Reasonably Optimistic, 08/19/26
Source: Washington Post
“What empty pews reveal about America.” (08/19/26)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/podcasts/impromptu/what-empty-pews-reveal-about-america
The Real Danger of Russia’s Fake Elections
Source: The Bulwark
by Cathy Young
“The anti-war, anti-government sentiment was apparently more than Putin bargained for.” (08/19/26)
Professors are being squeezed on all sides. The GUARD Act can protect them.
Source: Expression
by Michael Hurley
“From 2000 through 2024, FIRE recorded 102 cases of politicians trying to silence faculty. That’s four cases a year on average. Then, in 2025 alone, we recorded 114. That extraordinary spike comes as federal efforts to reform higher education have too often crossed constitutional lines. At the same time, the old threat of censorship by school administrators never faded. This year, South Florida State College fired professor Vinita Prabhakar after its president called a celebrated short story she assigned about an alcoholic teacher ‘political.’ Now Prabhakar, represented by FIRE and FIRE Legal Network member Gary Edinger, is suing the school.” (08/19/26)
https://expression.fire.org/p/professors-are-being-squeezed-on
North Korea shrugs off Trump’s scaled-back drills with South Korea, saying it changes nothing
Source: SFGate
“North Korea said Wednesday that a U.S. decision to scale back military exercises with South Korea does not change what it sees as the provocative nature of the drills, dampening hopes for an early resumption of diplomacy between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump. The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made the comments Wednesday night in her country’s first reaction to Trump’s moves to drastically cut back the annual U.S.-South Korean military drills. ‘We think it’s not worth making comments on that and we have no interest in it at all,’ Kim Yo Jong said in a statement carried by state media. ‘The provocative, aggressive nature of the drills won’t change even though their duration and size were reduced.'” (08/19/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/south-korea-says-the-south-korean-and-us-22393947.php
Interviews by Claire Lehmann, 08/18/26
Source: Quillette
“‘Economic Vandalism’: Geoff Wilson on Labor’s War on Australian Aspiration.” (08/18/26)
https://quillette.com/2026/08/18/capital-gains-tax-geoff-wilson-on-labors-tax-grab/
The GOP’s Fading Economic Advantage
Source: Antiwar.com
by Greg Pence
“As the 2026 midterms approach, a nationwide poll released in early August delivered a warning that goes to the heart of the Republican Party’s political identity: for the first time in nearly a decade, voters said Democrats were better stewards of the economy than Republicans. For years, Republicans benefited from a broad perception that they were more trustworthy than Democrats on economic management, even when the record of Republican administrations was contested. … Now that advantage is beginning to crack – not because the U.S. economy is necessarily on the verge of collapse, but because many Americans are judging it less by macroeconomic indicators than by groceries, electricity bills, healthcare and insurance costs, housing, and what remains in their bank accounts at the end of the month. For Donald Trump and the Republican Party, that change in how voters measure economic performance could be costly.” (08/19/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/greg_pence/2026/08/18/the-gops-fading-economic-advantage/
US Appeals Court Blocks ICE Gang Abductions Near Some Houses of Worship
Source: US News & World Report
“A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday upheld an order limiting federal immigration enforcement at eight houses of worship affiliated with three faith groups, saying religious activities at the sites could be hindered by the operations. A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with eight houses of worship from the Quaker, Sikh, and Cooperative Baptist Fellowship traditions in finding that a policy President Donald Trump’s administration adopted likely violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The case is one of a number of similar legal challenges that religious groups have filed nationally. The Trump administration had argued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s policy did not prevent the plaintiffs from conducting worship or ministry services, and said the plaintiffs could not establish it would lead immigrants to choose to not attend their religious services.” (08/18/26)
Pink Flame of Liberty, 08/18/26
Source: Pink Flame of Liberty
“Can Alternative Dispute Resolution be a Real Option for Libertarian Parties?” (08/18/26)
A Tale of Two Borders: Ceuta and Gibraltar
Source: Independent Institute
by Daniel Sánchez-Piñol
“Why did removing border fences in Gibraltar spark no migration crisis, while Ceuta’s fortified perimeter failed?” (08/18/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/08/18/tale-two-borders-ceuta-gibraltar/
Deadbeat AOC’s student-loan mooching should be a red flag to her 2028 supporters
Source: New York Post
by Betsy McCaughey
“Betting markets show Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as the frontrunner to snag the Democrats’ 2028 presidential nomination. But despite earning $173,000 a year as a member of Congress, AOC refuses to pay back her student loans — a red flag that she has no respect for taxpayers. Her supporters claim her college loans make her relatable. ‘This is what happens when we elect normal people to Congress,’ leftist activist David Hogg posted approvingly. ‘I need a president that’s still drowning in student loan debt with me,’ another fan wrote. Households in the top fifth for earnings are three times more likely to have college debt than households in the bottom fifth of the economy. That means when doctors, lawyers and members of Congress don’t pay their college loans, working stiffs who never got to go to college — bus drivers, waiters and sanitation workers — end up on the hook.” (08/19/26)