Author: Rich Wilkins

The Political Winds of Change in the Lehigh Valley

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Yesterday I attended the swearing in of Northampton County Executive Tara Zrinski. It was a really nice ceremony, as it always is, and it was packed as it ever is. I’m quite proud of Tara, the county’s first woman to serve as County Executive, as I must admit that eight years ago I would have told you there was no way she’d be Executive, let alone in eight years. She worked really hard, she got pretty good at the politics, and she did it. Perseverance can pay off in this business. I look forward to giving my two cents to her transition team on disability issues in the county, as I hope to help someone else’s life be a little easier.

In Lehigh County, the story was similar. Josh Siegel became the youngest County Executive in PA history. Up until a few years ago, I don’t think I would have predicted this either. Josh had some tough runs for office in Allentown, and he had plenty of critics on the Allentown City Council, but he eventually got himself to the State House in Harrisburg, and he grew with the office. He’s one of the most visionary elected officials in the Lehigh Valley, and I am really looking forward to his tenure.

I should take a moment to congratulate my two friends who finished their terms as the Executives this week, Lamont McClure (Northampton) and Phil Armstrong (Lehigh). I was Executive Director of McClure’s Transition team eight years ago, and I advised him and his wife’s campaigns over the years. Whatever your misgivings are with Lamont’s style, the truth is that he is a remarkably consistent politician who focused on the three issues that the public actually cares about most, in an almost obsessive way- he did not raise taxes once in his eight years, he preserved a record amount of open farmland space, and he kept the county’s nursing home county owned. Yes, there were other political issues, such as supporting passenger rail to New York and Philadelphia, opposing continuing warehouse proliferation, and addressing federal overreach where he was right, but he stuck like glue to his bread and butter issues, and it was good for the public. As for Phil Armstrong, or as anyone who knows him says, “Uncle Phil”- what a fantastic guy. I managed his first run for Executive eight years ago, and I’ll be honest, I didn’t necessarily know we were going to win, but here he is. I think the best compliment anyone can give to him is that he taught and lived in the Whitehall community for decades, and voters of all political stripes came out to support him in big numbers there. Phil preserved and expanded the county nursing home, Cedarbrook, preserved open space, and managed a large, diverse, and sometimes unruly county politically through some major transitional years, particularly some politically tumultuous years in the county’s biggest city (Allentown) during his first term. I haven’t formally worked as an advisor to either in a few years now, but I think we need to all congratulate them on a job well done.

I always enjoy the ceremonies, mostly for the sidebars. The choral group was really good at Northampton. I also got a kick out of seeing who sat by who. I had to ask one aide to a statewide elected official if he was there as a family member (his uncle was being re-sworn in as a magistrate) or in his official capacity, since he was seated with his parents. There were Congressional candidates in the room, some seated with their campaign staff (hey, we all need friends), or whatever randoms sat with them in the back row (why not make friends?), or bothering me along the wall (No one offered my crippled ass a seat, this wearing long pants stuff sucks). There were cabinet officials all over the room, and their seating selections were interesting. There were state and municipal electeds all over the room, and you can tell who they like based on who they sat with (none of them sat with me). My best friend since childhood (who works at the county) was smart enough to not be seen sitting (or I guess standing) next to me, but my poor sister did get stuck with me. As I said, this is the weird stuff that interests me. I keep mental notes.

Anyway, congrats to all. Now on to 2026.

The Disappearing January 6th Conspiracy

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Sometimes the truth doesn’t matter. And well, this is sometimes. Yesterday marked five years since the January 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. To be clear, it was an insurrection against the United States. It was done by Trump supporters to stop the electoral votes from being counted that showed Joe Biden rightfully beat Donald Trump. The people in the capitol definitely committed crimes. Trump at a minimum didn’t defuse the situation, and no this was not a conspiracy between Nancy Pelosi and the FBI.

Not one bit of that matters.

Everyone in America fits into one of three groups on the issue of January 6th. The either believe the truth, they’re a conspiracy theorist and denier, or they don’t give a shit. In truth, a lot of people are some combination of one of the first two and the third. Like sure, Capitol Police broke down that day and I’m sure there were some federal agents among the rioters, but in the end it was still an insurrection by people intent on stopping the count. And the majority of people either deny it or don’t care. They either don’t want to be bothered by it or don’t care at all.

There are still people, particularly Democrats and never Trumpers, who mark this day like Christmas every year. I get that it was a really bad event. It’s an event fading from consciousness though. With Trump having pardoned everyone involved, and what will be the passage of eight years by the time he’s gone, it’s over. It’s dead. They all got away with it. The public isn’t mad about it. The issue went nowhere.

We live in a country where a lot of truths aren’t realized until way long after the fact. In 100 years, I bet history majors will call it utterly insane that we let a bunch of half-wits, hillbillies, imbeciles, and Neo-confederates attack our Capitol. That day of judgement will have to wait.

NFL Power Rankings, 1/6/26

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The season is over. The playoffs are set. Before I get deep into the playoffs though, I want to do my final regular season rankings. Playoff predictions and regular season football are different things. These rankings will reflect the long season that began four months ago. The playoffs are about being able to string together three or four wins.

So anyway, here’s the last rankings. The rest to follow.

12/30 rankings. 12/24 rankings. 12/16 rankings. 12/9 rankings. 12/3 rankings. 11/26 rankings. 11/18 rankings. 11/11 rankings. 11/4 rankings. 10/28 rankings. 10/21 rankings. 10/15 rankings. 10/8 rankings. 9/30 rankings. 9/24 rankings. 9/16 rankings. 9/9 rankings.

  1. Seattle Seahawks
  2. Denver Broncos
  3. New England Patriots
  4. Jacksonville Jaguars
  5. Houston Texans
  6. Chicago Bears
  7. Philadelphia Eagles
  8. Los Angeles Rams
  9. Buffalo Bills
  10. San Francisco 49’ers
  11. Los Angeles Chargers
  12. Green Bay Packers
  13. Pittsburgh Steelers
  14. Carolina Panthers
  15. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
  16. Minnesota Vikings
  17. Atlanta Falcons
  18. Baltimore Ravens
  19. Detroit Lions
  20. Dallas Cowboys
  21. Miami Dolphins
  22. Indianapolis Colts
  23. New Orleans Saints
  24. Cincinnati Bengals
  25. Kansas City Chiefs
  26. Cleveland Browns
  27. Washington Commanders
  28. Tennessee Titans
  29. New York Jets
  30. Arizona Cardinals
  31. New York Giants
  32. Las Vegas Raiders

There are so many dumpster fires in this group, but one could fairly say the top 23 teams all at least had a good point in the season. For teams #15-32, it’s the offseason. Coaching changes, the draft, and free agency await. I won’t be changing the order there anymore at this point. Obviously the most disappointing season goes to the Chiefs, which isn’t really necessarily anyone’s fault, time just caught up to them. The most hopeful of the non-playoff teams, to me, should be New Orleans.

So, about the playoffs- totally different season. If the regular season is about consistency and repeating good habits, the playoffs are about top end talent, typically. Now, there is a lot of crossover- the last three NFC champs were top two seeds- but it’s not a lock. This year you have Wild Cards like the Rams and 49’ers who have made recent runs to the Super Bowl, and teams like Buffalo with plenty of experience at this time of year. So what’s my take about this week’s games?

  • Rams (-10.5) @ Panthers- The Rams should win this and cover, however I did watch this regular season game, and Bryce Young and the Panthers offense looked really good. Also, the Panthers have been winning every other week for like two months, and are coming off of a loss. So I’m tempted to bet on the Panthers to at least cover, and I think I like the over in this game. However, in the real world, I’d be shocked if the Rams don’t win this.
  • Packers (-1.5) @ Bears- I don’t think the Bears are flukes. I also don’t think they win this game. These two teams split this season, with the Bears winning the more recent game. It was an exciting, back and forth game though, one that the Packers found every way to lose. This is a divisional game, and those are way harder to win two in a row. It also sounds like the Packers are a bit healthier this week, so I’m calling the upset.
  • Bills (-1.5) @ Jaguars- This one is a hard game to predict. Jacksonville had one of the hottest finishes in football. They are a surprise to be here though, while the only surprise with Buffalo is that they’re on the road. I feel like Buffalo needs to get it done this year. On the other hand, Lawrence has played plenty of postseason games, and has wins too. I have the least feel for this one, but I’ll take Buffalo on here, I guess.
  • 49’ers @ Eagles (-4.5)- I love my Eagles, but this is a genuine heavyweight fight. After the Eagles, the Niners and Rams are probably the best two NFC teams of the past five years. Here the Niners are again, albeit with a very different team, back in Philly for a playoff game. Purdy and Shanahan have been in plenty of games, they won’t be intimidated. With that said, the travel, the home field advantage, and health all favor the team that won the Super Bowl last year. For those reasons, the Eagles should win. I just wouldn’t sleep on it.
  • Chargers @ Patriots (-3.5)- Are the Chargers of today just the Chargers of the Rivers days? They’re really good, they have a great coach/QB combo. They’re here consistently. But is it ever their time? This is a far travel, to play a team who had a little bit better season. So the Patriots should be the favorites, and they are. Is this the time for the Chargers though? Doesn’t seem like it.
  • Texans (-3) @ Steelers- The Steelers are a lot better than people give them credit for. If they keep Tomlin and Rodgers for next season, and add more talent around them, the 10-7 division champs could truly contend. However, what they need to do is find their future QB for after next year. The Texans should give them time to do that. This defense is absolutely elite, and up to the task of a deep playoff run.

The U.S. Was Right to Remove Maduro (But Wait For It…)

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Nicolas Maduro was a failed leader. His country was in ruins. He was a socialist lunatic. His country had pirates off of the coast. Waves of people left seeking refugee status in other nations. There was starvation. There were human rights and free speech violations. He killed his own people. He annexed his neighbor’s territory. He was a client state for Russia and China. In short, Maduro was a terrible guy. Venezuelans are happy he’s gone. I believe it is good that he’s gone.

Is it bad that Trump didn’t ask for Congressional authority? Sure, but many Presidents don’t for one off operations. Is it bad to just remove foreign leaders? Yeah, usually. Does any of this matter if Maduro is gone, we don’t get stuck in some long occupation, and things get better for normal Venezuelans? No.

We have leftists on the internet and in major cities protesting this. Just stop. You don’t need to defend Maduro just because you don’t like Trump. Of course the weirdos I’m talking about are also the kind of people who want to “change the relationship to property ownership” here in America. These people aren’t redeemable. We really don’t need them in any political party. We can win the 2026 Election talking about real world issues like health care, household debt, and wages. And well, I say that as someone who supports more public housing and thinks Presidents should ask Congress to attack foreign nations. These people live in a fairy tale land. And they want to bring that here.

Reject it. Reject it and reject people who tell you it’s what’s best for us. It’s not.

The Best Scotches of 2026

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MensJournal.com has put out their 19 Best Scotch Whiskeys for 2026. Johnny Walker Blue Label is on there, which is predictable, but Ardbeg was the top Scotch Whiskey of the year. They gave pretty elaborate write-ups about each of their winners, which you should read there, but here was their list: