A War Against Our Own Values
Source: The Weekly Dish
by Andrew Sullivan
“Why Trump’s unprovoked aggression breaks almost every rule of a just war.” (03/20/26)
https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/a-war-against-our-own-values-8e6
SCOTUS Revives Suit From Evangelical Christian Challenging Restrictions on Demonstrations
Source: US News & World Report
“The Supreme Court on Friday revived a lawsuit from an evangelical Christian barred from demonstrating in Mississippi after authorities say he shouted insults at people over a loudspeaker. The high court unanimously ruled in the case of Gabriel Olivier, who says his religious and free speech rights were violated when he was arrested for refusing to move his preaching away from a suburban amphitheater. The city said he had shouted insults like ‘whores,’ ‘Jezebel’ and ‘nasty’ at people, sometimes holding signs showing aborted fetuses. Olivier wanted to challenge the law as an unconstitutional restriction on free speech, but lower courts stopped him from suing because he’d been convicted of breaking it. A Supreme Court case from the 1990s found people can’t use civil lawsuits to undermine criminal convictions. But the justices found that doesn’t stop Olivier from suing because he only wants to block future enforcement.” (03/20/26)
The Bulwark Podcast, 03/20/26
Source: The Bulwark
“James Talarico: I Know EXACTLY Why Voters Stopped Trusting Democrats.” (03/20/26)
Serious Trouble, 03/20/26
Source: Serious Trouble
“Pound Cake for Everyone.” (03/20/26)
We’d Be Winning This War if It Weren’t for Your Coverage
Source: The Atlantic
by Alexandra Petri
“Dear Media: There is no other way of putting this. The Fake News’s contumacious insistence on reporting what is actually happening in Iran rather than what Donald Trump would prefer was happening is setting back the war effort. So we at the FCC would like to provide you with some suggestions for updating your coverage. This is not a threat. However, please remember that we are in the process of consolidating every media company under the control of a man with a named boat who hates all the programming and has preemptively given Donald Trump his kidney, ‘just in case it ever comes in handy.’ … Clap! Why don’t you clap?” (03/20/26)
Bigger Isn’t Better: A Case for Downsizing the Federal Reserve
Source: The Daily Economy
by Paul Mueller
“Does the Fed need 24,000 employees? A leaner, more automated institution could reduce costs and improve transparency.” (03/20/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/bigger-isnt-better-a-case-for-downsizing-the-federal-reserve/
No assessment Iran could strike London, UK minister says
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“There is ‘no assessment to substantiate’ Israel’s claim that Iran has long-range missiles capable of reaching London, a UK cabinet minister has said. Housing Secretary Steve Reed told the BBC there was ‘no specific assessment that the Iranians are targeting the UK – or even could if they wanted to,’ after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Saturday that Tehran had weapons that could reach up to 4,000km (2,485 miles). It comes after it emerged Iran targeted the joint US-UK military base on the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean, around 3,800km from Iran. Reed refused to say how close the missiles came to the British overseas territory, saying he could not share ‘operational details.'” (03/22/26)
Rising, 03/20/26
Source: The Hill
“Niall Stanage gives his notes on President Trump’s insistence that other countries help the U.S. with the war in Iran, particularly with reopening the Strait of Hormuz.” (03/202/6)
Bargaining with the Butcher, Baker, and Brewer: A New Look at Smith’s Most Famous Sentences
Source: EconLog
by Jacob Sider Jost
“Smith’s famous sentences about the butcher, brewer, and baker have often been taken to place interest (often silently emended to ‘self-interest’) at the root of human activity. Gregory Mankiw’s widely used introductory economics textbook glosses them in just this way: ‘Smith is saying that participants in the economy are motivated by self-interest.’ Smith could have said this. His famous sentences might have read ‘The butcher, brewer and baker provide us with dinner not out of benevolence, but out of self-interest. They act not out of humanity, but out of self-love, and seek their own advantage.’ But this is not what Smith wrote.” (03/20/26)
https://www.econlib.org/econlog/bargaining-with-the-butcher-baker-and-brewer
Beware Men Who Wage War to Prove They Are Men
Source: Common Dreams
by Toby Miller & Joan Pedro-Caranana
“Seemingly endless recitations throughout history of what constitutes virtuous citizenship emphasize military life. A specifically masculine heritage of violence in the service of the nation oversees and delimits democracy and authority—a privileged area of social welfare in contrast to health, education, the environment, or poverty. Much classical and modern political theory assumes and even endorses domestic violence, bellicose masculinity, and the notion that ‘real’ politics is generated, discussed, and concluded between men. The idea that male virtue is tied to violence, whether in defense of faith, family, or the border, is immensely strong. From individual duels to national campaigns, the ‘right’ way to engage in violence has given rise to ideas of nobility. Masculine worth is supposedly incarnate in bloodshed and authoritarian leadership, embodied in the military as a righteous national embodiment of power, spirit, religiosity, and victory.” (03/21/26)