(The Center Square) – One day shy of a full two weeks sooner than any other state in the nation, North Carolina county boards of elections on Friday will begin sending absentee ballots to any voter having made a request.
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(The Center Square) – Several new polls show that Gov. Greg Abbott and state Sen. James Talarico are leading in their respective races for governor and U.S. Senate.
Dolly Parton’s sister is remembering all of their good times together.
Freida Parton honored the country star in an emotional social media post following her Aug. 25 passing at the age of 80 after…
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What did Bill Maher say about Dolly Parton?
The late great country singer, actress, and philanthropist was essentially universally beloved.
There are few better contrasts to Parton than the divisive HBO host and podcaster.
Just days after her passing, Maher took a stick to a hornet’s nest. Is it any surprise that people are roasting him?
What did Bill Maher say about Dolly Parton?
For many of us, Bill Maher is someone we only have to think about once per week at most.
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver ends and HBO Max has the gall to suggest that someone might want to subject themselves to essentially the polar opposite of what viewers just watched.
However, he does have an audience. What percentage of them are victims of the autoplay function, we can only guess.
Regardless of what consigned them to watching him, Maher’s August 28 monologue led to him making a joke out of the tragic death of Dolly Parton.
“All this was going on, and all America could really talk about this week was how sad it is we lost Dolly Parton,” he acknowledged.
Bill Maher highlights how UNIFYING of a figure Dolly Parton was, as people across the U.S. and around the world have come together to mourn the country music icon.
“All America could really talk about this week was how sad it is that we lost Dolly Parton, and you see everyone… pic.twitter.com/b217EzdDfH
— RedWave Press (@RedWavePress) August 29, 2026
“Everybody around the country, even around the world,” Maher continued.
“London, they’re doing things, the Santa Monica Ferris wheel is lit up with hearts, the Empire State Building was put up in pink,” he cited accurately.
Maher then joked: “The Sphere in Las Vegas added a nipple.”
This is a clear reference to Parton’s breasts. Though younger generations tended to think of her as an older woman with a wild sense of style, her deliberately busty look drew eyes many decades ago.
When discussing a universally beloved figure who spent untold millions on charity while entertaining the world for many decades, making a crass joke seldom goes over well.
The Empire State Building went pink at exactly 9:25pm for Dolly Parton.
Because of course they made it 9 to 5. That’s how you honor an icon. 🩷
— Christopher Webb (@cwebbonline.com) August 25, 2026 at 11:24 PM
Dolly fans (more widely known as ‘people’) were incensed
A lot of understandable yet possibly unhelpful name-calling ensued online.
According to various outlets, people called out Bill Maher over his Dolly Parton joke by noting that his attempts to be edgy only came across as douchey. (That is sort of his whole brand.)
“Bill Maher trying to get edgy about Dolly Parton is wild. Buddy, you’re not ‘telling hard truths,’ you’re just the guy who looked at a national treasure and said, ‘How can I make this about my bitterness,’” reads one tweet.
Many people zeroed in on the contrast between Maher and Parton. And no, not on their differing chest sizes.
Parton was almost universally beloved, even across the political aisle. Maher clearly has fans of some variety for some reason, but he is widely hated. And it appears to have made him deeply bitter.
Bill Maher highlights how UNIFYING of a figure Dolly Parton was, as people across the U.S. and around the world have come together to mourn the country music icon.
“All America could really talk about this week was how sad it is that we lost Dolly Parton, and you see everyone… pic.twitter.com/b217EzdDfH
— RedWave Press (@RedWavePress) August 29, 2026
In all fairness, we do want to acknowledge that Dolly Parton very deliberately drew attention to her bust — even in her final years.
We think that she would have laughed at such a joke. She was a famously good-natured person.
Even so, it is understandable that fans felt that this crass joke was ghoulish. There are many ways to tell tasteful jokes about a deceased celebrity without being upsetting.
We should keep in mind that Maher expressed a belief earlier this year that he (a man with a long-running HBO series and a podcast) has been “canceled” because he doesn’t have an Emmy.
Many believe that Maher has allowed his bitterness at being fundamentally unlikable to make him deliberately attempt to sabotage goodwill. We do not, however, claim to know the inner workings of his mind.
Nor would we care to.
Bill Maher ROASTED Over ‘Ghoulish’ Dolly Parton Joke was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.
The Hollywood Gossip
Prince Jackson gave fans a real thrill.
The oldest son of Michael Jackson honored what would have been his late father’s 68th birthday on Aug. 29 with a special appearance at the Michael Jackson…
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There is much to be impressed by in Costco’s bakery section apart from cake and cookies. The warehouse chain’s muffins are also quite the sweet treat.
Mashed – Fast Food, Celebrity Chefs, Grocery, Reviews
With the college football season upon us, NFL executives and scouts will be keeping a close eye on a talented 2027 quarterback class that has the potential to rank as the best in NFL history. That mythical title still belongs to the 1983 class headlined by Hall of Famers John Elway, Dan Marino and Jim Kelly. For more than four decades, that was the only class to feature six QBs selected in the first round. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that the 2027 class matches or eclipses that mark. Given the buzz that is already floating around league circles, I thought it was the perfect time to take a sneak peek at this deep crop of quarterbacks and rank them as I see them heading into the season. As a bonus, I’m sharing an active pro comparison for the 10 best QB prospects. Honorable mentions: Josh Hoover, Indiana; Jayden Maiava, USC; Drew Mestemaker, Oklahoma State; Sam Leavitt, LSU The most polarizing prospect on the list has the potential to make the biggest jump up draft boards under the direction of a new head coach with a reputation for building explosive offenses. Iamaleava possesses the athleticism and arm talent that evaluators covet, with the playmaking prowess to shine in a scheme featuring RPOs and movement passes. Although the 6-foot-6, 215-pounder remains a work in progress in the pocket, Iamaleava’s tools and talent will keep him on the radar for scouts looking for a quarterback with the potential to become an explosive playmaker as a pro. Current pro comp: Justin Herbert The confident passer heads to Miami after helping a pair of programs (Duke and Tulane) play championship-caliber football as the playmaking point guard from the pocket. Mensah plays on time and routinely puts the ball on target in a rhythmic offense that seemingly has answers for every blitz or pressure thrown at him by aggressive defensive play-callers. With the veteran moving on to a top-10 program to pursue a national title, the football world will have a chance to see how he fares with a stellar supporting cast. If he plays as he has for Tulane and Duke, the slick passer with superb ball placement could dazzle and emerge as an intriguing option for a team looking for a long-term starter. Current pro comp: Jordan Love The silky-smooth passer is not a household name, but his polished game should pique the interest of evaluators looking for a classic drop-back quarterback to build around. Measuring at 6-foot-6, 213 pounds, Bailey is a wiry passer with a whip that is best utilized in a vertical passing game. The junior (and third-year starter) is a rhythm passer who plays on time and routinely delivers on-target passes to every area of the field. As a big-play hunter with a high-arcing deep ball that is nearly impossible to defend, Bailey is a wild card who could soar up the charts — if he shows discipline and patience as a passer when defenses opt to play soft against the Wolfpack’s ordinarily potent offense. This past weekend’s season opener seemed a bit inauspicious, however. Current pro comp: C.J. Stroud After being ruled ineligible for the 2026 Supplemental Draft, the embattled passer will spend the entire season honing his skills in preparation for the 2027 draft. Meanwhile, executives and scouts will study the 2024 and 2025 seasons to determine if Sorsby is a developmental prospect or franchise player in a loaded class. Studying his old tapes, it is easy to see why the league was buzzing when he was expected to join the 2026 class. At 6-foot-3, 235 pounds, the mobile playmaker possesses the size and strength to generate explosive plays as a runner or thrower on the perimeter. He displays the ball-handling skills and athleticism to make pinpoint throws on the run as part of a creative bootleg or naked-pass game. With Sorsby also exhibiting the patience to work the underneath areas when opponents take away vertical throws, the veteran flashes the maturity to handle the bright lights and big stage as a pro. Although his gambling woes will force some teams to remove him from their draft boards entirely due to trust issues, the former Bearcat’s talent and tools will pique the interest of a general manager willing to roll the dice on the troubled star. Current pro comp: Jaxson Dart The rugged playmaker must bounce back from a disappointing 2025 campaign that raised questions about his readiness to be a franchise quarterback at the next level. While his shortcomings are correctable mechanical issues, the 6-foot-3, 240-pound gunslinger must refine his technique to fully unlock his superpowers as a dual-threat playmaker with A-plus arm talent and athleticism. Specifically, Sellers must improve in his accuracy and efficiency to graduate from “freak” athlete to certified franchise quarterback on the draft board. Given his raw tools and playmaking prowess, Sellers will be in the discussion as a Day 1 possibility, but his production must match his potential to vault to the top of the charts as a blue-chip quarterback prospect. Current pro comp: Jalen Hurts The diminutive playmaker is a dynamic weapon with the potential to produce big plays with his arm or legs. Chambliss took the football world by storm when he took over at Ole Miss, but electric displays have been a part of his game since he helped Ferris State claim a D2 national championship in 2024. Although his size (6-0, 200 pounds) will make some teams pause, it is hard to deny his performance and production as a quick-rhythm passer with explosive running skills. As a slick ball handler with a quick release, he is best suited to play in a wide-open offensive scheme that leverages his dual-threat talents through RPOs and timely deep balls. With some teams hesitant to gamble on an undersized quarterback regardless of talent, Chambliss is one of the biggest wild cards of the 2027 class. Current pro comp: Kyler Murray The one-year starter has captivated scouts seeking a “winner” with the tools to thrive at the next level. Despite entering 2026 with only 293 pass attempts, the grandson of former Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr is a tough-minded competitor with the discipline and patience to win games utilizing a conservative approach from the pocket. The 6-foot-3, 210-pounder rarely puts the ball in harm’s way, opting for checkdowns and underneath routes when the defense plays “umbrella” coverage designed to take away the deep ball. That said, Carr is not afraid to take his chances down the field on “alley-oop” tosses to big-bodied receivers and tight ends near the boundary. The clever game of chess played by the redshirt sophomore reflects his maturity and suggests he is built to play winning football for a top team as a pro. Current pro comp: Bo Nix The ultra-talented passer has a chance to jump into the family business as the next Manning to emerge as a franchise quarterback. At 6-4, 219 pounds, he oozes blue-chip “drip” as a mobile playmaker with a knack for producing “wow” plays inside and outside the pocket. Manning’s combination of athleticism and arm talent is better than the tools his famous uncles (Peyton and Eli) brought to the field, but he lacks the experience to dominate the game with his intelligence and diagnostic skills. However, another season at Texas under the direction of a quarterback guru who knows how to showcase an athletic drop-back passer could lead to significant improvement in his production and performance this fall. Given his combination of talent, tools, and technique, Manning could shoot to the top of the charts by the end of the 2027 draft process with a strong showing as a two-year starter. Current pro comp: Joe Burrow The 6-foot-1, 208-pounder is a masterful “grip it and rip it” passer with the touch, timing and anticipation to shred defenses with a flurry of pinpoint passes thrown at intermediate range. While skeptics will question Sayin’s arm strength compared to his peers, the Ohio State standout deftly attacks every area of the field with layered throws over the top of squatting defenders aggressively “playing at the sticks” on critical downs. With the junior showing impressive processing quickness and sound judgment as a pass-first point guard, teams willing to take a technician over a superior talent will view Sayin as a system player with franchise potential. Current pro comp: Baker Mayfield As a pure thrower with outstanding footwork and mechanics, Moore looks like a seasoned veteran directing an offense that is loaded with playmakers. Although his critics have been picking apart his game after a disappointing finish in the College Football Playoff, the 6-foot-3, 206-pounder is a polished pocket passer and a sneaky dual-threat playmaker who can operate within or outside the system. Given his tools, toughness and deadly accuracy, Moore possesses the traits executives and scouts look for in a franchise QB1. As a patient player who will take the checkdown and underneath throws when opponents sit in a soft zone, Moore keeps the offense on schedule with a patient approach that tests the discipline of opposing defenses. Now he just needs to demonstrate as much against top competition. Current pro comp: Jordan LoveLatest Sports News from FOX Sports
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Far more attention has been paid to John Dillinger’s brazen criminality in the 1930s than to what he ate. His last meal matched his Midwestern tastes.
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Republicans and Democrats are fighting over working class voters. Americans don’t believe the rhetoric.
Fifty-five percent of Americans think politicians are just trying to win votes when they say they will help the working class, according to new results from The POLITICO Poll. It’s a view held by majorities of people who voted for President Donald Trump, who voted for Kamala Harris and who self-identify as working class.
Only one in four Americans who self-identify as working-class say politicians genuinely want to help them.
That wariness comes as both parties increasingly see working class voters as key to their winning coalitions. But The POLITICO Poll results show both parties face serious challenges to doing so.
Neither party does particularly well with Americans who identify as working class: 38 percent of them say Democrats best represent them, while 32 percent say Republicans. Americans, broadly, are almost identically split, with a 37 percent plurality saying Democrats best represent the interests of the working class, while 30 percent say Republicans.
Democrats wrestling with how to win back voters who have drifted toward the GOP — as their coalition has grown increasingly dominated by college-educated Americans — are locked in an intraparty battle over which wing of the party, progressives or moderates, best speaks to these voters.
“We’ve struggled with the working class for quite a while and it’s been a combination of being out of touch with working class values on a lot of culture issues and being seen as either not helpful or not helpful enough on economic issues,” said Jim Kessler, executive vice president for policy at the centrist Democratic think tank Third Way.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), widely considered the leader of the progressive movement, told Playbook’s Will Steakin that progressive Democrats “are speaking to the needs of working families.”
“It is not just traditional Democrats or independents,” he said. “There are a lot of working-class Republicans who understand that there’s something wrong when we are the only major nation on Earth not to guarantee health care to all people.”
Republicans, meanwhile, are trying to hold onto the gains Trump made in 2024 with working class voters — including Black and Latino voters frustrated with the Biden-era economy — at a time when cost of living remains voters’ top concern.
“With the [Iran] war, with gas prices, with cost of food, the working class is not happy with the president, and many who are independents and even some Republicans have said that he’s forgotten about them,” said former Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Renacci.
Who is working class?
Complicating both parties’ efforts to win over these voters is that Americans do not agree on what makes someone working class. Neither do lawmakers and party officials.
When asked whether the term “working class” describes them, a 59 percent majority of Americans broadly say it does, while just 31 percent say it does not, according to the survey conducted by London-based polling firm Public First. But when forced to choose from a list of labels — including wealthy, middle class, lower middle class, working class and poor — just 16 percent of adults say they identify as “working class.”
Americans are also divided over what characteristics define the working class.
Some politicians, including progressive New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Andy Schor, the centrist Democratic mayor of Lansing, Michigan, have argued the definition of working class is expansive — encompassing anyone who needs to work to pay their bills.
“If you’re not making enough money that you don’t have to work, then you’re working class,” said Schor in an interview. “The American Dream is to be able to work hard and get ahead, and people are not getting ahead like they used to, and they’ll look at the folks that they vote for and think, ‘Who can help me to get ahead?’”
The POLITICO Poll illustrates the difficult path for the GOP to solidify its gains with working class Americans as economic concerns continue to be top of mind: More than a third of this group say they are not currently employed. A 35 percent plurality also say Trump, not former President Joe Biden, is fully responsible for the economy and many oppose the war in Iran, which most say has made things more expensive for them.
Half of self-identified working class Americans say Trump has spent too much time focusing on international affairs instead of on domestic issues.
“I think [Republican candidates] just got to tell the truth,” Renacci, the Ohio Republican, said. “You just have to start realizing that those middle class voters are struggling and they’re just looking for somebody who’s going to understand their issues and problems.”
The race for 2026
November will offer a major test of whether each party’s working class pitch is working, carrying implications that extend into 2028.
Candidates in both parties are racing to flex their working class bonafides this cycle, leaning on their biographies to signal ties to these voters. Trump pushed that playbook to extremes in 2024, when he briefly worked the fryer and drive-through window at McDonald’s as part of a campaign swing through Pennsylvania.
Republicans have continued that approach, with candidates and administration officials emphasizing their blue-collar roots on the campaign trail. Vice President JD Vance recently returned to his hometown of Middletown, Ohio, where he spoke at the steel plant where his grandfather worked.
In battleground Georgia, Rep. Mike Collins — the state’s GOP Senate nominee — often touts his background as a trucker. And GOP Sen. Susan Collins has broken with Trump on tariff policy, saying his trade fight with Canada hurts working families and small businesses in Maine, where she’s locked in a competitive battle for reelection.
These efforts come against the backdrop of increasing concerns about the economy, fueled by the ongoing Iran war.
Democrats, meanwhile, are divided over which flank of the party can best appeal to working class voters, a fissure that burst into public view during primary season, when a slate of progressives prevailed in high-profile contests.
“The working class are giving Democrats another look and we better not blow it,” said Kessler of Third Way. “Donald Trump got reelected based on the notion he was going to fight for you, working class men and women, and his first year and a half has been anything but that.”
Some Democrats have made their working class background central to their pitch: Sam Forstag, a union leader and former smokejumper, is running in an open district in western Montana that Trump won by double digits in 2024. Bob Brooks, a firefighter union chief, is challenging GOP Rep. Ryan Mackenzie in Pennsylvania.
But some progressives are still running into limits: In Michigan, one of Democrats’ must-hold seats in November, the state’s divisive Senate primary illustrated that debate in real-time. Progressive Abdul El-Sayed, who won the Democratic nomination, performed best in the state’s wealthiest and most highly educated areas, while moderate Rep. Haley Stevens did better in places with lower average incomes and where fewer votes have college degrees.
Jessie Blaeser contributed to this report.
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