The Senate Has Gotten a Little More Competitive

Source: Exiled Policy
by Jason Pye

“In February, we reviewed the Senate landscape, noting at the time that it was too early to tell whether control of the chamber was up for grabs. Since then, thanks to Trump’s falling approval ratings, Republicans’ grasp of power in the Senate looks increasingly vulnerable. That’s not to say Republicans will lose the Senate. It’s more likely than not that they keep control of the chamber, but they may have a narrow majority.” (05/08/26)

https://exiledpolicy.substack.com/p/the-senate-has-gotten-a-little-more

Depopulation Won’t Save the Planet

Source: American Greatness
by Lipton Matthews

“In recent years, a quietly radical idea has gained traction in certain environmental circles: stop having children. Some members of Extinction Rebellion in the UK have embraced an anti-natalist position, arguing that a shrinking human population is one of the most powerful levers available for reducing environmental damage. If fewer people exist, the thinking goes, then less energy gets consumed, fewer habitats get destroyed, and the planet gets a much-needed chance to breathe. It is an emotionally compelling argument. But is it actually true? The evidence suggests not. A growing body of research indicates that population decline, by itself, is a surprisingly weak instrument for environmental repair. The relationship between fewer people and a healthier planet is messier and far less automatic than anti-natalists tend to assume.” (05/10/26)

https://amgreatness.com/2026/05/10/depopulation-wont-save-the-planet/

Subjects of Empire: Breaking the Cycle of Arab Dependency on US Elections

Source: Antiwar.com
by Ramzy Baroud

“Much of the current discourse on the Middle East remains fixated on the US midterm congressional elections this coming November. This vote, in particular, is being framed as a pivotal turning point for everything from the survival of Gaza and Lebanon to the future of Iran and beyond. To a large extent, one can understand why US corporate media is obsessed with this date. US political power is divided between two ruling parties, each deeply embedded in an intricate system of powerful political and economic elites. For these groups, election results are decisive in shaping the overall direction of the country, but more specifically, they determine the fortunes and misfortunes of a ruling class whose very fate is tied to the corridors of power. However, there is a distinct irony in this fixation.” (05/08/26)

https://original.antiwar.com/ramzy-baroud/2026/05/07/subjects-of-empire-breaking-the-cycle-of-arab-dependency-on-us-elections/

Trump’s presidency has desiccated the conservative movement

Source: The Hill
by Matt Lewis

“It is worth taking a moment to recall that there was a time — not all that long ago — when conservative institutions had real weight to throw around. Names like Paul Weyrich, Ed Feulner, James Dobson and Phyllis Schlafly weren’t just footnotes. They were powerhouses. Directly or indirectly, organizations like the Heritage Foundation, Concerned Women for America, the National Rifle Association, the Family Research Council — and numerous other groups I don’t have room to list — helped elect conservatives, hold politicians accountable, and generally set the terms of debate. Many of these groups are still around (in some cases, enjoying lavish offices), but are any of these organizations — or the conservative causes for which they advocate — better off today than they were before Trump came down the escalator? I don’t think so.” (05/08/26)

https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/5867912-trump-destroys-conservative-movement/

Kill the Kill Switch!

Source: Libertarian Institute
by Alan Mosley

“Back in November 2021, Congress quietly added a clause to the sprawling ‘Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’ that would make Orwell blush. Section 24220 authorizes the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to require that every new passenger car include ‘advanced drunk-and-impaired-driving prevention technology.’ The provision is sold as a way to save lives, but alleges to do so by commanding vehicles to monitor drivers and refuse to operate when the software suspects impairment. In other words, AI will determine whether or not you can drive should you buy a new year model vehicle starting in 2027. This is neither a technical innovation nor a societal demand for greater security. It is a political choice that converts a privately owned car into a behavioral policeman.” (05/08/26)

https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/kill-the-kill-switch/

Want to Help Mothers This Mother’s Day? Back a Guaranteed Income

Source: Common Dreams
by Zaaear Pack

“Happy Mother’s Day—because that’s what you’re supposed to say, right? Motherhood is always dressed up in soft language like community, support, and…“it takes a village.” But I have learned in real time that not all of us actually have one. I am raising my sons without consistent help, without a built-in break, without the kind of support people assume is just there. Everything falls on me emotionally, financially, and physically, and I still have to show up every single day like I am not carrying all of it alone. And when I do pull back, when I protect my energy or go quiet, it is not because I am distant. It is because I am overwhelmed.” (05/10/26)

https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/guaranteed-income-mother-s-day

The Ozempic Paradox

Source: Brownstone Institute
by Alan Cassels

“Here’s a good current example of medical irony: the same week that our drug regulator, Health Canada, approved the first generic version of semaglutide — the active ingredient in weight-loss drug Ozempic — a major medical journal published findings highlighting the medication’s troubling connection to eating disorders. The timing couldn’t be more paradoxical: just as this powerful appetite suppressant becomes more accessible and affordable to millions of Canadians, we’re learning more about its potential to trigger dangerous psychological relationships with food.” (05/08/26)

https://brownstone.org/articles/the-ozempic-paradox/

One Cheer for Trump’s Germany Troop Withdrawal

Source: The American Conservative
by Doug Bandow

“Like a mad king of old, President Donald Trump spends hours wandering his palace, developing plans to better display his wealth and glory to an increasingly skeptical and antagonistic world. Occasionally he remembers his royal responsibilities and implements the right policy, though even then often for the wrong reason. Such as reducing the number of U.S. troops in Germany. At least it’s a start, though resulting from a fit of pique, since Berlin, like virtually every other government on earth, criticized his lawless, reckless attack on Iran, which is disrupting the global economy. He is threatening to do the same to Italy and Spain, whose political leaders also have denounced Trump’s bungled aggression, openly conducted on behalf of the Israeli government rather than the American people.” (05/07/26)

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/one-cheer-for-trumps-germany-troop-withdrawal/

The Populism of Bicentennial Commercialism

Source: Garrison Center
by Joel Schlosberg

“In the months leading up to the USA’s 250th birthday party, some debris from its 200th is making headlines. The New York Times‘s Jennifer Schuessler finds conspicuously ‘much less investment and enthusiasm overall’ for this year’s semiquincentennial anniversary of the Declaration of Independence than the 1976 bicentennial, itself diminished by jaded jeers charging that ‘‘Buy-centennial’ huckersterism had sold out the true radical spirit of ’76’ (‘How a Historian Saved the Schlock of ’76,’ May 5). Schuessler chronicles plenty of ‘hats, mugs, playing cards and pickleball paddles’ currently being hawked under the aegis of Donald Trump, but compared to such bicentennial-branded excrescences of ‘unapologetic 1976-style schlock’ as toilet paper, diapers and condoms, even the output of a coauthor of Think Big and Kick Ass in Business and Life can be described on the pages of the Gray Lady as ‘tasteful.'” (05/07/26)

https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/20570