Welcome to the New, Improved, This Week in America!

This Week in America is a feature that began at Jeffrey J. Mariotte's personal/writing/books blog, Dispatches from the Flying M. TWiA has outgrown that space, though, and was consuming more and more of a blog meant to be more oriented toward the writing career than the political hobby. Please check the Dispatches as often as you can (and buy books, so we here at TWiA World Headquarters can afford to keep TWiA going!), but check here, too, because what was once a weekly post is expanding into more frequent (and shorter) ones.

What is TWiA? As our boilerplate blocks say:

TWiA explores the intersection of policy and politics, and most importantly, how that intersection affects real people. It's dedicated to the proposition that good government is possible, it matters, and taxpayers deserve nothing less. Its starting point is that facts are facts, science is real, data are real, and we can and must learn from history. Below you'll find facts and opinions that derive from fact, informed by a close and careful study of these issues that began in 1968 and has never stopped. Note, when we discuss generic "Democrats" and "Republicans" or "conservatives" and "liberals," etc., we're generally talking about elected officials, unless otherwise noted. Also, bonus bear news and other awesomeness. We appreciate comments and arguments, so please chime in, and if you like it, spread the word.

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Far too much media coverage of politics focuses on the horserace angle--who's ahead, who's behind, who's up or down. It relies on false equivalency: if Politician A says X, then the reporter goes to Politician B, who's sure to say Y. That's lazy journalism, and it doesn't actually inform the public about which position (if any) is actually true, or adheres to the facts as we know them. At TWiA, our mission is to discuss politics through the prism of policy--to look, in other words, at the real-world implications of the things that politicians say and do, to make connections others might miss, and to explain it all in language a lay person can understand. Also to offer suggestions of how you can help somebody in need, to report on what's awesome, and to keep tabs on bears. If you like TWiA, share or repost or tell a friend, and be sure to leave comments, even if they're arguments. Especially if they're arguments.

Between those two alternating statements, we think that pretty much sums up our approach. We admittedly look at the world from a liberal perspective (and we never accepted that "liberal" was an epithet, as so many did--or "conservative," either, for that matter), but more crucially, we make an effort to explore multiple sides of an issue. What matters to us is what's true and what makes sense, not what's ideologically pure.

There's no paywall, no monthly subscription fee (and we don't make a dime from TWiA, although we're considering accepting donations--let us know how you feel about that in comments). The first regularly scheduled TWiA post will show up here on Friday evening, but it will be an abbreviated one, because of the special midweek one that ran on Wednesday. Check that out here, if you missed it.

If you send news tips that we use -- send 'em to jmariotte@aol.com, with "TWiA Tip" in the subject line), you get your name attached to the piece that results from it. We'll try to come up with more substantial rewards, too, so stay tuned.

Thanks for stopping by. We hope you'll come back often, and join the conversation.