“Americans seldom experience war directly — World War II was the last time a war reached US soil. Since then, our wars have been experienced much more indirectly. No ration books appeared during Vietnam, no mass retooling of factories happened for Desert Storm, and daily life seems largely unchanged despite a decades-long War on Terror. The Iran War seems to be the same, at least in these respects. All wars still impose costs on ordinary Americans, of course; they simply arrive in quieter ways. Enter every trip to the gas station since February 28.” (05/13/26)
“It’s not exactly a mystery why Sean Duffy, President Donald Trump’s secretary of Transportation, seems so befuddled and embittered about the backlash that followed his May 8 reveal that American corporations funded a five-part reality television series about a “Great American Road Trip” for his family. … Television shows have sponsors. And the Duffy family road trip has some of the biggest corporations paying the bills. And some of them are regulated by the Department of Transportation. Trump’s administration has always seemed at least as interested, if not more interested, in content generation than in governing. Why do boring public servants work when you can be an influencer on television and social media? But the look-at-me crowd gets pretty huffy when they receive actual scrutiny.” (05/13/26)
“Donald Trump has apparently not figured out that Iran holds all the cards. Still fixated on the notion that the ‘winner’ of the war is the side that blows up the most stuff, he remains convinced he can dictate terms to Iran. But the Iranians hold the Strait of Hormuz and have remained convinced that Trump has no stomach for more military action. In any event, they are confident they can sustain any further U.S. attacks. Naturally, then, Iran is sticking to demands to keep control of the Strait, obtain sanctions relief, and even extract reparations from the U.S. … Trump’s trip to China may only deepen his predicament.” (05/13/26)
“A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security has confirmed to The Hill’s broadcast partner NewsNation that President Trump will select Dave Venturella to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in an acting capacity after the departure of Todd Lyons, who is currently serving as the acting ICE chief. Lyons is expected to leave the administration for a role in the private sector on May 31, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin announced in a post on social platform X last month. … The Senate has not confirmed a director for ICE since 2017, resulting in almost ten years of the agency having a leader in an acting capacity.” (05/12/26)
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
by Marie McMullan
“The PPA limits the use of search warrants against those who intend to disseminate information to the public, which means it’s not specific to journalists in application. The PPA’s protections apply to any person intending to publish their ‘work product’ or ‘documentary’ materials (more on that later) in ‘a newspaper, book, broadcast or other similar form of public communication,’ which covers journalists but isn’t limited to the press. These protections are valuable to communicators who are independent and who don’t operate within the mainstream media, such as citizen journalists or documentarians. … the PPA’s protections require the federal government to adhere to its limits. The Natanson case is a recent example of what happens when assistant United States attorneys fail to do just that.” (05/12/26)
“Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine testified before the House and Senate Appropriations Committees on Tuesday ostensibly to justify the President’s request for an historic $1.5 trillion budget. Unfortunately, they offered no strategic justification for this nearly $500 billion increase in military spending and, instead, raised even more questions about the Pentagon budget and the cost of the war in Iran. What was most surprising about the hearings was perhaps what was missing: a real enemy. Historically, increases in Pentagon spending have been justified by a monster abroad we’re told we must destroy. … While the usual suspects — China, Russia, and Iran — were all mentioned in the hearings today, neither Hegseth nor Caine made the case that they were enough to justify the enormous increase in military spending they are asking Congress for.” (05/12/26)
