Trump Watch, 07/15/25
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
“Has the Deep State Absorbed Trump?” (07/15/25)
My 46 Years Contempt of Congress
Source: JimBovard.com
by James Bovard
“Plenty of members of Congress have denounced me and my articles but I never lost any sleep over their wailing. I realized long ago that, as Thomas Paine wrote in 1776, ‘the trade of governing has always been monopolized by … the most rascally individuals of mankind.’ Unfortunately, the mental and moral defects of our legislative class have become far more ruinous to America since my first published scoff.” (07/15/25)
https://jimbovard.com/blog/2025/07/15/my-46-years-contempt-of-congress/
The Battle for the Future of Farmwork
Source: In These Times
by Joseph Bullington
“The jail where they have taken his wife is very cold and very far away. In the weeks since immigration agents pulled her off the work bus, she has been in jail and he has kept working at the vegetable farm where they worked together. She calls him from a detention center in another state and tells him about the cold, how the prisoners complain about the cold but the guards do nothing. She has fallen into un hueco now, he says — a hollow, a hole, a gray area. His name is not Carlos, but he doesn’t want his real name published because he doesn’t want to be taken.” (07/15/25)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/farmworkers-unions-ufw-upstate-ny-ice-raids-deportations-h2a
France: Bayrou proposes scrapping national holidays and freezing spending to cut deficit
Source: Financial Times [UK]
“French Prime Minister François Bayrou has proposed a broad spending freeze for next year and scrapping two national holidays, putting his political survival on the line to narrow the deficit. In a press conference on Tuesday, Bayrou unveiled the outline of a 2026 fiscal package of €44bn in tax rises and spending cuts, including curbs to pensions and social welfare benefits and a not yet defined ‘solidarity contribution’ from the wealthy. … Only defence spending has been spared amid rising threats from Russia. President Emmanuel Macron instructed Bayrou to put through a roughly 10 per cent increase for the military in the next two budget cycles, or about €6.5bn. Many of the proposed measures have come under fire from leftist and far-right opposition parties. They are already threatening to topple the government over what they call an austerity budget that would hit poor people, workers and retirees.” (07/16/25)
Fountainhead Forum, episode 327
Source: Fountainhead Forum
“Daniel McCarthy on Elon Musk ending his partnership with Donald Trump.” (07/15/25)
Big Law Is Finally Getting its Act Together and Fighting Trump’s Attacks
Source: The UnPopulist
by Paul RosenZweig
“Big Law has finally entered the fight against Donald Trump. It’s about time. Since retaking office, Trump has waged a comprehensive campaign to erode the independence of the American legal profession by bending it to his will. So far, he’s been partially successful: Nine major law firms have cravenly caved to Trump’s attack, surrendering without firing a shot, while four braver law firms have fought and won. Meanwhile, the overwhelming majority of firms have crouched in the corner, hoping that Trump will turn his attention elsewhere.” (07/15/25)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/big-law-is-finally-getting-its-act
Palestine: Twenty die in Gaza aid stampede, 41 murdered by Israeli troops
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“An Israeli-backed American organization that runs an aid program in the Gaza Strip said Wednesday 20 Palestinians were killed near a distribution site. This comes as Israeli strikes killed 41 others, including 11 children, according to hospital officials. The Gaza Humanitarian Fund said 19 people were trampled in a stampede and one person was fatally stabbed in the violence near a distribution hub in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. The group, which rarely acknowledges trouble at its distribution sites, accused Hamas of fomenting panic and spreading misinformation that led to the violence, though it provided no evidence to support the claim. … Israeli strikes killed 22 people in northern Gaza, including 11 children, and 19 people in the city of Khan Younis.” (07/16/25)
Remember When Code Was Speech? It Still Is.
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“In 1996, The US District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that ‘code is speech,’ and therefore protected by the First Amendment. In 1999, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that ruling. That PARTICULAR code COULD be used by PARTICULAR people to do PARTICULAR things is irrelevant to our absolute right to create such code. That would be true even if code wasn’t speech. A lock pick can be used by a burglar or by a locksmith; a gun can be used to defend your home or to murder your spouse; an airplane can be used to transport passengers or to kill thousands in a terror attack. None of those things are, or should, be illegal just because they can all be used to do illegal things.” (07/15/25)
Reason Roundtable, 07/15/25
Source: Reason
“[A] a live episode of The Reason Roundtable from New York City.” (07/15/25)
https://reason.com/podcast/2025/07/14/trump-and-mamdani-battle-for-the-populist-crown/
ICE gang: We’re not even going to pretend to abide by the Fifth, Eighth, or Fourteenth Amendments anymore
Source: Washington Post
“The Trump administration has declared that immigrants who [allegedly] arrived in the United States illegally [sic] are no longer eligible for a bond hearing as they fight deportation proceedings in court, according to documents reviewed by The Washington Post. In a July 8 memo, Todd M. Lyons, acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told officers that such immigrants should be detained ‘for the duration of their removal proceedings,’ which can take months or years. Lawyers say the policy will apply to millions of immigrants who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border over the past few decades, including under Biden.” [editor’s note: The Fifth Amendment requires due process; the Eighth forbids excessive bail and cruel and unusual punishment (such as being held without bail prior to conviction); the 14th requires equal protection of the other two for all persons. Three strikes – TLK] (07/15/25)