Source: Karl Dickey’s Freedom Vanguard
by Karl Dickey
“We should be able to have conversations about politics (which, BTW, is force), while understanding we are having a voluntary dinner together with family and/or friends. Tomorrow, the family or friend sitting across from you may have voted for the ‘wrong’ candidate, but likely agrees with you that violence is bad, that kindness is good, and that they just want to be left alone to flourish.” (11/26/25)
“Do you have a long drive home after your family feast this week? The feds might be watching you. Recent reporting from the Associated Press and 404 Media reveals just how thorough federal surveillance of the highways has gotten, especially from immigration authorities. … remember, if you’re traveling by car for the holidays, you may be driving under the watchful eye of Uncle Sam. Just hope that he doesn’t find your travel plans suspicious.” (11/26/25)
“I’ve been extraordinarily blessed since birth, and I’m grateful for all the favorable bounces I’ve had. But in times like these, when it sometimes seems like events are spiraling downward and the worst people have more and more power and are using it just as badly as you’d expect, it’s especially important to take solace in whatever positive signs we can discern.” (11/26/25)
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Joseph Solis-Mullen
“As a long-time critic of Washington’s obsession with the so-called ‘China threat’ — and having written an entire book debunking it, The Fake China Threat — I could not in good conscience allow this year’s Report to Congress of the U.S. — China Economic and Security Review Commission — to pass without comment. If anything, the 2025 edition is an even more sweeping reiteration of the assumptions and exaggerations I have challenged for years. Page after page, the report presents an alarming narrative about Beijing’s intentions and capabilities, while simultaneously insisting that every corner of the globe — and every sector of American life — now constitutes a frontline in a zero-sum geopolitical struggle.” (11/26/25)
“The average person of the Enlightenment era, it seems to me, was not sitting around in salons sharing the free flow of ideas, but being oppressed and kicked around by their enlightened compatriots or invaders. There were some good ideas and far better art and music than much of the soulless fare of today — but this arose not from a flourishing paradise but closer to, for many, a living hell. Perhaps it was poverty and harsh reality that opened Handel’s mind and inspired Rembrandt’s brush, and we now miss something that this makes us see. But this better be by choice. Looking back to former times is a good way to learn and understand, and a person ignorant of history is like a scrap of paper blown in the wind. But history was written by the literate elite and should not be confused with a destination.” (11/25/25)
“It’s been 40 years since I spent the summer in San Diego becoming a US Marine. I’m sure things have changed since then, but I doubt they’ve changed so much that anyone graduates any armed forces boot camp without receiving instruction in the Uniform Code of Military Justice. A summary, from memory, on the section (Article 92) concerning orders: You must obey lawful orders. You must not obey unlawful orders. … If it’s ‘treason’ or ‘sedition’ to state that fact, then every instructor in every basic training class on military law is a traitor who’s been teaching treason and preaching sedition to every recruit since 1950, when the UCMJ was adopted … and probably long before that.” (11/25/25)
“The collapse of rural towns, small industrial cities, and remote farms has coincided with the decline of local cultures. A local identity brings with it pride of place and a certain willingness to live with the disadvantages endemic to the location. When people feel that their locality serves a purpose—that it is embedded within a larger whole — they are willing to tolerate or even embrace its remoteness, slower pace of life, and faulty infrastructure. Rural Americans once thrived on a belief that for all their region’s faults, they were the backbone of the nation. But [JD] Vance’s concept of the nation does not restore this sense of local pride. Instead, it substitutes a globalized vision of tradition for a local one.” (11/25/25)
“In September 2024, U.S. border czar Tom Homan met with undercover FBI agents acting as business executives. According to sources interviewed by The New York Times, he accepted $50,000 hidden in a CAVA bag and guaranteed those undercover agents lucrative federal contracts. FBI agents recorded Homan accepting the cash as part of a broader probe into corruption within the Trump administration. This is corruption. In September, a Trump appointed DOJ official called it a ‘deep state’ probe. Despite having recorded evidence of Homan accepting the bribe, the White House denies any wrongdoing on Homan’s part. … Homan’s case is not an isolated incident.” (11/24/25)
“President Donald Trump is at the center of yet another bitter constitutional crisis. His political adversaries have mounted a concerted campaign urging military personnel to disobey any ‘illegal orders.’ Trump responded to such calls by threatening to prosecute and even execute proponents for engaging in ‘seditious behavior.’ Since the U.S. Constitution designates the president as commander-in-chief of the armed services, Trump is, of course, currently at the top of the military’s chain of command. Defiance by subordinates, he asserted, would constitute treason. There are numerous important issues at stake. They include the proper extent of the president’s powers under the Constitution, preserving civilian control of the military, the nature of the oath that military personnel take to protect and defend the Constitution, and the appropriate remedy if it appears that the president as commander-in-chief has given an unlawful order.” (11/25/25)
“Location, location, location. That’s what matters now on X, because Elon Musk has just rolled out a hugely important new feature, and it’s confirming what some of us have suspected was the case for some time now. It turns out that many of the openly racist and anti-Semitic accounts on X that claim to be America First but are actually giving MAGA a bad name — well, they’re not true America First at all. In fact, they’re largely coming from Muslim countries. And now we have the proof. A week ago, Fox News personality Katie Pavlich, a friend of mine, posted on X: ‘Hey @elonmusk, please make it mandatory that wherever an account is based – country – be featured in an account’s public profile. Foreign bots are tearing America apart. Thanks.’ In response, Nikita Bier, head of product development at X, said, ‘Give me 72 hours.’ And now, X has delivered.” (11/24/25)
