Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 02/03/26
Source: Antiwar.com
“US and Iran May Hold Talks in Istanbul on Friday, IDF Kills Three-Year-Old in Gaza, and More.” (02/03/26)
Progressive Moral Reasoning and Iran’s Revolt
Source: Quillette
by Roohola Ramezani
“Progressive discourse has become highly adept at identifying oppression, exclusion, and harm. But it is far less capable of understanding the basic conditions of political order.” (02/03/26)
https://quillette.com/2026/02/03/progressive-moral-reasoning-and-irans-revolt/
Three Takeaways from the Taylor Rehmet Texas Shocker
Source: Washington Monthly
by Bill Scher
“Taylor Rehmet, a 33-year-old Lockheed Martin machinist and president of the Texas chapter of the international machinist union, in a Saturday special election, flipped a Republican-held state Senate seat in the suburbs of Fort Worth. The neophyte Democratic candidate won a district by 14 points, while Donald Trump carried it by 17 points. While the 31-point swing is particularly wide, Democrats have consistently outperformed in state legislative special elections throughout Trump’s second term. Therefore, Rehmet’s triumph is no fluke, and more than a mere extension of a trend, perhaps, an acceleration. Of course, we must always be careful not to overinterpret a single data point. But some lessons can be reasonably drawn from Rehmet’s shocking upset.” (02/03/26)
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2026/02/03/three-takeaways-taylor-rehmet-texas-shocker/
Who Owns the Founding? Akhil Reed Amar’s “Born Equal: Remaking America’s Constitution”
Source: Liberal Currents
by Ahmed Ahmed
“Amar’s book is a useful history that nevertheless smooths over some of the real complexity of the eras it touches on.” (02/03/26)
Why We Need Young Organizers Now
Source: TomDispatch
by Liz Theoharis & Sam Theoharis
“Here’s a small suggestion from the two authors of this piece (us): don’t be young in Donald Trump’s America if you can help it. Being young in America right now means you’ll have to contend with stalling job markets, rampant inflation, deep political and economic instability, and impending climate disaster. If you point these things out, you’re labeled a dangerous (and misguided) radical. If you’re too busy trying to make ends meet for you and your family, you get labeled as lazy, apathetic, and defeatist. This is not to say that older generations are doing okay. They’re not. But at least they’ll get to receive (and not just pay into) social security, which has to make the fascism go down easier. Before we explain or suggest what the young can do about all that, let us start by introducing ourselves, since one of us is indeed still Gen Z.” (02/03/25)
https://tomdispatch.com/the-young-organizers-survival-corps/
NY: AG to deploy legal observers to monitor federal gang activity
Source: SFGate
“New York’s attorney general announced plans Tuesday to deploy legal observers to monitor federal immigration enforcement actions in the state. The initiative will send observers, who will wear purple safety vests, to areas of reported immigration enforcement activity to collect information ‘that may inform future legal action,’ according to Attorney General Letitia James. Tensions remain high nationwide over President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown, particularly following the [murders] of two U.S. citizens at the hands of federal agents in Minnesota. Videos of agents conducting immigration [abductions] throughout the country have drawn criticism over heavy-handed tactics, often going viral online. In a statement, James, a Democrat, said she is ‘proud to protect New Yorkers’ constitutional rights to speak freely, protest peacefully, and go about their lives without fear of unlawful federal action’. ‘We have seen in Minnesota how quickly and tragically federal operations can escalate in the absence of transparency and accountability,’ she said.” (02/03/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/new-york-attorney-general-to-deploy-legal-21331524.php
Son of Norway’s crown princess denies rape as trial opens
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“The son of Norway’s crown princess has pleaded not guilty to four counts of rape as a trial that has brought fresh scrutiny to a royal family already embarrassed by links to Jeffrey Epstein opened. Marius Borg Hoiby entered his plea on Tuesday as proceedings got under way at the Oslo District Court. A conviction on the most serious of the charges he faces could result in at least 10 years in prison. The son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit and stepson of the heir to the throne, Crown Prince Haakon, Hoiby faces 38 counts, which also include domestic violence, assault and drug possession.” (02/03/26)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/3/son-of-norways-crown-princess-denies-rape-as-trial-opens
Pod Save America, 02/03/26
Source: Crooked Media
“Epstein Files: Worse Than You Thought.” (02/03/26)
US Sanctions on Iran Failed — So Why Do They Continue?
Source: The American Conservative
by Harrison Berger
“Economic warfare immiserates populations without achieving political goals.” (02/03/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/u-s-sanctions-on-iran-failed-so-why-do-they-continue/
An Election Bombshell in Texas That Should Leave the White House Shaking
Source: The Daily Beast
by Chris Cillizza
“In the 2024 presidential election, Donald Trump carried the 9th State Senate district in Texas by 17 points. Over the weekend, however, Democrat Taylor Rehmet beat Republican Leigh Wambsganss by 14 points in a special election run-off. Republicans had, prior to this point, held the seat for decades—the incumbent who won last in 2022 had left to take a statewide position. But, wait, there’s more.
Wambsganss outspent Rehmet 10 to 1. And Trump sent out three get-out-the-vote messages on her behalf via Truth Social over the last few days, describing her as a ‘true MAGA warrior’ and candidate ‘who has my Complete and Total Endorsement.’ Trump has, of course, since pretended to know nothing about the race; ‘I’m not involved in it,’ he said on Sunday. ‘That’s a local Texas race.’ Ha!” (02/02/26)