Checks & Balances, 08/12/26
Source: Checks & Balances
“Stephen Richer on How Elections Actually Work.” (08/12/26)
https://chkbal.substack.com/p/stephen-richer-on-how-elections-actually
The Future Has Already Been Born
Source: Gideon’s Substack
by Noah Millman
“In 2015, roughly 16% of the world’s population lived in Africa. (That’s a bit less than double what Africa’s share of the globe’s population was in 1950, or in 1900 for that matter.) By 2025, Africa accounted for roughly 19% of the world’s population—but for fully 30% of the world’s children under 15 years, and 36% of the world’s births. The future has already been born—and the future is much, much more African than the past was.” (08/12/26)
The New Apologists for American Empire
Source: Antiwar.com
by Edward Hunt
“Despite the fact that Trump campaigned against endless war and the White House issued a National Security Strategy that rejected ‘global domination,’ the Trump administration celebrated the nation’s two-hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary by glorifying empire as one of the country’s highest achievements. Administration officials praised moments in U.S. history when U.S. leaders embraced empire, such as when Thomas Jefferson and John Adams spoke in favor of an ’empire of liberty’ and Theodore Roosevelt acted to take Panama. At a time when many people in the country were reflecting on the ideals of liberty and equality that Jefferson had emphasized in the Declaration of Independence, the Trump administration glorified the country’s imperial history, creating a rationale for Empire First.” (08/12/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/edward_hunt/2026/08/11/the-new-apologists-for-american-empire
Dispatching Humphrey’s Executor
Source: Law & Liberty
by Christopher James Wolfe
“By returning to old books on the subject, we discover that arguments about the original meaning of Article II have not changed very much in 100 years. The much stronger argument in favor of a unitary executive is finally being made by justices in the majority other than Chief Justice Taft.” (08/12/26)
WHO: Congo’s Ebola outbreak on track to surpass deadliest one in history
Source: SFGate
“The ongoing Ebola outbreak in Congo is on track to surpass the deadliest one in history that killed over 11,000 people out of more than 28,000 cases, the head of the World Health Organization said Wednesday. ‘At its current pace, it’s on track to eclipse the West African Ebola outbreak of 2014 to 2016,’ Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters. That outbreak horrified the world and jolted efforts to develop a vaccine. The outbreak in eastern Congo, considered the fastest-growing in history, has killed over 2,000 people out of more than 4,300 cases. The outbreak was declared on May 15, but health authorities now say sequencing showed it began months earlier, in February. It is unlike most previous Ebola outbreaks because the rare Bundibugyo virus responsible for it has no approved vaccines or treatments, though efforts to address that are underway.” (08/12/26)
NATO? Just Say No!
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Angelo Monaco
“A foundational premise of libertarian theory is straightforward: meaningful fiscal restraint is impossible while maintaining a global empire. For decades, federal budgets have bloated under the weight of an expansive foreign policy that treats the American military not as a lean, defensive shield for domestic soil, but as a global guarantor of foreign security. Because overseas deployments, foreign bases, and entangling alliances account for a massive portion of discretionary federal outlays, any serious effort to slash government spending, eliminate deficit-funded inflation, and reduce the tax burden on individual citizens must start at the water’s edge. True fiscal responsibility requires dismantling the garrison state, abandoning the pretense of global policing, and bringing American military forces back entirely within our own borders. From this perspective, America’s commitment to NATO functions as a massive, continuous transfer of assets seized from U.S. taxpayers to foreign governments.” (08/12/26)
MN: Republicans choose Demuth over Lindell in gubernatorial primary
Source: Forbes
“MyPillow founder Mike Lindell lost to Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth in Tuesday’s GOP Gubernatorial primary for the state, while the Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar comfortably secured her party’s nomination in a state where the Democrats are heavily favored to win November’s general election. … The Associated Press called the race for Demuth at 11:26 p.m. ET as the state speaker had secured 43.6% of the 93% of the votes counted. Lindell, who was backed by President Donald Trump, came a distant second with 32.3%% of the votes.” (08/12/26)
The Kyle Anzalone Show, 08/11/26
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Trump EXPLODES Amid Iran War Debacle | Fauci’s Diary.” (08/11/26)
Being a Veteran Is Not Enough
Source: The Dispatch
by Mike Nelson
“Military service alone doesn’t qualify anyone for office—nor excuse misconduct.” (08/12/26)
https://thedispatch.com/article/veteran-war-politician-platner-kerry/
Miracle US economy zooms ahead, so DSA haters resort to lies
Source: New York Post
by Rich Lowry
“The United States of America may be the greatest place for functionally illiterate people to live in all of human history. An eye-popping column in The Financial Times the other day noted how people in the United States with very low literacy make about as much per hour as the average worker in Great Britain. Is this the result of brilliant public policy, carefully crafted to boost the prospects of those on the margins? No, it’s a byproduct of the vast, endlessly dynamic wealth-generating machine that is the American economy. The Financial Times also compared cohorts of low-literacy workers in the US and the UK: ‘The same proportion of US workers who score stunningly low on literacy earn an average of almost $30 per hour, and two-thirds of them are in work. Their British counterparts make the equivalent of $20 and fewer than half are employed.'” (08/11/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/08/11/opinion/miracle-us-economy-zooms-ahead-so-dsa-haters-resort-to-lies/