The Most Frustrating Thing About the Shutdown Cave

Source: The American Prospect
by David Dayen

“My colleague Bob Kuttner has ably explained the particulars and the political dynamics of the sudden surrender on the government shutdown from eight Senate Democrats (with Chuck Schumer’s tacit support), what I’m calling the Cave Caucus. Senators dissatisfied with this deal are going to deny unanimous consent to draw out the conclusion, in part to let the situation sink in for the House, where the reaction has been sharply negative. But House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) only needs his own party members to get the bill passed, and he has delivered tough votes throughout the year. I don’t think House Republicans will rescue the Cave Caucus. I share a lot of the frustrations expressed all over social media. But the biggest one for me comes on page 12 of the continuing resolution that advanced in the Senate last night.” (11/10/25)

https://prospect.org/2025/11/10/most-frustrating-thing-about-shutdown-cave/

A Puzzling Protest

Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob

“Talk about a blowout: a few days ago, Texans overwhelmingly supported Proposition 16 to amend their state constitution to clarify that noncitizens of U.S. cannot vote in state and local elections in Texas. The vote: Yes, 72%; No, 28%. Not everybody is happy. Jeff Forrester, who happens to be running against Rep. Candy Noble, a major sponsor of this very amendment — just a coincidence I’m sure — professes confusion about why anybody would care about this question. He asserts that the state constitution already prohibits noncitizen voting and has flung himself into a major Twitter‑X tussle over the matter with the group I lead, Americans for Citizen Voting.” (11/10/25)

https://thisiscommonsense.org/2025/11/10/a-puzzling-protest/

Mali: TikToker killed by suspected jihadists after pro-army posts

Source: BBC News [UK state media]

“A female TikToker accused of helping Mali’s army has been seized and killed execution-style by suspected jihadists. Mariam Cissé, said to be in her 20s and with over 100,000 TikTok followers, posted videos about life in her Tonka hometown in the northern Timbuktu region and often expressed support for the army. Her death has shocked the nation, which has been battling a jihadist insurgency since 2012. State TV said she had simply wanted to promote her community and support the army through her TikTok posts.” (11/10/25)

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cnvep8ppyr6o

“Regime Collapse” Is Not a Serious Approach to the Venezuela Problem

Source: The American Conservative
by Joseph Addington

“[T]he risks inherent to any kind of ‘regime collapse’ approach are numerous and severe, and far outweigh any potential benefits. Most pertinently, when any government collapses, the resulting power vacuum is necessarily unpredictable and chaotic, and leaves room for all kinds of actors, state and nonstate, bad and good, to exert their will. Such a situation is not generally conducive to an orderly transition of power of any kind, let alone a transition to democracy. Here the expected comparison is usually Libya, after the bombing campaign that destroyed the Gaddafi regime, but Venezuelan society is not comparable to that of Libya; it is not characterized by a fractured, tribal society and fundamentalist revolutionaries. Instead the major danger is that Venezuela becomes a mid-20th century Colombia: a weak state inundated by brutal organized crime, incapable of defending itself or of disrupting the conflicts between cartels and narcorevolutionary groups fighting over disputed territory.” (11/10/25)

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/regime-collapse-is-not-a-serious-approach-to-the-venezuela-problem/

Russia: Teenage Political Prisoner Abducted Again After Release

Source: US News & World Report

“Police in St. Petersburg have detained Diana Loginova, a teenage street musician already jailed twice for short stints after performing anti-Kremlin songs, as she left prison, state media and her supporters said on Monday. … Loginova was due to be released on Monday, but was instead taken to a police station in central St. Petersburg where the state RIA news agency cited a law enforcement source as saying she was expected to be charged with another public order offence that could see her jailed again for another short stint. Separately, court records show Loginova faces more charges for discrediting the army.” (11/10/25)

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2025-11-10/teenage-russian-street-musician-jailed-over-anti-kremlin-songs-is-detained-as-she-leaves-jail

Donald Trump had the solution to the drug war … in 1990

Source: Orange County Register
by Sal Rodriguez

“Once upon a time, a real estate developer named Donald Trump understood the folly of the war on drugs. ‘We’re losing badly the war on drugs,’ he said at a luncheon held by the Miami Herald in April 1990. ‘You have to legalize drugs to win that war. You have to take the profit away from these drug czars.’ … If President Trump had any guts, he would be channeling the Trump of 1990 and pushing for a complete overhaul of American drug policy prioritizing treatment and reducing the harms of drug abuse. Instead, he is going all-in on an illegal policy of executing people who happen to be on boats in the Caribbean and declaring that he’s saving tens of thousands of lives each time.” (11/09/25)

https://archive.is/p3ABe

Kash Patel’s Big Test: How He Handles the Government’s J6 Pipe Bomb Suspect

Source: Town Hall
by William Marshall

“Those of us grossly disappointed in Kash Patel’s performance as FBI director, despite our high hopes at his appointment, now have an objective test case by which he might be judged fairly. It seems that dogged citizen sleuths were able to do what vaunted FBI investigators had been unable – or unwilling – to do after nearly five years of work and millions of dollars spent: Identify the elusive individual who planted the pipe bombs outside RNC and DNC headquarters on January 6, 2021. Many of us on the right supporting the President’s agenda, me included, had suspected from the jump that the pipe bomb suspect was a government operative. And that his or her goal was to create a distraction on January 6 that would divert police attention during the giant Deep State influence operation that was the January 6 ‘insurrection’.” (11/10/25)

https://townhall.com/columnists/williammarshall/2025/11/10/kash-patels-big-test-how-he-handles-the-governments-j6-pipe-bomb-suspect-n2666173

Lavrov offers face-to-face meeting with Rubio as Russian regime signals diplomatic opening amid Ukraine tensions

Source: Fox News

“Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said he is prepared to hold another face-to-face meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, signaling Moscow’s interest in keeping diplomatic channels open even as it refuses to shift its terms for ending the Ukraine war. The offer was delivered to the state news agency RIA Novosti and first reported by Reuters on Sunday. ‘Secretary of State Marco Rubio and I understand the need for regular communication,’ Lavrov said. ‘It is important for discussing the Ukrainian issue and promoting the bilateral agenda. That is why we communicate by telephone and are ready to hold face-to-face meetings when necessary.'” (11/10/25)

https://www.foxnews.com/world/lavrov-offers-face-to-face-meeting-rubio-russia-signals-diplomatic-opening-amid-ukraine-tensions