Bulwark Takes, 04/26/26
Source: The Bulwark
“WHCD Shooting: What We Know Now, What’s Next.” (04/26/26)
There Is No Winning in Iran
Source: The Dispatch
by Kevin D Williamson
“There is no victory coming in Iran. There are better and worse possible outcomes. There is no victory coming in Iran because it is an illegal war that will leave our constitutional mechanism, already running rough, further out of balance for a generation, with the presidential warmaking power now entirely untethered from Congress. There is no upside to that. Repairing the damage would take a generation of work by better men and women than we currently have in Washington. On top of this, the Trump administration has effectively conceded sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz to Iran, a privilege Iran did not previously enjoy regarding the international strait, which is partly in the territorial waters of Oman. … In this war, the United States will lose no battles, but Iran has, in effect, gained territory.” (04/24/26)
Congress Has Become Almost Totally Irrelevant
Source: The American Prospect
by David Dayen
“More than three weeks ago, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) agreed to Democratic terms to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), except for its immigration enforcement agencies. That bill has still not become a law, prolonging the longest shutdown of any government agency in history. Nobody has even thought about the DHS shutdown for a while, because President Trump signed executive orders to first pay airport security agents on March 27, and then all other agency personnel on April 3, under the guise of emergency action. It should be said plainly: This is illegal, it has always been illegal, and the precedent it sets pushes Congress, the branch of government with the power of the purse, into total irrelevance.” (04/24/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/04/24/congress-has-become-almost-totally-irrelevant/
Tunisia: Regime suspends rights group as crackdown widens
Source: ABC News
“Authorities in Tunisia have ordered a one-month suspension of the Tunisian League for Human Rights, one of the oldest rights groups in Africa and the Arab world and part of the National Dialogue Quartet awarded the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize, in the latest move raising concerns over a widening crackdown on civil society. The league confirmed the suspension in a statement late Friday, warning that the decision amounted to ‘a serious and arbitrary violation of freedom of association’ and ‘a direct assault’ on one of Tunisia’s key democratic gains. President Kais Saied has often cited foreign funding, which rights groups sometimes rely on, as a threat to Tunisia, using it to fuel a populist narrative and accuse his political opponents and social justice activists of being foreign agents and stirring unrest at home.” (04/25/26)
Liberal Currents, 04/25/26
Source: Liberal Currents
“Courting Fascism (with Ryan Geddie).” (04/25/26)
https://www.liberalcurrents.com/courting-fascism-with-ryan-geddie/
The Tom Woods Show, episode 2755
Source: The Tom Woods Show
“Judge Napolitano: Trump Is Not of Sound Mind.” (04/24/26)
https://tomwoods.com/ep-2755-judge-napolitano-trump-is-not-of-sound-mind/
Only Liberal Societies Can Handle Alien Life
Source: The UnPopulist
by Kenneth Silber
“Its existence will raise confusing and difficult questions for earthlings that authoritarians won’t have the credibility to negotiate.” (04/24/26)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/only-liberal-societies-can-handle
Why fighting federal-benefit fraud must top the Republican agenda
Source: New York Post
by staff
“Expect the fight against fraud to dominate the Republican agenda in Congress and on the campaign trail in the months ahead: It’s past time to stop the theft of tens and even hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars from programs meant to help the sick, needy and otherwise vulnerable. Wednesday saw Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) unveil the Protecting American Taxpayers Act, a major package of legislation produced by the DOGE Caucus, a group of senators aiming to continue the work of the Department of Government Efficiency, the executive branch agency spearheaded by Elon Musk that targeted fraud and waste.” (04/25/26)
Occupied Ireland: Car bomb explodes outside police station after vehicle hijacked
Source: Reuters
“A car bomb exploded outside a police station in the Dunmurry area of south Belfast late on Saturday after a delivery vehicle was hijacked and the driver forced to take it to the site, [British-occupied] Ireland police said on Sunday. The attack is the latest in a series of sporadic attempts by militant groups that continue to target police officers, decades after a peace deal largely ended sectarian violence in the region. … The car was hijacked in the Twinbrook area of west Belfast shortly after 10:50 p.m. (2150 GMT) on Saturday and a gas cylinder device was placed in the trunk, police said. The man was ordered to drive the vehicle to Dunmurry police station, Deputy Chief Constable Bobby Singleton told a news conference. The vehicle was abandoned outside the front of the station, prompting police to activate an alarm and evacuate nearby homes, Singleton said.” (04/26/26)
The Good Fight, 04/25/26
Source: Yascha Mounk
“Luis Garicano on the Economics of Artificial Intelligence.” (04/25/26)