Source: Jonathan Turley
by Jonathan Turley
“On NBC’s ‘Meet the Press,’ Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) added his voice to expand the Supreme Court to a ‘baker’s dozen’, or thirteen members to allow Democrats to add justices who agree with him and Democratic members on how the law must be interpreted. In the meantime, as discussed earlier, court packing is being pushed as the new litmus test for any Democratic candidates. Clyburn’s ‘baker’s dozen’ is a telling description of an effort to bake in partisan views on a Court expanded to create an instant liberal majority. In defending this hostile takeover of the Court, Clyburn bizarrely insisted that the failure to do so might lead to a return to antebellum conditions when blacks were being given fewer rights than whites.” (08/31/26)
https://jonathanturley.org/2026/08/31/clyburn-calls-for-packing-the-court-with-bakers-dozen-to-flip-cases/
Source: US News & World Report
“Republicans on the House Oversight Committee have launched an investigation into a controversial policing tactic that permitted staggering amounts of deadly fentanyl to reach the streets as federal authorities sought to build bigger drug cases. The committee’s chairman, Rep. James Comer, a Republican from Kentucky, sent a letter Monday to Attorney General Todd Blanche requesting records related to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s controversial strategy of monitoring — yet not seizing — major fentanyl shipments. The request echoes concerns raised by officials in New Mexico, the epicenter of the fentanyl crisis and where DEA whistleblowers recently reported being ordered to stand down rather than seize hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills in possible violation of Justice Department rules intended to safeguard communities.” [editor’s note: In the war on drugs, drugs will always win. That war created the demand for fentanyl, and there’s no way it, or duplicate shipments, wouldn’t have “reached the streets” – TLK] (08/31/26)
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/florida/articles/2026-08-31/house-republicans-launch-investigation-into-dea-tactic-that-allowed-fentanyl-to-hit-streets
Source: Reason
by Jacob Sullum
“Americans are starting to recognize the dangers of pervasive surveillance by automated license plate readers.” (08/31/26)
https://reason.com/2026/08/31/the-belated-backlash-against-flock-cameras/
Source: USA Today
by Nicole Russell
“What do Darth Vader, the ACLU and some Democrats and Republicans have in common? They hate Flock cameras. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, is launching an investigation into Flock Safety, demanding answers about how the company retains data and tracks vehicles. Politicians aren’t the only ones worried. The AI-powered surveillance cameras track, scan and preserve license plate numbers, feeding them into a searchable database that law enforcement and others can access. Citizens in blue and red states alike are protesting cameras that were installed to make them safer. I’d expect pushback from Republicans, who tend to be wary about anything resembling a surveillance state. I’m more surprised by the resistance from the left.” [editor’s note: Republicans, for the most part, seem to LOVE the surveillance state these days – TLK] (08/31/26)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2026/08/31/flock-cameras-issue-republicans-democrats/91491213007/
Source: Libertarian Institute
by José Niño
“Count the decades. Seventy-five years of confrontation, and Washington cannot point to a single durable peace agreement with North Korea. Diplomacy alone will not close that gap. The United States must pursue the only strategy that has never been tried, a full withdrawal from the Korean peninsula and the complete repeal of every sanction it has imposed on the North. The Cold War is finished. North Korea poses no threat to Americans. The Pacific Ocean serves as a moat no army has ever crossed, and the American nuclear stockpile outmatches Pyongyang’s many times over. The idea that North Korea threatens the American mainland is risible. Let the sleeping dog lie and let a new era of peace begin.” (08/31/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/trump-puffs-up-engagement-with-north-korea-but-can-we-trust-him/
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
“A full 45% of American adults identify as political independents. That’s far higher than the share – 27% each – who say they are either Democrats or Republicans, according to a 2026 report by Gallup. Nationally, according to another source, one-fifth of voters ‘are so independent that they do not vote consistently for one party or the other.’ Yet only three out of 535 members of Congress are independents – two senators (one each from Maine and Vermont) and one representative (from California). This growing gap between public preference and the composition of Congress has prompted a retired senator, Joe Manchin, and his daughter Heather to launch an initiative to spur more election bids by candidates not tied to a party. The aim of their Independent Leadership Council is to mentor, fund, and otherwise support independent candidates for Congress.” (08/27/26)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Editorials/the-monitors-view/2026/0827/Americans-search-for-a-nonpartisan-politics
Source: Stars and Stripes [US state media]
“Japan’s Defense Ministry on Monday asked for a record-high 8.9 trillion yen for the coming fiscal year, about $55.6 billion, with the cost of about 100 items left blank. The proposed spending plan — the 15th consecutive increase in as many years — seeks an outlay for ‘new ways of fighting,’ including artificial intelligence, unmanned vehicles and further spending on standoff missiles. The request focuses on three main pillars of Japan’s deterrence and response capabilities for the coming fiscal year, which begins in April. Along with AI, unmanned systems and missiles, the budget aims to build sustained response capabilities for prolonged conflicts and a stronger base for defense equipment acquisition and support.” (08/31/26)
https://www.stripes.com/theaters/asia_pacific/2026-08-31/japan-defense-budget-request-22687506.html
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“This Is Where We Are? Kidnapping Foreign Leaders & Trying To Take Their Oil.” (08/31/26)
https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1pKkOXpRlMrKj
Source: Karl Dickey’s Freedom Vanguard
by Karl Dickey
“Is it just me, or have the Democratic Socialists (DSA) buried themselves in such a fantastical fairyland that they have no sense of reality? A recent study of the DSA’s ‘Workers Deserve More’ program would cost around $200 trillion in new federal spending over the next decade, on top of our current spending. And people are supporting and voting for these people to represent them. Voters are being sold a platform whose cost is higher than the wealth it claims it wants to seize. Make the math work! Every time I see an interview with DSA leadership, it makes clear they only have hate for billionaires and no realistic plan to help better the lives of the working class, even though capitalism has been the best system to better their lives.” (08/31/26)
https://palmbeachexaminer.substack.com/p/tax-the-billionaires-cannot-fund
Source: Law & Liberty
by Max Skjönsberg
“Hume’s philosophic project unfolded over decades, but it was rooted in his view of human nature.” (08/31/26)
https://lawliberty.org/forum/hume-contains-multitudes/
