Source; The Dispatch
by Kevin D Williamson

“Trump’s incoherent State of the Union address on Tuesday featured his usual stroke-victim diction and his patented blend of stupidity and dishonesty. Fact-checking his claims is laborious, because he speaks almost exclusively in simpleton’s superlatives, and it also is pointless, inasmuch as the people who most need to know the facts are not much inclined to listen to them, being, as they are, members of an especially tawdry and shameful cult. … but it may be that the dumbest and most dishonest claim of the night was that J.D. Vance’s newly announced fraud commission will, if it does its job, produce a ‘balanced budget overnight.'” (02/27/26)

https://thedispatch.com/article/trump-vance-budget-immigrants-border-fraud/

Source: Fox News
by Jonathan Turley

“With the launch of attacks on Iran, some have already declared the strikes unconstitutional. That includes the immediate condemnation of Rep. Thomas Massie. The precedent, however, favors the president in this action, though the attack triggers obligations of notice and consultation with Congress. I am highly sympathetic to those who criticize the failure to seek declarations of war from Congress before carrying out such operations. Indeed, I have represented members of Congress in opposing such wars. We lost. The courts have allowed presidents to order such attacks unilaterally.” (02/28/26)

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/jonathan-turley-trump-strikes-iran-precedent-history-his-side

Source: Independent Institute
by Ivan Eland

“For decades, France has been urging Europe to become more independent of the United States in the security arena. But most Europeans paid no heed to this useful proposal. They grew fat and happy under the U.S. security umbrella during the Cold War, and especially after the Soviet threat receded. Most European nations spent too little on their own defense, instead using the savings to compete with U.S. companies and run expansive social welfare programs. The European Union added another layer to Europe’s already overregulated economies. Although the Biden and Trump administrations have successfully pressured those countries to increase defense spending incrementally, they need even greater funding increases if they want to achieve greater independence from the now clearly unreliable United States.” (02/27/26)

https://www.independent.org/article/2026/02/27/west-europe-us-unreliable-ally-strategic-autonomy/

Source: hypertext
by Nicole Schneidman

“If AI is not deliberately designed to advance democracy, it can empower authoritarians. We should not assume they will only be in China.” (02/27/26)

https://hypertext.niskanencenter.org/p/we-will-never-grow-out-of-our-tech

Source: The Intercept
by David Bralow

“The Trump administration is embracing an intimidation strategy to silence critical media coverage. Here’s how it works: A federal agency launches a pretextual investigation into a perceived enemy, keeps the investigation open to coerce compliance, and resists any effort to have a court review the lawfulness of the agency’s actions. There’s no better example than the Federal Trade Commission’s retaliatory investigation of Media Matters for America for its critical coverage of one of the Trump administration’s most powerful allies. Such investigations aim stifle speech and chill the questioning of those in power. They’re an acute danger to nonprofit organizations that Americans rely on for critical information. That’s why 17 nonprofit organizations, led by The Intercept’s Press Freedom Defense Fund, filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.” (02/27/26)

https://theintercept.com/2026/02/27/trump-media-matters-free-speech/