Source: Independent Institute
by Raymond J March
“Robert F. Kennedy Jr. came into office with three ambitious goals: radical transparency, improved national health, and rebuilding trust in America’s public health agencies. More than a year in, it seems he has only one tool for the job — firing people. Lots of them.” (05/26/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/05/26/firing-make-america-healthy-again/
Source: The American Prospect
by David Dayen
“The Justice Department’s $1.776 billion ‘anti-weaponization’ fund, which would pay out public money in compensation for alleged overreach in federal prosecutions, including for the insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, has been accurately described as one of the most nakedly corrupt actions in American history. It would give a tacit endorsement from every American taxpayer to the notion that the Capitol Riot’s only transgression, for example, came from those who tried to punish its perpetrators for attempting to halt the outcome of an election. News of the fund has triggered massive political backlash and at least temporarily derailed a party-line reconciliation bill funding immigration enforcement operations for the next three years. Senate Republicans didn’t want to go on the record siding with Donald Trump’s crony slush fund, and left Washington rather than being confronted with such a question in a reconciliation ‘vote-a-rama.'” (05/27/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/05/27/trumps-slush-fund-could-end-up-costing-recipients-billions/
Source: Fox 13 News
“A Hyde Park man living in fear because his house had been broken into before opened fire on a home intruder early Tuesday morning, police said. … Officers arrived to find the suspect — later identified as Simeon Pratcher — laying ‘face down’ in one of the home’s bedrooms, police said. … The homeowner told investigators that he was in his living room when he heard someone entering his home. He went to one of his bedrooms and saw an intruder in the doorframe, leading the homeowner to fire two shots, MPD said. No one was struck by the gunfire. The homeowner told MPD that his home had been broken into three times, adding that he felt like he ‘had to protect himself.'” (05/26/26)
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Prof. Joe Terwilliger on Getting ‘Loomered’ and the Potential for a Deal with North Korea.” (05/26/26)
Source: Reason
by Matthew Petti
“The administration is avoiding conflict with China to focus on war in the Middle East. Taiwan’s democracy hangs in the balance.” (05/26/26)
https://reason.com/2026/05/26/why-has-trump-stopped-selling-weapons-to-taiwan/
Source: Axios
“Republican primary voters on Tuesday rejected U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, one of the Senate’s most senior GOP members, in favor of Trump-backed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. … ‘Tonight is the beginning of the fight to preserve every value we hold dear,’ Paxton told supporters, referring to his upcoming general election campaign against Democrat James Talarico. … Cornyn and his supporters warned that the outcome could complicate Republicans’ efforts to hold the seat in November against Talarico, a state representative from Austin.” [editor’s note: Paxton seems to think Texas Republicans hold fraud, bribery, and adultery “dear” as “values.” And he just may be right – TLK] (05/27/26)
https://www.axios.com/local/austin/2026/05/27/texas-senate-gop-cornyn-paxton
Source: Chris’s Substack
by Chris Matthew Sciabarra
“Libertarians are not unique in their diversity or their internal squabbles. Indeed, as a friend of mine once quipped, wherever there’s an ‘ism,’ there’s a schism — whether in religion, philosophy, or political thought. For example, socialism has long been an umbrella term for a diverse and often bitterly opposed group of thinkers and traditions …. And there’s even socialist overlap with libertarianism since figures associated with the latter, such as Benjamin Tucker, have identified with the former. Indeed, many anarchists and libertarian-socialists — from Proudhon to Emma Goldman — have inspired contemporary American libertarians. Zwolinski reminds us that the very term ‘libertarian’ was introduced by the French anarcho-communist Joseph Déjacque in the 1850s. … Internal squabbles have also been found among the followers of Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism.” (05/26/26)
https://chrismatthewsciabarra.substack.com/p/the-triumph-of-the-libertarian-hyphenates
Source: Reason
“Does Anyone Know What’s Happening in Iran?” (05/26/26)
https://reason.com/podcast/2026/05/26/does-anyone-know-whats-happening-in-iran/
Source: Reuters
“Air defence units in the port of Sevastopol in Russian-occupied [sic] Crimea downed more than 20 Ukrainian drones early on Wednesday, with Ukraine also using Storm Shadow missiles, the city’s governor said on Telegram. There were no injuries, according to preliminary data, Mikhail Razvozhayev said, adding that a few buildings, including a regional office of the central bank and an eight-story apartment block, were damaged in the attack. Storm Shadow missiles are made by a Franco-British consortium. Russia, which annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, has previously summoned the British and French ambassadors to protest Ukraine’s use of the weapons.” (05/27/26)
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“So, here we are: Instead of taking his lumps, letting the war end, and hoping for an economic upturn before the midterm elections mangle his party’s present projects and future prospects, Trump is doubling down. There are three, and only three, plausible explanations: Explanation One is that he’s evil, hates America, and is doing his damnedest to destroy the US economy. … Explanation Two is that he’s stupid — whether by nature or due to his obvious cognitive decline — and just doesn’t know what he’s doing or understand its moral, political, or economic implications. … Explanation Three is that Trump — again, possibly due to the obvious cognitive decline he’s publicly and frequently displayed since before his second inauguration — isn’t in charge; the presidency is effectively controlled by other people who happen to be evildoers.” (05/26/26)