Source: USA Today
by Chris Brennan
“Some political pitches are more challenging than others. And some, like the pitch the Republican Party will try to make to midterm voters in two weeks, are damn near impossible. The Republican National Committee is hosting a ‘midterm convention’ on Sept. 9 and 10 in Dallas ‘to celebrate the accomplishments of President Donald J. Trump, showcase the strength of the Republican Party and its slate of candidates, and unite Americans around a bold vision for the future.’ If that sounds disconnected from reality, then you are probably in close touch with reality. Trump is so deeply unpopular that the convention platform and attention that he clearly covets could backfire for his party. … This is the state of the Republican Party, distorted by Trump into his own MAGA image, always boasting with blustering bunk, always eager to deny the truth that everyone can see and hear.” (08/26/26)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2026/08/26/dallas-convention-trump-polls-republicans-midterms/91392020007/
Source: In These Times
by Maximillian Alvarez
“When workers at the historic Pittsburgh Post-Gazette newspaper hit the picket line in October of 2022, they had no idea that they would be on strike for more than three years — or that the strike would end with new owners taking over the paper and most of the former strikers losing their jobs. But now, a new chapter is being written. This week, workers and community supporters launched the cooperative news organization, the Pittsburgh Progress, which aims to uplift the voices of working-class communities. Working People’s Maximillian Alvarez sat down with several former strikers at the Post-Gazette (now worker-owners of the Progress) to discuss what the birth of the Progress means for working people in and beyond Pittsburgh.” (08/25/26)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/former-strikers-start-cooperative-news-organization
Source: Expression
by Jacob Gaba
“At the height of World War II, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower didn’t want the military’s independent newspaper to become a propaganda tool. He expected his subordinates to keep their ‘hands off’ Stars and Stripes. More than 80 years later, the Pentagon has fired the newspaper’s leaders after they publicly defended that very principle. Last week, the Pentagon fired Erik Slavin, editor-in-chief of Stars and Stripes, for ‘insubordination.’ Slavin says he was fired for telling CBS in a recent interview that it would be a ‘red line’ if the government told him, ‘Don’t run a perfectly accurate story. Run this instead. Here it is, written by the Pentagon.'” (08/26/26)
https://expression.fire.org/p/the-us-military-is-at-war-with-its
Source: Common Dreams
by Tom Gallagher
“Amidst the tragifarce of President Donald Trump’s apparently off-the-top-of-his-head war on Iran may lie a silver lining for the 2028 presidential election—a silver lining that comes with two big ifs. One, of course, is the if that goes with everything involved with the race: If there is a fair election. The if specific to the hoped-for silver lining is if there is a candidate willing and able to make use of it. Ever since Gallup started public opinion polls, when it has come to questions of war, they’ve shown the American public favoring every one at the start, until now, with Donald Trump launching the first war to encounter immediate objection from a majority of the American public.” (08/26/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/can-democrats-ever-be-the-anti-war-party
Source: US News & World Report
“Swiss voters will decide in a referendum next month whether to approve a more restrictive form of neutrality that would block their country from imposing economic sanctions or cooperating with NATO. Posters featuring doves of peace and asking voters to reject war have appeared across the Alpine nation in a campaign that has won the backing of the Kremlin but has raised fears that it could isolate Switzerland from its European neighbours. Opinion surveys suggest voters will reject the proposal …. Swiss neutrality, internationally recognised since 1815 and part of the country’s constitution since 1848, kept Switzerland out of both world wars. But this status is under threat after Switzerland imposed sanctions on Russia over its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, said Christoph Blocher, a veteran politician and backer of the right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP) which supports the campaign.” (08/26/26)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2026-08-26/swiss-to-vote-on-whether-to-tighten-neutrality-end-peacetime-cooperation-with-nato
Source: Reason
“Vinay Prasad discusses his departure from the FDA, Fauci’s diaries, and how working for the government made him more libertarian.” (08/26/26)
https://reason.com/podcast/2026/08/26/vinay-prasad-public-health-in-this-country-is-so-broken/
Source: The American Conservative
by Ted Snider
“Henry Kissinger famously (if apocryphally) said, ‘It may be dangerous to be America’s enemy, but to be America’s friend is fatal.’ This may be the year the world finally got the message. President Donald Trump said he wanted his legacy to be ‘the wars that we end—and perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into.’ It won’t be. Instead, he will be remembered by history as the president who squandered trust in and respect for Washington and brought the post–Cold War era of American hegemony to an end.” (08/26/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/friendship-with-trumps-america-can-be-fatal/
Source: Law & Liberty
by Aaron Alexander Zubia
“David Hume thought philosophically about politics. If he had not, John Witherspoon, the Princeton educator who taught a future president, a future vice president, as well as future judges, senators, and representatives, would not have recommended his writings to his students. Thomas Reid, the Scottish philosopher, would not have developed an entire system of thought—taught in Scotland and the United States for the next century—as a direct response to Hume. Theologians, such as Jonathan Edwards, and college presidents, such as Timothy Dwight, Edwards’ grandson, would not have wrestled with and publicly commented on Hume’s philosophy. Had Hume not thought philosophically about politics, we would not be reading about him today.” (08/26/26)
https://lawliberty.org/forum/humes-political-mechanisms/
Source: SFGate
“James Talarico, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Texas, wants to reveal depositions involving Ken Paxton, his Republican opponent, as part of an ongoing effort to keep the focus on Paxton’s history of scandals. The depositions involve a civil case where Unity Resources, a mineral assets company, was accused of fraud. Paxton was connected to Unity but not a defendant, and the case was settled. Talarico’s campaign confirmed it asked a court on Wednesday to release the documents. The Democratic state representative is counting on voters recoiling from past accusations against Paxton, the Texas attorney general, even though similar tactics have failed in previous campaigns. … Talarico also has talked about how Paxton was impeached, although Paxton was later acquitted, and how he faced criminal charges for securities fraud, which ended with an agreement with prosecutors involving restitution payments but no admission of guilt.” (08/26/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/talarico-wants-to-unearth-paxton-s-depositions-to-22404059.php
Source: New York Times
“Hegseth’s Army Purge, and Polling Chaos in the Midterms.” (08/26/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIYHzDrbmq4
