Source: The Erick Erickson Show
by Erick-Woods Erickson

“In 2024, Donald Trump assembled a multiracial and multiethnic coalition of voters who bristled at the progressivism of the Democrats and the wreckage of the economy. By 2026, Trump and his White House acolytes set that coalition on fire to cater to a group of hyperonline grievance mongers who have confused Twitter with real life. Last night, the American constitutional system worked as designed and worked so well and so thoroughly that the party that lied to itself in 2020 that it had lost only because the election was stolen is now lying to itself that it lost only because of gas prices and war. Last night’s drubbing was too complete to be theft.” (11/04/26)

https://ewerickson.substack.com/p/trump-as-ozymandias-the-most-impermanent

Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
by John Coleman

“Fifteen years ago, the Supreme Court in Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association struck down a California law barring the sale of violent video games to minors. The Court held that the state’s legitimate power to protect children does not include ‘free-floating power to restrict the ideas to which children may be exposed.’ It also rejected the idea that the interactivity of video games made them legally different from books, plays, or films. Today, California is again overreaching to block access to an interactive medium in the name of child safety.” (11/04/26)

https://www.fire.org/news/californias-new-chatbot-law-has-free-speech-problem

Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff

“Perhaps the best result of America’s midterm elections was that President Donald Trump quickly accepted the results, contrary to his usual tendency to claim he always wins. On Tuesday night, he told The New York Times that he is ‘absolutely willing’ to honor the Democrats’ taking control of Congress. ‘We’ll … look forward to working with them,’ he said. The Republican Party in general was indeed humbled in a surprisingly high number of electoral contests, whether for Congress or statehouses. In their concession speeches, several losing GOP candidates took the time to express a measure of decency and civility about their defeat. ‘It’s important to win with humility and gratitude and lose with grace and dignity,’ said Ohio Sen. Jon Husted, a Republican who lost his seat to Sherrod Brown, a Democrat. ‘No matter whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican, I want you to succeed.'” (11/04/26)

https://www.csmonitor.com/Editorials/the-monitors-view/2026/1104/Midterm-elections-that-chasten

Source: American Greatness
by Julio Rivera

“Joe Biden’s Washington set out to slow China’s march toward technological dominance. Instead, it may have handed Beijing one of the best incentives imaginable to build its own semiconductor industry. Now, as President Donald Trump pursues a different approach to win the AI race, a Congress controlled by his own party is considering provisions that could lock America into a more rigid export-control regime just when strategic flexibility matters most. The irony is hard to miss. Huawei chairman Xu Zhijun reportedly credited American pressure with helping China’s semiconductor industry grow. Washington wanted to make it harder for Chinese companies to obtain advanced chips and the equipment needed to manufacture them. Beijing’s response was to double down on domestic alternatives. When the world’s second-largest economy decides that it can no longer depend on American technology, it has every incentive to throw money, talent, and political muscle at building its own.” (11/04/26)

https://amgreatness.com/2026/11/04/bidens-gift-to-china-how-washington-helped-build-beijings-ai-chip-industry/

Source: Chris Spangle
by Chris Spangle

“Voters will keep voting for their best chance at affordability until they get it. That’s why Trump won in 2024. People want the economy they had in 2018 again. It is, and always will be, the economy, stupid. We keep having change election after change election because both parties want to appeal to their increasingly radical bases and not to voters’ far more moderate views.” (11/04/26)

https://www.chrisspangle.com/p/post-election-day-thoughts

Source: Town Hall
by Joe Abraham

“Katie Abraham was 20 when she was killed on January 19, 2025, in Sanctuary Urbana, Illinois. Her death changed my life forever and sharpened a question beyond the person responsible for the crash: When government decisions affect public safety, who holds officials accountable when their policies or failures create foreseeable risks? Government officials need legal protections to perform their duties. Judges must make difficult decisions, legislators need room to deliberate, and executive officials must be able to govern without constant fear of personal lawsuits. But immunity is not one universal protection. Different legal standards apply to different officials and functions. Protecting legitimate judgment is one thing. Preventing serious failures from being examined is another. The familiar response to government failure is that voters can remove those responsible. Elections are essential, but their effectiveness depends on whether political power can meaningfully be challenged.” (11/04/26)

https://townhall.com/columnists/joe-abraham/2026/11/04/immunity-without-accountability-who-answers-when-government-fails-n2685807