Author: Thomas L. Knapp

Source: The Bulwark
by Cathy Young

“The anti-war, anti-government sentiment was apparently more than Putin bargained for.” (08/19/26)

https://www.thebulwark.com/p/the-real-danger-of-russias-fake-elections-fraud-war-ukraine-putin-yabloko

Source: Expression
by Michael Hurley

“From 2000 through 2024, FIRE recorded 102 cases of politicians trying to silence faculty. That’s four cases a year on average. Then, in 2025 alone, we recorded 114. That extraordinary spike comes as federal efforts to reform higher education have too often crossed constitutional lines. At the same time, the old threat of censorship by school administrators never faded. This year, South Florida State College fired professor Vinita Prabhakar after its president called a celebrated short story she assigned about an alcoholic teacher ‘political.’ Now Prabhakar, represented by FIRE and FIRE Legal Network member Gary Edinger, is suing the school.” (08/19/26)

https://expression.fire.org/p/professors-are-being-squeezed-on

Source: Antiwar.com
by Greg Pence

“As the 2026 midterms approach, a nationwide poll released in early August delivered a warning that goes to the heart of the Republican Party’s political identity: for the first time in nearly a decade, voters said Democrats were better stewards of the economy than Republicans. For years, Republicans benefited from a broad perception that they were more trustworthy than Democrats on economic management, even when the record of Republican administrations was contested. … Now that advantage is beginning to crack – not because the U.S. economy is necessarily on the verge of collapse, but because many Americans are judging it less by macroeconomic indicators than by groceries, electricity bills, healthcare and insurance costs, housing, and what remains in their bank accounts at the end of the month. For Donald Trump and the Republican Party, that change in how voters measure economic performance could be costly.” (08/19/26)

https://original.antiwar.com/greg_pence/2026/08/18/the-gops-fading-economic-advantage/

Source: Independent Institute
by Daniel Sánchez-Piñol

“Why did removing border fences in Gibraltar spark no migration crisis, while Ceuta’s fortified perimeter failed?” (08/18/26)

https://www.independent.org/article/2026/08/18/tale-two-borders-ceuta-gibraltar/

Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob

“Challenger Dan J. Sullivan’s run against the incumbent with the near-identical name, one Dan S. Sullivan, doesn’t quite pass the smell test. He sure appears to be gaming the election. Still, the rigging occurred when the state went to an open primary where anyone — regardless of party membership — can vote for anyone on the ballot. … Alaskans should go the opposite direction, allowing — no, requiring — political parties to privately select their candidates. And at their party’s expense, not the taxpayers’.” (08/18/26)

https://thisiscommonsense.org/2026/08/18/who-rigged-alaskas-senate-race/