“If the Trump administration’s assaults on Venezuela and threats to Colombia and Mexico have a familiar stench, they should. For more than two centuries the United States government has acted as if it owned the Western Hemisphere, with the right of conquest, intervention, and interference part of the natural order. As of this writing, at least 66 people (Venezuelans, Colombians, and possibly some of other nationalities) have been extrajudicially murdered by President Donald Trump and the US military in 17 separate reported attacks. … And as though that total weren’t high enough, the project notes that this number is very much an undercount, since it doesn’t include indirect deaths of the war caused by ‘disease, displacement, and loss of access to food or clean drinking water.'” (11/06/25)
“By targeting Illinois, the president might have created his nemesis even as the national Democratic Party flails around for an effective message.” (11/06/25)
“It is an axiom of asset bubbles that — under the bustling surface — widespread malfeasance takes place. This is especially true near the end of asset bubbles, where participants fear missing out on the supposed riches produced therein, but — failing to achieve them — ultimately resort to chicanery and fraud to achieve their ends.” (11/06/25)
“The government of the Dominican Republic has announced that the X Summit of the Americas (SOA), scheduled to be held in Punta Cana on December 4-5, has been postponed. This is the first time an SOA has been postponed. There is no reason to think that the conditions for holding such a meeting will be better three or six months from now so it’s more likely the summit will be canceled. If so, this might very well ring the death knell of the SOAs, precisely at a time when they are more needed than ever, given the deep differences cutting across the hemisphere.” (11/06/25)
“Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth concluded his visit to South Korea this week with praise for the nation’s planned 8.2 percent increase in military spending next year. ‘We face, as we both acknowledge, a dangerous security environment, but our alliance is stronger than ever,’ he intoned. Upping defense outlays is a sensible course for the Republic of Korea, which faces an increasingly hostile North Korea. However, why does Washington continue to provide Seoul with what amounts to military welfare?” (11/06/25)
“Donald Trump cost his party a lot of votes in Tuesday’s elections. He and his supporters are peddling excuses for the big Republican defeat—pleading that the losses were in blue states, faulting the poor quality of the candidates, or arguing that the GOP would have performed better if Trump were on the ballot this year. But the president and his policies were largely to blame. Here’s what the exit polls show, as of this writing.” (11/05/25)
“Democrats had a very good night. Tuesday’s odd-year elections were expected to see Democrats win most of the high-profile races. Traditionally, the party that won the White House a year prior tends to do poorly as thermostatic backlash kicks in. Heading into election day, there were few high-profile races where the outcome was not in much doubt. But the margins matter as an indication of where things are heading, namely, voters do not want Trumpism to reign unchecked.” (11/05/25)
“Nations that moved air traffic control out of politics have better tech, no shutdown chaos, and stable funding. Congress keeps choosing dysfunction instead.” (11/05/25)
“I was happy to sign the Manhattan Statement on Higher Education. Yes, I oppose all government support for education. But if government is going to fund education, it has a fiduciary responsibility to taxpayers to get good value for their money. And the Manhattan Statement is a careful effort to do precisely that. The Trump administration’s proposed Compact for Academic Excellence is considerably less careful. Most egregiously, two of its provisions directly contradict each other.” (11/05/25)
