02/25 -- Old man yells at Congress again; Tariff Refunds: Honest Policy Would Be Smart Politics
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Thomas L. Knapp
Feb 25, 2026, 6:17:46 AM (7 days ago) Feb 25
to Freedom News Daily
Freedom News Daily, 02/25/26
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Today's Freedom News:
1) Old man yells at Congress again
2) Russia: Attacker detonates explosive device in Moscow, killing police officer and himself
3) FedEx sues for refund of Trump tariffs, days after Supreme Court ruling
4) Iran: Regime nears deal to buy supersonic anti-ship missiles from China
5) Judge bars US regime from “wholesale” search of Washington Post reporter’s seized devices
6) UK: Regime demands $19.5 million bribe from Reddit
7) Trump regime sues New Jersey regime over limits to gang abduction activities
8) Russia: Regime opens criminal investigation against Telegram app founder Pavel Durov
9) SCOTUS Rules the Postal Service Can’t Be Sued, Even When Mail Is Intentionally Not Delivered
10) France: Louvre museum director resigns months after high-profile heist
11) China: Regime imposes export controls on 20 Japanese entities to curb remilitarization
12) Idaho woman charged in connection with stolen ambulance that was driven into heimatschutz lair
13) Mexico: Regime hunts 23 inmates sprung from jail during wave of violence
14) Slovakia: Opposition sues Fico over Ukraine power blockade
15) WI: Schools & teachers file lawsuit against GOP-led Legislature seeking more funding
16) UK: Ex-DJ jailed for selling fake parts to airlines
17) Trump regime drops case against Democrats in “illegal orders” video
18) France: Regime restricts US ambassador’s access to officials after summons no-show
19) CA: Former San Francisco homeless services CEO charged with misspending $1.2 million in public funds
20) TX: Camp Mystic Parents Sue State Regime, Accusing Officials of Not Enforcing Evacuation Plan Requirement
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) Tariff Refunds: Honest Policy Would Be Smart Politics
22) Trump’s favorite Florida judge is still running cover for him
23) Yankee Go Home
24) The Far-Right’s Mission of “Protecting Minors” From Online Porn Broke the Internet
25) The world may be done bending to Trump’s will
26) Iranians defy death with dancing
27) The Real Epstein Rot
28) Malicious Streetlight Effects Vs. “Directional Correctness” — A Semi-Non-Apology
29) If You Think The US Wants To Bring Democracy To Iran, Watch What They’re Currently Doing To Iraq
30) How Portugal’s Football Success Reveals Its Economic Failure
31) Government Subsidies Killed the EV Industry
32) The US Is Sprinting Towards Disaster
33) From Vietnam to the Home Front, US Empire Deals Death
34) The Elite Revolt Against Elites
35) America Can’t Tariff Its Way Out of This Debt Crisis
36) In Tariffs Dissent, Clarence Thomas Embraced a Dangerous Theory of Executive Power
37) Trump’s State of the Union should celebrate his record and face the tasks ahead
38) The Major Tariff Question
39) Tariffs were illegal. The delayed refunds are wrong.
40) Boots on the ground? Because airpower alone in Iran won’t work
41) Tariff Ruling Shows Roberts Court More Pro-Corporate Than Pro-Trump
42) Rise of the Right-Wing Leninists
43) If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Don’t Join ‘Em
44) Back to the base-ics: How taxable wage base reforms can strengthen unemployment program solvency
45) The Graveyard of Destructive Ideas
46) War Propaganda and Iran: The Exact Script Used for Every Failed US War Is Hauled Out Again
47) The Original Intent of the Supreme Court is On Life Support — And Trump Is Trying to Pull the Plug
48) If Forced to Choose, Our Military Leaders Should Follow the Law Not the President — Like Ulysses S. Grant
49) The Looming Chaos of Tariff Refunds
50) Tariffs, Time, and the Constitution
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) Hanson-Caplan: The Culture Convo
52) Bulwark Takes, 02/24/26
53) The Bryan Hyde Show, 02/24/26
54) The Good Fight, 02/24/26
55) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 02/24/26
56) Advisory Opinions, 02/24/26
57) Cato Daily Podcast, 02/24/26
58) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 02/24/26
59) Trump Watch, 02/24/26
60) The TAC Interview, 02/24/26
61) Antiwar New with Dave DeCamp, 02/24/26
62) Charles Goyette on The Scott Horton Show
63) The Kyle Anzalone Show, 02/23/26
64) Ron Paul’s Austrian Revolution
65) Free Talk Live, 02/23/26
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) Old man yells at Congress again
Source: Bloomberg
“President Donald Trump offered a strident defense of his administration and economic record, declaring the nation is ‘bigger, better, richer and stronger than ever before’ in a State of the Union address that contained few new policy announcements. The president on Tuesday staged his version of a pep rally for a beleaguered nation, celebrating Olympic victories and military heroism while pledging better fortunes for the public — all while attacking his rival Democrats. … ‘We have achieved a transformation like no one has ever seen before, and a turnaround for the ages,’ he said in a speech that lasted a record one hour and 47 minutes. ‘You’ve seen nothing yet.'” (02/24/26)
https://archive.is/TaK1J
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2) Russia: Attacker detonates explosive device in Moscow, killing police officer and himself
Source: ABC News
“An unidentified assailant detonated an explosive device next to a patrol vehicle in Moscow early Tuesday, killing himself and a police officer, and leaving two other officers injured, officials said. The attack happened minutes after midnight near the Savyolovsky Train Station in the Russian capital’s downtown, according to Moscow’s branch of the Interior Ministry. It said the assailant approached a traffic police vehicle and detonated an explosive device, killing an officer on the spot and injuring two others, who were hospitalized. Russia’s Investigative Committee said it has launched a probe into the attack. It didn’t name the assailant or give any information about his possible motives or any further details. The attack came on the day marking the fourth anniversary of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to send troops into Ukraine.” (02/24/26)
https://abcnews.com/International/wireStory/attacker-detonates-explosive-device-moscow-killing-police-officer-130429919
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3) FedEx sues for refund of Trump tariffs, days after Supreme Court ruling
Source: CNBC
“Federal Express on Monday sued the U.S. government, seeking a ‘full refund’ of the money the shipping giant paid for tariffs unilaterally imposed last year by President Donald Trump, which the Supreme Court ruled last week were illegal. FedEx’s suit appears to be the first filed by a major American company seeking a refund for tariffs after Friday’s Supreme Court decision. Other companies filed lawsuits staking claims to their refunds before the high court ruled that the tariffs Trump imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act are illegal.” (02/23/26)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/23/fedex-trump-trade-tariffs-refunds-supreme-court-lawsuit.html
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4) Iran: Regime nears deal to buy supersonic anti-ship missiles from China
Source: Reuters
“Iran is close to a deal with China to purchase anti‑ship cruise missiles, according to six people with knowledge of the negotiations, just as the United States deploys a vast naval force near the Iranian coast ahead of possible strikes on the Islamic Republic. The deal for the Chinese‑made CM‑302 missiles is near completion, though no delivery date has been agreed, the people said. The supersonic missiles have a range of about 290 kilometres and are designed to evade shipborne defences by flying low and fast. Their deployment would significantly enhance Iran’s strike capabilities and pose a threat to U.S. naval forces in the region, two weapons experts said.” (02/24/26)
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/iran-nears-deal-buy-supersonic-anti-ship-missiles-china-2026-02-24/
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5) Judge bars US regime from “wholesale” search of Washington Post reporter’s seized devices
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“Federal authorities are barred from conducting an ‘unsupervised, wholesale search’ of electronic devices that they seized from a Washington Post reporter’s Virginia home while investigating allegations that a Pentagon contractor illegally leaked classified information to the journalist, a magistrate judge ruled Tuesday. U.S. Magistrate Judge William Porter said he will independently review the contents of Post reporter Hannah Natanson’s devices instead of allowing a Justice Department ‘filter team’ to perform a search. He denied the newspaper’s request for an order requiring the government to immediately return the devices to its reporter. Judge Porter said he balanced the need to protect Ms. Natanson’s free speech rights with the government’s duty to safeguard top secret national security information.” (02/24/26)
https://www.post-gazette.com/news/nation/2026/02/24/search-washington-post-reporter-devices-virginia-natanson/stories/202602240088
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6) UK: Regime demands $19.5 million bribe from Reddit
Source: San Diego Union-Tribune
“Britain’s data privacy watchdog slapped online forum Reddit on Tuesday with a [bribe demand] worth nearly $20 million for failures involving children’s personal information. The Information Commissioner’s Office said it issued the penalty worth $19.5 million because the failures resulted in the platform using children’s data ‘unlawfully.’ … The U.K. privacy regulator has been escalating scrutiny of online platforms over child safety. Earlier this month it hit MediaLab, owner of image-sharing site Imgur, with a [bribe demand] of about $335,000 over similar failures and it has also been investigating TikTok since last year.” (02/24/26)
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2026/02/24/reddit-data-privacy-fine/
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7) Trump regime sues New Jersey regime over limits to gang abduction activities
Source: Orange County Register
“The Trump administration is suing New Jersey over a state order that prohibits [ICE gang thugs from abducting victims] in nonpublic areas of state property, such as correctional facilities and courthouses. The Justice Department lawsuit, filed Monday in federal court in Trenton, challenges Gov. Mikie Sherrill ’s Feb. 11 executive order, which also bars the use of state property as a staging or processing area for [gang abduction activity] Sherrill, a Democrat who took office Jan. 20, ‘insists on harboring criminal offenders from federal law enforcement,’ the lawsuit said, accusing her of attempting to obstruct federal law enforcement and thwart President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.” (02/24/26)
https://www.ocregister.com/2026/02/24/trump-sues-new-jersey/
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8) Russia: Regime opens criminal investigation against Telegram app founder Pavel Durov
Source: Seattle Times
“Pavel Durov, the founder of the Telegram messaging app, said Tuesday that the Russian government had opened a criminal investigation against him on charges of ‘aiding terrorism.’ Durov, who was born and began his career in Russia, accused Moscow of fabricating pretexts to restrict access by Russians to the Telegram service as part of an attempt to ‘suppress the right to privacy and free speech.’ … It comes two weeks after Russia’s communications watchdog, Roskomnadzor, said it was restricting the Telegram app, accusing the company of refusing to abide by Russian law.” [editor’s note: Fortunately, Durov lives in Dubai and seems unlikely to be extradited – TLK] (02/24/26)
https://archive.is/SiVqb
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9) SCOTUS Rules the Postal Service Can’t Be Sued, Even When Mail Is Intentionally Not Delivered
Source: US News & World Report
“A divided Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that Americans can’t sue the U.S. Postal Service, even when employees deliberately refuse to deliver mail. By a 5-4 vote, the justices ruled against a Texas landlord, Lebene Konan, who alleges her mail was intentionally withheld for two years. Konan, who is [b]lack, claims racial prejudice played a role in postal employees’ actions. Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for a majority of five conservative justices, said the federal law that generally shields the Postal Service from lawsuits over missing, lost and undelivered mail includes ‘the intentional nondelivery of mail.’ In dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that while the protection against lawsuits is broad, it does not extend to situations when the decision not to deliver mail ‘was driven by malicious reasons.’ Justice Neil Gorsuch joined his three liberal colleagues in dissent.” (02/24/26)
https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2026-02-24/supreme-court-rules-the-postal-service-cant-be-sued-even-when-mail-is-intentionally-not-delivered
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10) France: Louvre museum director resigns months after high-profile heist
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“The director of the Louvre in Paris has resigned, months after the high-profile theft of France’s crown jewels from one of the world’s most visited museums. Laurence des Carrs submitted her resignation to President Emmanel Macron, who praised her decision at a time when museum needed ‘calm and a strong new impetus to successfully carry out major projects involving security, and modernisation’. On the morning of 19 October last year, thieves used a stolen vehicle-mounted mechanical lift to gain access to the museum from a balcony close to the River Seine. The four main suspects have been arrested, but the eight prized pieces of jewellery, worth an estimated 88m euros (£76m, $104m) have not been recovered.” (02/24/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce3gj7jjl7jo
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11) China: Regime imposes export controls on 20 Japanese entities to curb remilitarization
Source: NBC News
“China has prohibited the export of dual-use items to 20 Japanese entities that it says supply Japan’s military, the commerce ministry said Tuesday, in the latest escalation of a dispute with Tokyo. China is using its influence over supply chains to ratchet up pressure on Tokyo even after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who angered Beijing with comments about Taiwan in November, won a sweeping mandate in a landslide election victory this month. The measures target units of major Japanese industrial conglomerates such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ shipbuilding and aero engines divisions, the ministry said. The rules effectively cut companies off from the seven rare earths and associated materials currently on China’s dual-use control list, along with a swath of other controlled critical minerals.” (02/24/26)
https://www.nbcnews.com/world/asia/china-imposes-export-controls-20-japanese-entities-rcna260387
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12) Idaho woman charged in connection with stolen ambulance that was driven into heimatschutz lair
Source: SFGate
“A Boise, Idaho woman has been charged with malicious destruction of federal property by fire after prosecutors said she stole an ambulance, drove it into a building that houses U.S. Department of Homeland Security offices and then poured accelerant inside the property. Sarah Elizabeth George, 43, was scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Boise. In court documents, FBI special agent Daniel Ramirez said a suspect believed to be George stole a Canyon County Paramedics ambulance from St. Luke’s Hospital Emergency Center in the Boise bedroom community of Meridian late on Feb. 18. Ramirez said the suspect then drove the ambulance to a nearby parking lot, loaded at least two gas jugs and a plastic bag into the vehicle and then drove the ambulance through the front doors of a nearby office building before getting out and pouring the contents of the jugs on the lobby floor.” (02/24/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/idaho-woman-charged-in-connection-with-stolen-21939031.php
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13) Mexico: Regime hunts 23 inmates sprung from jail during wave of violence
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“Police in Mexico are searching a number of inmates sprung from a prison in Puerto Vallarta during a wave of attacks launched by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) on Sunday. Puerto Vallarta, a beach resort on Mexico’s Pacific coast, was among the towns where the CJGN blockaded roads and torched cars in retaliation for the killing by security forces of their leader, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as ‘El Mencho.’ During the unrest, armed men rammed one of the prison gates with a car, paving the way for 23 prisoners to escape, an official said. More than 70 people – including 25 National Guard members – were killed in the operation to capture El Mencho and the violence which followed.” (02/24/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c07jpx7kkvpo
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14) Slovakia: Opposition sues Fico over Ukraine power blockade
Source: Politico
“Slovakia’s opposition is suing Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico over his decision to halt emergency power supplies to Ukraine amid a growing diplomatic spat over a key Russian oil pipeline. The chairman of the center-right Freedom and Solidarity party, Branislav Gröhling, said his party had filed a criminal complaint against Fico, accusing him of abuse of his office, treason, terrorism and the ‘violation of duties in the management of other people’s property,’ according to Slovak newspaper Dennik N. … Slovakia has been providing emergency electricity exports to Kyiv to help support its energy sector, which has been crippled by a months-long Russian bombardment. On Monday Bratislava cut off those exports in retaliation for what it claims to be Ukraine’s refusal to resume flows of Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline …. Ukrainian authorities insist the pipeline was damaged in a Russian airstrike in late January and is undergoing repairs.” (02/24/26)
https://www.politico.eu/article/slovakian-opposition-sues-fico-over-ukraine-power-blockade
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15) WI: Schools & teachers file lawsuit against GOP-led Legislature seeking more funding
Source: SFGate
“A coalition of Wisconsin school districts, teachers’ unions, advocacy groups, parents, students and others announced a lawsuit Tuesday against the state Legislature, alleging that it’s failing to fund public schools adequately. The lawsuit, filed Monday in Eau Claire County Circuit Court, argues that schools are in crisis, with high-needs students facing the greatest risk. It asks the court to adopt a new finance system that meets the needs of districts unless the Legislature and governor enact one first ‘in a timely fashion’. School funding lawsuits have been brought for decades in states across the country with varying degrees of success. Fights over how and whether to reshape Wisconsin’s complex school finance system have usually taken place in the Statehouse. Now it will move to the courthouse, where this challenge will almost certainly end up before the liberal-controlled Wisconsin Supreme Court.” (02/24/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/wisconsin-schools-teachers-file-lawsuit-against-21938719.php
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16) UK: Ex-DJ jailed for selling fake parts to airlines
Source: The Guardian [UK]
“A one-time techno DJ who orchestrated a £40m global fraud selling fake aircraft parts from his garage outside London has been jailed. Engine parts from AOG Technics found their way into planes used by American Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines, Delta and Ryanair before the scam was discovered, leading to regulators issuing safety alerts and planes being grounded. Jose Alejandro Zamora Yrala, director of the firm, was on Monday sentenced at Southwark crown court to four years and eight months in prison, after pleading guilty to fraud. An investigation by the Serious Fraud Office found that Zamora Yrala, 38, bought aircraft engine parts including seals, bolts and washers and sold them on to airlines and suppliers around the world, with forged certificates guaranteeing their airworthiness.” (02/24/26)
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/feb/23/ex-dj-jailed-london-fake-parts-airlines
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17) Trump regime drops case against Democrats in “illegal orders” video
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“Federal prosecutors in Washington have dropped their case against six Democratic lawmakers who released a video urging military servicemembers to refuse illegal orders. The decision – confirmed by the BBC’s media partner CBS News – follows US Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office failing to secure a grand jury indictment against the six military and intelligence veterans. The justice department could still pursue the case in a different district, but there were no signs on Tuesday that it intended to do so. Pirro’s office had no comment. After the Democrats released the video, President Donald Trump called the lawmakers ‘traitors’ and suggested the video was an offence ‘punishable by death.’ He later said he was not threatening death for the six.” (02/24/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20z7yplp7po
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18) France: Regime restricts US ambassador’s access to officials after summons no-show
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“France has banned United States Ambassador Charles Kushner from meeting French government ministers, after he failed to attend a meeting at the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs in Paris to explain comments made by the Trump administration following the recent killing of a French far-right activist. The French Foreign Ministry announced the decision on Monday, as diplomatic relations between Paris and Washington continue to deteriorate amid several disagreements, including on trade tariffs, the war in Ukraine and the role of Europe in countering Russia. … Foreign Minister Barrot summoned Kushner after the US embassy in Paris reposted on Sunday comments by the Trump administration in Washington about the death of far-right activist Quentin Deranque, 23, who was beaten to death in a fight with alleged far-left activists, in an incident that shocked France.” (02/24/26)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/24/france-restricts-us-ambassadors-access-to-officials-after-summons-no-show
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19) CA: Former San Francisco homeless services CEO charged with misspending $1.2 million in public funds
Source: SFGate
“The former CEO of a San Francisco homeless services charity will be arraigned Tuesday on nine felony charges after prosecutors said she stole more than $1.2 million in public funds meant to keep people off the streets. Gwendolyn Westbrook, 71, raided the accounts of the United Council for Human Services while she had ‘near-exclusive financial control’ over the nonprofit serving homeless and low-income people, according to a statement Monday from the district attorney’s office. ‘Prosecutors allege that between 2019 and 2023, Ms. Westbrook engaged in unauthorized self-payments, improper cash withdrawals, and fraudulent reimbursement practices that diverted public funds for personal use,’ the statement said. She faces charges including misappropriation of public funds, grand theft and filing false California tax returns. Her arraignment was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.” (02/24/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/former-san-francisco-homeless-services-ceo-21938959.php
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20) TX: Camp Mystic Parents Sue State Regime, Accusing Officials of Not Enforcing Evacuation Plan Requirement
Source: US News & World Report
“Texas health officials failed to follow state law when they licensed Camp Mystic without making sure it had an evacuation plan, parents of nine children and counselors who died in the July 4 flood allege in a new federal lawsuit. Camp Mystic’s emergency instructions directed kids to stay in their cabins during floods, even though Texas rules require youth camps to have evacuation plans for disasters, the lawsuit states. … The families of nine Hill Country flooding victims filed the lawsuit in federal court on Monday, seeking damages and ‘all other relief that is equitable.’ They are suing six DSHS officials, including Commissioner Jennifer Shuford, several others who oversee the youth camp program and the agency’s Camp Mystic inspector.” (02/23/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ok1tk1cbzc
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) Tariff Refunds: Honest Policy Would Be Smart Politics
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“On February 20, the US Supreme Court ruled part of US president Donald Trump’s crazy-quilt tariff scheme illegal in its particulars. … Tariff victims had already begun preemptively suing for the restitution they’re owed even before the Supreme Court ruling, and since that ruling other companies, including FedEx, have also initiated court proceedings. The victims shouldn’t HAVE to sue. President Trump SHOULD just order the US Treasury to refund the money immediately. That would be the honest thing to do. … Refunding the money wouldn’t just be honest policy, it would be smart politics. … eight months of economic recovery would certainly help his party, and him, out.” (02/24/26)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/20390
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22) Trump’s favorite Florida judge is still running cover for him
Source: USA Today
by Chris Brennan
“It has been just 36 days since Trump asked [Aileen] Cannon to prohibit the release of the report compiled by former special counsel Jack Smith, based on the investigation and Trump’s 2023 indictment in hoarding classified documents at his Florida estate after he lost the 2020 presidential election. The judge predictably ruled in Trump’s favor on Feb. 23, permanently prohibiting the U.S. Department of Justice from releasing the special counsel’s report, even while the 11th Circuit considers whether the report should be made public. … the DOJ has a long-standing policy that sitting presidents can’t be prosecuted. But that doesn’t mean Americans can’t know what Trump did to get indicted in the documents case.” (02/24/26)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2026/02/24/judge-cannon-jack-smith-report-trump/88828565007/
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23) Yankee Go Home
Source: Persuasion
by Seva Gunitsky
“To truly feel the force of America’s cultural attraction you have to be born outside of it. The natives see the cracks up close and learn to take the whole thing for granted. Growing up in the Soviet Union in the 1980s, none of my friends had to be convinced of America’s appeal. Its jeans-clad, Ray-Ban-wearing, moon-dancing cultural exports were the opposite of propaganda. They were the natural overflow of a society so confident in its own desirability that it never had to make a case for itself. … it made American leadership feel less like domination and more like the natural order of things. The slow erosion of that dominance over the past decade is therefore not just a commercial setback for studio execs but a change in how American power operates.” (02/24/26)
https://www.persuasion.community/p/the-slow-death-of-american-cool
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24) The Far-Right’s Mission of “Protecting Minors” From Online Porn Broke the Internet
Source: Liberal Currents
by Michael McGrady Jr.
“The U.S. Supreme Court upheld a controversial Texas law requiring age verification to access online pornography. Enacted by the Republican supermajority in the Texas legislature in 2023 and aggressively defended by Attorney General Ken Paxton, the court’s 6–3 decision against stakeholders in the online adult industry marked a significant shift in how the state may regulate access to lawful speech online. … Texas House Bill 1181 is presented as a child-protection measure. But it is part of a political project — one that seeks to normalize identity-gated access to lawful speech and to expand state power over digital life under the moral cover of protecting minors. … Once built, such systems are easily repurposed to censor disfavored groups. The danger is not only in restricting access to online pornography but in establishing a precedent for government-mandated checks.” (02/24/26)
https://www.liberalcurrents.com/the-far-rights-mission-of-protecting-minors-from-online-porn-broke-the-internet/
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25) The world may be done bending to Trump’s will
Source: Los Angeles Times
by Jonah Goldberg
“Congress has not had any hearings about going to war in Iran, never mind authorized a war. And we should be clear, Congress’[s] failure to greenlight a war doesn’t mean the president is free to launch one. It means, as a constitutional matter, a war would be illegal. Think of it this way: If I don’t have your permission to enter your home and take what I want, we’re not in a gray area. The legal default setting is that you don’t have permission to rob a person unless expressly told otherwise. … If you are in favor of the constitutional process only when you like the results, you aren’t actually in favor of the Constitution.” (02/24/26)
https://archive.is/jjKVx
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26) Iranians defy death with dancing
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
“Dozens of viral videos coming out of Iran in recent days reveal a marked shift in what Iranians think of the regime in Tehran, especially after its brutal killing of thousands of protesters on Jan. 8 and 9. The videos of funerals in homes and cemeteries for those killed last month show family and friends dancing instead of wailing, singing instead of lamenting, cheering with political slogans instead of trembling in fear of further repression. Many wear clothes that are vibrant, as if at a wedding, rather than traditional black. In Iran, memorials for loved ones are often held several times, until 40 days have passed. An Iranian who posted one video wrote on the social platform X that when the regime trivializes the killing of so many people, ‘we dance to welcome eternity.’ Death, in other words, is not being given the last word.” (02/24/26)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Editorials/the-monitors-view/2026/0224/Iranians-defy-death-with-dancing
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27) The Real Epstein Rot
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“The Epstein files have revealed the names of many wealthy and prominent people within Jeffrey Epstein’s orbit, many of whom are now justifiably going down because of their affiliations with Epstein. But the real rot regarding Epstein relates to the extremely sweet sweetheart plea bargain he received from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Florida. … Epstein was permitted to plead guilty to lesser state criminal charges. He then was permitted to serve a 13-month sentence in county jail rather than a state prison. He was also allowed out 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. He returned to jail each night to sleep. Now, that is what I call a super sweet sweetheart deal for a person charged with horrific sex-related crimes with minors.” (02/24/26)
https://www.fff.org/2026/02/24/the-real-epstein-rot/
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28) Malicious Streetlight Effects Vs. “Directional Correctness” — A Semi-Non-Apology
Source: Astral Codex Ten
by Scott Alexander
“Malicious streetlights are an evil trick from Dark Data Journalism. Some annoying enemy has a valid complaint. So you use FACTS and LOGIC to prove that something similar-sounding-but-slightly-different is definitely false. Then you act like you’ve debunked the complaint. … the inverse evil trick is saying something ‘directionally correct,’ ie slightly stronger than the truth can support. If your enemy committed assault, say he committed murder. If he committed sexual harassment, say he committed rape. If your drug increases cancer survival by 5% in rats, say that it ‘cures cancer.’ Then, if someone calls you on it, accuse them of ‘literally well ackshually-ing’ you, because you were ‘directionally correct’ and it’s offensive to the victims to try to defend assault-committed sexual harassers.” (02/24/26)
https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/malicious-streetlight-effects-vs
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29) If You Think The US Wants To Bring Democracy To Iran, Watch What They’re Currently Doing To Iraq
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Anyone silly enough to believe the US wants to bring democracy to Iran should have a look at what the US is currently doing to sabotage democracy in Iraq. President Trump has been aggressively threatening to cut off Iraq’s oil revenue if it allows the return to office of former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, whom the Trump administration views as too sympathetic to Iran. And the threats appear to be working, as Antiwar’s Jason Ditz reports: ‘Once and possibly future Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s candidacy is increasingly in doubt this weekend, with reports that President Trump’s demand he not be allowed to return to office increasing the possibility that the Coordination Framework bloc may withdraw him as their choice for premier.'” (02/24/26)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2026/02/24/if-you-think-the-us-wants-to-bring-democracy-to-iran-watch-what-theyre-currently-doing-to-iraq/
-----
30) How Portugal’s Football Success Reveals Its Economic Failure
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Cláudia Ascensão Nunes
“Portugal is one of the national teams favored to win the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Yet most of the team’s players don’t play for Portuguese clubs. Despite producing world-class talent, the country faces difficulties in retaining it domestically. This paradox has clear economic implications: Portugal knows how to produce elite talent but fails to create conditions to keep it, reflecting a broader structural challenge affecting its economy.” (02/24/26)
https://fee.org/articles/how-portugals-football-success-reveals-its-economic-failure/
-----
31) Government Subsidies Killed the EV Industry
Source: Town Hall
by Stephen Moore
“Here’s a depressing but all too predictable headline from The Wall Street Journal last week: ‘Detroit’s EV Pullback Is Costing $50 Billion.’ Yikes! That’s a lot of money for the American auto industry to lose. Once again, we have confirmation of an iron law of economics: If you want to kill an industry, subsidize it.” (02/24/26)
https://townhall.com/columnists/stephenmoore/2026/02/24/government-subsidies-killed-the-ev-industry-n2671818
-----
32) The US Is Sprinting Towards Disaster
Source: Eunomia
by Daniel Larison
“There is almost no support for a new war, but there is a vocal group of hardliners in the Republican Party and in Washington that has been seeking this conflict for decades. The report mentions Mark Levin as one example, and there are also ideological fanatics in the Senate including Tom Cotton and Lindsey Graham. Genocide denier Bret Stephens chimed in again this week with a despicable plea for war. They have been goading Trump to attack, and I fear they are going to get what they want. The vocal fanatics might not matter as much if they faced real opposition, but there is virtually no one in the Republican Party pushing in the opposite direction.” (02/24/26)
https://daniellarison.substack.com/p/the-us-is-sprinting-towards-disaster
-----
33) From Vietnam to the Home Front, US Empire Deals Death
Source: TomDispatch
by Nick Turse
“Last month, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers pulled over several cars in Eagle County, Colorado. They took the people away in handcuffs, according to a witness, and left the cars idling at the side of the road. When family members of the disappeared immigrants arrived, there was no sign of their loved ones. What they found instead were customized ace of spades playing cards that read ‘ICE Denver Field Office.’ When I saw an image of that card, the memories came flooding back. I’d seen something similar many years before. Sitting in the U.S. National Archives building — Archives II — in College Park, Maryland, sometime in the late 2000s or early 2010s, I’d spent parts of several afternoons watching film footage shot by, and of, U.S. troops in Vietnam back in the 1960s. One of those silent military home movies always stuck with me.” (02/24/26)
https://tomdispatch.com/ice-brings-the-war-home/
-----
34) The Elite Revolt Against Elites
Source: Law & Liberty
by Max Skjönsberg
“‘We live in the age of the revolt against the elites,’ writes Hugo Drochon in his new insightful book Elites and Democracy, summarizing the strides made by populist forces, on the right and on the left, in the West and beyond, in the last decade. The paradox, he observes, is that while populist leaders all reject the elite, they themselves are often part of the elites, either economic or political. Modern politics is thus best understood as the process of one elite replacing another. This basic insight opens up a perspective on the relationship between elites and democracy, which Drochon theorizes with the aid of twentieth-century political thought.” (02/24/26)
https://lawliberty.org/book-review/the-elite-revolt-against-elites/
-----
35) America Can’t Tariff Its Way Out of This Debt Crisis
Source: The Daily Economy
by Romina Boccia
“Within a decade, every dollar collected in revenue will be spent on health care, Social Security, and interest on existing debt.” (02/24/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/america-cant-tariff-its-way-out-of-this-debt-crisis/
-----
36) In Tariffs Dissent, Clarence Thomas Embraced a Dangerous Theory of Executive Power
Source: Reason
by Damon Root
“The nondelegation doctrine says that Congress may delegate its legislative authority to the president only under certain limited circumstances. Those limits are there to enforce the constitutional separation of powers. Thomas would eliminate many of those limits. In his view, the nondelegation doctrine simply should not apply when a case involves what he characterizes as a non-core legislative power. What is a non-core legislative power? Thomas offered a few examples, including ‘the powers to raise and support armies’ and ‘to regulate foreign commerce.’ According to Thomas, because these powers originally descended from the kingly authority of the British crown, it is entirely proper for Congress to surrender them without limit to the executive branch. One problem with this argument is that it runs counter to the text of the Constitution.” (02/24/26)
https://reason.com/2026/02/24/in-tariffs-dissent-clarence-thomas-embraced-a-dangerous-theory-of-executive-power/
-----
37) Trump’s State of the Union should celebrate his record and face the tasks ahead
Source: New York Post
by staff
“In his State of the Union speech Tuesday, President Trump should boast of his triumphs this last year — and offer a frank and positive take on the work still ahead. The nation should see him as the happy warrior he deserves to be: cheerful, proud, upbeat. Trump began his second term full of optimism, promising ‘a golden age,’ reversing the misery and turmoil of the Biden years — and immediately started making good on his vows.” (02/24/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/02/23/opinion/trump-should-play-the-happy-warrior-at-his-state-of-the-union-speech-his-stellar-record-justifies-it/
-----
38) The Major Tariff Question
Source: EconLog
by John O McGinnis
“The Supreme Court’s decision in Learning Resources v. Trump will have immediate political effects, substantial economic effects, and more subtle but long-run effects on the shape of the law. Doctrinally, its significance may seem limited because the opinions fracture on nearly everything beyond a single issue under a specific statute — the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). Six members of the Court agreed only that IEEPA does not authorize the president to impose tariffs. Even on that conclusion, however, the justices split into two camps: one relied on the major questions doctrine, namely that because of the extraordinary power claimed, Congress had to speak more clearly than it did, while the other concluded the president’s lack of authority was manifest without reliance on any clear-statement rule. Nevertheless, the case is still significant for the separation of powers.” (02/24/26)
https://www.econlib.org/library/columns/y2026/mcginnisieepa
-----
39) Tariffs were illegal. The delayed refunds are wrong.
Source: Washington Post
by Neal Katyal
“When the U.S. government makes a representation in federal court, it is not a talking point. It is a commitment. In the landmark tariff litigation decided by the Supreme Court on Friday, that commitment was explicit: to give refunds if President Donald Trump’s tariffs were declared illegal. … At several points along the way, government lawyers assured judges that there would be no ‘harm’ in allowing tariff collection to continue during the appeal process because duties later invalidated could be refunded — with interest. Businesses would be made whole. Indeed, after I argued the case before the Supreme Court on Nov. 5, the government doubled down on that promise in filings in lower court. … Now the Supreme Court has ruled, and the tariffs have been invalidated. Yet Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent are suggesting that refunds could take years, entangled in further litigation and administrative delay.” (02/24/26)
https://archive.is/KECtc
-----
40) Boots on the ground? Because airpower alone in Iran won’t work
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Sina Azodi
“For presidents wary of protracted ground wars, airpower can appear to provide decisive action while minimizing American casualties and long-term commitments. Since taking office in January 2025, Trump has bombed Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Nigeria, Somalia and Venezuela, and has kidnapped a country’s leader, at almost no cost to the United States. Time and again, however, modern warfare has demonstrated the limits of this notion.” (02/24/26)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/coercion-through-iran-airstrikes/
-----
41) Tariff Ruling Shows Roberts Court More Pro-Corporate Than Pro-Trump
Source: Common Dreams
by Miles Mogulescu
“The US Supreme Court’s rejection of President Donald Trump’s singular policy on tariffs is a reason for some celebration. During the past year, using the so-called ‘shadow docket,’ the Roberts Court had ruled in Trump’s favor on an emergency basis 24 out of 28 times. But the mainstream media, and even much of the progressive media, is misinterpreting the tariff decision as demonstrating the Roberts Court’s independence and judicial neutrality. For example, the New York Times lead article by its chief legal correspondent Adam Lipnick was headlined, ‘The Supreme Court’s Declaration of Independence,’ … But the Roberts Court is not independent. Rather, when there’s a conflict between big corporations and Trump, it will side with the corporations.” (02/24/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/roberts-court-pro-corporate
-----
42) Rise of the Right-Wing Leninists
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Thomas Eddlem
“The general MAGA reaction that Pretti and Good got what was coming to them is telling about how Republican politics in America has descended into a form of right-wing Leninism. After a man is flat-out murdered in the streets, on his knees, they reply, ‘But hey, look how the victim kicked off a $65 tail light on a police cruiser last week!’ How, even if you feel very strongly about enforcing federal immigration laws, does that even enter into the conversation in a rational world intent on keeping government within its constitutional boundaries? It’s a lot like a woman getting raped and all people on the sidelines afterward can talk about is how she had been caught shoplifting the week before. It’s entirely beside the point.” (02/24/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/rise-of-the-right-wing-leninists
-----
43) If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Don’t Join ‘Em
Source: Antiwar.com
by Alan Mosley
“Long before the current Iran standoff, America’s interventionist foreign policy had left deep scars. The Iraq War of 2003 – championed by a coalition of neoconservatives and assertive nationalists – killed and maimed hundreds of thousands of people, displaced millions, and cost the United States roughly half a trillion dollars. Brookings Institution analysts noted that war planners believed American power could swiftly conquer threats and spread democracy, but their expectations proved disastrously wrong. The war shattered Iraq’s infrastructure, destabilized the region, and contributed to the rise of extremist groups.” (02/24/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/alan_mosley/2026/02/23/if-you-cant-beat-em-dont-join-em
-----
44) Back to the base-ics: How taxable wage base reforms can strengthen unemployment program solvency
Source: Niskanen Center
by Will Raderman
“Anyone managing their household’s pocketbook knows to track two key numbers: how much is being spent and how much is being saved. Technically, you can spend all the income you earn each month without immediately going into debt, but unexpected expenses happen. The safer route is to save a steady portion of your paychecks and build up the reserves to cover a sudden surge in cost. States must manage their unemployment insurance programs in a similar manner.” (02/23/26)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/back-to-the-base-ics-how-taxable-wage-base-reforms-can-strengthen-unemployment-program-solvency/
-----
45) The Graveyard of Destructive Ideas
Source: American Greatness
by Victor Davis Hanson
“How do destructive ideas and bouts of collective madness so quickly become policy, law, and the status quo? After all, most have little public support– and are not Western nations supposedly rationally governed? There is usually a multi-step process on the road to these self-destructive fits of society-wide insanity. The suicidal impulse so often begins with left-leaning researchers in elite universities (i.e., the tenured in search of a novel, grant-getting theory). They begin insisting that a new existential threat requires immediate government intervention, novel legislation, ample funding, and public awareness of the impending danger. So out of nowhere, the public is warned that the scorching planet will be inundated by rising seas in a mere decade.” (02/24/26)
https://amgreatness.com/2026/02/24/the-graveyard-of-destructive-ideas/
-----
46) War Propaganda and Iran: The Exact Script Used for Every Failed US War Is Hauled Out Again
Source: Glenn Greenwald
by Glenn Greenwald
“From Vietnam to Iran and every U.S. war in between, the same propaganda narratives are deployed, no matter how discredited and debunked they are from all the prior times they were exposed as lies.” (02/23/26)
https://greenwald.substack.com/p/war-propaganda-and-iran-the-exact
-----
47) The Original Intent of the Supreme Court is On Life Support — And Trump Is Trying to Pull the Plug
Source: Coyote Blog
by Warren Meyer
“This should not have to be explained, but the Constitutional intent of the Supreme Court was not to solve social / economic / military problems — that is the role of Congress. It’s role was not to properly execute and administer these laws — that is the role of the President’s and the Cabinet departments he overse[e]s. The Supreme Court has the important but narrow role to judge whether the law is being followed. … Unfortunately there is a growing populist theory that the Supreme Court’s job is not to strictly follow the law but to act as a sort of legislature of last resort, to impose new law when Congress is deadlocked on an issue or to override ‘Bad’ law, with ‘bad’ defined based on the speaker’s preferences.” (02/23/26)
https://coyoteblog.com/coyote_blog/2026/02/the-original-intent-of-the-supreme-court-is-on-life-support-and-trump-is-trying-to-pull-the-plug.html
-----
48) If Forced to Choose, Our Military Leaders Should Follow the Law Not the President — Like Ulysses S. Grant
Source: The UnPopulist
by Kori Schake
“No American military officer has ever had to do what the constitutional crisis of 1866-1867 required of Ulysses S. Grant, then serving as the commanding general of the Army. President Andrew Johnson and Congress thrust him into adjudicating between their respective constitutional claims to civilian control of the military. This most fraught civil-military crisis did not occur in wartime; it was the result of both the president and Congress pulling the professional military into American domestic political disputes. Grant’s judgment wasn’t perfect; he was wrong before he was right. But he was right enough to provide a powerful precedent for our troubled times.” (02/23/26)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/if-forced-to-choose-our-military
-----
49) The Looming Chaos of Tariff Refunds
Source: The American Prospect
by David Dayen
“At 12:01 this morning, the United States officially ended collection of its International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) tariffs, which were ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court last Friday. By now, you’re probably aware that President Trump has replaced these tariffs with a 15 percent levy based on Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows for a tariff of that size for up to 150 days to deal with a balance-of-payments deficit. The administration has been planning this switch for months, once the Supreme Court’s position on IEEPA became clear at oral arguments. It is interpreting a trade deficit, which has essentially not changed at all despite nearly a year of tariffs, as fitting the balance-of-payments standard; some experts do not agree with that interpretation, meaning that litigation could ensue on these tariffs, too.” (02/24/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/02/24/looming-chaos-trump-tariff-refunds/
-----
50) Tariffs, Time, and the Constitution
Source: Independent Institute
by Tarnell Brown
“Trump’s latest tariff gambits manage to defy economic logic, statutory limits, and constitutional structure all at once, and that makes them unusually useful as case studies in how not to govern trade. His maneuvers under IEEPA to suspend the de minimis exemption, and under Section 122 of the Trade Act to float a blanket 10 percent tariff on the world, are not just bad policies; they are abuses of delegated power that strip away the very constraints a liberal trading order depends on. They weaponize emergency statutes and obscure balance‑of‑payments language to deliver short‑run political optics while shoving the real costs — economic, legal, and institutional — onto a temporally distant and politically voiceless set of future losers.” (02/23/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/02/23/tariffs-constitution/
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) Hanson-Caplan: The Culture Convo
Source: Bet On It
“My GMU colleague and best friend Robin Hanson has spent the last couple of years pondering the danger of ‘cultural drift.’ My latest book, available for purchase now on Amazon, is You Have No Right to Your Culture. Since we’ve both got the same topic on our minds, I thought this was a great time for Robin and I to interview each other on the topic of culture. Enjoy!” (02/24/26)
https://www.betonit.ai/p/hanson-caplan-the-culture-convo
-----
52) Bulwark Takes, 02/24/26
Source: The Bulwark
“Trump’s Latest Enemies Are His Own People.” (02/24/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wffm4FG_Xk8
-----
53) The Bryan Hyde Show, 02/24/26
Source: The Bryan Hyde Show
“Eric Peters from Eric Peters Autos joins me for our weekly discussion. With everything in the world that’s jumping the shark right now, we have a lot to discuss.” (02/24/26)
https://www.podbean.com/ep/pb-jpsjy-1a5495b
-----
54) The Good Fight, 02/24/26
Source: Yascha Mounk
“Janice Stein on When Being Rational Is Irrational.” (02/24/26)
https://writing.yaschamounk.com/p/janice-stein
-----
55) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 02/24/26
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“The Real State Of The Union 2026.” (02/24/26)
https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1pKdRbRWOdoJW
-----
56) Advisory Opinions, 02/24/26
Source: The Dispatch
“What’s Next After Friday’s Tariff Decision?” (02/24/26)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/advisoryopinions/whats-next-after-fridays-tariff-decision/
-----
57) Cato Daily Podcast, 02/24/26
Source: Cato Institute
“Who Decides When America Goes to War?” (02/24/26)
https://www.cato.org/multimedia/cato-podcast/who-decides-when-america-goes-war
-----
58) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 02/24/26
Source: The New Republic
“Trump Angered by Fresh Slide in Polls as Even Fox Admits He’s Tanking.” (02/24/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/206948/trump-angered-fresh-slide-polls-even-fox-admits-he-tanking
-----
59) Trump Watch, 02/24/26
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
“Another War on Iran?” (02/24/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgEhtI4Poho
-----
60) The TAC Interview, 02/24/26
Source: The American Conservative
“John Kiriakou on Epstein, Propaganda, and Heroin.” (02/24/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-tac-interview-john-kiriakou-on-epstein-propaganda-and-heroin/
-----
61) Antiwar New with Dave DeCamp, 02/24/26
Source: Antiwar.com
“General Warns Trump of Risks of Attacking Iran, Smotrich Vows Settlements in Gaza, and More.” (02/24/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MW6dysXZ8Q
-----
62) Charles Goyette on The Scott Horton Show
Source: The Scott Horton Show
“Charles Goyette on the Lies that Built the American Empire.” (02/23/26)
https://scotthorton.org/interviews/2-20-26-charles-goyette-on-the-lies-that-built-the-american-empire/
-----
63) The Kyle Anzalone Show, 02/23/26
Source: Libertarian Institute
“LtCOL. Karen Kwiatkowski : Netanyahu Arrives in Washington to Plot Iran War.” (02/23/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/blog/the-kyle-anzalone-show-guest-ltcol-karen-kwiatkowski-netanyahu-arrives-in-washington-to-plot-iran-war/
-----
64) Ron Paul’s Austrian Revolution
Source: Free the People
“Matt Kibbe asks Dr. Paul about his intellectual influences and why he thinks his message has had such an enduring impact on the American political landscape.” (02/23/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ok1tk1cbzc
-----
65) Free Talk Live, 02/23/26
Source: Free Talk Live
“Forkfest up in the air, please check forkfest.party through out the next month for updates :: The love of mediocrity is bad for human freedom :: Arguing the minutiae of freedom of movement with Skeeter :: Take Bonnie’s dog, she will kill you :: Sarah brings up the 13 women buried in the desert near Epstein’s Zorro Ranch in NM :: A bill that would just create more bureaucracy :: Which state is the biggest for human trafficking? :: Jay Noone and Colin call in to give live updates about the cartel violence in Puerto Vallarta :: We wouldn’t have baby-eating pedos without the Federal Reserve, fiat money or the US Empire :: They’re forcing you to give them your biometric data :: Pray for the people of Mexico and for the collapse of the fiat dollar :: Dave Ridley’s new non-fiction series “Legends of the Free State” at RidleyReport.com coming soon :: 2026-02-22 Hosts: Bonnie, Rich E Rich, Riley.” (02/23/26)
https://soundcloud.com/freetalklive/ftl2026-02-23
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Today's Freedom News:
1) Old man yells at Congress again
2) Russia: Attacker detonates explosive device in Moscow, killing police officer and himself
3) FedEx sues for refund of Trump tariffs, days after Supreme Court ruling
4) Iran: Regime nears deal to buy supersonic anti-ship missiles from China
5) Judge bars US regime from “wholesale” search of Washington Post reporter’s seized devices
6) UK: Regime demands $19.5 million bribe from Reddit
7) Trump regime sues New Jersey regime over limits to gang abduction activities
8) Russia: Regime opens criminal investigation against Telegram app founder Pavel Durov
9) SCOTUS Rules the Postal Service Can’t Be Sued, Even When Mail Is Intentionally Not Delivered
10) France: Louvre museum director resigns months after high-profile heist
11) China: Regime imposes export controls on 20 Japanese entities to curb remilitarization
12) Idaho woman charged in connection with stolen ambulance that was driven into heimatschutz lair
13) Mexico: Regime hunts 23 inmates sprung from jail during wave of violence
14) Slovakia: Opposition sues Fico over Ukraine power blockade
15) WI: Schools & teachers file lawsuit against GOP-led Legislature seeking more funding
16) UK: Ex-DJ jailed for selling fake parts to airlines
17) Trump regime drops case against Democrats in “illegal orders” video
18) France: Regime restricts US ambassador’s access to officials after summons no-show
19) CA: Former San Francisco homeless services CEO charged with misspending $1.2 million in public funds
20) TX: Camp Mystic Parents Sue State Regime, Accusing Officials of Not Enforcing Evacuation Plan Requirement
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) Tariff Refunds: Honest Policy Would Be Smart Politics
22) Trump’s favorite Florida judge is still running cover for him
23) Yankee Go Home
24) The Far-Right’s Mission of “Protecting Minors” From Online Porn Broke the Internet
25) The world may be done bending to Trump’s will
26) Iranians defy death with dancing
27) The Real Epstein Rot
28) Malicious Streetlight Effects Vs. “Directional Correctness” — A Semi-Non-Apology
29) If You Think The US Wants To Bring Democracy To Iran, Watch What They’re Currently Doing To Iraq
30) How Portugal’s Football Success Reveals Its Economic Failure
31) Government Subsidies Killed the EV Industry
32) The US Is Sprinting Towards Disaster
33) From Vietnam to the Home Front, US Empire Deals Death
34) The Elite Revolt Against Elites
35) America Can’t Tariff Its Way Out of This Debt Crisis
36) In Tariffs Dissent, Clarence Thomas Embraced a Dangerous Theory of Executive Power
37) Trump’s State of the Union should celebrate his record and face the tasks ahead
38) The Major Tariff Question
39) Tariffs were illegal. The delayed refunds are wrong.
40) Boots on the ground? Because airpower alone in Iran won’t work
41) Tariff Ruling Shows Roberts Court More Pro-Corporate Than Pro-Trump
42) Rise of the Right-Wing Leninists
43) If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Don’t Join ‘Em
44) Back to the base-ics: How taxable wage base reforms can strengthen unemployment program solvency
45) The Graveyard of Destructive Ideas
46) War Propaganda and Iran: The Exact Script Used for Every Failed US War Is Hauled Out Again
47) The Original Intent of the Supreme Court is On Life Support — And Trump Is Trying to Pull the Plug
48) If Forced to Choose, Our Military Leaders Should Follow the Law Not the President — Like Ulysses S. Grant
49) The Looming Chaos of Tariff Refunds
50) Tariffs, Time, and the Constitution
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) Hanson-Caplan: The Culture Convo
52) Bulwark Takes, 02/24/26
53) The Bryan Hyde Show, 02/24/26
54) The Good Fight, 02/24/26
55) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 02/24/26
56) Advisory Opinions, 02/24/26
57) Cato Daily Podcast, 02/24/26
58) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 02/24/26
59) Trump Watch, 02/24/26
60) The TAC Interview, 02/24/26
61) Antiwar New with Dave DeCamp, 02/24/26
62) Charles Goyette on The Scott Horton Show
63) The Kyle Anzalone Show, 02/23/26
64) Ron Paul’s Austrian Revolution
65) Free Talk Live, 02/23/26
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) Old man yells at Congress again
Source: Bloomberg
“President Donald Trump offered a strident defense of his administration and economic record, declaring the nation is ‘bigger, better, richer and stronger than ever before’ in a State of the Union address that contained few new policy announcements. The president on Tuesday staged his version of a pep rally for a beleaguered nation, celebrating Olympic victories and military heroism while pledging better fortunes for the public — all while attacking his rival Democrats. … ‘We have achieved a transformation like no one has ever seen before, and a turnaround for the ages,’ he said in a speech that lasted a record one hour and 47 minutes. ‘You’ve seen nothing yet.'” (02/24/26)
https://archive.is/TaK1J
-----
2) Russia: Attacker detonates explosive device in Moscow, killing police officer and himself
Source: ABC News
“An unidentified assailant detonated an explosive device next to a patrol vehicle in Moscow early Tuesday, killing himself and a police officer, and leaving two other officers injured, officials said. The attack happened minutes after midnight near the Savyolovsky Train Station in the Russian capital’s downtown, according to Moscow’s branch of the Interior Ministry. It said the assailant approached a traffic police vehicle and detonated an explosive device, killing an officer on the spot and injuring two others, who were hospitalized. Russia’s Investigative Committee said it has launched a probe into the attack. It didn’t name the assailant or give any information about his possible motives or any further details. The attack came on the day marking the fourth anniversary of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to send troops into Ukraine.” (02/24/26)
https://abcnews.com/International/wireStory/attacker-detonates-explosive-device-moscow-killing-police-officer-130429919
-----
3) FedEx sues for refund of Trump tariffs, days after Supreme Court ruling
Source: CNBC
“Federal Express on Monday sued the U.S. government, seeking a ‘full refund’ of the money the shipping giant paid for tariffs unilaterally imposed last year by President Donald Trump, which the Supreme Court ruled last week were illegal. FedEx’s suit appears to be the first filed by a major American company seeking a refund for tariffs after Friday’s Supreme Court decision. Other companies filed lawsuits staking claims to their refunds before the high court ruled that the tariffs Trump imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act are illegal.” (02/23/26)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/23/fedex-trump-trade-tariffs-refunds-supreme-court-lawsuit.html
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4) Iran: Regime nears deal to buy supersonic anti-ship missiles from China
Source: Reuters
“Iran is close to a deal with China to purchase anti‑ship cruise missiles, according to six people with knowledge of the negotiations, just as the United States deploys a vast naval force near the Iranian coast ahead of possible strikes on the Islamic Republic. The deal for the Chinese‑made CM‑302 missiles is near completion, though no delivery date has been agreed, the people said. The supersonic missiles have a range of about 290 kilometres and are designed to evade shipborne defences by flying low and fast. Their deployment would significantly enhance Iran’s strike capabilities and pose a threat to U.S. naval forces in the region, two weapons experts said.” (02/24/26)
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/iran-nears-deal-buy-supersonic-anti-ship-missiles-china-2026-02-24/
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5) Judge bars US regime from “wholesale” search of Washington Post reporter’s seized devices
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“Federal authorities are barred from conducting an ‘unsupervised, wholesale search’ of electronic devices that they seized from a Washington Post reporter’s Virginia home while investigating allegations that a Pentagon contractor illegally leaked classified information to the journalist, a magistrate judge ruled Tuesday. U.S. Magistrate Judge William Porter said he will independently review the contents of Post reporter Hannah Natanson’s devices instead of allowing a Justice Department ‘filter team’ to perform a search. He denied the newspaper’s request for an order requiring the government to immediately return the devices to its reporter. Judge Porter said he balanced the need to protect Ms. Natanson’s free speech rights with the government’s duty to safeguard top secret national security information.” (02/24/26)
https://www.post-gazette.com/news/nation/2026/02/24/search-washington-post-reporter-devices-virginia-natanson/stories/202602240088
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6) UK: Regime demands $19.5 million bribe from Reddit
Source: San Diego Union-Tribune
“Britain’s data privacy watchdog slapped online forum Reddit on Tuesday with a [bribe demand] worth nearly $20 million for failures involving children’s personal information. The Information Commissioner’s Office said it issued the penalty worth $19.5 million because the failures resulted in the platform using children’s data ‘unlawfully.’ … The U.K. privacy regulator has been escalating scrutiny of online platforms over child safety. Earlier this month it hit MediaLab, owner of image-sharing site Imgur, with a [bribe demand] of about $335,000 over similar failures and it has also been investigating TikTok since last year.” (02/24/26)
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2026/02/24/reddit-data-privacy-fine/
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7) Trump regime sues New Jersey regime over limits to gang abduction activities
Source: Orange County Register
“The Trump administration is suing New Jersey over a state order that prohibits [ICE gang thugs from abducting victims] in nonpublic areas of state property, such as correctional facilities and courthouses. The Justice Department lawsuit, filed Monday in federal court in Trenton, challenges Gov. Mikie Sherrill ’s Feb. 11 executive order, which also bars the use of state property as a staging or processing area for [gang abduction activity] Sherrill, a Democrat who took office Jan. 20, ‘insists on harboring criminal offenders from federal law enforcement,’ the lawsuit said, accusing her of attempting to obstruct federal law enforcement and thwart President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.” (02/24/26)
https://www.ocregister.com/2026/02/24/trump-sues-new-jersey/
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8) Russia: Regime opens criminal investigation against Telegram app founder Pavel Durov
Source: Seattle Times
“Pavel Durov, the founder of the Telegram messaging app, said Tuesday that the Russian government had opened a criminal investigation against him on charges of ‘aiding terrorism.’ Durov, who was born and began his career in Russia, accused Moscow of fabricating pretexts to restrict access by Russians to the Telegram service as part of an attempt to ‘suppress the right to privacy and free speech.’ … It comes two weeks after Russia’s communications watchdog, Roskomnadzor, said it was restricting the Telegram app, accusing the company of refusing to abide by Russian law.” [editor’s note: Fortunately, Durov lives in Dubai and seems unlikely to be extradited – TLK] (02/24/26)
https://archive.is/SiVqb
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9) SCOTUS Rules the Postal Service Can’t Be Sued, Even When Mail Is Intentionally Not Delivered
Source: US News & World Report
“A divided Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that Americans can’t sue the U.S. Postal Service, even when employees deliberately refuse to deliver mail. By a 5-4 vote, the justices ruled against a Texas landlord, Lebene Konan, who alleges her mail was intentionally withheld for two years. Konan, who is [b]lack, claims racial prejudice played a role in postal employees’ actions. Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for a majority of five conservative justices, said the federal law that generally shields the Postal Service from lawsuits over missing, lost and undelivered mail includes ‘the intentional nondelivery of mail.’ In dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that while the protection against lawsuits is broad, it does not extend to situations when the decision not to deliver mail ‘was driven by malicious reasons.’ Justice Neil Gorsuch joined his three liberal colleagues in dissent.” (02/24/26)
https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2026-02-24/supreme-court-rules-the-postal-service-cant-be-sued-even-when-mail-is-intentionally-not-delivered
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10) France: Louvre museum director resigns months after high-profile heist
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“The director of the Louvre in Paris has resigned, months after the high-profile theft of France’s crown jewels from one of the world’s most visited museums. Laurence des Carrs submitted her resignation to President Emmanel Macron, who praised her decision at a time when museum needed ‘calm and a strong new impetus to successfully carry out major projects involving security, and modernisation’. On the morning of 19 October last year, thieves used a stolen vehicle-mounted mechanical lift to gain access to the museum from a balcony close to the River Seine. The four main suspects have been arrested, but the eight prized pieces of jewellery, worth an estimated 88m euros (£76m, $104m) have not been recovered.” (02/24/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce3gj7jjl7jo
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11) China: Regime imposes export controls on 20 Japanese entities to curb remilitarization
Source: NBC News
“China has prohibited the export of dual-use items to 20 Japanese entities that it says supply Japan’s military, the commerce ministry said Tuesday, in the latest escalation of a dispute with Tokyo. China is using its influence over supply chains to ratchet up pressure on Tokyo even after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who angered Beijing with comments about Taiwan in November, won a sweeping mandate in a landslide election victory this month. The measures target units of major Japanese industrial conglomerates such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ shipbuilding and aero engines divisions, the ministry said. The rules effectively cut companies off from the seven rare earths and associated materials currently on China’s dual-use control list, along with a swath of other controlled critical minerals.” (02/24/26)
https://www.nbcnews.com/world/asia/china-imposes-export-controls-20-japanese-entities-rcna260387
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12) Idaho woman charged in connection with stolen ambulance that was driven into heimatschutz lair
Source: SFGate
“A Boise, Idaho woman has been charged with malicious destruction of federal property by fire after prosecutors said she stole an ambulance, drove it into a building that houses U.S. Department of Homeland Security offices and then poured accelerant inside the property. Sarah Elizabeth George, 43, was scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Boise. In court documents, FBI special agent Daniel Ramirez said a suspect believed to be George stole a Canyon County Paramedics ambulance from St. Luke’s Hospital Emergency Center in the Boise bedroom community of Meridian late on Feb. 18. Ramirez said the suspect then drove the ambulance to a nearby parking lot, loaded at least two gas jugs and a plastic bag into the vehicle and then drove the ambulance through the front doors of a nearby office building before getting out and pouring the contents of the jugs on the lobby floor.” (02/24/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/idaho-woman-charged-in-connection-with-stolen-21939031.php
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13) Mexico: Regime hunts 23 inmates sprung from jail during wave of violence
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“Police in Mexico are searching a number of inmates sprung from a prison in Puerto Vallarta during a wave of attacks launched by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) on Sunday. Puerto Vallarta, a beach resort on Mexico’s Pacific coast, was among the towns where the CJGN blockaded roads and torched cars in retaliation for the killing by security forces of their leader, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as ‘El Mencho.’ During the unrest, armed men rammed one of the prison gates with a car, paving the way for 23 prisoners to escape, an official said. More than 70 people – including 25 National Guard members – were killed in the operation to capture El Mencho and the violence which followed.” (02/24/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c07jpx7kkvpo
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14) Slovakia: Opposition sues Fico over Ukraine power blockade
Source: Politico
“Slovakia’s opposition is suing Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico over his decision to halt emergency power supplies to Ukraine amid a growing diplomatic spat over a key Russian oil pipeline. The chairman of the center-right Freedom and Solidarity party, Branislav Gröhling, said his party had filed a criminal complaint against Fico, accusing him of abuse of his office, treason, terrorism and the ‘violation of duties in the management of other people’s property,’ according to Slovak newspaper Dennik N. … Slovakia has been providing emergency electricity exports to Kyiv to help support its energy sector, which has been crippled by a months-long Russian bombardment. On Monday Bratislava cut off those exports in retaliation for what it claims to be Ukraine’s refusal to resume flows of Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline …. Ukrainian authorities insist the pipeline was damaged in a Russian airstrike in late January and is undergoing repairs.” (02/24/26)
https://www.politico.eu/article/slovakian-opposition-sues-fico-over-ukraine-power-blockade
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15) WI: Schools & teachers file lawsuit against GOP-led Legislature seeking more funding
Source: SFGate
“A coalition of Wisconsin school districts, teachers’ unions, advocacy groups, parents, students and others announced a lawsuit Tuesday against the state Legislature, alleging that it’s failing to fund public schools adequately. The lawsuit, filed Monday in Eau Claire County Circuit Court, argues that schools are in crisis, with high-needs students facing the greatest risk. It asks the court to adopt a new finance system that meets the needs of districts unless the Legislature and governor enact one first ‘in a timely fashion’. School funding lawsuits have been brought for decades in states across the country with varying degrees of success. Fights over how and whether to reshape Wisconsin’s complex school finance system have usually taken place in the Statehouse. Now it will move to the courthouse, where this challenge will almost certainly end up before the liberal-controlled Wisconsin Supreme Court.” (02/24/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/wisconsin-schools-teachers-file-lawsuit-against-21938719.php
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16) UK: Ex-DJ jailed for selling fake parts to airlines
Source: The Guardian [UK]
“A one-time techno DJ who orchestrated a £40m global fraud selling fake aircraft parts from his garage outside London has been jailed. Engine parts from AOG Technics found their way into planes used by American Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines, Delta and Ryanair before the scam was discovered, leading to regulators issuing safety alerts and planes being grounded. Jose Alejandro Zamora Yrala, director of the firm, was on Monday sentenced at Southwark crown court to four years and eight months in prison, after pleading guilty to fraud. An investigation by the Serious Fraud Office found that Zamora Yrala, 38, bought aircraft engine parts including seals, bolts and washers and sold them on to airlines and suppliers around the world, with forged certificates guaranteeing their airworthiness.” (02/24/26)
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/feb/23/ex-dj-jailed-london-fake-parts-airlines
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17) Trump regime drops case against Democrats in “illegal orders” video
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“Federal prosecutors in Washington have dropped their case against six Democratic lawmakers who released a video urging military servicemembers to refuse illegal orders. The decision – confirmed by the BBC’s media partner CBS News – follows US Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office failing to secure a grand jury indictment against the six military and intelligence veterans. The justice department could still pursue the case in a different district, but there were no signs on Tuesday that it intended to do so. Pirro’s office had no comment. After the Democrats released the video, President Donald Trump called the lawmakers ‘traitors’ and suggested the video was an offence ‘punishable by death.’ He later said he was not threatening death for the six.” (02/24/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20z7yplp7po
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18) France: Regime restricts US ambassador’s access to officials after summons no-show
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“France has banned United States Ambassador Charles Kushner from meeting French government ministers, after he failed to attend a meeting at the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs in Paris to explain comments made by the Trump administration following the recent killing of a French far-right activist. The French Foreign Ministry announced the decision on Monday, as diplomatic relations between Paris and Washington continue to deteriorate amid several disagreements, including on trade tariffs, the war in Ukraine and the role of Europe in countering Russia. … Foreign Minister Barrot summoned Kushner after the US embassy in Paris reposted on Sunday comments by the Trump administration in Washington about the death of far-right activist Quentin Deranque, 23, who was beaten to death in a fight with alleged far-left activists, in an incident that shocked France.” (02/24/26)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/24/france-restricts-us-ambassadors-access-to-officials-after-summons-no-show
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19) CA: Former San Francisco homeless services CEO charged with misspending $1.2 million in public funds
Source: SFGate
“The former CEO of a San Francisco homeless services charity will be arraigned Tuesday on nine felony charges after prosecutors said she stole more than $1.2 million in public funds meant to keep people off the streets. Gwendolyn Westbrook, 71, raided the accounts of the United Council for Human Services while she had ‘near-exclusive financial control’ over the nonprofit serving homeless and low-income people, according to a statement Monday from the district attorney’s office. ‘Prosecutors allege that between 2019 and 2023, Ms. Westbrook engaged in unauthorized self-payments, improper cash withdrawals, and fraudulent reimbursement practices that diverted public funds for personal use,’ the statement said. She faces charges including misappropriation of public funds, grand theft and filing false California tax returns. Her arraignment was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.” (02/24/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/former-san-francisco-homeless-services-ceo-21938959.php
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20) TX: Camp Mystic Parents Sue State Regime, Accusing Officials of Not Enforcing Evacuation Plan Requirement
Source: US News & World Report
“Texas health officials failed to follow state law when they licensed Camp Mystic without making sure it had an evacuation plan, parents of nine children and counselors who died in the July 4 flood allege in a new federal lawsuit. Camp Mystic’s emergency instructions directed kids to stay in their cabins during floods, even though Texas rules require youth camps to have evacuation plans for disasters, the lawsuit states. … The families of nine Hill Country flooding victims filed the lawsuit in federal court on Monday, seeking damages and ‘all other relief that is equitable.’ They are suing six DSHS officials, including Commissioner Jennifer Shuford, several others who oversee the youth camp program and the agency’s Camp Mystic inspector.” (02/23/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ok1tk1cbzc
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) Tariff Refunds: Honest Policy Would Be Smart Politics
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“On February 20, the US Supreme Court ruled part of US president Donald Trump’s crazy-quilt tariff scheme illegal in its particulars. … Tariff victims had already begun preemptively suing for the restitution they’re owed even before the Supreme Court ruling, and since that ruling other companies, including FedEx, have also initiated court proceedings. The victims shouldn’t HAVE to sue. President Trump SHOULD just order the US Treasury to refund the money immediately. That would be the honest thing to do. … Refunding the money wouldn’t just be honest policy, it would be smart politics. … eight months of economic recovery would certainly help his party, and him, out.” (02/24/26)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/20390
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22) Trump’s favorite Florida judge is still running cover for him
Source: USA Today
by Chris Brennan
“It has been just 36 days since Trump asked [Aileen] Cannon to prohibit the release of the report compiled by former special counsel Jack Smith, based on the investigation and Trump’s 2023 indictment in hoarding classified documents at his Florida estate after he lost the 2020 presidential election. The judge predictably ruled in Trump’s favor on Feb. 23, permanently prohibiting the U.S. Department of Justice from releasing the special counsel’s report, even while the 11th Circuit considers whether the report should be made public. … the DOJ has a long-standing policy that sitting presidents can’t be prosecuted. But that doesn’t mean Americans can’t know what Trump did to get indicted in the documents case.” (02/24/26)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2026/02/24/judge-cannon-jack-smith-report-trump/88828565007/
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23) Yankee Go Home
Source: Persuasion
by Seva Gunitsky
“To truly feel the force of America’s cultural attraction you have to be born outside of it. The natives see the cracks up close and learn to take the whole thing for granted. Growing up in the Soviet Union in the 1980s, none of my friends had to be convinced of America’s appeal. Its jeans-clad, Ray-Ban-wearing, moon-dancing cultural exports were the opposite of propaganda. They were the natural overflow of a society so confident in its own desirability that it never had to make a case for itself. … it made American leadership feel less like domination and more like the natural order of things. The slow erosion of that dominance over the past decade is therefore not just a commercial setback for studio execs but a change in how American power operates.” (02/24/26)
https://www.persuasion.community/p/the-slow-death-of-american-cool
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24) The Far-Right’s Mission of “Protecting Minors” From Online Porn Broke the Internet
Source: Liberal Currents
by Michael McGrady Jr.
“The U.S. Supreme Court upheld a controversial Texas law requiring age verification to access online pornography. Enacted by the Republican supermajority in the Texas legislature in 2023 and aggressively defended by Attorney General Ken Paxton, the court’s 6–3 decision against stakeholders in the online adult industry marked a significant shift in how the state may regulate access to lawful speech online. … Texas House Bill 1181 is presented as a child-protection measure. But it is part of a political project — one that seeks to normalize identity-gated access to lawful speech and to expand state power over digital life under the moral cover of protecting minors. … Once built, such systems are easily repurposed to censor disfavored groups. The danger is not only in restricting access to online pornography but in establishing a precedent for government-mandated checks.” (02/24/26)
https://www.liberalcurrents.com/the-far-rights-mission-of-protecting-minors-from-online-porn-broke-the-internet/
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25) The world may be done bending to Trump’s will
Source: Los Angeles Times
by Jonah Goldberg
“Congress has not had any hearings about going to war in Iran, never mind authorized a war. And we should be clear, Congress’[s] failure to greenlight a war doesn’t mean the president is free to launch one. It means, as a constitutional matter, a war would be illegal. Think of it this way: If I don’t have your permission to enter your home and take what I want, we’re not in a gray area. The legal default setting is that you don’t have permission to rob a person unless expressly told otherwise. … If you are in favor of the constitutional process only when you like the results, you aren’t actually in favor of the Constitution.” (02/24/26)
https://archive.is/jjKVx
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26) Iranians defy death with dancing
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
“Dozens of viral videos coming out of Iran in recent days reveal a marked shift in what Iranians think of the regime in Tehran, especially after its brutal killing of thousands of protesters on Jan. 8 and 9. The videos of funerals in homes and cemeteries for those killed last month show family and friends dancing instead of wailing, singing instead of lamenting, cheering with political slogans instead of trembling in fear of further repression. Many wear clothes that are vibrant, as if at a wedding, rather than traditional black. In Iran, memorials for loved ones are often held several times, until 40 days have passed. An Iranian who posted one video wrote on the social platform X that when the regime trivializes the killing of so many people, ‘we dance to welcome eternity.’ Death, in other words, is not being given the last word.” (02/24/26)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Editorials/the-monitors-view/2026/0224/Iranians-defy-death-with-dancing
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27) The Real Epstein Rot
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“The Epstein files have revealed the names of many wealthy and prominent people within Jeffrey Epstein’s orbit, many of whom are now justifiably going down because of their affiliations with Epstein. But the real rot regarding Epstein relates to the extremely sweet sweetheart plea bargain he received from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Florida. … Epstein was permitted to plead guilty to lesser state criminal charges. He then was permitted to serve a 13-month sentence in county jail rather than a state prison. He was also allowed out 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. He returned to jail each night to sleep. Now, that is what I call a super sweet sweetheart deal for a person charged with horrific sex-related crimes with minors.” (02/24/26)
https://www.fff.org/2026/02/24/the-real-epstein-rot/
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28) Malicious Streetlight Effects Vs. “Directional Correctness” — A Semi-Non-Apology
Source: Astral Codex Ten
by Scott Alexander
“Malicious streetlights are an evil trick from Dark Data Journalism. Some annoying enemy has a valid complaint. So you use FACTS and LOGIC to prove that something similar-sounding-but-slightly-different is definitely false. Then you act like you’ve debunked the complaint. … the inverse evil trick is saying something ‘directionally correct,’ ie slightly stronger than the truth can support. If your enemy committed assault, say he committed murder. If he committed sexual harassment, say he committed rape. If your drug increases cancer survival by 5% in rats, say that it ‘cures cancer.’ Then, if someone calls you on it, accuse them of ‘literally well ackshually-ing’ you, because you were ‘directionally correct’ and it’s offensive to the victims to try to defend assault-committed sexual harassers.” (02/24/26)
https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/malicious-streetlight-effects-vs
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29) If You Think The US Wants To Bring Democracy To Iran, Watch What They’re Currently Doing To Iraq
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Anyone silly enough to believe the US wants to bring democracy to Iran should have a look at what the US is currently doing to sabotage democracy in Iraq. President Trump has been aggressively threatening to cut off Iraq’s oil revenue if it allows the return to office of former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, whom the Trump administration views as too sympathetic to Iran. And the threats appear to be working, as Antiwar’s Jason Ditz reports: ‘Once and possibly future Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s candidacy is increasingly in doubt this weekend, with reports that President Trump’s demand he not be allowed to return to office increasing the possibility that the Coordination Framework bloc may withdraw him as their choice for premier.'” (02/24/26)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2026/02/24/if-you-think-the-us-wants-to-bring-democracy-to-iran-watch-what-theyre-currently-doing-to-iraq/
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30) How Portugal’s Football Success Reveals Its Economic Failure
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Cláudia Ascensão Nunes
“Portugal is one of the national teams favored to win the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Yet most of the team’s players don’t play for Portuguese clubs. Despite producing world-class talent, the country faces difficulties in retaining it domestically. This paradox has clear economic implications: Portugal knows how to produce elite talent but fails to create conditions to keep it, reflecting a broader structural challenge affecting its economy.” (02/24/26)
https://fee.org/articles/how-portugals-football-success-reveals-its-economic-failure/
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31) Government Subsidies Killed the EV Industry
Source: Town Hall
by Stephen Moore
“Here’s a depressing but all too predictable headline from The Wall Street Journal last week: ‘Detroit’s EV Pullback Is Costing $50 Billion.’ Yikes! That’s a lot of money for the American auto industry to lose. Once again, we have confirmation of an iron law of economics: If you want to kill an industry, subsidize it.” (02/24/26)
https://townhall.com/columnists/stephenmoore/2026/02/24/government-subsidies-killed-the-ev-industry-n2671818
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32) The US Is Sprinting Towards Disaster
Source: Eunomia
by Daniel Larison
“There is almost no support for a new war, but there is a vocal group of hardliners in the Republican Party and in Washington that has been seeking this conflict for decades. The report mentions Mark Levin as one example, and there are also ideological fanatics in the Senate including Tom Cotton and Lindsey Graham. Genocide denier Bret Stephens chimed in again this week with a despicable plea for war. They have been goading Trump to attack, and I fear they are going to get what they want. The vocal fanatics might not matter as much if they faced real opposition, but there is virtually no one in the Republican Party pushing in the opposite direction.” (02/24/26)
https://daniellarison.substack.com/p/the-us-is-sprinting-towards-disaster
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33) From Vietnam to the Home Front, US Empire Deals Death
Source: TomDispatch
by Nick Turse
“Last month, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers pulled over several cars in Eagle County, Colorado. They took the people away in handcuffs, according to a witness, and left the cars idling at the side of the road. When family members of the disappeared immigrants arrived, there was no sign of their loved ones. What they found instead were customized ace of spades playing cards that read ‘ICE Denver Field Office.’ When I saw an image of that card, the memories came flooding back. I’d seen something similar many years before. Sitting in the U.S. National Archives building — Archives II — in College Park, Maryland, sometime in the late 2000s or early 2010s, I’d spent parts of several afternoons watching film footage shot by, and of, U.S. troops in Vietnam back in the 1960s. One of those silent military home movies always stuck with me.” (02/24/26)
https://tomdispatch.com/ice-brings-the-war-home/
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34) The Elite Revolt Against Elites
Source: Law & Liberty
by Max Skjönsberg
“‘We live in the age of the revolt against the elites,’ writes Hugo Drochon in his new insightful book Elites and Democracy, summarizing the strides made by populist forces, on the right and on the left, in the West and beyond, in the last decade. The paradox, he observes, is that while populist leaders all reject the elite, they themselves are often part of the elites, either economic or political. Modern politics is thus best understood as the process of one elite replacing another. This basic insight opens up a perspective on the relationship between elites and democracy, which Drochon theorizes with the aid of twentieth-century political thought.” (02/24/26)
https://lawliberty.org/book-review/the-elite-revolt-against-elites/
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35) America Can’t Tariff Its Way Out of This Debt Crisis
Source: The Daily Economy
by Romina Boccia
“Within a decade, every dollar collected in revenue will be spent on health care, Social Security, and interest on existing debt.” (02/24/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/america-cant-tariff-its-way-out-of-this-debt-crisis/
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36) In Tariffs Dissent, Clarence Thomas Embraced a Dangerous Theory of Executive Power
Source: Reason
by Damon Root
“The nondelegation doctrine says that Congress may delegate its legislative authority to the president only under certain limited circumstances. Those limits are there to enforce the constitutional separation of powers. Thomas would eliminate many of those limits. In his view, the nondelegation doctrine simply should not apply when a case involves what he characterizes as a non-core legislative power. What is a non-core legislative power? Thomas offered a few examples, including ‘the powers to raise and support armies’ and ‘to regulate foreign commerce.’ According to Thomas, because these powers originally descended from the kingly authority of the British crown, it is entirely proper for Congress to surrender them without limit to the executive branch. One problem with this argument is that it runs counter to the text of the Constitution.” (02/24/26)
https://reason.com/2026/02/24/in-tariffs-dissent-clarence-thomas-embraced-a-dangerous-theory-of-executive-power/
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37) Trump’s State of the Union should celebrate his record and face the tasks ahead
Source: New York Post
by staff
“In his State of the Union speech Tuesday, President Trump should boast of his triumphs this last year — and offer a frank and positive take on the work still ahead. The nation should see him as the happy warrior he deserves to be: cheerful, proud, upbeat. Trump began his second term full of optimism, promising ‘a golden age,’ reversing the misery and turmoil of the Biden years — and immediately started making good on his vows.” (02/24/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/02/23/opinion/trump-should-play-the-happy-warrior-at-his-state-of-the-union-speech-his-stellar-record-justifies-it/
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38) The Major Tariff Question
Source: EconLog
by John O McGinnis
“The Supreme Court’s decision in Learning Resources v. Trump will have immediate political effects, substantial economic effects, and more subtle but long-run effects on the shape of the law. Doctrinally, its significance may seem limited because the opinions fracture on nearly everything beyond a single issue under a specific statute — the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). Six members of the Court agreed only that IEEPA does not authorize the president to impose tariffs. Even on that conclusion, however, the justices split into two camps: one relied on the major questions doctrine, namely that because of the extraordinary power claimed, Congress had to speak more clearly than it did, while the other concluded the president’s lack of authority was manifest without reliance on any clear-statement rule. Nevertheless, the case is still significant for the separation of powers.” (02/24/26)
https://www.econlib.org/library/columns/y2026/mcginnisieepa
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39) Tariffs were illegal. The delayed refunds are wrong.
Source: Washington Post
by Neal Katyal
“When the U.S. government makes a representation in federal court, it is not a talking point. It is a commitment. In the landmark tariff litigation decided by the Supreme Court on Friday, that commitment was explicit: to give refunds if President Donald Trump’s tariffs were declared illegal. … At several points along the way, government lawyers assured judges that there would be no ‘harm’ in allowing tariff collection to continue during the appeal process because duties later invalidated could be refunded — with interest. Businesses would be made whole. Indeed, after I argued the case before the Supreme Court on Nov. 5, the government doubled down on that promise in filings in lower court. … Now the Supreme Court has ruled, and the tariffs have been invalidated. Yet Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent are suggesting that refunds could take years, entangled in further litigation and administrative delay.” (02/24/26)
https://archive.is/KECtc
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40) Boots on the ground? Because airpower alone in Iran won’t work
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Sina Azodi
“For presidents wary of protracted ground wars, airpower can appear to provide decisive action while minimizing American casualties and long-term commitments. Since taking office in January 2025, Trump has bombed Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Nigeria, Somalia and Venezuela, and has kidnapped a country’s leader, at almost no cost to the United States. Time and again, however, modern warfare has demonstrated the limits of this notion.” (02/24/26)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/coercion-through-iran-airstrikes/
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41) Tariff Ruling Shows Roberts Court More Pro-Corporate Than Pro-Trump
Source: Common Dreams
by Miles Mogulescu
“The US Supreme Court’s rejection of President Donald Trump’s singular policy on tariffs is a reason for some celebration. During the past year, using the so-called ‘shadow docket,’ the Roberts Court had ruled in Trump’s favor on an emergency basis 24 out of 28 times. But the mainstream media, and even much of the progressive media, is misinterpreting the tariff decision as demonstrating the Roberts Court’s independence and judicial neutrality. For example, the New York Times lead article by its chief legal correspondent Adam Lipnick was headlined, ‘The Supreme Court’s Declaration of Independence,’ … But the Roberts Court is not independent. Rather, when there’s a conflict between big corporations and Trump, it will side with the corporations.” (02/24/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/roberts-court-pro-corporate
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42) Rise of the Right-Wing Leninists
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Thomas Eddlem
“The general MAGA reaction that Pretti and Good got what was coming to them is telling about how Republican politics in America has descended into a form of right-wing Leninism. After a man is flat-out murdered in the streets, on his knees, they reply, ‘But hey, look how the victim kicked off a $65 tail light on a police cruiser last week!’ How, even if you feel very strongly about enforcing federal immigration laws, does that even enter into the conversation in a rational world intent on keeping government within its constitutional boundaries? It’s a lot like a woman getting raped and all people on the sidelines afterward can talk about is how she had been caught shoplifting the week before. It’s entirely beside the point.” (02/24/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/rise-of-the-right-wing-leninists
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43) If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Don’t Join ‘Em
Source: Antiwar.com
by Alan Mosley
“Long before the current Iran standoff, America’s interventionist foreign policy had left deep scars. The Iraq War of 2003 – championed by a coalition of neoconservatives and assertive nationalists – killed and maimed hundreds of thousands of people, displaced millions, and cost the United States roughly half a trillion dollars. Brookings Institution analysts noted that war planners believed American power could swiftly conquer threats and spread democracy, but their expectations proved disastrously wrong. The war shattered Iraq’s infrastructure, destabilized the region, and contributed to the rise of extremist groups.” (02/24/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/alan_mosley/2026/02/23/if-you-cant-beat-em-dont-join-em
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44) Back to the base-ics: How taxable wage base reforms can strengthen unemployment program solvency
Source: Niskanen Center
by Will Raderman
“Anyone managing their household’s pocketbook knows to track two key numbers: how much is being spent and how much is being saved. Technically, you can spend all the income you earn each month without immediately going into debt, but unexpected expenses happen. The safer route is to save a steady portion of your paychecks and build up the reserves to cover a sudden surge in cost. States must manage their unemployment insurance programs in a similar manner.” (02/23/26)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/back-to-the-base-ics-how-taxable-wage-base-reforms-can-strengthen-unemployment-program-solvency/
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45) The Graveyard of Destructive Ideas
Source: American Greatness
by Victor Davis Hanson
“How do destructive ideas and bouts of collective madness so quickly become policy, law, and the status quo? After all, most have little public support– and are not Western nations supposedly rationally governed? There is usually a multi-step process on the road to these self-destructive fits of society-wide insanity. The suicidal impulse so often begins with left-leaning researchers in elite universities (i.e., the tenured in search of a novel, grant-getting theory). They begin insisting that a new existential threat requires immediate government intervention, novel legislation, ample funding, and public awareness of the impending danger. So out of nowhere, the public is warned that the scorching planet will be inundated by rising seas in a mere decade.” (02/24/26)
https://amgreatness.com/2026/02/24/the-graveyard-of-destructive-ideas/
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46) War Propaganda and Iran: The Exact Script Used for Every Failed US War Is Hauled Out Again
Source: Glenn Greenwald
by Glenn Greenwald
“From Vietnam to Iran and every U.S. war in between, the same propaganda narratives are deployed, no matter how discredited and debunked they are from all the prior times they were exposed as lies.” (02/23/26)
https://greenwald.substack.com/p/war-propaganda-and-iran-the-exact
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47) The Original Intent of the Supreme Court is On Life Support — And Trump Is Trying to Pull the Plug
Source: Coyote Blog
by Warren Meyer
“This should not have to be explained, but the Constitutional intent of the Supreme Court was not to solve social / economic / military problems — that is the role of Congress. It’s role was not to properly execute and administer these laws — that is the role of the President’s and the Cabinet departments he overse[e]s. The Supreme Court has the important but narrow role to judge whether the law is being followed. … Unfortunately there is a growing populist theory that the Supreme Court’s job is not to strictly follow the law but to act as a sort of legislature of last resort, to impose new law when Congress is deadlocked on an issue or to override ‘Bad’ law, with ‘bad’ defined based on the speaker’s preferences.” (02/23/26)
https://coyoteblog.com/coyote_blog/2026/02/the-original-intent-of-the-supreme-court-is-on-life-support-and-trump-is-trying-to-pull-the-plug.html
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48) If Forced to Choose, Our Military Leaders Should Follow the Law Not the President — Like Ulysses S. Grant
Source: The UnPopulist
by Kori Schake
“No American military officer has ever had to do what the constitutional crisis of 1866-1867 required of Ulysses S. Grant, then serving as the commanding general of the Army. President Andrew Johnson and Congress thrust him into adjudicating between their respective constitutional claims to civilian control of the military. This most fraught civil-military crisis did not occur in wartime; it was the result of both the president and Congress pulling the professional military into American domestic political disputes. Grant’s judgment wasn’t perfect; he was wrong before he was right. But he was right enough to provide a powerful precedent for our troubled times.” (02/23/26)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/if-forced-to-choose-our-military
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49) The Looming Chaos of Tariff Refunds
Source: The American Prospect
by David Dayen
“At 12:01 this morning, the United States officially ended collection of its International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) tariffs, which were ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court last Friday. By now, you’re probably aware that President Trump has replaced these tariffs with a 15 percent levy based on Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows for a tariff of that size for up to 150 days to deal with a balance-of-payments deficit. The administration has been planning this switch for months, once the Supreme Court’s position on IEEPA became clear at oral arguments. It is interpreting a trade deficit, which has essentially not changed at all despite nearly a year of tariffs, as fitting the balance-of-payments standard; some experts do not agree with that interpretation, meaning that litigation could ensue on these tariffs, too.” (02/24/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/02/24/looming-chaos-trump-tariff-refunds/
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50) Tariffs, Time, and the Constitution
Source: Independent Institute
by Tarnell Brown
“Trump’s latest tariff gambits manage to defy economic logic, statutory limits, and constitutional structure all at once, and that makes them unusually useful as case studies in how not to govern trade. His maneuvers under IEEPA to suspend the de minimis exemption, and under Section 122 of the Trade Act to float a blanket 10 percent tariff on the world, are not just bad policies; they are abuses of delegated power that strip away the very constraints a liberal trading order depends on. They weaponize emergency statutes and obscure balance‑of‑payments language to deliver short‑run political optics while shoving the real costs — economic, legal, and institutional — onto a temporally distant and politically voiceless set of future losers.” (02/23/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/02/23/tariffs-constitution/
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) Hanson-Caplan: The Culture Convo
Source: Bet On It
“My GMU colleague and best friend Robin Hanson has spent the last couple of years pondering the danger of ‘cultural drift.’ My latest book, available for purchase now on Amazon, is You Have No Right to Your Culture. Since we’ve both got the same topic on our minds, I thought this was a great time for Robin and I to interview each other on the topic of culture. Enjoy!” (02/24/26)
https://www.betonit.ai/p/hanson-caplan-the-culture-convo
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52) Bulwark Takes, 02/24/26
Source: The Bulwark
“Trump’s Latest Enemies Are His Own People.” (02/24/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wffm4FG_Xk8
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53) The Bryan Hyde Show, 02/24/26
Source: The Bryan Hyde Show
“Eric Peters from Eric Peters Autos joins me for our weekly discussion. With everything in the world that’s jumping the shark right now, we have a lot to discuss.” (02/24/26)
https://www.podbean.com/ep/pb-jpsjy-1a5495b
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54) The Good Fight, 02/24/26
Source: Yascha Mounk
“Janice Stein on When Being Rational Is Irrational.” (02/24/26)
https://writing.yaschamounk.com/p/janice-stein
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55) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 02/24/26
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“The Real State Of The Union 2026.” (02/24/26)
https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1pKdRbRWOdoJW
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56) Advisory Opinions, 02/24/26
Source: The Dispatch
“What’s Next After Friday’s Tariff Decision?” (02/24/26)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/advisoryopinions/whats-next-after-fridays-tariff-decision/
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57) Cato Daily Podcast, 02/24/26
Source: Cato Institute
“Who Decides When America Goes to War?” (02/24/26)
https://www.cato.org/multimedia/cato-podcast/who-decides-when-america-goes-war
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58) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 02/24/26
Source: The New Republic
“Trump Angered by Fresh Slide in Polls as Even Fox Admits He’s Tanking.” (02/24/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/206948/trump-angered-fresh-slide-polls-even-fox-admits-he-tanking
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59) Trump Watch, 02/24/26
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
“Another War on Iran?” (02/24/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgEhtI4Poho
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60) The TAC Interview, 02/24/26
Source: The American Conservative
“John Kiriakou on Epstein, Propaganda, and Heroin.” (02/24/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-tac-interview-john-kiriakou-on-epstein-propaganda-and-heroin/
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61) Antiwar New with Dave DeCamp, 02/24/26
Source: Antiwar.com
“General Warns Trump of Risks of Attacking Iran, Smotrich Vows Settlements in Gaza, and More.” (02/24/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MW6dysXZ8Q
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62) Charles Goyette on The Scott Horton Show
Source: The Scott Horton Show
“Charles Goyette on the Lies that Built the American Empire.” (02/23/26)
https://scotthorton.org/interviews/2-20-26-charles-goyette-on-the-lies-that-built-the-american-empire/
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63) The Kyle Anzalone Show, 02/23/26
Source: Libertarian Institute
“LtCOL. Karen Kwiatkowski : Netanyahu Arrives in Washington to Plot Iran War.” (02/23/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/blog/the-kyle-anzalone-show-guest-ltcol-karen-kwiatkowski-netanyahu-arrives-in-washington-to-plot-iran-war/
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64) Ron Paul’s Austrian Revolution
Source: Free the People
“Matt Kibbe asks Dr. Paul about his intellectual influences and why he thinks his message has had such an enduring impact on the American political landscape.” (02/23/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ok1tk1cbzc
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65) Free Talk Live, 02/23/26
Source: Free Talk Live
“Forkfest up in the air, please check forkfest.party through out the next month for updates :: The love of mediocrity is bad for human freedom :: Arguing the minutiae of freedom of movement with Skeeter :: Take Bonnie’s dog, she will kill you :: Sarah brings up the 13 women buried in the desert near Epstein’s Zorro Ranch in NM :: A bill that would just create more bureaucracy :: Which state is the biggest for human trafficking? :: Jay Noone and Colin call in to give live updates about the cartel violence in Puerto Vallarta :: We wouldn’t have baby-eating pedos without the Federal Reserve, fiat money or the US Empire :: They’re forcing you to give them your biometric data :: Pray for the people of Mexico and for the collapse of the fiat dollar :: Dave Ridley’s new non-fiction series “Legends of the Free State” at RidleyReport.com coming soon :: 2026-02-22 Hosts: Bonnie, Rich E Rich, Riley.” (02/23/26)
https://soundcloud.com/freetalklive/ftl2026-02-23
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