Source: CounterPunch
by Kenn Orphan

“[T]here is an enormous amount of repressed fetishism happening within the celebration of ICE violence. They find unchecked, unaccountable power enticing. Its sadism is intoxicating because it allows them to disassociate from the crushing weight of their own inner turmoil. And because virtually none of them have ever taken the time to examine their own shadows, they project them onto everyone and everything. This psychology of sadomasochism is not the kind one finds in consensual BDSM relationships or communities. Quite the opposite. The people who participate in consensual BDSM do it because it is cathartic. Because it is fun. Because they trust their partner. But the kind we see among far-right and fascist groups is solely about demeaning those who have not submitted to the state or to a mob.” (01/14/26)

https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/01/14/the-g/

Source: The American Prospect
by Robert Kuttner

“China’s trade surplus with the entire world hit an all-time record of $1.19 trillion in 2025, Beijing just announced. But here’s the stunner in the report. China’s surplus with the U.S. declined by 22 percent. The reason: U.S. tariffs on Chinese exports average over 50 percent. That’s a good outcome, since China’s chronic trade surplus is based on illegal mercantilist policies, including currency manipulation, subsidies, and domestic market protection, that cost the U.S. and other nations jobs. In the past, the main loser has been the United States. China simply diverted subsidized exports to other nations with lower tariffs. But what of Trump’s other tariffs? They are an incoherent mash-up.” (01/14/25)

https://prospect.org/2026/01/14/trump-tariffs-china-tax-economy-inflation/

Source: Libertarian Institute
by Alan Mosley

“During a January 2026 interview with The New York Times, President Donald Trump was asked whether anything could limit his ability to use the vast military and economic power of the United States as he saw fit. His answer was breathtakingly candid. Trump replied, ‘Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.’ … Morally, a leader claiming to be constrained only by his personal sense of right and wrong should alarm anyone who values the rule of law. But a far more concrete problem exists: the perspective reflects a misunderstanding — or willful rejection — of the constitutional design of the American republic. The U.S. Constitution was deliberately constructed to prevent the very scenario Trump describes, that of a single individual unilaterally dragging the nation into conflict.” (01/14/26)

https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/trump-says-he-sets-his-own-limits-founding-fathers-disagree

Source: Washington Monthly
by Garrett Epps

“It is safe to say that Trump’s abuse of the pardon power has no parallel in American history. Almost every president has granted a few that seem dodgy in retrospect; many have used them as an instrument of partisan politics; a few have used them as instruments of corruption. But in extent and scale, Trump’s pardons fall well below the subterranean ethical floor established even over the past 50 years. In pardoning 1,500 rioters convicted of involvement in the January 6 insurrection, Trump showed contempt for the law enforcement officers who protected the Capitol, and the system of government they preserved. His other pardons, from crypto fraudsters to foreign drug lords, reek with contempt for the very idea of law.” (01/14/26)

https://washingtonmonthly.com/2026/01/14/amnesty-transactional-pardon-power/