Author: Thomas L. Knapp

Conservatives’ “Talking Filibuster” Scheme Isn’t the Norm in the Senate

Source: Exiled Policy
by Jason Pye

“Conservatives want you to believe that the ‘talking filibuster’ is the norm in the Senate. This is misleading. What these conservatives aren’t describing is how the Senate actually works today. Before the adoption of the cloture motion in 1917 — found in Rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate — there wasn’t a way to force an end to debate. Prior to 1917, senators could use various tactics to stop a bill from moving forward, ranging from objecting to unanimous consent to engaging in a talking filibuster. What we think of as the modern-day filibuster—the cloture motion—was created out of necessity during World War I, after the Senate proved incapable of ending debate on critical wartime legislation.” (02/19/26)

https://exiledpolicy.substack.com/p/conservatives-talking-filibuster

Thomas L. Knapp

The Ugly Americans

Source: CounterPunch
by John Kendall Hawkins

“In the classic Cold War film The Ugly American, Marlon Brando plays an American ambassador neck-deep in the kind of covert operations that would later get tens of thousands of Vietnamese killed. The film gave us a phrase, but most people forgot what it actually meant. Burdick and Lederer’s novel portrays the ‘ugly American’ as Homer Atkins, a straightforward engineer who genuinely cared about the locals and actively listened to their perspectives. The real ugliness came from the polished diplomats who saw Southeast Asians as pieces on a chessboard. Sixty years on, we’ve become exactly what we pretended to oppose. Only worse.” (02/19/26)

https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/02/19/the-ugly-americans/

Thomas L. Knapp

Venezuela’s Oil and the Death of a Latin American Dream

Source: Antiwar.com
by Ted Snider

“On January 29, Venezuela’s acting President, Delcy Rodríguez, signed a law that opens Venezuela’s oil industry to privatization. With the stroke of a pen, Rodríguez signed, not only the law, but the death certificate of a decades old Latin American dream.” (02/19/26)

https://original.antiwar.com/ted_snider/2026/02/18/venezuelas-oil-and-the-death-of-a-latin-american-dream/

Thomas L. Knapp

Peru: Balcázar becomes eighth president in a decade

Source: Associated Press

“Peru’s Congress late Wednesday elected legislator José María Balcázar as the country’s eighth president in a decade, replacing another interim leader who was ousted the previous day over corruption allegations just four months into his term. Balcázar, an 83-year-old former judge representing the leftist Perú Libre party, defeated three other candidates with a majority of the 130-member legislature. The revolving-door presidency in Peru reflects a political crisis fueled by a lack of legislative majorities for leaders. Lawmakers have frequently used a broad interpretation of a constitutional article regarding ‘permanent moral incapacity’ to remove sitting presidents.” (02/19/26)

https://apnews.com/article/peru-president-congress-interim-election-c6f1e2d6c061ea8ba1cb0f4f467609bc

Thomas L. Knapp

Speech and Panel Discussion on Brussels Bureaucracy

Source: Cobden Centre

“A couple of weeks ago I [Max Rangeley] gave this speech on EU bureaucracy, followed by a panel discussion at the Martens Centre think tank in Brussels. The Martens Centre is the think tank of the EPP, the largest political group in the European Parliament. The European Commission massively understates the cost of bureaucracy — but what can be done?” (02/19/26)

https://www.cobdencentre.org/2026/02/speech-and-panel-discussion-on-brussels-bureaucracy/

Thomas L. Knapp