Most Republican voters don’t think Trump charges should disqualify him, poll shows

How can it possibly be, I keep getting asked, that after everything we’ve been through since 2015, even 5% of Americans, let alone 45%, would consider letting him within a mile of the White House? How is it that half of our fellow citizens can contemplate for an instant giving Trump all that power again? 

Conservatives disagree vehemently with Biden’s policy choices, you say? Fine — there are a dozen other Republicans running for president, most of whom are quite right-wing, yet not lunatics. Why not pick one of them?

Some details of the primary race may have been unexpected (Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ swift fall, for instance), but Trump’s glide to the nomination is no surprise at all. Anyone who pays close attention to politics by now has a Ph.D. in Trumpology gained over years of watching and considering the man himself, the carnival roadshow of his devoted cultists, and the more casual supporters who keep him atop his party. We all saw this coming. But when you step back for a moment, the whole picture can seem even worse than it was, like a horror movie when the protagonist wakes from her nightmare only to realize she’s still in her nightmare. 

Now sanity itself seems a temporary anomaly.

My informal canvas of liberal friends reveals that this feeling — something like incredulous despair verging on panic — is not unusual. We tamp it down and joke about it, but it never disappears. Tens of millions of Americans are fine with Trump’s brand of revanchist authoritarianism, and even yearn for it. Tens of millions more see him as just one choice among many; maybe they’ll vote for him again if the price of gas goes up. 

Like many on the left, I will never again be seduced by the inspiring feeling of hope and belonging we felt when Barack Obama was elected in 2008. But the emotions of 2020 were supposed to be less naïve. When Biden won, it felt like a return to sanity. Yes, this abominable person temporarily took hold of our political world, but in the end the electorate did the right thing and sent him packing.

But now sanity itself seems a temporary anomaly. Trump came back, not in some friendlier packaging like the “New Nixon” of 1968, but even worse than before. He quickly regained whatever support he lost in the wake of Jan. 6, as though it never happened.

Joe: President Biden is always underestimated

To be clear, just as I could explain why Trump is in a relatively strong position, I could also offer many good reasons why Biden has the advantage in the general election, and why the most likely outcome may be a repeat of 2020, which he won rather handily. At this time 12 years ago, Barack Obama trailed slightly in the polls, and he won comfortably the following year. The odds are still ever so slightly in Biden’s favor.

But even if that is the outcome, and even if we spend another year between now and the election carefully analyzing the structure and shape of the madhouse we’re locked in, it’s still a madhouse. 

As infuriating as it is to admit the electorate may choose another Trump term, the only answer may be to hold on to that truth. Rejecting reality only replicates Republicans’ errors that led to Trump’s rise. Exercise your reason, stay informed, understand what’s happening in all its detail. But at those times when you want to scream in fear and anger, don’t think you’re being foolish or irrational. It just means you can see what’s in front of you.

It was meant to have been a goodhearted April Fools’ Day joke, but many people out there – including our professional colleagues in the media – took our prank on Indian house crows too seriously.

Our editorial team at Nairobi News settled on this particular story late on Friday evening after wide consultations and considering other equally ‘believable’ story ideas. The brief from the News Editor was that the story be published early on Saturday morning at 5am sharp.

And that how our juicy story, with fabricated quotes from fictitious sources, gained a life of its own within a few minutes of going live on our website.

Interestingly, several other media houses quickly copied and published our story as if it was their own. With the reward being Sh10,000 for every Indian house crow killed, the said media houses coined their own catchy headlines to sell the story.

But so as not to publicly shame our highly-esteemed colleagues in the industry, we have chosen not to mention them here by names – but you, our readers, have probabbly come across these copycat stories by now.

One of these media houses posted the same story around 9am but later deleted, perhaps on realising that it was a prank. Another media house ran the story at 10am with the ‘author’ of the story cheekily quipping, “Honestly, for the pay, I might just book a train to the coast right now.”

But while our story was a hoax, what is true is that for years these birds have been wreaking havoc at beach hotels in Mombasa.

The birds, commonly known as kunguru or kurabu, have built a reputation of preventing tourists and residents from holding outdoor activities. They are even known for stealing food from holidaymakers in open-air eateries.

In a story published on Nation.Africa in October 2021, it was reported that some hotels had employed various strategies to deal with the birds, including deploying workers to scare them away at meal times.

It is for that reason that in 2018, the Mombasa county government, in its medium-term draft budget for 2018/2019, allocated Sh30 million to eradicate the birds in the tourism hub within five years.

Also read: Kenyans to earn Sh10,000 for each bird killed

But the plan was eventually dropped after residents objected to the proposed expenditure. It was later reported that the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) was at the time looking for money in its budget to deal with the birds.

Even the National Environmental Management Authority was drawn into the debate, with the environmental watchdog saying, “It is KWS who are actually supposed to deal with that thing. Our work is to do environmental impact assessment, and public consultation so that we can verify whatever they want to do is acceptable to everybody, but it is the county and KWS who can do that. But people are complaining, especially hoteliers, saying it’s a nuisance.”

A Nema official also shared that biologists were also complaining that the birds are killing other species.

“It’s not only about allocating resources. Dealing with this issue (requires) a thorough study to avoid impact on human beings, animals, and our ecosystem.”

These complaints notwithstanding, you should not go about killing the Indian house crows – or any other bird species for that matter – without the authorisation of KWS. Other than not receiving any cash for your efforts, you might only get into trouble with the authorities.

England captain Ben Stokes has cheekily responded to The West Australian’s hilarious front page following The Ashes controversy that has divided the cricketing world.

In the wake of England wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow being stumped after dozily stepping out of his crease at a critical moment on day five of the second Test at Lords, media in the home nations and Australia have quickly revved up the controversy.

The West’s provocative front page has Stokes’ head superimposed on a baby’s body, dummy in mouth, nappy on and with the coveted urn spilt over and a shiny cricket ball just out of reach of his stubby fingers alongside the headline: “CRYBABIES.”

The cheeky front page has gone viral across the world, with Stokes taking to Twitter in a priceless response, declaring: “That’s definitely not me, since when did I bowl with the new ball?”

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It comes British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak voiced his disgust at the controversy, saying Australia had failed to uphold the spirit of cricket.

“The Prime Minister agrees with Ben Stokes. He said he wouldn’t want to win a game like Australia did,” a spokesman for Mr Sunak’s office said.

“The game did provide an opportunity to see Ben Stokes at his best, and it was an incredible Test match, and he has confidence England will bounce back at Headingley.”

When asked whether Mr Sunak believed Australia had not upheld the spirit of cricket, his spokesman said: “Yes.”

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