News On Tap For Tuesday, July 21, 2026

America’s A Mess

Today’s “News On Tap” is like America today - a bit of a mess, but with reasons for hope. Today is Election Day in Arizona, as election season is ramping up around the U.S. We’ve also got a news update on Trump’s Iran War quagmire, and the very real costs of that war.. Meanwhile, Trump & Republican economics is failing Americans, as Trump’s cruel & bumbling halfascist administration just makes things worse, There’s some ugly Media news today, but some good news in Movies & Music, and we’ve got Sports news too. Plus, Hal Sparks is back in the bar tonight to help us laugh at all of this insanity. Read up, get informed, & we’ll see you here tonight!

First Round - Trump’s Failing Foreign Affairs

Trump’s Iran War Rolls On

• Another Tanker Attacked In Strait Of Hormuz As U.S. Strikes Iran For 10th Consecutive Night

• Iran’s Houthi Allies Declare Maritime Embargo Against Saudi Arabia, Escalating Threats To World Oil Market

• Congressional Democrats Are Working To Halt Trump’s Renewed Attacks On Iran. For Now, That Means Stopping What Little Is Moving In Congress.

• A Look At Media Failure Surrounding War: Nytimes Claims - Falsely - Republicans Are Boxed In On Iran War [Gift Link]

• New Economist/YouGov Poll Shows The Iran War Is The Least Popular War Since Comparable Polling Began

• Multiple Polls Confirm The Iran War Has Become The Least Popular War Faster Than Any Other The Past 60 Years

The Costs Of War

• U.S. Military Identifies The 2 Soldiers Killed In Iranian Attack In Jordan

• U.S. Soldier Killed In Iraq During Controlled Explosion Of Iranian Drone Named

• Hegseth & Joint Chiefs’ Chair Caine To Testify To Congress This Afternoon, To Ask For $87 Billion More For Trump’s Iran War

Other Foreign Affairs

• New UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham Moves Quickly To Tackle High Costs. Targeting Lower Energy Bills In First Move As PM

• New Trump State Dept. Report Attempts To Link Cuba To Wide Range Of U.S. Protests, Including George Floyd

• Trump Regime’s Claims Of Cuba’s ‘Unique Threat’ Clash With Reality Of Hunger And Blackouts

• Ukraine Bombs Russian Warehouses, Targeting Wildberries — Russia’s Version Of Amazon

Second Round - Election Land

• Battleground Arizona Hosting Another Round Of Hotly Contested Primary Elections Today

• What To Watch For In Arizona’s Primary Elections Today

• Sen. Darline Graham Announces She’s Running For A Full 6-Year Term After Trump Urged Her To Jump Into The Race

• The New Sen. Graham Has Trump’s Endorsement, But That’s Not Dissuading A Crowded Field Of Opponents From Jumping In

• New Poll Shows Trump Flunky Byron Donalds Barely Ahead Of Democrat David Jolly As Florida’s Governor’s Race Tightens

Third Round - Republicans' Fail At Governing

Trumponomics Is Failing

• Trump Imposes New Additional 50 Percent Tariff On Some Goods From Canada, In Actions That Will Drive Up Inflation Again

• New Strength In Numbers/Verasight Poll: 59% Say Gas Price Hikes Have Forced Them To Cut Back Spending; 51% Blame Trump

• Trump’s 18-Month Deadline To Cut Electricity Prices In Half Has Arrived. Rates Are Up 18%.

• The Trump Regime’s Pull Back On Energy Efficiency Is Costing Americans More, Just As Prices For Everything Are Rising [Gift Link]

• New Harris Poll Confirms Two In Five Americans Believe The Stock Market Now Only Benefits The Top 1%

The Maladministration Of Trump

• In Arizona, People Are Losing Food Aid Rapidly, Due To Piles Of New Paperwork From Trump & Republicans’ Big Ugly Bill [Gift Link]

• Don Moynihan And Pamela Herd: As The One Big Beautiful Bill Comes Due, Real People Are Losing Snap. Medicaid Will Be Next.

• New Study Confirms 1,700 HIV Treatment Sites Closed After Trump Regime’s 2025 Aid Cuts

• Trump’s Omb Dir. Russ Vought Kills Future HIV Prevention Funding, Contradicting Trump’s Claimed Goal To End HIV By 2030

• After Giving Clemency To Nearly 1600 Insurrectionists, & Promising More For U.S.’ 250th Celebrations, Trump Rejects Nearly 6,000 Clemency Applications From People Without Political Connections [Gift Link]

The Right’s Cruel Immigration Wars

• New Data Shows U.S. Immigration Agents Arrested A Record Number Of People In June

• Man In Florida Who Died Running From Ice Was A Tourist - Who Already Had A Ticket Home

• Federal Judge Tosses Trump DOJ Suit That Challenged Minnesota Immigration Laws [Gift Link]

Fourth Round - More News To Drink About

War In The Courts

• New WaPo/Ipsos Poll Confirms Nearly Half Of Americans Say Supreme Court Rulings On Trump Agenda Based On Politics

• Trump DOJ’s Reflecting Pool “Vandalism” Case Falls Apart After Contractors Pull Up Liner, Failing To Preserve Physical Evidence In Case

• Tribes & Environmental Groups Sue To Block Trump’s Gutting Of The Endangered Species Act

Miscellaneous But Important

• Tate Brothers To Stay In Jail As New Details About Charges Emerge [Gift Link]

• Kentucky Gov. Beshear Again Presses For More Transparency On Mcconnell’s Condition

• Trump Regime Opens Opens Investigation Into Harvard’s Financial Aid For International Students

Fifth Round - Media, Entertainment, & More

Media Matters

• Disney Cutting Several Hundred Jobs; Pixar And National Geographic Among Most Affected Divisions

• Disney-Owned Espn Also Executes Layoffs Tied To Nfl Network Acquisition

• The Cruelest Cut: Espn Abruptly Parts Ways With Nfl Analyst Ryan Clark, During His ‘Nfl Live’ Appearance

• Trump Regime Aggressively Sought Phone Records Of NYTimes Journalists - & Their Relatives - In Corrupt Effort To Unmask Confidential Sources [Gift Link]

• Jim Acosta, Ann Curry, And Over 500 Other Journalists Renew Call To Confront Trump At Rescheduled WHCA Dinner This Friday

Movies & Music

• Ryan Reynolds Confirms New ‘Deadpool’ Movie In Early Stages Of Development

• Posthumous Jimmy Buffett Album To Be Released This Year Reportedly Includes Songs That Have Never Been Heard

• Melissa Auf Der Maur Unveils First New Music In 16 Years

Sports Entertainment

• Spain’s World Cup Champions Return Home For Royal Welcome And Parade In Front Of Almost 2 Million

• Seattle Catcher Cal Raleigh Hits 6th Career Grand Slam Home Run As Mariners Blank Reds 8-0

• Kayla Mcbride And Olivia Miles Lead Minnesota Lynx To 6th Straight Win, 105-102 Over Seattle Storm

• Kiki Iriafen Scores 23 Points As Washington Mystics Snap The Golden State Valkyries’ 9-Game Winning Streak With 90-82 Victory

Tonight’s Special Guest

One of our favorite friends Hal Sparks is back at the bar tonight! Hal - an original member of the Sexy Liberal Comedy Tour - is the host of the Hal Sparks Megaworldwide show, streaming weekdays on his Infotainment Wars YouTube Channel, and on Saturday’s on WCPT radio! He’s also been the star of multiple TV shows, including Talk Soup, Queer as Folk, Dude Where’s My Car, and Lab Rats. Today, we’ll talk about all the news of the day - and we may even hit on a few issues from the past month. Come on by & join us tonight!

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