Conservative Obtuseness on Cuba

Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger

“I’ve long been fascinated by the reluctance of conservatives to condemn wrongdoing by the U.S. government, especially since the time that the U.S. government was converted to a national-security state after World War II. The primary reason for this phenomenon, it seems to me, is that conservatives have come to view the federal government as a god, one that works in partnership with their religious God. In the conservative mind, it’s okay to carp about minor mistakes that their national-security god makes but it’s never okay to challenge or question it at a fundamental level. A good example of this conservative mindset is the decades-old U.S. economic embargo against Cuba and, more recently, the oil restrictions that the U.S. government has imposed against Cuba.” (11/09/26)

https://www.fff.org/2026/11/09/conservative-obtuseness-on-cuba/

Will the Democrats Implode?

Source: Town Hall
by Mark Lewis

“Democrat Party implosion isn’t an impossibility. The Democrats are not united, not by any stretch of the imagination, and their divisions are serious, for reasons I shall explain. And they are already having disagreements. A couple of headlines I saw Friday: From the ‘Beaufort Observer’: ‘Far Left Moving to Deny Hakeem Jeffries the Speaker Job, Put in Someone Farther Left’. And this one from Breitbart: ‘Mark Ruffalo Pushes Petition Urging House Democrats to Reject Hakeem Jeffries as Speaker: ‘Simply Not the Right Choice’’. In other words, the Menshevik Jeffries is not communist enough for the Bolshevik Ruffalo and his Leninist communist comrades. There are no ‘moderate’ Democrats anymore, folks; that animal went extinct with the dodo bird.” (11/09/26)

https://townhall.com/columnists/marklewis/2026/11/09/will-the-democrats-implode-n2686112

The Wild Turnover of the Midterms Shows That Living Life Requires Ignoring Government

Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille

“There are lessons to take from last week’s blue tidal wave which swept Republicans from power in Congress and across much of the country, just as there were from the 2024 ejection of Democrats from office. Among other things, party turnover underlines the futility of relying on government to maintain predictable conditions and to protect cherished liberties. The midterm elections may have been primarily a rejection of corruption and ineptitude among GOP officials, but they also empowered Democrats to enact an agenda in many places wildly at odds with what prevailed before.” (11/09/26)

https://reason.com/2026/11/09/the-wild-turnover-of-the-midterms-shows-that-living-life-requires-ignoring-government/

Collectivism: The Infectious Lie You’re Probably Telling

Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Jason Montgomery

“There is no such thing as ‘America/the US,’ ‘Israel,’ ‘Iran,’ ‘society,’ or ‘the public.’ There is no “general welfare,” and a nation does not, and cannot, have debt. Such claims indicate the linguistic/ideological/psychological disorder of collectivism: conceptualizing and interacting with human beings in terms of groups rather than as individuals.” (11/09/26)

https://mises.org/power-market/collectivism-infectious-lie-youre-probably-telling

Trump Official Claims Those Who Oppose Iran War Are “Blinded By Satan”

Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone

“US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee claims that anyone who opposes Trump’s war with Iran is being blinded by Satan. Like, the actual, literal devil character from the Bible. During an incredibly sycophantic recent interview on The Anchor Podcast, Huckabee was asked by the host if he believed European opposition to the US war on Iran was the result of mental problems. ‘I think it’s a spiritual issue,’ Huckabee replied. ‘I know it sounds a little funny for an ambassador to be talking like this, but look, I see this as spiritual darkness, spiritual blindness,’ adding that ‘Satan has blinded the minds of those and has captured their thinking.'” (11/09/26)

https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2026/11/09/trump-official-claims-those-who-oppose-iran-war-are-blinded-by-satan-and-other-notes/

The True Believer

Source: Persuasion
by Damon Linker

“Far from signaling the conclusion of the Trump era, the midterm elections of 2026 now look likely to be viewed as the moment when the country began to confront an even more intense challenge to liberal democratic principles from the hardline xenophobic right than the one we’ve already been enduring for much of the past 10 years.” (11/09/26)

https://www.persuasion.community/p/the-true-believer

The Taxes That Tax the Future

Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Madsen Pirie

“Work is how most people create value. Tax it heavily and you get less of it. Income tax and National Insurance together make each extra hour less worth working, each promotion less worth seeking and each second job less worth taking. Some earners face effective marginal rates of 60 per cent as allowances are clawed back. Nobody designed that deliberately. It simply accumulated, like barnacles on a hull, slowing the ship a little more each year. A country that wants growth should want people to work, earn and advance. Taxing effort is a strange way to show it.” (11/09/26)

https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/the-taxes-that-tax-the-future

The Reverse Ginsburg Scenario: Dems May Only Need to Wait Rather than Pack the Court

Source: Jonathan Turley
by Jonathan Turley

“In Henry VI, Shakespeare wrote, ‘Defer no time, delays have dangerous ends’. Many today would like to chisel those words above the doors to the Supreme Court. Time and time again, justices waited too long for their own legacies. For many conservatives, the loss of both houses of Congress has created a true nightmare scenario in which two conservatives (Justice Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito) could hand Democrats the opportunity to take control of the Court without having to carry out their court-packing schemes. Control of the Court could now be lost by sheer attrition. Timing has always been a looming question for justices who want to see their seats filled by like-minded jurists. However, it is difficult to walk away from being one of nine.” (11/09/26)

https://jonathanturley.org/2026/11/09/the-reverse-ginsburg-scenario-democrats-may-only-need-to-wait-rather-than-pack-the-court/

Lessons from the Berlin Wall

Source: Liberalism.org
by Rainer Heufers

“The fall of the Berlin Wall belongs to history, but its lessons do not. Across many countries today, including established democracies such as the United States, we see political forces challenging constitutional constraints, weakening independent institutions, concentrating executive power, or treating political opponents as enemies rather than legitimate competitors. Elsewhere, authoritarian governments have become more confident in suppressing dissent and restricting individual freedom. The forms differ, but the question confronting citizens remains familiar: what do we do when those in power gradually erode the institutions that protect our freedom?” (11/09/26)

https://liberalism.org/essays/lessons-from-the-berlin-wall

FACTS: Free Market Competition Fixes Healthcare Better Than the Bernie Sanders Medicare Plan

Source: Karl Dickey’s Freedom Vanguard
by Karl Dickey

“Monopolies consistently deliver poor service and high costs. A government monopoly operates with even less efficiency than a corporate one needing happy customers to flourish. Government solutions fail because they rely on coercion and ‘no choice’ rather than voluntary exchange. The free market forces providers to earn customer loyalty. Government programs trap citizens in a system with no exit. When the government controls healthcare, patients lose their bargaining power and thereby their choices.” (11/09/26)

https://palmbeachexaminer.substack.com/p/facts-free-market-competition-fixes