Source: Roads Go Ever On
by Bekah Graham

“Being involved in Texas politics for years meant I was prepared for the worst possible people to run (and likely win) as Republicans. I was also prepared for the Democratic Party of Texas to put up an uninspiring, excessively flawed, or self-interested candidate to predictably lose against the Republican ghoul. But then James Talarico got into the race. I expected that I would be letting Paxton’s trash record speak for itself, with nothing but a milquetoast Democrat or a well-meaning Libertarian to suggest against him.” (09/09/26)

https://bekahgwen.substack.com/p/an-open-letter-to-texas-evangelicals

Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger

“One of the most disastrous consequences of the 9/11 aftermath was the pass that the American people gave to their own government. Their anger was focused entirely on the terrorists rather than on both the terrorists and the government that provoked the attacks. There were two reasons for this phenomenon. The biggest reason is that Americans bought into the rationale that U.S. officials immediately announced as to motive — that is, the reason the terrorists struck on 9/11 with their devastating attack. U.S. officials said that the terrorists had been motivated to strike out of a supposed hatred for America’s ‘freedom and values.’ … The second reason for Americans’ failure to focus on the responsibility that the U.S. government had for the 9/11 retaliatory strikes is that Americans viewed their federal government as their daddy, one that would never lie to them or put them in danger.” (09/09/26)

https://www.fff.org/2026/09/09/americans-should-never-have-given-the-u-s-government-a-pass-after-9-11/

Source: Cato Institute
by Walter Olson

“America has been a great innovator in the realm of elections, introducing many methods new developments from party primaries to early and mail voting. Some innovations fall by the wayside, while others catch on and become standard. Why trade this ferment of democracy for an arrangement where permission from Washington is required for anything new? Why risk foisting a bad method on everyone because someone in Washington liked it? Above all, the Framers did it this way because they feared that a ruling national faction, whether based in Congress or a White House, might someday gain power over election administration nationwide and use it to entrench themselves in office.” (09/09/26)

https://www.cato.org/commentary/framers-trusted-states-not-washington-elections

Source: Eastern New Mexico News
by Kent McManigal

“What don’t I know? I don’t know exactly how you should live or every detail of your situation. I don’t know how to solve every possible random problem in the world. I don’t know what complications might arise. I don’t know solutions I can’t see or haven’t thought of. All the variables; the consequences of any potential solution. I don’t know how, or if, society should be run. I don’t know, and I accept it. While I’m comfortable saying I don’t know, there are also things I do know. I know that no one else knows those answers, either. If they claim to, they are being dishonest. Those who make up legislation are often even more ignorant about the topics they legislate on than the rest of us.” (09/09/26)

https://www.easternnewmexiconews.com/story/2026/09/09/voices/opinion-you-know-whats-best-for-you/234143.html

Source: Liberalism.org
by Michael C Munger

“The state should not be dismissed as evil, but neither should it be romanticized as inherently good, a focus of moral value in and of itself. There are legitimate and difficult questions about whether there is a collective ‘will’ that the state discovers and enacts. The most plausible, and modest, claim is that people use the technology of ‘state power’ to provide mutual protection and achieve shared goals. The alternatives to this modest view of the state are a wide and haphazard range of different moral and practical collectivisms, imposed by central authorities. We can agree that the state must have police authority, but endowing the state with moral authority is simply incompatible with liberalism.” (09/09/26)

https://www.liberalism.org/p/liberalism-under-threat