“On March 20, President Trump signed an executive order ‘Eliminating Information Silos.’ The order directed heads of federal agencies to make sure officials designated by the president ‘have full and prompt access to all unclassified agency records, data, software systems, and information technology systems.’ The executive order did not attract much attention until it was more recently revealed that the administration was working with tech company Palantir to create a database containing all information collected by all federal agencies on all US citizens. … Despite the obvious threat to liberty the ‘big ugly database’ poses, some commentators and ‘influencers’ who would normally oppose, or at least be skeptical of, expansion of the surveillance state are supporting it because they believe it will be used to locate illegal [sic] immigrants.” (06/17/25)
“David French remains an incorrigible defender of illegal aggression: ‘While it’s far too soon to tell whether Israel’s military strikes will cripple or even substantially set back Iran’s nuclear program, the necessity of stopping Iran’s march to a bomb [bold mine-DL] is far more clear today than it was even three years ago.’ Iran was not ‘marching’ to get a bomb when Israel attacked. There was no ‘march’ to be stopped. The Iranians were involved in negotiations in which they were willing to accept significant restrictions on their nuclear program to guarantee that it would remain peaceful. There was no need for the Israeli government to strike, and they had no right to attack in any case. Israel’s new war against Iran is as unnecessary and unjust as can be.” (06/16/25)
“Murder rates are plummeting. While we still have more than half a year to go, Kash Patel, the FBI’s director, says that the U.S. is on track to have the lowest murder rate ever. The current record low occurred in 2014 when the FBI reported a murder rate of 4.45 per 100,000. The question is: why? Law enforcement matters, but it is probably also that Trump is deporting criminal illegal [sic] aliens. According to Patel, ‘Let good cops be cops,’ is the answer. ‘I’m gonna let you, the agents, the police officers, the sheriffs, go out there and do the work you so badly want to do. And I’m gonna give you the resources you need to do it. And I’m gonna take away the politicization and weaponization … and that’s what we’ve done.'” (06/16/25)
“The U.S. Court of International Trade recently made headlines by issuing an order voiding many of President Donald J. Trump’s tariffs. The case was V.O.S Selections v. United States. The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has stayed the order pending appeal. When the news hit, many people, including many lawyers, were unaware that the Court of International Trade even existed. A one-time Justice Department lawyer, now a leading radio talk show host, admitted he’d never heard of the tribunal and then mistakenly suggested it was merely an administrative agency rather than a court created under Article III of the Constitution. But it is a real Article III court. Congress established it in 1980 as the successor to the U.S. Customs Court. Its decision in the V.O.S Selections case is worth attention.” (06/16/25)
“Since June 13, Israel has been carrying out a major military campaign against Iran, with the stated aim of destroying the country’s nuclear program. Although the United States first distanced itself from the strike, U.S. President Donald Trump later embraced it, posting on social media that he had warned Iran about the consequences of not making a deal. He also claimed that the strike was ‘excellent’ and said it could make it more likely that Tehran accepts an agreement. It is impossible to predict at this point how the war will evolve, let alone conclude. But chances are good that Israel’s attack on Iran will not have the effect that Trump hopes. Instead, it will make reaching a diplomatic agreement harder and increase the chances that Iran eventually builds a nuclear weapon.” (06/16/25)
“The unprovoked Israeli attack on Iran is the 2003 Iraq War 2.0, except it has the potential to be far, far more catastrophic than the absolute catastrophe that was Iraq. Like President George W. Bush’s 2003 war on Iraq, the war on Iran is an unprovoked, illegal, offensive, unilateral war of aggression, potentially aimed at regime change, and sold to the public based on lies about nonexistent weapons of mass destruction. … This time the lies are even uglier because Netanyahu is weaponizing the memory of the Nazi Holocaust and 6 million dead Jews (including some of my family members), by trying to scare people with talk of a ‘nuclear holocaust’ and ‘never again is now.’ Israel is the country with nuclear weapons, along with the United States. Iran has none. Iranians are the only ones now at risk of a nuclear holocaust.” (06/16/25)
“Millions of demonstrators across the country came out into the streets on June 14 at more than 2,000 protests in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Organizers estimated that the mobilization, called ‘“No Kings Day of Defiance,’ drew at least five million people nationwide, which would make it the largest single-day protest in U.S. history. Indivisible, the ACLU and the 50501 Movement were key organizers of the nationwide rallies and marches denouncing the Trump administration, which were timed to coincide with a military parade in Washington, D.C., that President Trump co-opted as a 79th birthday celebration. Storytelling is part of all social movements, and the organizers chose the country’s founding as a touchstone to organize the resistance against what they describe as an authoritarian regime.” (06/16/25)
“It would be absurd to say that American presidents have always been principled defenders of freedom and democracy, but their long-shared, bipartisan definition of tyrant is one who oppresses his own. So it’s striking that these warnings about tyrants in distant lands, who were supposedly the opposite of the kind of legitimate, democratic leaders elected in the United States of America, now apply to the sitting U.S. president, Donald Trump. It is a simple but morally powerful formulation: A leader who uses military force to suppress their political opposition forfeits the right to govern. You could call this the ‘tyrant test,’ and Trump is already failing it.” (06/16/25)
“Well, Americans, I hope you’re happy with yourselves. You really let President Donald Trump down June 14. All he wanted was to celebrate his 79th birthday with a massive military parade that made him look powerful, scary and beloved. Instead, thanks to millions of Americans and their stupid First Amendment rights, he got a derpy, dull parade overshadowed by massive nationwide protests denouncing him. … Nice job, guys. Do you know how hurtful that was for a man who just wanted to have a cool birthday parade that would make him feel like a powerful dictator?” (06/16/25)
“Only days prior to the Israeli attack, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard found herself again at the center of a coordinated media attack by Washington’s neoconservatives who never tire of smearing those with whom they disagree. In this instance the topic was nuclear weapons. A suddenly influential neocon media outlet that goes by the name of Jewish Insider decided to stir up controversy last week after Gabbard released a video on social media in which she spoke about her recent trip to Hiroshima and expressed her concern that, ‘Political elite and warmongers are carelessly fomenting fear and tensions between nuclear powers.’ … The authors of the piece, Gabby Deutsch and Emily Jacobs, who falsely claim the Hiroshima bomb ‘spurred a Japanese surrender’ (actually the Soviet entry into the war against Japan did that) could, like Kennedy, do with some remedial history.” (06/16/25)
