03/03 -- US embassy in Riyadh hit by Iranian drones as Israeli troops enter southern Lebanon; Hubris Without Idealism
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Thomas L. Knapp
Mar 3, 2026, 6:16:00 AM (21 hours ago) Mar 3
to Freedom News Daily
Freedom News Daily, 03/03/26
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Today's Freedom News:
1) US embassy in Riyadh hit by Iranian drones as Israeli troops enter southern Lebanon
2) Federal appeals court rejects Trump regime’s push to delay start of tariff refund process after Supreme Court ruling
3) South Sudan: 169 people killed after insurgents raid village
4) SCOTUS temporarily restores judicial order requiring California teachers to practice same religions as their students’ parents
5) France: Macron shifts regime’s nuclear doctrine by boosting arsenal and involving allies
6) SCOTUS shuts door on respecting gun rights (of nonviolent felons)
7) LA: Mayor accused of raping drunken 16-year-old boy at pool party ordered “morning after” pill on DoorDash
8) US Medicare agency intends to suspend enrollment in Elevance’s prescription drug plans
9) Anthropic’s chatbot Claude goes down amid “unprecedented demand”
10) X adds “Paid Partnership” labels so users can more easily identify ads
11) Poll: Only 25% of Americans Support Trump Attack on Iran
12) GLP-1s may increase risk of osteoporosis and gout, new research finds
13) OH: Cincinnati may be next city to fund reparations program with marijuana tax money
14) Malaysia: Parliament Fails to Pass Bill Limiting PM’s Tenure to Two Terms
15) IA: Homeowner shoots, wounds intruder
16) “World’s first commercial fusion power plan” development to get boost with new agreement
17) PA: Politicians clutch pearls over anti-gang fliers on university campus
18) SCOTUS hears challenge to unconstitutional victim disarmament law
19) Rembrandt painting worth millions rediscovered after 65 years
20) “Friendly fire”: Three US jets shot down over Kuwait
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) Hubris Without Idealism
22) Trump Lied About Being for Peace – Just Like Every President Before Him
23) The United States Is Still Addicted to War
24) Trump’s War: Israel First vs. America First
25) Iran and Epstein
26) FDA Cruelly Holding Up Approval of Treatments for Rare Diseases, Despite Children Likely to Die Soon
27) RFK Jr. Lied His Way Into Office and American Health Is the Victim
28) Made in America, Fired Abroad — Washington’s Bullets Fuel Chaos and Blowback
29) Trumped! The President of No Return on a Hothouse Planet
30) Trump’s department of injustice: Impunity for friends, brutality for enemies
31) A test for world order in Iran
32) Trump seems too comfortable with US deaths in his futile Iran war
33) US Calls Iranian Retaliatory Strikes “Unprovoked”
34) Trump’s Orwellian Board of Peace Consists Entirely of Human Rights Abusers
35) The Historic Case for Birthright Citizenship
36) Hu Shih: Pioneer of Radical Liberalism in China
37) From missiles to minerals: The strategic meaning behind the Iran strike
38) Maybe Parents Are Just Misinvesting
39) Trump Should Have Made His Case for War to Congress and the American People
40) To Protect, Serve, and Identify
41) Congress, Do Your Job & End This Illegal War of Aggression by US & Israel
42) The Elevator Problem: How Rent-Seeking and Regulation Make Modern Life Unaffordable
43) On the Iran War, They Think You’re Stupid
44) The Problem in Iran
45) Why the left’s serial insanities keep becoming the law of the land
46) Trump’s Unauthorized Strikes on Iran Take America’s Imperial Presidency to New Heights
47) Remembering Harry Browne, 20 years later
48) Craven Europeans give US and Israel a blank check for illegal war
49) Paramount-Warner Would Create a Hollywood Jobs Apocalypse
50) “All Lawful Use”: Much More Than You Wanted To Know
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) Reason Roundtable, 03/02/26
52) The Mona Charen Show, 03/02/26
53) The Lou Perez Podcast, 03/02/26
54) Instant Grace, episode 47
55) Rising, 03/02/26
56) EconTalk, 03/02/26
57) The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg, 03/02/26
58) Finding Freedom, 03/02/26
59) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 03/02/26
60) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 03/02/26
61) The Chris Spangle Show, 03/01/26
62) The Good Fight, 03/01/26
63) Pink Flame of Liberty, 03/01/26
64) Politics Politics Politics, 03/01/26
65) LPALive, episode 63
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) US embassy in Riyadh hit by Iranian drones as Israeli troops enter southern Lebanon
Source: The Guardian [UK]
“Iranian drones hit the US embassy in Riyadh as Tehran continued to launch waves of retaliatory strikes at the Gulf and Israel, while Israeli soldiers began operating in southern Lebanon on the fourth day of an increasingly regional war in the Middle East. The drone attack on the US embassy in Riyadh caused a minor fire, prompting the diplomatic mission to tell Americans to distance themselves from the compound. The attack followed an earlier Iranian drone strike on the US embassy in Kuwait, as Iran continued to target US bases, facilities and personnel in Arab Gulf states. … Meanwhile, US and Israel continued their strikes against Iran, with the US claiming it had destroyed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps command and control facilities.” (03/03/26)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/03/us-embassy-riyadh-hit-iranian-drones-israeli-troops-southern-lebanon
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2) Federal appeals court rejects Trump regime’s push to delay start of tariff refund process after Supreme Court ruling
Source: CBS News
“A federal appeals court on Monday declined to delay implementation of the Supreme Court ruling that invalidated most of President Trump’s tariffs, allowing next steps in processing of tariff refunds to begin swiftly, following the high court’s decision last month. … The Trump administration had said it would issue refunds if the duties targeting nearly every U.S. trading partner around the world were ultimately found unlawful by the Supreme Court. The high court ruled in a 6-3 decision that a federal emergency powers law known as the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, did not give the president the authority to impose tariffs. But on Friday, the Trump administration asked the Federal Circuit to wait 90 days before issuing its mandate ‘to allow the political branches an opportunity to consider options,’ after the Supreme Court’s decision.” (03/02/26)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/federal-appeals-court-rejects-trump-tariff-refund-delay-supreme-court/
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3) South Sudan: 169 people killed after insurgents raid village
Source: Associated Press
“At least 169 people were killed after insurgents raided a village in a remote area of South Sudan, a local official said Monday, It’s the latest bout of sporadic violence that has left the country teetering on the verge of full-blown civil war. The victims, including 90 civilians, were attacked on Sunday in Abiemnom county, said James Monyluak, information minister for the administrative area of Ruweng. He said women and children were among the dead, in addition to dozens of combatants. The U.N. Mission in South Sudan, known as UNMISS, said in a statement that 1,000 people sought shelter at its base after the attack.” (03/02/26)
https://apnews.com/article/south-sudan-violence-insurgents-69a8a9bf191c0c2d8583fbc37ff9ae70
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4) SCOTUS temporarily restores judicial order requiring California teachers to practice same religions as their students’ parents
Source: The Hill
“The Supreme Court on Monday ruled California is likely violating the constitutional rights [sic] of parents who object to policies preventing teachers from disclosing when their child changes their name or pronouns in school. The decision marks a major victory for parental rights [sic] advocates at this early stage of the case — and a blow to the state’s efforts to shield the privacy of LGBTQ students. The justices have yet to definitely resolve the fiercely disputed issue, and the case could ultimately return to the high court. … ‘The parents who assert a free exercise claim have sincere religious beliefs about sex and gender, and they feel a religious obligation to raise their children in accordance with those beliefs. California’s policies violate those beliefs,’ the court wrote in its unsigned opinion.” [editor’s note: Are the teachers also required to serve communion, conduct circumcisions, etc. on demand? – TLK] (03/02/26)
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5763843-parental-rights-california-privacy
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5) France: Macron shifts regime’s nuclear doctrine by boosting arsenal and involving allies
Source: Politico
“President Emmanuel Macron on Monday broke several decades of French nuclear taboos — promising to increase the number of warheads and making explicit France’s role in European security. Those are some of the most significant changes in French nuclear doctrine since the end of the Cold War. ‘An increase of our arsenal is indispensable,’ the French president said at the highly secure Ile Longue naval base that houses France’s four nuclear submarines. … The French president outlined enhanced cooperation with European nations, naming Germany, Poland, Greece, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Sweden, which would include joint nuclear drills and ultimately, the potential temporary deployment of French nuclear-capable fighters in allied countries.” (03/02/26)
https://www.politico.eu/article/macron-announces-increase-in-number-of-frances-nuclear-warheads
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6) SCOTUS shuts door on respecting gun rights (of nonviolent felons)
Source: Courthouse News Service
“The Supreme Court denied an opportunity Monday to weigh the Second Amendment rights of those convicted of nonviolent felonies. The opportunity arose through an appeal in Vincent v. Bondi, in which Utah resident Melynda Vincent argued that the prohibition on her possessing a firearm due to her check fraud conviction contradicts recent case law. The 10th Circuit twice ruled against Vincent, holding that neither the Supreme Court’s ruling in NYSRPA v. Bruen nor United States v. Rahimi abrogated the nearly 50-year-old federal statute prohibiting felons from possessing guns. The high court refused to hear the case despite issuing a grant, vacate and remand order requiring the 10th Circuit to reconsider the appeal in light of Rahimi.” (03/02/26)
https://www.courthousenews.com/supreme-court-shuts-door-on-nonviolent-felon-gun-case/
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7) LA: Mayor accused of raping drunken 16-year-old boy at pool party ordered “morning after” pill on DoorDash
Source: New York Post
“A disgraced small-town mayor who was allegedly caught by her kids having sex with a drunken 16-year-old boy at a booze-fueled pool party ordered emergency contraception on DoorDash afterward. Misty Roberts, the 43-year-old former leader of tiny DeRidder, LA, is now on trial for third-degree rape over the 2024 alleged tryst. After news spread of Roberts’[s] reputed romp with the teen in the town of 9,800, the mother of the victim (a friend of the defendant’s son) texted the then-mayor to ensure she was not pregnant, to which she replied she was on birth control, prosecutors told jurors last week, according to KPLC. Roberts then shared a screenshot of the exchange in a group chat with her friends, who urged her to take Plan B, an over-the-counter ‘morning after’ pill. A DoorDash driver testified that he accepted a request from ‘Misty C’ to purchase the emergency contraceptive and leave it at her front door.” (03/02/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/03/02/us-news/mayor-accused-of-raping-drunken-16-year-old-at-pool-party-ordered-morning-after-pill-on-doordash/
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8) US Medicare agency intends to suspend enrollment in Elevance’s prescription drug plans
Source: Reuters
“The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services intends to impose sanctions that would suspend enrollment in Elevance Health’s Medicare Advantage prescription drug plans starting March 31, pushing the company’s shares down more than 3%. Elevance disclosed in a filing on Monday that CMS notified the health insurer on February 27 of its intention and indicated that the proposed sanctions relate to alleged non-compliance in submitting certain required risk-adjustment data for services provided before April 3, 2023 under the plans, which cover prescription drug costs for older adults. … Since November 13, 2018, Elevance has failed to submit data corrections for diagnosis codes it identified as unsupported by medical record documentation through CMS’s required electronic systems, according to the agency’s February 27 notice. Instead, Elevance has repeatedly provided this information via encrypted external USB flash drives, a method that the company has explicitly rejected.” (03/02/26)
https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/cms-plans-sanctions-suspending-enrollment-elevances-medicare-advantage-drug-2026-03-02/
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9) Anthropic’s chatbot Claude goes down amid “unprecedented demand”
Source: Orange County Register
“Anthropic PBC’s artificial intelligence chatbot Claude and related consumer-facing applications went down early Monday, with the startup saying it has been grappling with ‘unprecedented demand’ for its services over the past week. Nearly 2,000 users had reported Claude AI service disruptions at the outage’s peak around 6:40 a.m. New York time, according to service-monitoring website Downdetector. Anthropic said in a statement by WhatsApp that ‘consumer-facing surfaces’ such as claude.ai and the company’s apps were offline. Businesses that have integrated Claude’s AI models into their own systems were unaffected.” (03/02/26)
https://www.ocregister.com/2026/03/02/anthropics-chatbot-claude-goes-down-amid-unprecedented-demand/
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10) X adds “Paid Partnership” labels so users can more easily identify ads
Source: Engadget
“X is rolling out a built-in ‘Paid Partnership’ label that creators can apply to sponsored posts, replacing the hashtag workarounds they’ve had to rely on until now. The feature, announced by the platform’s head of product Nikita Bier, adds a toggle that places a disclosure label directly below a post’s content. It can also be applied retroactively. The label is meant to help creators comply with years-old FTC regulations requiring clear disclosure of sponsored content.” (03/02/26)
https://www.engadget.com/social-media/x-adds-paid-partnership-labels-so-users-can-more-easily-identify-ads-183528227.html
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11) Poll: Only 25% of Americans Support Trump Attack on Iran
Source: Common Dreams
“President Donald Trump’s war in Iran is extraordinarily unpopular, according to a poll conducted shortly after the US and Israel carried out massive strikes on the country Saturday. The survey, conducted by Reuters/Ipsos, found that just 27% of voters approved of the strikes, which have killed at least 555 Iranians as of Monday morning and resulted in retaliation from Iran that has killed at least four US service members, with more casualties expected according to a spokesperson for the US Joint Chiefs of Staff. Meanwhile, 43% of respondents disapproved of the military action, while 29% said they were not sure. A majority of Republicans said they approved of the strikes, with 55% expressing support. Still, 13% disapproved, and a noteworthy 31% said they were unsure.” (03/02/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-iran-attack-poll
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12) GLP-1s may increase risk of osteoporosis and gout, new research finds
Source: NBC News
“GLP-1 drugs — including Ozempic and Wegovy — may be tied to a slightly higher risk of osteoporosis and gout, according to research presented Monday at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons’ annual meeting. … Osteoporosis is a disease that weakens the bones and makes them likelier to break or fracture, often from minor falls. It’s a common concern for many older adults and for people who lose a significant amount of weight over a short period of time. Gout, meanwhile, is a painful form of arthritis that can occur when the body has too much uric acid, which can come from a diet high in red meat and alcohol — as well as rapid weight loss.” (03/02/26)
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/glp-1s-may-increase-risk-osteoporosis-gout-new-research-finds-rcna261024
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13) OH: Cincinnati may be next city to fund reparations program with marijuana tax money
Source: Fox News
“The Cincinnati City Council will consider in early March a reparations housing program that would use tax revenue on marijuana to fund a portion of it. The city is expected to discuss the ‘Cincinnati Real Property Reparations Program’, a proposal cosponsored by Vice Mayor Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney and Councilman Scotty Johnson. The program would offer assistance to ‘low-to-moderate income residents’ and ‘any individual or family member of an individual who was prevented from buying a home due to discriminatory practices’, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported. The two officials want an initial investment of $5 million for the program using proceeds from marijuana tax revenue and the city’s capital budget, according to the Enquirer. The program would target residents in 15 of the city’s 52 neighborhoods, and would allow recipients to use the money for a down payment, pay delinquent property taxes or emergency home repairs.” (03/02/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/media/cincinnati-may-be-next-city-fund-reparations-program-marijuana-tax-money
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14) Malaysia: Parliament Fails to Pass Bill Limiting PM’s Tenure to Two Terms
Source: US News & World Report
“Malaysia’s lower house of parliament on Monday narrowly rejected a constitutional amendment that would limit the premiership to two terms, in a vote marked by high abstention, although without explicit ‘nays.’ The proposed amendment, which sought to limit any individual’s service as prime minister to 10 years, was part of the reform agenda of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s ruling coalition. Anwar, who came to power in 2022, has faced increasing pressure to deliver on campaign promises, with critics accusing him of faltering on reforms. The bill was rejected as 146 lawmakers voting in favor fell just two short of the two-thirds majority required to pass the amendment. Forty-four MPs abstained from voting while 32 were absent.” (03/02/26)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2026-03-02/malaysias-parliament-fails-to-pass-bill-limiting-pms-tenure-to-two-terms
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15) IA: Homeowner shoots, wounds intruder
Source: Radio Iowa
“Responding to a 911 call late Saturday, Des Moines police found an intruder had been shot multiple times. The homeowner told officers he heard someone yelling in his back yard, then pounding on his back door. When he unlocked the door, he says the woman forced her way in and attacked him, so the homeowner fired a handgun. … After she was released from the hospital, [Stannita] Wilson was charged with burglary.” (03/02/26)
https://www.radioiowa.com/2026/03/02/central-iowa-homeowner-shoots-wounds-intruder/
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16) “World’s first commercial fusion power plan” development to get boost with new agreement
Source: Interesting Engineering
“A German company has signed a deal to help build the first stellarator fusion power plant in Europe. Proxima Fusion has signed the agreement with the Free State of Bavaria, RWE, and Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) to put the world’s first commercial stellarator fusion power plant on the grid in Europe. The company revealed that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed and it outlines a roadmap to commercial fusion in Europe that begins with building demonstration stellarator Alpha near the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) in Garching. … Proxima Fusion also revealed that when operational in the 2030s, Alpha will become the first stellarator to demonstrate net energy gain, meaning its plasma will generate more energy than it consumes.” (03/01/26)
https://interestingengineering.com/energy/world-first-commercial-fusion-power-plant-development
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17) PA: Politicians clutch pearls over anti-gang fliers on university campus
Source: Fox News
“Both the Pennsylvania (Penn) State University College Republicans and College Democrats are speaking out after another flyer reading, ‘Dead ICE agents can’t kill,’ was found on campus, depicting the hanging of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer. In a joint Saturday statement entitled, ‘PSU College Republicans and Democrats Condemn Continued ICE Death Threats on Campus,’ they said, ‘Earlier today, a member of the Penn State College Republicans discovered a second ‘Dead ICE Agents Can’t Kill’ flyer placed near the HUB-Robeson Center, which serves as a central part of daily life for students at Penn State.’ … Penn State University told Fox News Digital in a statement that it ‘condemns this and any calls for violence or attempts to frighten or intimidate [violent gang members]. We are aware of this image circulating online, and University Police and Public Safety is investigating.'” (03/02/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/media/disturbing-flyers-found-penn-state-depict-hanging-immigration-officer-sparking-bipartisan-outrage#&_intcmp=fnhpbt7
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18) SCOTUS hears challenge to unconstitutional victim disarmament law
Source: NBC News
“The Supreme Court on Monday hears its latest gun rights case concerning a federal law that bars frequent users of illegal drugs from possessing firearms. Gun rights advocates [point out that] the law falls afoul of the Constitution’s Second Amendment, which protects the right to bear arms. The case puts a spotlight on the Trump administration’s mixed messaging on gun rights. Although the Justice Department is defending the law in court, to the annoyance of Second Amendment advocates, it has in other areas backed challenges to firearms restrictions. The Justice Department turned to the Supreme Court after an appeals court ruled last year in favor of Texas-based Ali Danial Hemani, an alleged regular user of marijuana who had a handgun at his home in the Dallas area when it was searched by the FBI in 2022.” (03/02/26)
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-hears-challenge-law-drug-users-guns-rcna260986
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19) Rembrandt painting worth millions rediscovered after 65 years
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“A long lost painting by Rembrandt has been rediscovered and authenticated by experts, after its whereabouts were unknown for decades. Rembrandt’s Vision of Zacharias in the Temple, from 1633, was excluded from a list of the Dutch master’s works in 1960, and disappeared after being sold to a private collector the following year. But it resurfaced when its owners presented it for tests at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, which undertook a two-year examination. ‘When I saw it in our studio when it was restored, I was immediately struck by the incredible power it has,’ Rijksmuseum director Taco Dibbits said. The Rijksmuseum receives many emails from people asking for information about paintings they have inherited or bought, Dibbits said. In this case, they knew it could be something special.” (03/02/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1kgln0yg3po
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20) “Friendly fire”: Three US jets shot down over Kuwait
Source: Axios
“Three U.S. fighter jets were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses Sunday night, U.S. Central Command said in a Monday statement. All six aircrew ejected safely and are in stable condition. The incident shows how chaotic the air war with Iran has become as allies defend against Iranian attacks while American jets fly through the same airspace.” (03/02/26)
https://archive.is/de1nK
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) Hubris Without Idealism
Source: The Atlantic
by George Packer
“Regime change on the cheap — by covert action, military coup, air power, or short ground war — has tempted almost every American president since World War II. No wonder: It offers to solve a difficult foreign problem with little cost to Americans. We remember the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as prolonged, bloody, ultimately futile attempts to remake recalcitrant foreign countries as democracies. But President George W. Bush intended both wars to be brief and low cost—regime change with a small footprint. … Iran, with its deep history, its educated and relatively homogeneous population, and its unbreakable freedom movement, has always seemed a better bet for political transformation than Afghanistan or Iraq. But if recent decades have taught anything, it’s that the absence of tyranny is not freedom but chaos; that war is a likelier agent of disintegration than of renewal; that America knows how to destroy regimes but not remake societies.” (03/02/26)
https://archive.is/zdRtK
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22) Trump Lied About Being for Peace – Just Like Every President Before Him
Source: Antiwar.com
by Jon Reynolds
“Three years ago, Donald Trump referred to himself as ‘the candidate who delivers peace.’ This weekend, his administration bombed Iran. While it may seem unusual, the historical record suggests otherwise, clearly demonstrating that Trump follows a long line of American politicians who spent a lot of time talking about being against wars only to wage them once elected president.” (03/02/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/jon_reynolds/2026/03/01/trump-lied-about-being-for-peace-just-like-every-president-before-him/
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23) The United States Is Still Addicted to War
Source: Foreign Policy
by Stephen M Walt
“Since 1992, a series of presidents representing both parties have run for office vowing to be peacemakers and to avoid their predecessors’ excesses and mistakes, yet once in office they cannot resist the urge to blow stuff up in faraway lands. Once again, we must ask ourselves the question: Is the United States addicted to war? Until Trump’s second term, one might explain this pattern by examining the hubristic mindset of the bipartisan foreign-policy ‘Blob,’ which saw military force as a useful tool for advancing a global liberal order. But that explanation has trouble explaining Trump’s actions during his second term. Trump still loathes the establishment (aka, the ‘deep state’), blames it for the failures of his first term, has gutted the national security bureaucracy, and appointed a lot of loyal lackeys who will do his bidding to key positions. This latest war can’t be blamed on the Blob.” (03/02/26)
https://archive.is/aybJ0
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24) Trump’s War: Israel First vs. America First
Source: JFK Facts
by Jefferson Morley
“The once debatable notion that we live in a democratic republic, governed by the Constitution of the United States, has been definitively debunked by the bombing of Tehran. We do not. Under Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 of the U.S. Constitution, Congress holds the exclusive power to formally declare war, ‘ensuring this decision rests with elected representatives rather than a single executive.’ Or so Google’s Artificial Intelligence agent tells me with a straight face. … by all means, let us celebrate the semiquincentennial of our independence by glorying in the irrelevance of the Constitution. If you want to pursue life, liberty, and happiness, don’t pretend that antique parchment has much influence on this administration, the Congress, or the courts.” (03/02/26)
https://jfkfacts.substack.com/p/the-israeli-trump-strategy-of-war
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25) Iran and Epstein
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“President Trump’s decision to wage a war of aggression on Iran appears to make no sense at all, especially when considers the array of alternating and shifting reasons that Trump has given to justify his decision to launch this war. … However, there is a another possible explanation as to why Trump and the Pentagon have decided to launch their all-out war of aggression against Iran — a possible explanation that the mainstream press is loathe to consider — one that, interestingly, involves an active partner in this war of aggression — Israel.” (03/02/26)
https://www.fff.org/2026/03/02/iran-and-epstein/
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26) FDA Cruelly Holding Up Approval of Treatments for Rare Diseases, Despite Children Likely to Die Soon
Source: Town Hall
by Rachel Alexander
“The U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging conducted a hearing on February 26 to investigate why the FDA is holding up the approval of desperately needed new drugs for those with rare diseases. Many of the people suffering with these ailments are children with short life expectancies. Those with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), which is progressive muscular deterioration, end up in a wheelchair at about age 11-12, and die in their 20s. Angelina Olivera, the mother of a 14-year-old son who has DMD, who also watched her brothers die at ages 20 and 22 of the disease, told me there is only one promising new treatment for DMD but the FDA won’t approve it for her son Ryu. A study was conducted on 1,200 patients using Elevidys from Sarepta Therapeutics and revealed promising results. The gene therapy slowed disease progression by 70-73 percent compared to untreated children.” (03/02/26)
https://townhall.com/columnists/rachelalexander/2026/03/02/fda-cruelly-holding-up-approval-of-treatments-for-rare-diseases-despite-children-likely-to-die-soon-n2672114
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27) RFK Jr. Lied His Way Into Office and American Health Is the Victim
Source: The UnPopulist
by Matt Johnson
“Sen. Bill Cassidy, Republican of Louisiana, chairs and is the face of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP). A physician, Cassidy has been a vocal advocate of vaccines and even ran a vaccination campaign in his home state. ‘After seeing patients die from vaccine preventable diseases,’ Cassidy said in a speech, ‘I dedicated much of my time to vaccine research and immunization programs. … Put simply, vaccines save lives.’ He also cast a key vote to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a fervent anti-vaccine advocate, as HHS secretary last year. It’s not like Cassidy can claim ignorance of Kennedy’s track record. Cassidy and every other Republican who voted for Kennedy had all the information they needed to see that he would be a disaster for public health in the United States, from his decades-long crusade against vaccines to his history of fevered conspiracism.” (03/02/6)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/rfk-jr-lied-his-way-into-office-and
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28) Made in America, Fired Abroad — Washington’s Bullets Fuel Chaos and Blowback
Source: Independent Institute
by Abigail R Hall
“Amid the unfolding chaos in Mexico following the death of cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera, the Mexican government has worked to hit the cartels where it hurts, including seizing weapons. In a recent press conference, Mexican Defense Secretary Ricardo Trevilla announced that some 18,000 weapons have been seized since President Claudia Sheinbaum took office in October 2024. Of those weapons, nearly 78 percent originated in the United States. In a separate talk, Sheinbaum addressed an even more shocking datapoint — much of the ammunition recovered in Mexico was designed for use by the U.S. military.” (03/02/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/03/02/made-in-america-fired-abroad-washingtons-bullets-fuel-chaos-and-blowback/
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29) Trumped! The President of No Return on a Hothouse Planet
Source: TomDispatch
by Tom Engelhardt
“I grew up with a vision of a possible instant apocalypse, inspired (if, under the circumstances, such a word can even be used) by the nuclear obliteration of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end World War II. It could happen at any moment, even if you were ‘ducking and covering’ under your school desk, as I did in those years. And I was hardly alone. That was a genuine generational nightmare of the 1950s and early 1960s — the possibility of a nuclear war between my country and the Soviet Union that might devastate my city, New York (or your city, FILL IN THE BLANK), and our world. But in those years what I never could have imagined was that, even without an atomic blast, I might already be living through the extremely slow-motion equivalent of just such an apocalypse, which should, of course, be the definition of climate change.” (03/02/26)
https://tomdispatch.com/trumped-2/
-----
30) Trump’s department of injustice: Impunity for friends, brutality for enemies
Source: The Hill
by Svante Myrick
“We’re all familiar with the idea that actions have consequences. Parents teach it to their children as an important part of raising responsible human beings. As adults, we sometimes get harsh reminders of this truth. This principle doesn’t apply just on a personal level. Our justice system imposes consequences on people who break the law or harm others. For a society that is free, fair and just, those consequences must apply to everyone. That’s why ‘equal justice under law’ is carved in stone over the entrance to our Supreme Court. Unfortunately, the Trump regime makes a mockery of that principle, insulating the president, his underlings, his friends and anyone willing to pay his price from the consequences of their lawbreaking.” (03/02/26)
https://thehill.com/opinion/criminal-justice/5759275-trump-justice-department-corruption/
-----
31) A test for world order in Iran
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
“In thundering attacks on Iran’s government that started Saturday, Israel and the United States appear to have shredded what remains of the liberal, rules-based world order. The head of the United Nations – the pinnacle of that order – called the attacks a threat to international security. Yet as much as that charge might be true, President Donald Trump nonetheless has left open a door to an essential value that has sustained that order for decades. He told the Iranian people in a video that they themselves, not American soldiers with boots on the ground in Iran, must ultimately choose to be free from the regime – one that has denied basic rights, killed dissenters by the thousands, and sown terror abroad. Liberty, in other words, is first a mental commitment.” (03/01/26)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Editorials/the-monitors-view/2026/0301/A-test-for-world-order-in-Iran
-----
32) Trump seems too comfortable with US deaths in his futile Iran war
Source: USA Today
by Rex Huppke
President Donald Trump has dragged America into a war of his choosing, attacking Iran with little public support, zero congressional approval and virtually no public justification. The path forward is unclear, and our self-absorbed leader is already speaking about the loss of American lives with the nonchalance one expects from a small man never held accountable for the consequences of his actions. Announcing the deaths of four U.S. service members following the attack launched Feb. 28, Trump said in a video posted to social media: ‘And sadly, there will likely be more before it ends, that’s the way it is. Likely be more.’ … He might as well have added a ‘Ho-hum,’ such is his apparent concern for the women and men he has now put in danger for … what?” (03/02/26)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2026/03/02/iran-war-trump-american-deaths/88880536007/
-----
33) US Calls Iranian Retaliatory Strikes “Unprovoked”
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“The US-Israeli war on Iran rages on. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been killed. Iran has been hammering US military bases in the region with missiles and drones, and oil prices are already beginning to rise as the IRGC cuts off the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for the attacks. US soldiers have already begun to die. US Central Command reports that three American service members were killed in combat, with five seriously wounded — and it should here be noted that ‘seriously wounded’ can mean permanently brain damaged, comatose, or otherwise rendered severely handicapped for the rest of their lives. … I have said it before and I will say it again: every single American soldier who dies in this war was killed by Trump and Netanyahu.” (03/02/26)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2026/03/02/us-calls-iranian-retaliatory-strikes-unprovoked-and-other-notes/
-----
34) Trump’s Orwellian Board of Peace Consists Entirely of Human Rights Abusers
Source: The Intercept
by Nick Turse
“An Intercept analysis finds that every single Board of Peace member state has been rebuked for human rights violations.” (03/02/26)
https://theintercept.com/2026/03/02/trump-board-peace-human-right-abuses/
-----
35) The Historic Case for Birthright Citizenship
Source: The Dispatch
by Keith E Whittington
“There is a great deal of legal significance to whether the child of an alien to the United States born in California thereby becomes a citizen of this nation. The longstanding understanding is that such a child benefits from birthright citizenship, that such a child is a natural-born American citizen by virtue of having been born within the United States. That would have been true under the English common law prior to the American Revolution. It was the dominant understanding of American common law after the Revolution. It was the established meaning of the text of the 14th Amendment adopted after the Civil War.” (03/02/26)
https://archive.is/MJEv6
-----
36) Hu Shih: Pioneer of Radical Liberalism in China
Source: Students for Liberty
by Hein Htet Kyaw
“Hu Shih, former president of both Peking University and Academia Sinica, and known for his ties to Chinese liberalism and John Dewey’s (American philosopher and psychologist) experimentalism was an influential figure in Chinese politics and academia. He was also China’s Ambassador to the United States during 1938–1942. Despite Hu Shih’s substantial achievements and impact, there were extended periods where he was officially a ‘forbidden figure’ and was repeatedly and publicly denounced. During Mao Zedong’s regime Hu Shih’s writings were officially purged and censored from circulation. In most of the propaganda red films inside China, the surname ‘Hu’ was mostly given towards counter-revolutionary figures or bourgeois landlords. To understand the Chinese Communist Party (CCP’s) organized efforts to eliminate Hu Shih’s influence from intellectual discourse in China, it becomes important to know his politics and philosophy.” (03/02/26)
https://studentsforliberty.org/blog/hu-shih-pioneer-of-radical-liberalism-in-china/
-----
37) From missiles to minerals: The strategic meaning behind the Iran strike
Source: Fox News
by Tanvi Ratna
“The death of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, following coordinated U.S.–Israeli strikes in late February 2026 marks one of the most consequential geopolitical moments of the decade. In the immediate aftermath, Iran launched retaliatory missile and drone attacks across Israel and against U.S. and Gulf-linked infrastructure, while internet disruptions spread domestically and internal unrest intensified. Analysts, journalists and policymakers quickly filled the information space with competing interpretations — some emphasizing escalation risks, others focusing on humanitarian fallout or regime durability. Yet viewed through the lens increasingly guiding U.S. national security doctrine, the operation appears less as an isolated military escalation and more as part of a broader strategic transition already underway: the integration of economic security, technological dominance and supply-chain resilience into core American grand strategy.” (03/02/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/from-missiles-minerals-strategic-meaning-behind-iran-strike
-----
38) Maybe Parents Are Just Misinvesting
Source: Bet On It
by anonymous
“A statistician of days past might have observed that medical investments in bloodletting, applying leeches, or executing frontal lobotomies failed to produce results any better than not treating patients at all. And while they might argue it is because physicians hadn’t reached key efficacy thresholds, an equally valid hypothesis is that their methods were worse than useless! Perhaps volunteering for the PTA and enlisting one’s kids in travel sports are the bloodletting of modern parenting.” (03/02/26)
https://www.betonit.ai/p/maybe-parents-are-just-misinvesting
-----
39) Trump Should Have Made His Case for War to Congress and the American People
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille
“The world is undoubtedly a better place after the killing of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and roughly 40 of his murderous colleagues by joint Israeli and American military strikes. Iran’s Islamist regime has slaughtered its own people while encouraging terrorism around the world for decades. But those strikes carry serious risks and costs. Are they worth the tradeoffs? The Trump administration should have made its case to Congress and the already skeptical public and satisfied the Constitution’s requirements by doing so.” (03/02/26)
https://reason.com/2026/03/02/trump-should-have-made-his-case-for-war-to-congress-and-the-american-people/
-----
40) To Protect, Serve, and Identify
Source: Law & Liberty
by Marc A Levin & Khalil Cumberbatch
“The widespread use of masking by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers is now an issue that could be addressed by Congress as part of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding legislation. This presents an opportunity to rein in the excessive use of masking by ICE agents while acknowledging that some circumstances warrant the use of facial coverings — and that steps must be taken to prevent misuse of photographs to threaten officers and their families.” (03/02/26)
https://lawliberty.org/to-protect-serve-and-identify/
-----
41) Congress, Do Your Job & End This Illegal War of Aggression by US & Israel
Source: Common Dreams
by Kevin Martin
“Once again, the United States and Israel are illegally attacking Iran, as they did last June. It is already a regional war, which will take a horrible toll on ordinary people in many countries, with reports a girls’ school was bombed, killing at least 85 people. Unlike the limited strikes in last June’s 12-day war, this is aimed not just at Iran’s nuclear or military facilities, but at regime change in Iran, as President Donald Trump declared, and government targets in Tehran have been hit, with Israel claiming Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed. Predictably, Iran is firing back at Israel and at US military bases in the region.” (03/02/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/congress-end-illegal-war
-----
42) The Elevator Problem: How Rent-Seeking and Regulation Make Modern Life Unaffordable
Source: The Daily Economy
by Patrick Carroll
“If we want affordable, accessible, mid-rise construction, we need more elevators. Why are we building so few of them?” (03/02/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/the-elevator-problem-how-rent-seeking-and-regulation-make-modern-life-unaffordable/
-----
43) On the Iran War, They Think You’re Stupid
Source: The American Conservative
by Jack Hunter
“This president and members of this Congress are openly and brazenly insulting Americans’ intelligence.” (03/02/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/on-the-iran-war-they-think-youre-stupid/
-----
44) The Problem in Iran
Source: Coyote Blog
by Warren Meyer
“The US is really good at getting rid of leaders like this, and if anything is getting better. I won’t go further back than my lifetime, but the Diem coup (and execution) in South Vietnam, the lukewarm (at best) support for the Shah of Iran that contributed to his ouster, Saddam Hussein in Iraq, the Afghanistan invasion, Gaddafi in Libya, Maduro in Venezuela, Noriega in Panama — the list goes on. But in many or most of these cases, what followed the US-led decapitation was as bad or worse than what came before.” (03/01/26)
https://coyoteblog.com/coyote_blog/2026/03/the-problem-in-iran.html
-----
45) Why the left’s serial insanities keep becoming the law of the land
Source: New York Post
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 (that is, 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.” (03/01/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/03/01/opinion/why-the-lefts-serial-insanities-keep-becoming-the-law-of-the-land/
-----
46) Trump’s Unauthorized Strikes on Iran Take America’s Imperial Presidency to New Heights
Source: The UnPopulist
by Ilya Somin
“On the night of Feb. 28, the U.S. and Israel initiated a large-scale military attack on Iran. Bypassing congressional authorization, President Donald Trump acted with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to strike top Iranian leadership and a variety of other targets. This action is blatantly unconstitutional. Its wisdom and morality are more debatable.” [editor’s note: The reverse, actually. There’s no doubt that the war is stupid and evil. As for “authorization,” most of the people whining about that NOW still pretend that something other than an actual declaration of war would suffice, which starts the debate down a false path immediately – TLK] (03/01/26)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/trumps-unauthorized-strikes-on-iran
-----
47) Remembering Harry Browne, 20 years later
Source: Downsize DC
by Jim Babka
“In 1996, Harry answered the call to run for president. I discovered Harry and libertarianism as he won and accepted the Libertarian Party nomination. I read his first campaign book, Why Government Doesn’t Work. As a result of that campaign, I became a party member, almost immediately a county chair, then quickly a state chair. That could’ve been the end of the story, and Harry Browne still would’ve made an indelible impression on my life. But then I was hired to be his 2000 campaign press secretary.” (03/01/26)
https://downsizedc.org/remembering-harry-browne-20-years-later/
-----
48) Craven Europeans give US and Israel a blank check for illegal war
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Eldar Mamedov
“They frame the crisis not as an act of war against a UN member state, but as a natural consequence of Tehran’s failure to capitulate unconditionally.” (03/01/26)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/europeans-iran-war/
-----
49) Paramount-Warner Would Create a Hollywood Jobs Apocalypse
Source: The American Prospect
by David Dayen
“The proposed Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger, which the principals are trying to get done quickly before state attorneys general can react with a challenge, is terrible for a host of reasons, the most politically salient being the fairly explicit effort to convert a healthy chunk of American media organizations into a swamp of pro-MAGA propaganda. But perhaps the worst part is how bad a business deal it is, and that has implications for both the future of Hollywood and the ability for states to actually block it. The deal is tied up with so much debt that it virtually guarantees layoffs the likes of which Hollywood hasn’t seen before. That’s going to mean far less output from the suite of properties under Paramount and Warner’s control.” (03/02/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/03/02/paramount-warner-merger-netflix-hollywood-jobs-layoffs-antitrust/
-----
50) “All Lawful Use”: Much More Than You Wanted To Know
Source: Astral Codex Ten
by Anonymous
“Last Friday, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth declared AI company Anthropic a ‘supply chain risk,’ the first time this designation has ever been applied to a US company. The trigger for the move was Anthropic’s refusal to allow the Department of War to use their AIs for mass surveillance and autonomous weapons. A few hours later, Hegseth and Sam Altman declared an agreement-in-principle for OpenAI’s models to be used in the niche vacated by Anthropic. Altman stated that he had received guarantees that OpenAI’s models wouldn’t be used for mass surveillance or autonomous weapons either, but given Hegseth’s unwillingness to concede these points with Anthropic, observers speculated that the safeguards in Altman’s contract must be weaker or, in a worst-case scenario, completely toothless.” (03/01/26)
https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/all-lawful-use-much-more-than-you
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) Reason Roundtable, 03/02/26
Source: Reason
"Trump's War With Iran Is Unjustified and Unpopular." (03/02/26)
https://reason.com/podcast/2026/03/02/trumps-war-with-iran-is-unjustified-and-unpopular/
-----
52) The Mona Charen Show, 03/02/26
Source: The Bulwark
“This Corruption Has No American Precedent (w/ Alexander Cooley & Daniel Nexon).” (03/02/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JbqdO8iAGU
-----
53) The Lou Perez Podcast, 03/02/26
Source: Lions of Liberty
“USA, USA, USA with Hatem Gabr.” (03/02/26)
https://www.lionsofliberty.com/episodes/tlpp-usa-usa-usa-with-hatem-gabr
-----
54) Instant Grace, episode 47
Source: Gracearchy with Jim Babka
“She Came in Peace They Put Her In Chains.” (03/02/26)
https://rumble.com/v76dd34-she-came-in-peace-they-put-her-in-chains-instant-grace-with-jim-babka-ig47.html
-----
55) Rising, 03/02/26
Source: The Hill
“Robby Soave gives his radar on the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, as the U.S. and Israel have carried out strikes on the country.” (03/02/26)
https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/5758454-rising-march-2-2026/
-----
56) EconTalk, 03/02/26
Source: EconTalk
“The Power of Introverts (with Susan Cain).” (03/02/26)
https://www.econtalk.org/the-power-of-introverts-with-susan-cain/
-----
57) The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg, 03/02/26
Source: The Dispatch
“What Should We Want From China? | Interview: Andrew Collier.” (03/02/26)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/remnant/what-should-we-want-from-china-interview-andrew-collier/
-----
58) Finding Freedom, 03/02/26
Source: Lions of Liberty
“Returning Political Power to the People with Tom Joseph.” (03/02/26)
https://www.lionsofliberty.com/episodes/ff-returning-political-power-to-the-people
-----
59) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 03/02/26
Source: The New Republic
“As Trump Goes Wildly Awry on Economy, Fox Quietly Bursts His Bubble.” (03/02/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/207188/trump-goes-wildly-awry-economy-fox-quietly-bursts-bubble
-----
60) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 03/02/26
Source: Antiwar.com
“Trump Expects Iran War to Last ‘4 Weeks or so,’ Israel Escalates Attacks on Lebanon, and More.” (03/02/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBRwmMWIvko
-----
61) The Chris Spangle Show, 03/01/26
Source: We Are Libertarians
“Trump bombs Iran, AI and Social Media: Trust Is Moving Closer to Home.” (03/01/26)
https://www.chrisspangle.com/p/wal-trump-bombs-iran-ai-and-social
-----
62) The Good Fight, 03/01/26
Source: Yascha Mounk
“Francis Fukuyama on Trump’s War With Iran.” (03/01/26)
https://writing.yaschamounk.com/p/francis-fukuyama-8
-----
63) Pink Flame of Liberty, 03/01/26
Source: Pink Flame of Liberty
“Let’s watch the LNC Meeting.” (03/01/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXu5Kn_9Co4
-----
64) Politics Politics Politics, 03/01/26
Source: Politics Politics Politics
“War with Iran. What Happened and What’s Next?” (03/01/26)
https://www.politicspoliticspolitics.com/p/war-with-iran-what-happened-and-whats
-----
65) LPALive, episode 63
Source: LP Alliance
“March 1, 2026 LNC Meeting.” (03/01/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsSXuYhD2zw
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Today's Freedom News:
1) US embassy in Riyadh hit by Iranian drones as Israeli troops enter southern Lebanon
2) Federal appeals court rejects Trump regime’s push to delay start of tariff refund process after Supreme Court ruling
3) South Sudan: 169 people killed after insurgents raid village
4) SCOTUS temporarily restores judicial order requiring California teachers to practice same religions as their students’ parents
5) France: Macron shifts regime’s nuclear doctrine by boosting arsenal and involving allies
6) SCOTUS shuts door on respecting gun rights (of nonviolent felons)
7) LA: Mayor accused of raping drunken 16-year-old boy at pool party ordered “morning after” pill on DoorDash
8) US Medicare agency intends to suspend enrollment in Elevance’s prescription drug plans
9) Anthropic’s chatbot Claude goes down amid “unprecedented demand”
10) X adds “Paid Partnership” labels so users can more easily identify ads
11) Poll: Only 25% of Americans Support Trump Attack on Iran
12) GLP-1s may increase risk of osteoporosis and gout, new research finds
13) OH: Cincinnati may be next city to fund reparations program with marijuana tax money
14) Malaysia: Parliament Fails to Pass Bill Limiting PM’s Tenure to Two Terms
15) IA: Homeowner shoots, wounds intruder
16) “World’s first commercial fusion power plan” development to get boost with new agreement
17) PA: Politicians clutch pearls over anti-gang fliers on university campus
18) SCOTUS hears challenge to unconstitutional victim disarmament law
19) Rembrandt painting worth millions rediscovered after 65 years
20) “Friendly fire”: Three US jets shot down over Kuwait
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) Hubris Without Idealism
22) Trump Lied About Being for Peace – Just Like Every President Before Him
23) The United States Is Still Addicted to War
24) Trump’s War: Israel First vs. America First
25) Iran and Epstein
26) FDA Cruelly Holding Up Approval of Treatments for Rare Diseases, Despite Children Likely to Die Soon
27) RFK Jr. Lied His Way Into Office and American Health Is the Victim
28) Made in America, Fired Abroad — Washington’s Bullets Fuel Chaos and Blowback
29) Trumped! The President of No Return on a Hothouse Planet
30) Trump’s department of injustice: Impunity for friends, brutality for enemies
31) A test for world order in Iran
32) Trump seems too comfortable with US deaths in his futile Iran war
33) US Calls Iranian Retaliatory Strikes “Unprovoked”
34) Trump’s Orwellian Board of Peace Consists Entirely of Human Rights Abusers
35) The Historic Case for Birthright Citizenship
36) Hu Shih: Pioneer of Radical Liberalism in China
37) From missiles to minerals: The strategic meaning behind the Iran strike
38) Maybe Parents Are Just Misinvesting
39) Trump Should Have Made His Case for War to Congress and the American People
40) To Protect, Serve, and Identify
41) Congress, Do Your Job & End This Illegal War of Aggression by US & Israel
42) The Elevator Problem: How Rent-Seeking and Regulation Make Modern Life Unaffordable
43) On the Iran War, They Think You’re Stupid
44) The Problem in Iran
45) Why the left’s serial insanities keep becoming the law of the land
46) Trump’s Unauthorized Strikes on Iran Take America’s Imperial Presidency to New Heights
47) Remembering Harry Browne, 20 years later
48) Craven Europeans give US and Israel a blank check for illegal war
49) Paramount-Warner Would Create a Hollywood Jobs Apocalypse
50) “All Lawful Use”: Much More Than You Wanted To Know
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) Reason Roundtable, 03/02/26
52) The Mona Charen Show, 03/02/26
53) The Lou Perez Podcast, 03/02/26
54) Instant Grace, episode 47
55) Rising, 03/02/26
56) EconTalk, 03/02/26
57) The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg, 03/02/26
58) Finding Freedom, 03/02/26
59) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 03/02/26
60) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 03/02/26
61) The Chris Spangle Show, 03/01/26
62) The Good Fight, 03/01/26
63) Pink Flame of Liberty, 03/01/26
64) Politics Politics Politics, 03/01/26
65) LPALive, episode 63
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) US embassy in Riyadh hit by Iranian drones as Israeli troops enter southern Lebanon
Source: The Guardian [UK]
“Iranian drones hit the US embassy in Riyadh as Tehran continued to launch waves of retaliatory strikes at the Gulf and Israel, while Israeli soldiers began operating in southern Lebanon on the fourth day of an increasingly regional war in the Middle East. The drone attack on the US embassy in Riyadh caused a minor fire, prompting the diplomatic mission to tell Americans to distance themselves from the compound. The attack followed an earlier Iranian drone strike on the US embassy in Kuwait, as Iran continued to target US bases, facilities and personnel in Arab Gulf states. … Meanwhile, US and Israel continued their strikes against Iran, with the US claiming it had destroyed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps command and control facilities.” (03/03/26)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/03/us-embassy-riyadh-hit-iranian-drones-israeli-troops-southern-lebanon
-----
2) Federal appeals court rejects Trump regime’s push to delay start of tariff refund process after Supreme Court ruling
Source: CBS News
“A federal appeals court on Monday declined to delay implementation of the Supreme Court ruling that invalidated most of President Trump’s tariffs, allowing next steps in processing of tariff refunds to begin swiftly, following the high court’s decision last month. … The Trump administration had said it would issue refunds if the duties targeting nearly every U.S. trading partner around the world were ultimately found unlawful by the Supreme Court. The high court ruled in a 6-3 decision that a federal emergency powers law known as the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, did not give the president the authority to impose tariffs. But on Friday, the Trump administration asked the Federal Circuit to wait 90 days before issuing its mandate ‘to allow the political branches an opportunity to consider options,’ after the Supreme Court’s decision.” (03/02/26)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/federal-appeals-court-rejects-trump-tariff-refund-delay-supreme-court/
-----
3) South Sudan: 169 people killed after insurgents raid village
Source: Associated Press
“At least 169 people were killed after insurgents raided a village in a remote area of South Sudan, a local official said Monday, It’s the latest bout of sporadic violence that has left the country teetering on the verge of full-blown civil war. The victims, including 90 civilians, were attacked on Sunday in Abiemnom county, said James Monyluak, information minister for the administrative area of Ruweng. He said women and children were among the dead, in addition to dozens of combatants. The U.N. Mission in South Sudan, known as UNMISS, said in a statement that 1,000 people sought shelter at its base after the attack.” (03/02/26)
https://apnews.com/article/south-sudan-violence-insurgents-69a8a9bf191c0c2d8583fbc37ff9ae70
-----
4) SCOTUS temporarily restores judicial order requiring California teachers to practice same religions as their students’ parents
Source: The Hill
“The Supreme Court on Monday ruled California is likely violating the constitutional rights [sic] of parents who object to policies preventing teachers from disclosing when their child changes their name or pronouns in school. The decision marks a major victory for parental rights [sic] advocates at this early stage of the case — and a blow to the state’s efforts to shield the privacy of LGBTQ students. The justices have yet to definitely resolve the fiercely disputed issue, and the case could ultimately return to the high court. … ‘The parents who assert a free exercise claim have sincere religious beliefs about sex and gender, and they feel a religious obligation to raise their children in accordance with those beliefs. California’s policies violate those beliefs,’ the court wrote in its unsigned opinion.” [editor’s note: Are the teachers also required to serve communion, conduct circumcisions, etc. on demand? – TLK] (03/02/26)
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5763843-parental-rights-california-privacy
-----
5) France: Macron shifts regime’s nuclear doctrine by boosting arsenal and involving allies
Source: Politico
“President Emmanuel Macron on Monday broke several decades of French nuclear taboos — promising to increase the number of warheads and making explicit France’s role in European security. Those are some of the most significant changes in French nuclear doctrine since the end of the Cold War. ‘An increase of our arsenal is indispensable,’ the French president said at the highly secure Ile Longue naval base that houses France’s four nuclear submarines. … The French president outlined enhanced cooperation with European nations, naming Germany, Poland, Greece, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Sweden, which would include joint nuclear drills and ultimately, the potential temporary deployment of French nuclear-capable fighters in allied countries.” (03/02/26)
https://www.politico.eu/article/macron-announces-increase-in-number-of-frances-nuclear-warheads
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6) SCOTUS shuts door on respecting gun rights (of nonviolent felons)
Source: Courthouse News Service
“The Supreme Court denied an opportunity Monday to weigh the Second Amendment rights of those convicted of nonviolent felonies. The opportunity arose through an appeal in Vincent v. Bondi, in which Utah resident Melynda Vincent argued that the prohibition on her possessing a firearm due to her check fraud conviction contradicts recent case law. The 10th Circuit twice ruled against Vincent, holding that neither the Supreme Court’s ruling in NYSRPA v. Bruen nor United States v. Rahimi abrogated the nearly 50-year-old federal statute prohibiting felons from possessing guns. The high court refused to hear the case despite issuing a grant, vacate and remand order requiring the 10th Circuit to reconsider the appeal in light of Rahimi.” (03/02/26)
https://www.courthousenews.com/supreme-court-shuts-door-on-nonviolent-felon-gun-case/
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7) LA: Mayor accused of raping drunken 16-year-old boy at pool party ordered “morning after” pill on DoorDash
Source: New York Post
“A disgraced small-town mayor who was allegedly caught by her kids having sex with a drunken 16-year-old boy at a booze-fueled pool party ordered emergency contraception on DoorDash afterward. Misty Roberts, the 43-year-old former leader of tiny DeRidder, LA, is now on trial for third-degree rape over the 2024 alleged tryst. After news spread of Roberts’[s] reputed romp with the teen in the town of 9,800, the mother of the victim (a friend of the defendant’s son) texted the then-mayor to ensure she was not pregnant, to which she replied she was on birth control, prosecutors told jurors last week, according to KPLC. Roberts then shared a screenshot of the exchange in a group chat with her friends, who urged her to take Plan B, an over-the-counter ‘morning after’ pill. A DoorDash driver testified that he accepted a request from ‘Misty C’ to purchase the emergency contraceptive and leave it at her front door.” (03/02/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/03/02/us-news/mayor-accused-of-raping-drunken-16-year-old-at-pool-party-ordered-morning-after-pill-on-doordash/
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8) US Medicare agency intends to suspend enrollment in Elevance’s prescription drug plans
Source: Reuters
“The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services intends to impose sanctions that would suspend enrollment in Elevance Health’s Medicare Advantage prescription drug plans starting March 31, pushing the company’s shares down more than 3%. Elevance disclosed in a filing on Monday that CMS notified the health insurer on February 27 of its intention and indicated that the proposed sanctions relate to alleged non-compliance in submitting certain required risk-adjustment data for services provided before April 3, 2023 under the plans, which cover prescription drug costs for older adults. … Since November 13, 2018, Elevance has failed to submit data corrections for diagnosis codes it identified as unsupported by medical record documentation through CMS’s required electronic systems, according to the agency’s February 27 notice. Instead, Elevance has repeatedly provided this information via encrypted external USB flash drives, a method that the company has explicitly rejected.” (03/02/26)
https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/cms-plans-sanctions-suspending-enrollment-elevances-medicare-advantage-drug-2026-03-02/
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9) Anthropic’s chatbot Claude goes down amid “unprecedented demand”
Source: Orange County Register
“Anthropic PBC’s artificial intelligence chatbot Claude and related consumer-facing applications went down early Monday, with the startup saying it has been grappling with ‘unprecedented demand’ for its services over the past week. Nearly 2,000 users had reported Claude AI service disruptions at the outage’s peak around 6:40 a.m. New York time, according to service-monitoring website Downdetector. Anthropic said in a statement by WhatsApp that ‘consumer-facing surfaces’ such as claude.ai and the company’s apps were offline. Businesses that have integrated Claude’s AI models into their own systems were unaffected.” (03/02/26)
https://www.ocregister.com/2026/03/02/anthropics-chatbot-claude-goes-down-amid-unprecedented-demand/
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10) X adds “Paid Partnership” labels so users can more easily identify ads
Source: Engadget
“X is rolling out a built-in ‘Paid Partnership’ label that creators can apply to sponsored posts, replacing the hashtag workarounds they’ve had to rely on until now. The feature, announced by the platform’s head of product Nikita Bier, adds a toggle that places a disclosure label directly below a post’s content. It can also be applied retroactively. The label is meant to help creators comply with years-old FTC regulations requiring clear disclosure of sponsored content.” (03/02/26)
https://www.engadget.com/social-media/x-adds-paid-partnership-labels-so-users-can-more-easily-identify-ads-183528227.html
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11) Poll: Only 25% of Americans Support Trump Attack on Iran
Source: Common Dreams
“President Donald Trump’s war in Iran is extraordinarily unpopular, according to a poll conducted shortly after the US and Israel carried out massive strikes on the country Saturday. The survey, conducted by Reuters/Ipsos, found that just 27% of voters approved of the strikes, which have killed at least 555 Iranians as of Monday morning and resulted in retaliation from Iran that has killed at least four US service members, with more casualties expected according to a spokesperson for the US Joint Chiefs of Staff. Meanwhile, 43% of respondents disapproved of the military action, while 29% said they were not sure. A majority of Republicans said they approved of the strikes, with 55% expressing support. Still, 13% disapproved, and a noteworthy 31% said they were unsure.” (03/02/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-iran-attack-poll
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12) GLP-1s may increase risk of osteoporosis and gout, new research finds
Source: NBC News
“GLP-1 drugs — including Ozempic and Wegovy — may be tied to a slightly higher risk of osteoporosis and gout, according to research presented Monday at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons’ annual meeting. … Osteoporosis is a disease that weakens the bones and makes them likelier to break or fracture, often from minor falls. It’s a common concern for many older adults and for people who lose a significant amount of weight over a short period of time. Gout, meanwhile, is a painful form of arthritis that can occur when the body has too much uric acid, which can come from a diet high in red meat and alcohol — as well as rapid weight loss.” (03/02/26)
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/glp-1s-may-increase-risk-osteoporosis-gout-new-research-finds-rcna261024
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13) OH: Cincinnati may be next city to fund reparations program with marijuana tax money
Source: Fox News
“The Cincinnati City Council will consider in early March a reparations housing program that would use tax revenue on marijuana to fund a portion of it. The city is expected to discuss the ‘Cincinnati Real Property Reparations Program’, a proposal cosponsored by Vice Mayor Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney and Councilman Scotty Johnson. The program would offer assistance to ‘low-to-moderate income residents’ and ‘any individual or family member of an individual who was prevented from buying a home due to discriminatory practices’, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported. The two officials want an initial investment of $5 million for the program using proceeds from marijuana tax revenue and the city’s capital budget, according to the Enquirer. The program would target residents in 15 of the city’s 52 neighborhoods, and would allow recipients to use the money for a down payment, pay delinquent property taxes or emergency home repairs.” (03/02/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/media/cincinnati-may-be-next-city-fund-reparations-program-marijuana-tax-money
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14) Malaysia: Parliament Fails to Pass Bill Limiting PM’s Tenure to Two Terms
Source: US News & World Report
“Malaysia’s lower house of parliament on Monday narrowly rejected a constitutional amendment that would limit the premiership to two terms, in a vote marked by high abstention, although without explicit ‘nays.’ The proposed amendment, which sought to limit any individual’s service as prime minister to 10 years, was part of the reform agenda of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s ruling coalition. Anwar, who came to power in 2022, has faced increasing pressure to deliver on campaign promises, with critics accusing him of faltering on reforms. The bill was rejected as 146 lawmakers voting in favor fell just two short of the two-thirds majority required to pass the amendment. Forty-four MPs abstained from voting while 32 were absent.” (03/02/26)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2026-03-02/malaysias-parliament-fails-to-pass-bill-limiting-pms-tenure-to-two-terms
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15) IA: Homeowner shoots, wounds intruder
Source: Radio Iowa
“Responding to a 911 call late Saturday, Des Moines police found an intruder had been shot multiple times. The homeowner told officers he heard someone yelling in his back yard, then pounding on his back door. When he unlocked the door, he says the woman forced her way in and attacked him, so the homeowner fired a handgun. … After she was released from the hospital, [Stannita] Wilson was charged with burglary.” (03/02/26)
https://www.radioiowa.com/2026/03/02/central-iowa-homeowner-shoots-wounds-intruder/
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16) “World’s first commercial fusion power plan” development to get boost with new agreement
Source: Interesting Engineering
“A German company has signed a deal to help build the first stellarator fusion power plant in Europe. Proxima Fusion has signed the agreement with the Free State of Bavaria, RWE, and Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) to put the world’s first commercial stellarator fusion power plant on the grid in Europe. The company revealed that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed and it outlines a roadmap to commercial fusion in Europe that begins with building demonstration stellarator Alpha near the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) in Garching. … Proxima Fusion also revealed that when operational in the 2030s, Alpha will become the first stellarator to demonstrate net energy gain, meaning its plasma will generate more energy than it consumes.” (03/01/26)
https://interestingengineering.com/energy/world-first-commercial-fusion-power-plant-development
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17) PA: Politicians clutch pearls over anti-gang fliers on university campus
Source: Fox News
“Both the Pennsylvania (Penn) State University College Republicans and College Democrats are speaking out after another flyer reading, ‘Dead ICE agents can’t kill,’ was found on campus, depicting the hanging of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer. In a joint Saturday statement entitled, ‘PSU College Republicans and Democrats Condemn Continued ICE Death Threats on Campus,’ they said, ‘Earlier today, a member of the Penn State College Republicans discovered a second ‘Dead ICE Agents Can’t Kill’ flyer placed near the HUB-Robeson Center, which serves as a central part of daily life for students at Penn State.’ … Penn State University told Fox News Digital in a statement that it ‘condemns this and any calls for violence or attempts to frighten or intimidate [violent gang members]. We are aware of this image circulating online, and University Police and Public Safety is investigating.'” (03/02/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/media/disturbing-flyers-found-penn-state-depict-hanging-immigration-officer-sparking-bipartisan-outrage#&_intcmp=fnhpbt7
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18) SCOTUS hears challenge to unconstitutional victim disarmament law
Source: NBC News
“The Supreme Court on Monday hears its latest gun rights case concerning a federal law that bars frequent users of illegal drugs from possessing firearms. Gun rights advocates [point out that] the law falls afoul of the Constitution’s Second Amendment, which protects the right to bear arms. The case puts a spotlight on the Trump administration’s mixed messaging on gun rights. Although the Justice Department is defending the law in court, to the annoyance of Second Amendment advocates, it has in other areas backed challenges to firearms restrictions. The Justice Department turned to the Supreme Court after an appeals court ruled last year in favor of Texas-based Ali Danial Hemani, an alleged regular user of marijuana who had a handgun at his home in the Dallas area when it was searched by the FBI in 2022.” (03/02/26)
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-hears-challenge-law-drug-users-guns-rcna260986
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19) Rembrandt painting worth millions rediscovered after 65 years
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“A long lost painting by Rembrandt has been rediscovered and authenticated by experts, after its whereabouts were unknown for decades. Rembrandt’s Vision of Zacharias in the Temple, from 1633, was excluded from a list of the Dutch master’s works in 1960, and disappeared after being sold to a private collector the following year. But it resurfaced when its owners presented it for tests at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, which undertook a two-year examination. ‘When I saw it in our studio when it was restored, I was immediately struck by the incredible power it has,’ Rijksmuseum director Taco Dibbits said. The Rijksmuseum receives many emails from people asking for information about paintings they have inherited or bought, Dibbits said. In this case, they knew it could be something special.” (03/02/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1kgln0yg3po
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20) “Friendly fire”: Three US jets shot down over Kuwait
Source: Axios
“Three U.S. fighter jets were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses Sunday night, U.S. Central Command said in a Monday statement. All six aircrew ejected safely and are in stable condition. The incident shows how chaotic the air war with Iran has become as allies defend against Iranian attacks while American jets fly through the same airspace.” (03/02/26)
https://archive.is/de1nK
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) Hubris Without Idealism
Source: The Atlantic
by George Packer
“Regime change on the cheap — by covert action, military coup, air power, or short ground war — has tempted almost every American president since World War II. No wonder: It offers to solve a difficult foreign problem with little cost to Americans. We remember the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as prolonged, bloody, ultimately futile attempts to remake recalcitrant foreign countries as democracies. But President George W. Bush intended both wars to be brief and low cost—regime change with a small footprint. … Iran, with its deep history, its educated and relatively homogeneous population, and its unbreakable freedom movement, has always seemed a better bet for political transformation than Afghanistan or Iraq. But if recent decades have taught anything, it’s that the absence of tyranny is not freedom but chaos; that war is a likelier agent of disintegration than of renewal; that America knows how to destroy regimes but not remake societies.” (03/02/26)
https://archive.is/zdRtK
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22) Trump Lied About Being for Peace – Just Like Every President Before Him
Source: Antiwar.com
by Jon Reynolds
“Three years ago, Donald Trump referred to himself as ‘the candidate who delivers peace.’ This weekend, his administration bombed Iran. While it may seem unusual, the historical record suggests otherwise, clearly demonstrating that Trump follows a long line of American politicians who spent a lot of time talking about being against wars only to wage them once elected president.” (03/02/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/jon_reynolds/2026/03/01/trump-lied-about-being-for-peace-just-like-every-president-before-him/
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23) The United States Is Still Addicted to War
Source: Foreign Policy
by Stephen M Walt
“Since 1992, a series of presidents representing both parties have run for office vowing to be peacemakers and to avoid their predecessors’ excesses and mistakes, yet once in office they cannot resist the urge to blow stuff up in faraway lands. Once again, we must ask ourselves the question: Is the United States addicted to war? Until Trump’s second term, one might explain this pattern by examining the hubristic mindset of the bipartisan foreign-policy ‘Blob,’ which saw military force as a useful tool for advancing a global liberal order. But that explanation has trouble explaining Trump’s actions during his second term. Trump still loathes the establishment (aka, the ‘deep state’), blames it for the failures of his first term, has gutted the national security bureaucracy, and appointed a lot of loyal lackeys who will do his bidding to key positions. This latest war can’t be blamed on the Blob.” (03/02/26)
https://archive.is/aybJ0
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24) Trump’s War: Israel First vs. America First
Source: JFK Facts
by Jefferson Morley
“The once debatable notion that we live in a democratic republic, governed by the Constitution of the United States, has been definitively debunked by the bombing of Tehran. We do not. Under Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 of the U.S. Constitution, Congress holds the exclusive power to formally declare war, ‘ensuring this decision rests with elected representatives rather than a single executive.’ Or so Google’s Artificial Intelligence agent tells me with a straight face. … by all means, let us celebrate the semiquincentennial of our independence by glorying in the irrelevance of the Constitution. If you want to pursue life, liberty, and happiness, don’t pretend that antique parchment has much influence on this administration, the Congress, or the courts.” (03/02/26)
https://jfkfacts.substack.com/p/the-israeli-trump-strategy-of-war
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25) Iran and Epstein
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“President Trump’s decision to wage a war of aggression on Iran appears to make no sense at all, especially when considers the array of alternating and shifting reasons that Trump has given to justify his decision to launch this war. … However, there is a another possible explanation as to why Trump and the Pentagon have decided to launch their all-out war of aggression against Iran — a possible explanation that the mainstream press is loathe to consider — one that, interestingly, involves an active partner in this war of aggression — Israel.” (03/02/26)
https://www.fff.org/2026/03/02/iran-and-epstein/
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26) FDA Cruelly Holding Up Approval of Treatments for Rare Diseases, Despite Children Likely to Die Soon
Source: Town Hall
by Rachel Alexander
“The U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging conducted a hearing on February 26 to investigate why the FDA is holding up the approval of desperately needed new drugs for those with rare diseases. Many of the people suffering with these ailments are children with short life expectancies. Those with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), which is progressive muscular deterioration, end up in a wheelchair at about age 11-12, and die in their 20s. Angelina Olivera, the mother of a 14-year-old son who has DMD, who also watched her brothers die at ages 20 and 22 of the disease, told me there is only one promising new treatment for DMD but the FDA won’t approve it for her son Ryu. A study was conducted on 1,200 patients using Elevidys from Sarepta Therapeutics and revealed promising results. The gene therapy slowed disease progression by 70-73 percent compared to untreated children.” (03/02/26)
https://townhall.com/columnists/rachelalexander/2026/03/02/fda-cruelly-holding-up-approval-of-treatments-for-rare-diseases-despite-children-likely-to-die-soon-n2672114
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27) RFK Jr. Lied His Way Into Office and American Health Is the Victim
Source: The UnPopulist
by Matt Johnson
“Sen. Bill Cassidy, Republican of Louisiana, chairs and is the face of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP). A physician, Cassidy has been a vocal advocate of vaccines and even ran a vaccination campaign in his home state. ‘After seeing patients die from vaccine preventable diseases,’ Cassidy said in a speech, ‘I dedicated much of my time to vaccine research and immunization programs. … Put simply, vaccines save lives.’ He also cast a key vote to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a fervent anti-vaccine advocate, as HHS secretary last year. It’s not like Cassidy can claim ignorance of Kennedy’s track record. Cassidy and every other Republican who voted for Kennedy had all the information they needed to see that he would be a disaster for public health in the United States, from his decades-long crusade against vaccines to his history of fevered conspiracism.” (03/02/6)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/rfk-jr-lied-his-way-into-office-and
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28) Made in America, Fired Abroad — Washington’s Bullets Fuel Chaos and Blowback
Source: Independent Institute
by Abigail R Hall
“Amid the unfolding chaos in Mexico following the death of cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera, the Mexican government has worked to hit the cartels where it hurts, including seizing weapons. In a recent press conference, Mexican Defense Secretary Ricardo Trevilla announced that some 18,000 weapons have been seized since President Claudia Sheinbaum took office in October 2024. Of those weapons, nearly 78 percent originated in the United States. In a separate talk, Sheinbaum addressed an even more shocking datapoint — much of the ammunition recovered in Mexico was designed for use by the U.S. military.” (03/02/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/03/02/made-in-america-fired-abroad-washingtons-bullets-fuel-chaos-and-blowback/
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29) Trumped! The President of No Return on a Hothouse Planet
Source: TomDispatch
by Tom Engelhardt
“I grew up with a vision of a possible instant apocalypse, inspired (if, under the circumstances, such a word can even be used) by the nuclear obliteration of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end World War II. It could happen at any moment, even if you were ‘ducking and covering’ under your school desk, as I did in those years. And I was hardly alone. That was a genuine generational nightmare of the 1950s and early 1960s — the possibility of a nuclear war between my country and the Soviet Union that might devastate my city, New York (or your city, FILL IN THE BLANK), and our world. But in those years what I never could have imagined was that, even without an atomic blast, I might already be living through the extremely slow-motion equivalent of just such an apocalypse, which should, of course, be the definition of climate change.” (03/02/26)
https://tomdispatch.com/trumped-2/
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30) Trump’s department of injustice: Impunity for friends, brutality for enemies
Source: The Hill
by Svante Myrick
“We’re all familiar with the idea that actions have consequences. Parents teach it to their children as an important part of raising responsible human beings. As adults, we sometimes get harsh reminders of this truth. This principle doesn’t apply just on a personal level. Our justice system imposes consequences on people who break the law or harm others. For a society that is free, fair and just, those consequences must apply to everyone. That’s why ‘equal justice under law’ is carved in stone over the entrance to our Supreme Court. Unfortunately, the Trump regime makes a mockery of that principle, insulating the president, his underlings, his friends and anyone willing to pay his price from the consequences of their lawbreaking.” (03/02/26)
https://thehill.com/opinion/criminal-justice/5759275-trump-justice-department-corruption/
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31) A test for world order in Iran
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
“In thundering attacks on Iran’s government that started Saturday, Israel and the United States appear to have shredded what remains of the liberal, rules-based world order. The head of the United Nations – the pinnacle of that order – called the attacks a threat to international security. Yet as much as that charge might be true, President Donald Trump nonetheless has left open a door to an essential value that has sustained that order for decades. He told the Iranian people in a video that they themselves, not American soldiers with boots on the ground in Iran, must ultimately choose to be free from the regime – one that has denied basic rights, killed dissenters by the thousands, and sown terror abroad. Liberty, in other words, is first a mental commitment.” (03/01/26)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Editorials/the-monitors-view/2026/0301/A-test-for-world-order-in-Iran
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32) Trump seems too comfortable with US deaths in his futile Iran war
Source: USA Today
by Rex Huppke
President Donald Trump has dragged America into a war of his choosing, attacking Iran with little public support, zero congressional approval and virtually no public justification. The path forward is unclear, and our self-absorbed leader is already speaking about the loss of American lives with the nonchalance one expects from a small man never held accountable for the consequences of his actions. Announcing the deaths of four U.S. service members following the attack launched Feb. 28, Trump said in a video posted to social media: ‘And sadly, there will likely be more before it ends, that’s the way it is. Likely be more.’ … He might as well have added a ‘Ho-hum,’ such is his apparent concern for the women and men he has now put in danger for … what?” (03/02/26)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2026/03/02/iran-war-trump-american-deaths/88880536007/
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33) US Calls Iranian Retaliatory Strikes “Unprovoked”
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“The US-Israeli war on Iran rages on. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been killed. Iran has been hammering US military bases in the region with missiles and drones, and oil prices are already beginning to rise as the IRGC cuts off the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for the attacks. US soldiers have already begun to die. US Central Command reports that three American service members were killed in combat, with five seriously wounded — and it should here be noted that ‘seriously wounded’ can mean permanently brain damaged, comatose, or otherwise rendered severely handicapped for the rest of their lives. … I have said it before and I will say it again: every single American soldier who dies in this war was killed by Trump and Netanyahu.” (03/02/26)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2026/03/02/us-calls-iranian-retaliatory-strikes-unprovoked-and-other-notes/
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34) Trump’s Orwellian Board of Peace Consists Entirely of Human Rights Abusers
Source: The Intercept
by Nick Turse
“An Intercept analysis finds that every single Board of Peace member state has been rebuked for human rights violations.” (03/02/26)
https://theintercept.com/2026/03/02/trump-board-peace-human-right-abuses/
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35) The Historic Case for Birthright Citizenship
Source: The Dispatch
by Keith E Whittington
“There is a great deal of legal significance to whether the child of an alien to the United States born in California thereby becomes a citizen of this nation. The longstanding understanding is that such a child benefits from birthright citizenship, that such a child is a natural-born American citizen by virtue of having been born within the United States. That would have been true under the English common law prior to the American Revolution. It was the dominant understanding of American common law after the Revolution. It was the established meaning of the text of the 14th Amendment adopted after the Civil War.” (03/02/26)
https://archive.is/MJEv6
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36) Hu Shih: Pioneer of Radical Liberalism in China
Source: Students for Liberty
by Hein Htet Kyaw
“Hu Shih, former president of both Peking University and Academia Sinica, and known for his ties to Chinese liberalism and John Dewey’s (American philosopher and psychologist) experimentalism was an influential figure in Chinese politics and academia. He was also China’s Ambassador to the United States during 1938–1942. Despite Hu Shih’s substantial achievements and impact, there were extended periods where he was officially a ‘forbidden figure’ and was repeatedly and publicly denounced. During Mao Zedong’s regime Hu Shih’s writings were officially purged and censored from circulation. In most of the propaganda red films inside China, the surname ‘Hu’ was mostly given towards counter-revolutionary figures or bourgeois landlords. To understand the Chinese Communist Party (CCP’s) organized efforts to eliminate Hu Shih’s influence from intellectual discourse in China, it becomes important to know his politics and philosophy.” (03/02/26)
https://studentsforliberty.org/blog/hu-shih-pioneer-of-radical-liberalism-in-china/
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37) From missiles to minerals: The strategic meaning behind the Iran strike
Source: Fox News
by Tanvi Ratna
“The death of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, following coordinated U.S.–Israeli strikes in late February 2026 marks one of the most consequential geopolitical moments of the decade. In the immediate aftermath, Iran launched retaliatory missile and drone attacks across Israel and against U.S. and Gulf-linked infrastructure, while internet disruptions spread domestically and internal unrest intensified. Analysts, journalists and policymakers quickly filled the information space with competing interpretations — some emphasizing escalation risks, others focusing on humanitarian fallout or regime durability. Yet viewed through the lens increasingly guiding U.S. national security doctrine, the operation appears less as an isolated military escalation and more as part of a broader strategic transition already underway: the integration of economic security, technological dominance and supply-chain resilience into core American grand strategy.” (03/02/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/from-missiles-minerals-strategic-meaning-behind-iran-strike
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38) Maybe Parents Are Just Misinvesting
Source: Bet On It
by anonymous
“A statistician of days past might have observed that medical investments in bloodletting, applying leeches, or executing frontal lobotomies failed to produce results any better than not treating patients at all. And while they might argue it is because physicians hadn’t reached key efficacy thresholds, an equally valid hypothesis is that their methods were worse than useless! Perhaps volunteering for the PTA and enlisting one’s kids in travel sports are the bloodletting of modern parenting.” (03/02/26)
https://www.betonit.ai/p/maybe-parents-are-just-misinvesting
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39) Trump Should Have Made His Case for War to Congress and the American People
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille
“The world is undoubtedly a better place after the killing of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and roughly 40 of his murderous colleagues by joint Israeli and American military strikes. Iran’s Islamist regime has slaughtered its own people while encouraging terrorism around the world for decades. But those strikes carry serious risks and costs. Are they worth the tradeoffs? The Trump administration should have made its case to Congress and the already skeptical public and satisfied the Constitution’s requirements by doing so.” (03/02/26)
https://reason.com/2026/03/02/trump-should-have-made-his-case-for-war-to-congress-and-the-american-people/
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40) To Protect, Serve, and Identify
Source: Law & Liberty
by Marc A Levin & Khalil Cumberbatch
“The widespread use of masking by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers is now an issue that could be addressed by Congress as part of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding legislation. This presents an opportunity to rein in the excessive use of masking by ICE agents while acknowledging that some circumstances warrant the use of facial coverings — and that steps must be taken to prevent misuse of photographs to threaten officers and their families.” (03/02/26)
https://lawliberty.org/to-protect-serve-and-identify/
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41) Congress, Do Your Job & End This Illegal War of Aggression by US & Israel
Source: Common Dreams
by Kevin Martin
“Once again, the United States and Israel are illegally attacking Iran, as they did last June. It is already a regional war, which will take a horrible toll on ordinary people in many countries, with reports a girls’ school was bombed, killing at least 85 people. Unlike the limited strikes in last June’s 12-day war, this is aimed not just at Iran’s nuclear or military facilities, but at regime change in Iran, as President Donald Trump declared, and government targets in Tehran have been hit, with Israel claiming Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed. Predictably, Iran is firing back at Israel and at US military bases in the region.” (03/02/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/congress-end-illegal-war
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42) The Elevator Problem: How Rent-Seeking and Regulation Make Modern Life Unaffordable
Source: The Daily Economy
by Patrick Carroll
“If we want affordable, accessible, mid-rise construction, we need more elevators. Why are we building so few of them?” (03/02/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/the-elevator-problem-how-rent-seeking-and-regulation-make-modern-life-unaffordable/
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43) On the Iran War, They Think You’re Stupid
Source: The American Conservative
by Jack Hunter
“This president and members of this Congress are openly and brazenly insulting Americans’ intelligence.” (03/02/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/on-the-iran-war-they-think-youre-stupid/
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44) The Problem in Iran
Source: Coyote Blog
by Warren Meyer
“The US is really good at getting rid of leaders like this, and if anything is getting better. I won’t go further back than my lifetime, but the Diem coup (and execution) in South Vietnam, the lukewarm (at best) support for the Shah of Iran that contributed to his ouster, Saddam Hussein in Iraq, the Afghanistan invasion, Gaddafi in Libya, Maduro in Venezuela, Noriega in Panama — the list goes on. But in many or most of these cases, what followed the US-led decapitation was as bad or worse than what came before.” (03/01/26)
https://coyoteblog.com/coyote_blog/2026/03/the-problem-in-iran.html
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45) Why the left’s serial insanities keep becoming the law of the land
Source: New York Post
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 (that is, 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.” (03/01/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/03/01/opinion/why-the-lefts-serial-insanities-keep-becoming-the-law-of-the-land/
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46) Trump’s Unauthorized Strikes on Iran Take America’s Imperial Presidency to New Heights
Source: The UnPopulist
by Ilya Somin
“On the night of Feb. 28, the U.S. and Israel initiated a large-scale military attack on Iran. Bypassing congressional authorization, President Donald Trump acted with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to strike top Iranian leadership and a variety of other targets. This action is blatantly unconstitutional. Its wisdom and morality are more debatable.” [editor’s note: The reverse, actually. There’s no doubt that the war is stupid and evil. As for “authorization,” most of the people whining about that NOW still pretend that something other than an actual declaration of war would suffice, which starts the debate down a false path immediately – TLK] (03/01/26)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/trumps-unauthorized-strikes-on-iran
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47) Remembering Harry Browne, 20 years later
Source: Downsize DC
by Jim Babka
“In 1996, Harry answered the call to run for president. I discovered Harry and libertarianism as he won and accepted the Libertarian Party nomination. I read his first campaign book, Why Government Doesn’t Work. As a result of that campaign, I became a party member, almost immediately a county chair, then quickly a state chair. That could’ve been the end of the story, and Harry Browne still would’ve made an indelible impression on my life. But then I was hired to be his 2000 campaign press secretary.” (03/01/26)
https://downsizedc.org/remembering-harry-browne-20-years-later/
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48) Craven Europeans give US and Israel a blank check for illegal war
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Eldar Mamedov
“They frame the crisis not as an act of war against a UN member state, but as a natural consequence of Tehran’s failure to capitulate unconditionally.” (03/01/26)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/europeans-iran-war/
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49) Paramount-Warner Would Create a Hollywood Jobs Apocalypse
Source: The American Prospect
by David Dayen
“The proposed Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger, which the principals are trying to get done quickly before state attorneys general can react with a challenge, is terrible for a host of reasons, the most politically salient being the fairly explicit effort to convert a healthy chunk of American media organizations into a swamp of pro-MAGA propaganda. But perhaps the worst part is how bad a business deal it is, and that has implications for both the future of Hollywood and the ability for states to actually block it. The deal is tied up with so much debt that it virtually guarantees layoffs the likes of which Hollywood hasn’t seen before. That’s going to mean far less output from the suite of properties under Paramount and Warner’s control.” (03/02/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/03/02/paramount-warner-merger-netflix-hollywood-jobs-layoffs-antitrust/
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50) “All Lawful Use”: Much More Than You Wanted To Know
Source: Astral Codex Ten
by Anonymous
“Last Friday, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth declared AI company Anthropic a ‘supply chain risk,’ the first time this designation has ever been applied to a US company. The trigger for the move was Anthropic’s refusal to allow the Department of War to use their AIs for mass surveillance and autonomous weapons. A few hours later, Hegseth and Sam Altman declared an agreement-in-principle for OpenAI’s models to be used in the niche vacated by Anthropic. Altman stated that he had received guarantees that OpenAI’s models wouldn’t be used for mass surveillance or autonomous weapons either, but given Hegseth’s unwillingness to concede these points with Anthropic, observers speculated that the safeguards in Altman’s contract must be weaker or, in a worst-case scenario, completely toothless.” (03/01/26)
https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/all-lawful-use-much-more-than-you
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) Reason Roundtable, 03/02/26
Source: Reason
"Trump's War With Iran Is Unjustified and Unpopular." (03/02/26)
https://reason.com/podcast/2026/03/02/trumps-war-with-iran-is-unjustified-and-unpopular/
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52) The Mona Charen Show, 03/02/26
Source: The Bulwark
“This Corruption Has No American Precedent (w/ Alexander Cooley & Daniel Nexon).” (03/02/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JbqdO8iAGU
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53) The Lou Perez Podcast, 03/02/26
Source: Lions of Liberty
“USA, USA, USA with Hatem Gabr.” (03/02/26)
https://www.lionsofliberty.com/episodes/tlpp-usa-usa-usa-with-hatem-gabr
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54) Instant Grace, episode 47
Source: Gracearchy with Jim Babka
“She Came in Peace They Put Her In Chains.” (03/02/26)
https://rumble.com/v76dd34-she-came-in-peace-they-put-her-in-chains-instant-grace-with-jim-babka-ig47.html
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55) Rising, 03/02/26
Source: The Hill
“Robby Soave gives his radar on the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, as the U.S. and Israel have carried out strikes on the country.” (03/02/26)
https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/5758454-rising-march-2-2026/
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56) EconTalk, 03/02/26
Source: EconTalk
“The Power of Introverts (with Susan Cain).” (03/02/26)
https://www.econtalk.org/the-power-of-introverts-with-susan-cain/
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57) The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg, 03/02/26
Source: The Dispatch
“What Should We Want From China? | Interview: Andrew Collier.” (03/02/26)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/remnant/what-should-we-want-from-china-interview-andrew-collier/
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58) Finding Freedom, 03/02/26
Source: Lions of Liberty
“Returning Political Power to the People with Tom Joseph.” (03/02/26)
https://www.lionsofliberty.com/episodes/ff-returning-political-power-to-the-people
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59) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 03/02/26
Source: The New Republic
“As Trump Goes Wildly Awry on Economy, Fox Quietly Bursts His Bubble.” (03/02/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/207188/trump-goes-wildly-awry-economy-fox-quietly-bursts-bubble
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60) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 03/02/26
Source: Antiwar.com
“Trump Expects Iran War to Last ‘4 Weeks or so,’ Israel Escalates Attacks on Lebanon, and More.” (03/02/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBRwmMWIvko
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61) The Chris Spangle Show, 03/01/26
Source: We Are Libertarians
“Trump bombs Iran, AI and Social Media: Trust Is Moving Closer to Home.” (03/01/26)
https://www.chrisspangle.com/p/wal-trump-bombs-iran-ai-and-social
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62) The Good Fight, 03/01/26
Source: Yascha Mounk
“Francis Fukuyama on Trump’s War With Iran.” (03/01/26)
https://writing.yaschamounk.com/p/francis-fukuyama-8
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63) Pink Flame of Liberty, 03/01/26
Source: Pink Flame of Liberty
“Let’s watch the LNC Meeting.” (03/01/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXu5Kn_9Co4
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64) Politics Politics Politics, 03/01/26
Source: Politics Politics Politics
“War with Iran. What Happened and What’s Next?” (03/01/26)
https://www.politicspoliticspolitics.com/p/war-with-iran-what-happened-and-whats
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65) LPALive, episode 63
Source: LP Alliance
“March 1, 2026 LNC Meeting.” (03/01/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsSXuYhD2zw
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