Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Dan Grazier & Benjamin Gedan

“During the first game of the season in the second-greatest baseball movie of all time, ‘Major League,’ the character Willie Mays Hayes makes a basket catch at center field. Upon returning to the dugout, his manager shakes the outfielder’s hand and tells him, ‘Nice catch Hayes, don’t ever f&%#ing do it again!’ (‘Bull Durham’ is No. 1.) In some way, the success of Operation Absolute Resolve makes the episode more dangerous than if the mission had failed. That is because success can lead to overconfidence — and costly mistakes. In the wake of a spectacular military operation involving a lot of fancy aircraft and special forces, it is easy to start believing that warfare is nothing more than the proper application of technology. But what happened in Venezuela is the exception, not the rule.” (01/07/26)

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/trump-venezuela-dangerous/

Source: The American Prospect
by David Dayen

“We are just a few weeks away from another deadline on government funding, and all sides want you to know something: This will not go the way it did the last time. Nobody wants to see a replay of the longest shutdown in American history that happened last October and November. Democrats are not going to ask for an extension of Obamacare subsidies, which ran out on December 31, as a condition of passing appropriations. (There will be a House vote on a three-year extension of the subsidies on Thursday, but that’s happening outside of the government funding process.) Republicans are going to try to negotiate appropriations bills with Democrats, rather than a unilateral demand to extend current funding. The sting of that shutdown, the subsequent Republican wipeout in special elections, and the Democratic capitulation to end the impasse have made all sides wary of disrupting the flow of government funding.” (01/07/25)

https://prospect.org/2026/01/07/trump-government-shutdown-tanf-minnesota-congress/

Source: Libertarian Institute
by Roman Gelperin

“In early 2024, Rick Doblin — the man whose work launched one of the biggest social and cultural movements of our time, ‘the Psychedelic Renaissance’ — was expecting to see the crowning achievement of his life’s mission. The non-profit he led and founded, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), had recently published the second of its Phase 3 clinical trials of the psychedelic drug MDMA, investigating its efficacy in the treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The results seemed incontestable. … And then, in August 2024, ‘the FDA decision was worse than any of us [had] anticipated,’ said Doblin. It outright rejected the New Drug Application for MDMA, demanding that MAPS conduct a third Phase 3 study to gather more information, a process that would require at least three more years.” (01/07/26)

https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/the-psychedelic-renaissance-continues

Source: The American Conservative
by Justin Logan

“Presidents are drawn to foreign policy in part because courts and Congress won’t constrain them as they do on domestic policy. Presidential historians love ambitious foreign policies, and rank war presidents higher than peace presidents. So it’s understandable that presidents often look to make their legacies through foreign policy. In the postwar era, though, for every Reagan, there is an LBJ, a Bush, or a Carter. The lure of foreign policy is that it promises national greatness; the peril is that the foreigners get a vote, and things may be sketchier than people tell you. To use a Trumpian metaphor, what can seem like a clear shot to the fairway can wind up in thick rough.” (01/07/26)

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/will-venezuela-define-the-second-trump-administration/

Source: The UnPopulist
by Gabriel Schoenfeld

“Opposite errors have appeared after each of Trump’s two presidential victories. Following his surprise win in 2016, many dismissed Trumpism as an anomaly — a cultural spasm that would fade — when we were actually embarking on a genuine political realignment. After 2024, perhaps the inverse mistake was made: many assumed his second presidential victory reflected MAGA’s enduring cultural resonance, when it may instead represent the final surge of an unstable ideological coalition that has already crested. If initially there was an underestimation of Trump’s ability to tap into deep cultural currents, now there may be an overestimation of his coalition’s capacity to outlast the man himself.” (01/06/26)

https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/maga-may-have-finally-entered-the