Source: The American Prospect
by Whitney Curry Wimbish
“House lawmakers on the Judiciary Committee debated a proposal Thursday that would force state and local police to help federal agents conduct deportations or risk losing federal funding. Not only would it essentially hold local jurisdictions hostage, Democratic lawmakers said, it also violates states’ rights. The bill, the Shut Down Sanctuary Policies Act, aims to punish Los Angeles, New York, and other cities that have policies limiting cooperation with federal agents, such as restrictions on honoring ICE detainers, providing access to jails, and sharing information about individuals’ immigration status. These cities have been in the crosshairs of the Trump administration for months; Attorney General Pam Bondi last year published a hit list of sanctuary jurisdictions, saying they cause risk to American citizens ‘by design’.” (03/06/26)
“A counterprotester demonstrating against a ‘Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City’ event Saturday lit and threw a device containing nuts, bolts and screws at the protesting crowd after someone from that group used pepper spray on the counterprotest, police said. Police are investigating the incident that started late Saturday morning when someone from the anti-Islam protest associated with conservative influencer Jake Lang shot pepper spray into a counterprotesting group near the mayoral residence Gracie Mansion, Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. Tensions continued to heighten, she said, when someone in the counterprotest lit and threw a device she described as smaller than a football into the protesting crowd of about 20 people. The device struck a barrier and extinguished itself ‘a few feet from police officers’. The same person then ran, and another person gave a him a second device, which he then dropped. … All three people have been arrested, and an investigation is underway, Tisch said.” (03/07/26)
“The Senate on March 4 wisely rejected a new war powers resolution aimed at halting or restricting President Donald Trump’s ability to carry out further military strikes against Iran. A House version also failed. Introduced by Sen. Tim Kaine [D-VA] the resolution in the upper chamber called for ending hostilities ‘unless explicitly authorized by a declaration of war or a specific authorization for use of military force’ issued by Congress. The resolution, supported by nearly all Democrats, was defective for several reasons. First, the president can engage in military action with or without a declaration of war. He does not need permission from Congress.” [editor’s note: The opposite, of course, is the case — absent a declaration of war, a president has precisely zero “constitutional authority” to engage in one – TLK] (03/06/26)
“Democrat Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs is facing fierce backlash after vetoing a bill that would have created a specialty license plate honoring slain Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, a move Republicans are blasting as a stunning act of partisanship after his assassination. Kirk, who was assassinated while speaking at a Sept. 10 Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University, lived in Arizona with his wife, Erika, and two children. The proposed specialty plate, referred to as the ‘Charlie Kirk memorial’ plate or the ‘Conservative grassroots network special plate,’ featured a photo of the late Kirk and the TPUSA logo in front of an American flag background.” (03/07/26)
“The Pentagon and the Federal Aviation Administration agreed to conduct anti-drone laser tests in New Mexico after the military’s deployment of the lasers led the FAA to suddenly close airspace in Texas twice in the last month. The newly announced testing was being carried out to ‘specifically address FAA safety concerns’, the military said Friday in a statement. It was to take place Saturday and Sunday at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. Lawmakers were concerned about an apparent lack of coordination after the Pentagon allowed U.S. Customs and Border Protection to use an anti-drone laser in early February without notifying the FAA. The federal agency that ensures safety in the skies decided to close the airspace over El Paso for a few hours, stranding many travelers. The Trump administration said it was working to halt an incursion by Mexican cartel drones, which are not uncommon along the southern border.” (03/07/26)
“The war Israel and the United States launched against Iran on February 28, with the ‘decapitation’ of the country’s leadership and the bombardment of hundreds of military and civilian sites (including a girls’ school in Minab where at least 165 children and staff were massacred), has quickly transformed into a regional conflagration with incalculable consequences. While already weakened by the Israeli-U.S. ’12-Day War’ in June 2025 (which President Donald Trump declared had ’obliterated’ Iran’s nuclear capabilities) and despised by many Iranians for its murderous repression of civilian protest, the Iranian regime has not yet been undermined by the loss of key government figures, including supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the minister of defense and the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).” (03/06/26)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Secretary of War Pete Hegseth gave one of his signature ‘I don’t have a small penis’ tirades at the Pentagon on Wednesday, ranting and raving about the big, powerful, masculine war machinery that’s currently raining death and destruction upon the people of Iran. ‘We will fly all day, all night, day and night finding, fixing and finishing the missiles and defense industrial base of the Iranian military, finding and fixing their leaders and their military leaders, flying over Tehran, flying over Iran, flying over their capital, flying over the IRGC, Iranian leaders looking up and seeing only US and Israeli air power every minute of every day until we decide it’s over,’ Hegseth bloviated, saying there will be ‘B-2s, B-52s, B-1s, Predator drones, fighters controlling the skies, picking targets, death and destruction from the sky all day long.'” (03/06/26)
“The Trump administration has joined Israel in launching large-scale attacks across Iran. The strikes mark the beginning of ‘major combat operations’, according to President Donald Trump, and in response Tehran has reportedly launched retaliatory attacks in Middle Eastern countries that host US military bases. With hundreds of Iranians already killed and the war threatening to spiral out of control, here are five things Americans need to know: 1) Trump says he’s trying to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, but it’s the United States and its allies that are the greatest nuclear threat. … 2) Trump is contributing to the suffering of ordinary Iranians, not rescuing them. … 3) The United States is an unreliable negotiator. … 4) The United States has been threatening Iran, not the other way around. … 5) Trump’s war with Iran [is] unpopular with Americans.” [editor’s note: I leave it to the readers to sort the facts out of this screed – SAT] (03/05/26)
“California progressives’ single-payer health care fever dream is back. This time, the cost could hit half a trillion dollars a year. Single-payer means the government pays, for everything. Several candidates for governor are promising just such a government takeover of the state’s health insurance system. Billionaire Tom Steyer says, ‘Bernie Sanders was right. We need single-payer health care’. His campaign ads place a single-payer system at the center of his agenda. Betty Yee, Xavier Becerra, and Tony Thurmond are on board, too. Meanwhile, California State Assemblyman Ash Kalra, D-San Jose, has reintroduced legislation to create ‘CalCare’ (a bid to bulldoze private health insurance and replace it with a state-run health insurance monopoly). These are bold plans. They’re also complete fantasy. The California Legislative Analyst’s Office previously pegged the annual cost of CalCare at up to $552 billion — more than the entire state budget.” (03/04/26)
Source: Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting
by Belen Fernandez
“The United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran on February 28, propelling the entire region into a predictable cataclysm of unprecedented proportions. This puts paid to the alleged ‘peacemaking’ project of US President Donald Trump, who was supposed to be keeping the country out of international wars rather than actively seeking to expedite the end of the world. The attacks put an abrupt end to the negotiations underway between the US and Iran—to the delight of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has always viewed as anathema anything remotely resembling diplomacy or the pursuit of peace. Three days before the joint strikes, a Politico exclusive (2/25/26) reported that ‘senior advisers’ to Trump ‘would prefer Israel strike Iran before the United States launches an assault on the country’.”
