Source: The UnPopulist
by Walter Olson
“A new presidential memo is meant to instill fear in any firm that dares to represent his political adversaries.” (03/26/25)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/trump-is-going-after-the-independence
Source: In These Times
by Jehad Abusalim
“When Israel was established in the Nakba of 1948, it was built on top of 78% of historic Palestine, destroying more than 500 Palestinian towns and villages and forcefully displacing more than 750,000 people. But one small strip of land remained beyond the Israeli conquest. It was just a fraction of what had been taken by Zionist militias, but this small territory of 140 square miles — the Gaza Strip — would emerge not only as a site of resistance to Zionism, but as a force that would challenge colonialism, imperialism and apartheid both globally and locally. It is, as Palestinian storyteller Mahmoud Darwish would write in the poem ‘Silence for Gaza,’ translated from the Arabic by Sinan Antoon, equal to ‘the history of an entire homeland, because it is more ugly, impoverished, miserable and vicious in the eyes of enemies.'” (03/26/25)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/palestine-israel-genocide-resistance-zionism
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“The 9/11 attacks provided the U.S. government with one of the greatest opportunities in U.S. history to destroy the freedom of the American people. Declaring a ‘war on terrorism,’ federal officials seized upon the crisis to exercise omnipotent powers, purportedly to keep the nation ‘safe’ from the terrorists who were supposedly hell-bent on coming to get us. In the process, the war-on-terrorism racket became as effective in destroying liberty as the war-on-communism racket had done throughout the Cold War. With the war on terrorism, U.S. officials don’t have to bother complying with constitutional restraints and the restrictions in the Bill of Rights.” (03/26/25)
https://www.fff.org/2025/03/26/tesla-and-terrorism-nonsense/
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Gary Chartier
“In a court filing supporting the decision to deport [Mahmoud Khalil], the administration maintained that his ‘presence or activities in the United States would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.’ Obviously, this can’t mean that he was physically impeding the formulation or implementation of foreign policy. He threatened, if he did, to bring about ‘serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States’ because what he did had the potential to change people’s minds. He was targeted because of the anticipated impact of his actual (and potential) expressive activity. … Rubio and other defenders of the administration’s position might argue for the legitimacy of Khalil’s deportation by arguing that, as a non-citizen, he’s not protected by the First Amendment. But the Constitution’s language makes no reference to citizens.” (03/26/25)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/the-first-amendment-protects-mahmoud-khalil
Source: Rutherford Institute
by John & Nisha Whitehead
“Imagine this: you’re rounded up in the dead of night by government agents, arrested and sent to a detention center. The arresting agents don’t identify themselves, nor do they provide any documentation indicating why you are being detained. Nevertheless, without your family or friends knowing that you have been taken hostage, without anyone knowing where you are being transported or why, and without any opportunity to defend yourself or proclaim your innocence, you are flown out of the country to a foreign prison in a police state where you will have no rights whatsoever. There can be no understating the danger. The war on due process is here. No trials. No hearings. No rights. Just indefinite detention and secret deportations. This is the fate that awaits every one of us, not just immigrants (legal or otherwise), if the government’s war on the Constitution remains unchecked.” (03/26/25)
Source: Chasing Liberty
by Jeff Charles
“In a post on X, I asked members of my audience who still support the War on Drugs what their primary concerns are about legalizing or at least decriminalizing drugs. The answers will provide me with content for quite a long time, not surprisingly. One of my followers responded, saying he is concerned that ‘It becomes more normalized.’ However, he did state that he agrees with decriminalization for those who use drugs. This is a common objection – one that I myself had when I was younger, before I learned more about drug policy and drug use. Yet, after conducting hours upon hours of research, I found that this fear is unfounded. As it turns out, we have all been lied to by the government and the media. Yes, I know, you’re probably shocked to hear that the powers that be aren’t quite as honest as they pretend, right?” (03/26/25)
https://www.libertychasers.com/p/will-ending-the-war-on-drugs-normalize
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
by Sarah McLaughlin
“American foreign policy is vast, complex, and can change by the hour. The First Amendment protects our right to support, challenge, protest, or question the policy of the United States and every other government around the world. But in seeking deportations of some legal residents in the United States, federal officials are claiming to target immigrants for expression that could, in their view, impact American diplomacy — and the implications for free expression are profound. This broad justification effectively means any legal immigrant in the United States cannot speak his or her mind about any political issue without risking deportation, lest their words in some way implicate present or future foreign policy matters.” (03/26/25)
https://www.thefire.org/news/should-government-punish-you-allegedly-undermining-american-diplomacy
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille
“Alaska is a cold state where residents need energy to keep the chill at bay. Fortunately, the state is blessed with natural resources, including abundant oil and natural gas that can help satisfy that need. Unfortunately, as I’ve written before, a nationalistic, century-old law requires that shipping between American ports be conducted only by U.S.-built and -flagged ships. And there aren’t any liquid natural gas tankers that satisfy the requirement. Now Alaska officials are seeking a waiver so they can use their own resources to resolve a growing energy crunch. … There’s no practical reason the gas can’t be transported by tanker from the North Slope wells to the users in the state’s populated areas. But there’s a big legal barrier.” (03/26/25)
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
“In countries struggling against a drift toward autocracy, the tone of pro-democracy protests is usually hostile, even rude. Not so in Turkey these days. After a week of street demonstrations since the March 19 detention of the main opposition politician, Turks are offering a new playbook to the world – largely based on loving one’s enemies. From his jail cell Monday, for example, presidential hopeful Ekrem İmamoğlu – who was arrested on dubious charges of corruption – sent this message to the young people protesting in Turkish cities against the two-plus-decade rule of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan: ‘Stay away from conflicts. Be good to our security forces, police officers, and people whom I love very much. Let me see you all with smiling faces.'” (03/25/25)
Source: Eunomia
by Daniel Larison
“Six years ago, there was a remarkable and unprecedented movement to challenge the illegal U.S. involvement in the Saudi coalition’s war on Yemen. That movement drew support from both parties and had members from all across the political spectrum. For the first time in almost half a century, Congress insisted that the president end U.S. involvement in a foreign war. Trump refused to stop U.S. support, but there was at least a concerted effort against the war. Today the U.S. is actively engaged in hostilities in Yemen without Congressional authorization, but there is no similar movement to end the bombing. … Perhaps now that Trump has taken ownership of this terrible policy there will be more resistance, but so far there has been no significant opposition in Congress that I can see.” (03/26/25)
https://daniellarison.substack.com/p/the-real-scandal-is-the-illegal-war