Source: NBC News
“The Supreme Court on Wednesday further weakened the Voting Rights Act, ruling that a congressional map in Louisiana was a racial gerrymander even though it was drawn to comply with the landmark law aimed at protecting minority voters. The justices, split 6-3 with the court’s conservatives in the majority, told states they can almost never consider race when drawing maps to comply with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which was enacted to protect minority voters who long faced discrimination in elections. Conservative Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the majority, said that while there may be extreme situations where the use of race can be justified to draw a map, it was not in the Louisiana case. As a result, the new map was an ‘unconstitutional racial gerrymander,’ he added.” (04/29/26)
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-limits-use-race-redistricting-win-republicans-rcna245856
Source: Independent Institute
by Ivan Eland
“Iran has proposed opening the Strait of Hormuz to all traffic if President Donald Trump removes his naval blockade of Iranian ports and ends his war against that country, according to the news outlets of Axios and Associated Press, which quoted regional officials knowledgeable of talks between Iran and mediator Pakistan. Negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program would be undertaken in a later phase of the agreement. Despite all the U.S. tactical successes in blowing things up in Iran, the Iranians have the conflict’s strategic trump card of a stranglehold on international maritime shipping, which has drastically increased prices on petroleum-based products and other vital commercial items for the entire world. Above all, Trump is under pressure from Republicans to get rid of this tar baby before the 2026 mid-term elections …. Trump needs a face-saving way out of this self-imposed mess, and the first step is to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.” (04/29/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/04/29/art-accepting-face-saving-deal/
Source: The Political Orphanage
“Hahaha! Warrant? What Warrant?!” (04/29/26)
https://politicalorphanage.libsyn.com/hahaha-warrant-what-warrant
Source: Associated Press
“The Federal Reserve left its benchmark interest rate unchanged for the third straight meeting but signaled it could still cut rates in the coming months, moves that attracted the most dissents since October 1992. The Fed on Wednesday kept its short-term rate at 3.6% and retained language in its statement suggesting the next move would be a rate reduction. Three officials dissented in favor of removing the reference to a future cut, while a fourth, Stephen Miran, dissented in favor of an immediate rate cut.” (04/29/26)
https://apnews.com/article/powell-warsh-trump-federal-reserve-inflation-4e09e4cdb25856635c94abe0021fc1d3
Source: Eastern New Mexico News
by Kent McManigal
“When the Left rules, they’ll tax you into the ground to fund their pet projects, regulate your speech, your guns, your business, your very thoughts, and call it compassion. When the Right has a turn, they’ll ramp up the surveillance, the wars, and the ‘law and order’ boot on your neck, all while waving a flag and quoting Scripture. Same result: your money, your time, your choices — stolen by someone with power. Only the propaganda differs.” (04/29/26)
https://www.easternnewmexiconews.com/story/2026/04/29/voices/opinion-left-right-equal-enemies-of-liberty/233314.html
Source: Reuters
“The United States'[s] war in Iran has cost $25 billion so far, a senior Pentagon official said on Wednesday, providing the first official estimate of the military’s price tag for the conflict. … Jules Hurst, who is performing the duties of the comptroller, told lawmakers on the House Armed Services Committee that most of that money was for munitions. Hurst did not detail what that cost estimate included and whether it took into account the projected costs of rebuilding and repairing base infrastructure in the Middle East damaged in the conflict. … it is unclear how the Pentagon arrived at the $25 billion amount given that a source had told Reuters last month that President Donald Trump’s administration estimated that the first six days of the war had cost the United States at least $11.3 billion.” (04/29/26)
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-war-iran-has-cost-25-billion-so-far-says-pentagon-official-2026-04-29/
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“Writers in the mainstream press are describing the assassination attempt against President Trump as evil. What they fail to realize, however, is that simply because the assassination attempt was evil doesn’t necessarily mean that the actions of President Trump and the U.S. national-security establishment that apparently motivated the would-be assassin are good. It is entirely possible to have evil on both sides. For example, what about the U.S. government’s official assassinations? How often does the mainstream press condemn those as evil? Hardly ever.” (04/29/26)
https://www.fff.org/2026/04/29/ignoring-official-evil/
Source: CBC News [Canadian state media]
“Former FBI director James Comey made his first court appearance on Wednesday in a criminal case against him that legal experts say presents significant hurdles for the prosecution and will likely be a challenge for the U.S. Justice Department to win. Comey was indicted in North Carolina on Tuesday on charges of making threats against U.S. President Donald Trump related to a photograph he posted on social media last year of seashells arranged in the numbers ’86 47.’ The Justice Department contends those numbers amounted to a threat against Trump, the 47th president.” (04/29/26)
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/comey-8647-trumo-shells-threat-indictment-9.7181694
Source: Fox News
by Jonathan Turley
“In the last year, coverage of former FBI Director James Comey appears to be reverting to the level of a high school yearbook. Last March, we were discussing how Comey channeled Beyoncé in a classified meeting and then may have revealed a code name in an encore performance for family. Now we are back to discussing Comey’s beach shell art on social media. The latter controversy is now at the heart of a second criminal indictment of Comey. … The problem with this indictment will be the merits. The indictment concerns an image that was later removed by Comey showing ’86 47′ in shells on a beach.” (04/28/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/jonathan-turley-comeys-shell-post-may-crass-charging-free-speech-trap
Source: The Hill
“The House on Wednesday approved the renewal of the nation’s warrantless spy powers in a 235-191 vote that cleared the chamber with support from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. The bill, which would renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), still has to clear the Senate, another challenging hurdle before the powers expire on April 30. Section 702 of FISA allows the government to spy on foreigners located abroad, but it has long generated calls to include a warrant requirement before reviewing any information collected on Americans who communicate with overseas targets.” (04/29/26)
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5856102-warrantless-spy-powers-fisa-702/
