“Former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith, who brought two federal indictments against President Donald Trump, told lawmakers on Tuesday that he ‘will not be silenced by continued threats of prosecution’ from the Trump administration and that he believes the rule of law is being threatened like never before. Smith also told the Senate Judiciary Committee that he stands behind the criminal cases he brought against Trump, a Republican, and that he and his team acted without regard to politics. … Republicans sought to cast the prosecution as a political fishing expedition, accusing Smith of bending ordinary procedures in an overzealous pursuit of the president.” (09/29/26)
Source: The Erick Erickson Show
by Erick-Woods Erickson
“Both parties can count on their base. The most loyal Republicans will turn out for anyone with an R beside his name, and the most loyal Democrats will do the same for a D. No party wins with its base alone, though. Most Americans are not party loyalists, and that includes plenty of people who vote in Republican and Democratic primaries. … Those voters, along with the independents who only vote in general elections, decide elections. The parties keep insulting them. Both sides serve up a crap sandwich of a candidate, point across the aisle at the other side’s crap sandwich, and insist you have to eat theirs because the other one is worse. It is no longer a choice between the lesser of two evils. It is a choice between the evils of two lessers, and voters are getting tired of it.” (09/29/26)
“New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday quickly appealed a judge’s decision to cancel previously mailed notices for his second-home tax, triggering an automatic stay of the ruling. ‘The auto stay allows the city to continue, as we have been, with the implementation of the pied-a-terre surcharge and puts the lower court’s order on pause,’ a city official said. Just hours earlier, Judge Wayne Ozzi found that the city failed to follow required procedures before mailing the notices, which he described as ‘arbitrary and capricious, affected by errors of law, and in violation of the recipients’ due process rights,’ according to the ruling. Despite the ruling, Ozzi noted that the policy itself could still survive. He said the city can still apply the tax by removing the current list of taxed properties from its website and posting a corrected list after following the proper procedures.” (09/29/26)
“The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed two measles-related deaths from the 3,659 confirmed cases this year, the highest number of cases in 35 years. The CDC did not specify on Tuesday in which states the deaths occurred. However, Pennsylvania has been hardest hit by the outbreak with more than 900 reported cases. The preventable disease was declared eliminated in the US in 2000 but has made an aggressive comeback in recent years, which some have linked to a rise in vaccine scepticism.” (09/29/26)
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“Trump deserves impeachment for knowingly, deliberately, and intentionally committing high crimes or misdemeanors — (1) the waging of war without a congressional declaration of war and (2) ordering the killing of people on the high seas without according them due process of law. Why should presidents be given a pass to ignore that higher law that we the people have imposed on them, especially since they and other federal officials don’t give us a pass on the need to comply with the laws that they impose on us?” (09/29/26)
“For almost a century, Republicans claimed to be the party of economic growth. They accused Democrats of being the party of communists, socialists, and managed decline. That’s changing. As Republicans increasingly embrace economic interventionism, nationalization, and trade restrictions they are, increasingly, managing American decline. Meanwhile Democrats are picking up the mantle of economic growth, dynamism, and the American Dream.” (09/29/26)
“India is likely to have a much older population later this century as its age structure begins to shift after fertility fell below the replacement level, Moody’s Ratings said in a report on Tuesday. Although India’s population remains relatively young, the country’s fertility rate has fallen below replacement, and its age structure is beginning to change, setting the stage for a much older population in the coming decades, Moody’s said. Countries experiencing the steepest fertility declines are likely to age most rapidly, it added.” (09/29/26)
