Source: The Hill
“Democrats on Tuesday flipped a state House seat in a red-leaning district in Georgia, delivering the party another notable win heading into next year’s midterms. Democrat Eric Gisler was projected to defeat Republican Mack Guest IV in the special election in Georgia’s House District 121, according to Decision Desk HQ. Gisler’s victory is a major upset, as President Trump won the district last year by 12 points, according to DDHQ.” (12/09/25)
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5641566-democrats-flip-georgia-seat
Source: Politics Politics Politics
“Texas Shake-up: Crocket IN, Allred OUT! How Good Will 2026 Be For The Dems? (with Bill Scher).” (12/09/25)
https://www.politicspoliticspolitics.com/p/texas-shake-up-crocket-in-allred
Source: Hoover Institution
by Bill Whalen
“Friday, December 12, marks twenty-five years since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Bush v. Gore, which decided the outcome of Florida’s presidential election and, ultimately, America’s choice for its forty-third president. The date doesn’t pop up on the calendar as do other moments in the republic’s history, either celebratory (July 4) or tragic (September 11). But what transpired a quarter of a century ago matters thus: reverse the decision and it’s quite possibly a very different America.” (12/09/25)
https://www.hoover.org/research/ghost-election-past
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“Ukraine is ‘ready for elections,’ President Volodymyr Zelensky has said, after US President Donald Trump repeated claims Kyiv was ‘using war’ to avoid holding them. Zelensky’s five-year term as president was due to end in May 2024, but elections have been suspended in Ukraine since martial law was declared after Russia’s invasion. Speaking to reporters following Trump’s comments in a wide-raging Politico interview, Zelensky said he would ask for proposals to be drawn up which could change the law. Elections could be held in the next 60 to 90 days if security for the vote was guaranteed with the help of the US and other allies, he said.” (12/10/25)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn5l1474yv7o
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“States in general, and the EU in particular, have a lot in common with the users of social media platforms: Both want to decide how those platforms get used. States in general, and the EU in particular, also have a lot in common with the owners of social media platforms: Both want to make money on those platforms. Those commonalities make for an alliance of convenience between users and owners versus states. Owners make their money by pleasing users; states make their money by demanding bribes … er, ‘fines’ … from owners, often as punishment for refusing to cooperate in state censorship of user-created content. … So why doesn’t [Elon Musk] start his own country, with a state fashioned after his own liking, base his social media platform there, do business exclusively there, and tell the other states to go pound sand when they demand control and/or a piece of the financial action?” (12/09/25)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/20195
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
“The Message Behind the Caribbean Killings.” (12/09/25)
https://www.fff.org/freedom-in-motion/video/trump-watch-the-message-behind-the-caribbean-killings/
Source: The Hill
“Democrat Eileen Higgins has flipped the Miami mayor’s office, defeating Republican Emilio Gonzalez and marking the latest sign of the party’s momentum heading into next year’s midterms, according to Decision Desk HQ. Higgins is the first Democrat to become mayor of Miami since 1997. She bested Gonzalez, a former Miami city manager who served on President Trump’s Homeland Security Department transition team, to succeed incumbent Mayor Francis Suarez (R). The race is technically nonpartisan.” (12/09/25)
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5641420-democrats-gain-momentum-miami/
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“It’s easy to assume that with its drug-war killings in the Caribbean, the Pentagon is sending a message only to Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro: ‘We can kill your citizens with impunity and there is nothing that you or anyone else can do about it.’ In actuality, however, the Pentagon is sending the same message to the American people: ‘We can kill anyone we want, including American citizens, and there is nothing that you or anyone else can do about it.'” (12/09/25)
https://www.fff.org/2025/12/09/the-national-security-establishments-message-to-americans/
Source: France 24 [French state media]
“Hamas said on Tuesday that the Gaza ceasefire plan cannot proceed to its second phase as long as Israeli ‘violations’ persist and called on mediators to pressure Israel to respect the agreement. The US-sponsored ceasefire, in effect since October 10, halted the war that began after Hamas’s deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. But it remains fragile as Israel and Hamas accuse each other almost daily of breaches. … Meanwhile, an Israeli official said that authorities would allow the Allenby crossing on the Israeli-controlled border between Jordan and the occupied West Bank to reopen on Wednesday to aid trucks destined for Gaza for the first time since late September.” (12/09/25)
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20251209-hamas-says-no-gaza-truce-second-phase-while-israel-continues-violations-1
Source: Eunomia
by Daniel Larison
“The Trump administration released its National Security Strategy (NSS) last week. There is limited value in trying to make sense of Trump’s foreign policy by looking at strategy documents when the president largely just makes things up as he goes and often makes policy decisions for arbitrary and irrational reasons. The only real value that the NSS has this year is that it tells us how the administration is justifying the president’s ad hoc interventions around the world. For the Western Hemisphere, this means dressing up the president’s militarism and meddling as the ‘Trump Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine.'” (12/09/25)
https://daniellarison.substack.com/p/the-crude-imperialism-of-the-trump
