“Rank-and-file Democratic support for Palestinians has surged since 2024 and risen more since last summer, but there are influential party leaders who disagree. The US-Israel attacks on Iran are more unifying inside the party. Democrats are against them and happy to blame them for rising prices. But the demand for the official party to take a position is fraught with risk, at a moment when the party is feeling good about the issues this midterm election will be fought over.” (04/06/26)
“With Republicans in charge of Congress and the White House, Sanders’s concrete proposal is unlikely to succeed in the near term; one superforecaster gave the data center moratorium bill a ‘less than zero’ chance of passing. But his proposal for a national moratorium conditioned on subsequent AI legislation could provide a rallying point for diverse anti-AI forces. If passed, it would give NIMBY activists what they want — a short-term reprieve from data center construction — while also providing leverage for advocates of AI safety, child welfare, labor rights, and other causes. Even some Republicans might get on board.” (04/06/26)
“Year after year, we are told by whoever is in opposition and seeks to get elected to a public office that life is getting harder. Young people can’t afford anything. That America was somehow better ‘back then.’ And ‘back then’ usually means 50 or 100 years ago, times often romanticized by Hollywood, but when life was actually much harder and less enjoyable. The truth is that, in material terms, we live in the best of times. And it will get better even when we hit a few bumps by electing the occasional socialist. Life now is much more affordable, safer, healthier, and full of opportunity than it was a century ago. Profit-seeking undertakers, the ones politicians love to demonize, are making everything more abundant, convenient, and reliable.” (04/06/26)
“I have worked and consulted with many congressmen, testifying at their hearings over several decades. They are mostly hard-working, bright, and reasonable people. Most have generally good, if not sterling, moral character, although the addiction to the money and fame associated with political power provides notable exceptions, leading occasionally to criminal convictions (Sen. Robert Mendenez and Representative George Santos are two recent examples). Especially worrisome: legislative branch dysfunctionality seems to be growing. Why does the system work so poorly these days?” (04/06/26)
“Hegel viewed history as consisting of stages punctuated by times of upheaval. He assigned to what he called “world-historical individuals” a special role in spurring the transition from one era to another. These individuals didn’t necessarily grasp the full import of what they were doing, and their actions, while transformative, didn’t necessarily result in the outcomes they intended. Trump, I have come to believe, is exactly such an individual: He is speeding the transition from one historical era to another. The ultimate results are very unlikely to line up with his exact ideological aims, but they will be profound. And the world is never going back to what it was.” (04/06/26)
“As an American political writer on the left, it is quite unusual to see one’s advice being followed. During Barack Obama’s presidency, I argued repeatedly that Democrats badly botched the response to the Great Recession. Thanks in part to backroom maneuverings from then-head of the National Economic Council Larry Summers, the stimulus package of 2009 was roughly half as big as it needed to be. As a result, unemployment was still 10 percent on Election Day 2010—a big reason why Democrats lost 63 seats in the House and six in the Senate, relinquishing full control of Congress that never returned for the duration of Obama’s presidency. Fast-forward to 2021, and much to my surprise, ol’ Joe Biden and congressional Democrats did exactly what I and other critics recommended. With the economy still coming out of a very severe recession from the pandemic, Biden met the challenge with a $1.9 trillion stimulus.” (04/07/26)
“Ozempic and its cousins (Mounjaro, Wegovy, Zepbound, et al.) modify the pleasure centers of the brain, making everything people crave — food, sex, smoking, alcohol, shopping, gambling, cocaine — less appealing. It doesn’t address the underlying problems of addiction, such as depression or dishonesty. It just eliminates the part of the person that enjoys and revels, the colorful, joyous side. It’s a version of the drug in Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, that the doctor ginned up to divide himself, creating a respectable man bound by reserve and a separate murderous, pleasure-seeking monster.” (04/06/26)
“U.S. arms sales to Israel aren’t really sales, at least not in the typical sense. Israel’s position as purchaser in these weapons deals isn’t synonymous with funder. This is made clear in the arms sales notifications themselves. Consider the four most recent notified arms sales to Israel published in the Federal Register: $740 million for armored personnel carriers, $1.98 billion for tactical vehicles and accessories, $3.8 billion for attack helicopters and related weaponry, and $150 million for utility helicopters and parts. After ‘Prospective Purchaser,’ all these notifications list Government of Israel. After ‘[Funding Source,’ all list Foreign Military Financing — or FMF, the U.S. military aid program through which Israel receives at least $3.3 billion a year. In practice, FMF functions as a gift card for Israel to spend on weapons. U.S. taxpayers are stuck paying for the gift card.” (04/06/26)
Source: ProSocial Libertarians
by Andrew Jason Cohen
“My own ideal theory is a classical liberal (libertarian) theory based on toleration. The view is necessarily very thin as it accepts that each person should be free to choose and act on their own conception of the good and thus live very different sorts of lives. All of those are to be tolerated unless they involve harm to others. … Importantly, having an ideal theory does not mean thinking we ought to stop with ideal theory. … I must recognize that there will be scenarios in the real world that challenge my own intuitions about what ought to be permitted when people would have difficulty exiting even when their right to do so is protected and figure out how to respond to that.” (04/06/26)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“At this point if you’re in the US military you have a moral obligation to start refusing orders. Desert. Become a conscientious objector. Ideally, get everyone together and launch a full-scale military coup. We’re in ‘Mad King’ territory. Someone’s gotta do what needs to be done. Promoters of this war told the world it was about liberating the Iranian people from tyranny to bring them freedom and democracy. Now that they got their war it’s about bombing them ‘back to the Stone Age,’ stealing their oil, and blowing up their bridges and power plants. The only people dumber than Americans who bought into Trump’s ‘ending the wars’ shtick are the Iranians who believed the United States was going to bring freedom to their country.” (04/06/26)
