Source: The American Conservative
by James Bovard

“TSA’s air marshal program is the equivalent of a ticking time bomb waiting for the next boondoggle to explode. TSA claims that it merely places air marshals on flights which are considered high-risk for hijacking or terrorist attacks. But in 2021, insiders revealed that 900 air marshals—almost half the active total — were designated to stand by for flights taken by members of Congress. … Quiet Skies is only the latest TSA air marshal pratfall. TSA spends almost $1 billion on air marshals. Though marshals have never stopped a hijacking, they have scored plenty of headlines. … Rep. John Duncan (R-TN) groused that the air marshal program ‘has come to be a symbol of everything that’s wrong with the DHS, when 4,000 bored cops fly around the country First Class, committing more crimes than they stop.'” (08/25/24)

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/gabbard-episode-shows-the-surveillance-state-strong-and-stupid-as-ever/

Source: Eastern New Mexico News
by Kent McManigal

“Is Kamala Harris a communist? That would depend on what ‘communist’ means. Defenders of communism get very slippery when you try to pin them down on the definition. Their usual tactic is to demand to know how you define communism rather than to define it themselves — probably because they can’t define it without looking like monsters for defending it. Whatever you say in response, they’ll claim it isn’t ‘real communism’ like they are advocating. … Since I’m not a mind reader, I can’t tell you what people who advocate communism are thinking or what they want. A more useful approach is to describe what communists tend to do when they get power.” (08/25/24)

https://www.easternnewmexiconews.com/story/2024/08/25/voices/opinion-both-candidates-tick-communist-boxes/179233.html

Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob

“The long decline of major-media news journalism has been quite a story. We’ve been following it for years — perhaps all our lives. Back when there were only three channels in the U.S., and when most cities had a newspaper or two, all competing to ‘cover the news,’ we thought that there was some objectivity to it all — that facts were paramount. That may have been naive. But with the rise of cable television news and the 24-hour news ‘cycle,’ and then Internet blogging, vlogging, and podcasting, all fixed around a few social media company platforms, all pretense of rigorous reporting has evaporated.” [editor’s note: “Objective journalism” was a 20th century fetish that hid bias rather than eliminating it; personally I’d rather it was just openly displayed – TLK] [other editor’s note: Back when I was a “journalist” there was at least an effort made to be as “objective” as possible when reporting “news” and letting Opinions be clearly labeled as such – SAT] (08/23/24)

https://thisiscommonsense.org/2024/08/23/democrats-move-on

Source: Washington Post
by George F Will

“The citizenship clause’s ‘subject to the jurisdiction’ language was intended to exclude only a few categories of people — e.g., the children of foreign diplomats and tribal Native Americans (to whom Congress extended citizenship in 1924). Congress in 1868 could not, in expected application of the phrase, have contemplated the exclusion of children of illegal immigrants. This is because in 1868 there were none: Until 1875, there were no national immigration laws to violate. Today, illegal immigrants are prosecuted for breaking laws besides those concerning entry into the country: Those here illegally are ‘subject to’ U.S. ‘jurisdiction.'” (08/23/24)

https://archive.is/9Hfzl

Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone

“The reason I find myself fighting with both Harris supporters and Trump supporters is because they see the other party as the problem while I see the US empire itself as the problem. They seek to make things better by ensuring that the empire is under the correct management, while I seek the end of the empire. … People say things like ‘Oh but Kamala Harris speaks so compassionately about the suffering of the Palestinians!’ These dupes had eight years of Obama speaking eloquent, compassionate-sounding words while continuing and expanding all of Bush’s ugliest policies, and they still haven’t learned the lesson here. … Call me naive but I am truly, legitimately shocked that the Democrats are running on such a warmongering platform instead of pretending to stand for peace this election season.” (08/25/24)

https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2024/08/25/the-problem-isnt-the-us-having-the-wrong-president-the-problem-is-the-us-empires-existence/