Author: Thomas L. Knapp

Source: The Atlantic
by Franklin Foer

“Donald Trump’s rise tracks the decline of that thing we once agreed to call reality. He cemented his place in the popular imagination with the advent of reality television, a genre that promised authenticity, even as the supposedly unscripted scenes were carefully manipulated by producers. On The Apprentice, which debuted in 2004, Trump was the embodiment of a culture just beginning to blur the line between what was real and what merely looked like it. In his second term as president, Trump — now with the help of artificial intelligence — is completing the revolution that made him.” (10/22/25)

https://archive.is/m3jKx

Source: Law & Liberty
by Jonathan H Adler

“Congress constructed the edifice of federal environmental regulation atop a pile of misconceptions and mistaken assumptions. Once erected, it has withstood meaningful efforts at reform, and atrophied. However much some existing laws helped address twentieth-century environmental problems, they are increasingly obsolete and ill-suited to today’s environmental challenges. Steven Hayward is absolutely correct that ‘it is long past time for something new,’ and properly identifies many of the key attributes upon which a ‘new environmentalism’ could be built.” (10/22/25)

https://lawliberty.org/forum/liberal-principles-for-a-new-environmentalism/

Source: Eastern New Mexico News
by Kent McManigal

“There is no such thing as a ‘right to vote.’ This may be shocking, but it’s true. No one has the right to impose politicians or policies on others; to govern them. Not by being king nor by voting. Democracy is mob rule, even with the weak guardrails of a republic under a constitution describing which lines are never to be crossed, no matter how many voters approve. It didn’t work; legislation violating the limits laid out by the Constitution is routinely imposed and upheld. None of the responsible lawmakers or legislation enforcers ever face repercussions for these illegal acts. Might through superior numbers can’t turn wrong into ‘right.'” (10/22/25)

https://www.easternnewmexiconews.com/story/2025/10/22/voices/opinion-its-true-democracy-is-mob-rule/231947.html

Source: Wired
by Jake Lahut

“It’s impossible to look around and not wonder whether the US is teetering on the brink—though of what, is the question. Ordinary, reasonable people are openly talking about whether the country is on the verge of something comparable to a slow-rolling civil conflict, if not something worse. They’re not alone. Historians of those conflicts are worried. They’re not concerned about a full-blown civil war, featuring rival divisions of the US Army staging set-piece battles over territory, but something else that even the experts have a hard time putting their finger on.” (10/22/25)

https://archive.is/xY1dv