Source: Washington Post
by George F Will
“Yet another reason that Donald Trump’s and Joe Biden’s presidencies cannot be examined without wincing concerns a constitutional provision that is obscure until it is abused, which it now often is. The presidential ‘power to grant reprieves and pardons’ has become yet another source of political brutishness fueling voters’ cynicism.” (04/10/26)
Source: The American Prospect
by David Dayen & Whitney Curry Wimbish
“It was the first Rental Ripoff hearing and people were pissed. Set up by Mayor Zohran Mamdani and attended by leaders of his administration and 150 city workers across multiple departments, the hearings gave tenants a chance to describe conditions their landlords refuse to fix: rats, mold, dangerous constructio — along with a spate of unnecessary and hidden fees. They had three minutes each to share their experiences. But they also got to do something unexpected: set policy priorities for one of the largest cities in the world. Arrayed around the room were posterboards, which not only asked tenants what problems they faced but sought their input on policy proposals brainstormed by staff, like fining landlords who don’t make repairs, making it easier to form tenant unions, or enabling the city to take over buildings when there are serial violations.” (04/10/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/04/10/zohran-mamdani-getting-new-york-city-believe-in-government/
Source: Free Association
by Sheldon Richman
“[T]he American people and the rest of the world saw the president of the United States threaten to destroy the 2,500-year-old Persian civilization. More than half of the Iranian population is ethnic Persian. It’s my policy not to compare anyone to Hitler, but I’ll say this: Trump’s threat was Hitlerian. Further, anyone who stuck by Trump after that post exhibited the same disgusting reverence that many Germans felt for Hitler.” (04/0/26)
https://sheldonrichman.substack.com/p/tgif-trumps-words-cannot-be-unseen
Source: The American Conservative
by Harrison Berger
“On Tuesday morning, President Donald Trump took to Truth Social to declare that ‘a civilization will die tonight.’ By 8 p.m., the U.S. announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran had begun. Whether the ceasefire holds (or even takes hold) is already in question …. The best hope that it might stick comes from Israel, where TV presenters who spent Monday salivating over a clock counting down the minutes and hours until Trump’s planned genocide of Iranians were left confused and outraged when the president backed down shortly before the deadline. But whether or not Trump ultimately goes as far as the Israelis would like him to, Americans must now reckon with the destruction already carried out in our name, the civilization-destroying actions Trump has threatened, and the barbarians we have become in the process.” (04/10/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/we-are-the-barbarians/
Source: Independent Institute
by Kristian Fors
“People on numerous subreddits have rallied to support the recent warehouse arson in Ontario, California. This fire, allegedly started by a disgruntled employee, destroyed a 1.2 million-square-foot warehouse that supplied toilet paper to approximately 50 million people. According to the United States Attorney’s Office, this fire caused approximately $500 million in damage. As he started the blaze, the suspected arsonist recorded a video of himself saying, ‘All you had to do was pay us enough to f***ing live.’ … While the economic frustration the suspect and people on Reddit feel is perhaps understandable, they should blame the real culprits behind the cost-of-living crisis, not a toilet paper company.” (04/10/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/04/10/warehouse-arsonist-no-working-class-hero/
Source: Town Hall
by Mark Lewis
“I have been pounding this for literally decades and I’m going to continue to pound it as long as the good Lord gives me breath and the ability to do so: our Founding Fathers created a limited government, but one that required virtuous people. And the latter is FAR more important than the former. And today’s America has very little of either, on either side of the aisle. Democrats are certainly the greatest problem America has right now, but they aren’t the only problem. I see far too many foul-mouthed, promiscuous, pleasure-oriented, unvirtuous Republicans in the country now to ever make the nation great again. Some people need to get the logs out of their own eyes before they start talking about the specks in other people’s eyes.” (04/12/26)
https://townhall.com/columnists/marklewis/2026/04/12/maga-means-maga-n2673950
Source: Reason
by Steven Greenhut
“Tech companies that create social media apps should not be blamed for the complex mental issues of everyone who might use them.” (04/10/26)
https://reason.com/2026/04/10/lawsuits-targeting-social-media-are-an-attack-on-free-speech/
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Joseph Varon
“War is the most unrestrained expression of humanity’s destructive capacity, a setting where order disintegrates, moral boundaries are tested, and life is reduced to its most vulnerable state. Medicine, by contrast, stands as a deliberate act of resistance against that collapse, a disciplined and unwavering commitment to preserve life even when surrounded by death. Despite these opposing identities, war and medicine have remained deeply intertwined across history, not by design, but by inevitability.” (04/10/26)
Source: Law & Liberty
by Titus Techera
“Americans are falling in love with Project Hail Mary, a movie about an astronaut who finds himself alone at the end of the universe, with perhaps no hope of ever returning among mankind. He then has to figure out how to save mankind in very difficult circumstances, by his wits and his technical know-how. A man a lot like the navigator-turned-shipwreck Robinson Crusoe, so much so that it’s worth comparing them, their stories, and why they matter to modern society.” (04/10/26)
Source: Washington Monthly
by Markos Kounalakis
“On Thursday, in the exact White House room where President Trump recently addressed the nation about the Iran war, First Lady Melania Trump strode up to the lectern to address a different sort of crisis. Her topic and demeanor were grave; her scripted words meant to convey solemnity. The delivery, however, conveyed a jarring disconnect. This is not to litigate the complex web of associations and legal questions swirling around the Jeffrey Epstein case. Those demand their own continuous investigation. But the timing of the First Lady’s rare national address was weird, the formal setting incongruous, and the call for Congress to act befuddling. We will certainly find out more in the coming days, but this piece is not about the Epstein case. This is about what we heard in that room.” (04/11/26)
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2026/04/11/melania-speaks-the-eloquence-of-hypocrisy/