02 U.S. Politics

Blurb:

Self-inflicted wounds have not stopped coming for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner, according to a new report.

Platner’s campaign first made waves when far-left icons such as Sen. Bernie Sanders were gushing over him.

Then came revelations of intemperate social media posts from several years ago.

This week, those were topped by the bombshell that Platner had a tattoo resembling a Nazi skull and crossbones.

Blurb:

America again stands on the edge of betrayal, watching mobs assault federal officers while judges call it “restraint.”

This is not new. Between 1876 and 1878, the same script played out as those sworn to uphold the law were branded as tyrants and those undermining it claimed the mantle of freedom. When the federal government lost the will to enforce its own laws, violence filled the vacuum.

Blurb:

President Donald Trump’s administration is preparing to cut thousands of employees from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as the longest government shutdown in history continues with no end in sight.

The move is in accordance with Trump’s promise to cut federal workers if a government shutdown ensued, Breitbart reported.

The federal government has been shut down since October 1 as the Democrats continue to block Republican deals that would have kept the government open through the end of the year.

Blurb:

The October 16 poll from Trafalgar showed Democrat Abigail Spanberger had only a two-point lead over her Republican challenger, incumbent Lt. Governor Winsome Earle-Sears. Trafalgar was the closest in polling for the 2024 election, with their final poll being 0.01 points off from the actual election results.

With that in mind, we have to wonder if the Democrats aren’t a little concerned about this race. A recent panel on MSNBC seems to think Spanberger is struggling, although they totally miss the reasons why Spanberger might be in trouble.

In case they were unaware, Earle-Sears is also a woman.

Blurb:

That’s a video of Ted Cruz from 2013 warning of what was going to happen to healthcare under ObamaCare. It’s very important to point out that everything conservative said was going to happen to healthcare costs after Democrats rammed through ObamaCare has, in fact, happened.

Would it have been nice if conservatives did something about it at any point in the twelve years since this video? Sure. But that’s not the world we live in, and you have to fight your battles with the Republican Party you have and not necessarily the Republican Party you need.

Where we are now is the Democrat Party, after using the pandemic to blow up healthcare in America worse than they did with ObamaCare, is holding the government hostage unless Republicans vote to renew the “temporary” taxpayer-funded ObamaCare subsidies. To guilt the GOP into doing this, Democrats are rolling out sob stories. Of boomers. Who retired early. And want taxpayers to pay for their health insurance. While those taxpayers can barely afford their own health care. Because Democrats and ObamaCare have caused costs to skyrocket.

Blurb:

A 48-page report released in September exposes the depth of the nation’s teachers’ unions’ hostility toward all things Jewish. “Breaking Solidarity: How Anti-Semitic Activists Turned Teacher Unions Against Israel,” published by the Defense of Freedom Institute in September, explains how unions have worked to embed anti-Semitism into K–12 education.

This anti-Semitism was brought to light after Hamas’s horrific attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, the deadliest single attack on Jews since the Holocaust.

Blurb:

President Donald Trump has called off plans to meet with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, just days after he floated another round of Ukraine peace talks.

A White House official confirmed that Trump is not meeting his Russian counterpart “in the immediate future,” ABC News reported.

It comes after Trump suggested a summit in Hungary.

Trump’s reversal comes after a phone call on Monday between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Blurb:

Happy Thursday, dear Kruiser Morning Briefing friends. Qwyzwelf felt that the McLean Stevenson Appreciation Society was finally ready for his take on blood sausage canapés at its annual silent auction.

Here we are again, another discussion about how far off the reservation the Democrats have gone when it comes to their everyday approach to politics. I mean, it’s really Cuckoo Land over there. I know that things started to get squirrely when His High Holiness the Lightbringer Barack Obama became president, but the combination of knowing that they had to throw in with the addled puppet Joe Biden, all the while worrying about the return of President Donald Trump, broke them in ways that I’m sure can’t be healed.

Blurb:

… We covered the situation in the Middle East and the ‘ceasefire’ deal, the possibility NYC will elect a socialist, immigration policy, and the rise of antisemitism particularly on the right.

(transcript autogenerated may contain transcription errors, lightly edited for transcript clarity)

Shines (06:10):

And one of the things, William, I’m really concerned about is even here in our own country, I took a little heat for saying this. … Why would we allow individuals to come into our country whose objective is Sharia law that is antithetical to the constitutional republic that we have in this nation? Why are we not able to talk like this in a civil way and then at the same time prohibit individuals that would be so divisive that they’ll tear this nation apart if we don’t do something? Am I going too far, William, for making that assertion?

WAJ (07:18):

No. And we have not only almost 1400 years of history, we have current events. Look at what has happened in London. Look at what has happened in Paris. We don’t want to become London and Paris. We want to continue to be America.

And it’s a tension that we have because we do have a constitution and everybody has individual rights. On the other hand, the Constitution is not a suicide pact, and we’re entitled to maintain a republic that upholds that constitution. And so by allowing people in who are not committed to that, by allowing people in who do not view our constitution as valid, by allowing people in who come for the very purpose of subverting our society, we are committing suicide.

Blurb:

Student protesters labeled economics Professor Michael Ben-Gad a ‘terrorist’

Hundreds of scholars world-wide are backing an economics professor at the University of London after a pro-Palestinian student group called for him to be fired and labeled him a “terrorist” due to his service in the Israeli military.

A petition launched Tuesday in support of Professor Michael Ben-Gad has about 1,100 signatures from professors in the United States, Canada, Chile, Australia, and other countries.

The petition opposes the “targeted harassment campaign” by the Association of Student Activism for Palestine and City Action for Palestine against the Israeli professor. Ben-Gad also has ties to the U.S. He formerly taught at the University of Houston in Texas and serves on the U.S. National Academy of Sciences panel on the Economic and Fiscal Impacts of Immigration.

Blurb:

President Donald Trump on Tuesday delivered a blistering assessment of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), declaring that the longtime Democrat leader is “mentally gone.”

Trump argues that Schumer has been “beat up by young radical lunatics” who now control his party.

Speaking during an interview, Trump was asked whether the Democratic Party now belongs more to far-left New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani than to establishment figures like Schumer or House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY).

“Probably is,” Trump replied.

Blurb:

Charlie Kirk’s killing last month has sparked fears that the United States is headed to an all-out second civil war or revolution. According to a YouGov survey earlier this year, “more Americans than not believe it is likely that the United States will see a civil war over the next decade” while several hundred political scientists and historians in an April 2025 survey saw the U.S. slipping into authoritarianism with Trump’s second term. Trump’s deployment of the military at home, combined with his vow to suppress “the enemy within” while his domestic advisor, Stephen Miller labels the Democratic Party a domestic extremist organization, can easily be seen as setting the stage for an authoritarian takeover.

Blurb:

Heavy teaching loads, shrinking university budgets and expanding workload expectations have fueled stress and burnout among professors and other university employees in recent years.

Now, an increasingly polarized political climate, as well as emerging concerns around university funding cuts, self-censorship and academic freedom, has created new pressures for university and college employees.

The result is an academic profession caught in the crosscurrents of culture and politics, with implications that extend far beyond the classroom.

Blurb:

Former President Barack Obama speaks during a live stream in support of California’s Proposition 50, October 22, 2025.YouTube/California Office of the Governor

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.

On Wednesday, former President Barack Obama joined California Gov. Gavin Newsom in a livestream for volunteers in support of Proposition 50, the governor’s redistricting measure, and the sole question on the ballot in the November 4 special election.

Blurb:

Federal immigration agents carried out multiple arrests in Little Village and suburban Cicero Wednesday, resulting in a crash that drew outraged protesters to the scene. Two staffers for a city alderperson, both U.S. citizens, were among those arrested.

The agents were joined by Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Gregory Bovino, just days after a federal judge ordered him to sit for a deposition regarding the government’s handling of protesters during “Operation Midway Blitz,” President Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation campaign in the Chicago area.

Blurb:

Earlier this month, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) disclosed that special counsel Jack Smith tracked the communications of eight Republican senators (and one congressman) as part of his Arctic Frost investigation into President Donald Trump’s actions after the 2020 presidential election.

The group included Sens. Marsha Blackburn (TN), Lindsey Graham (SC), Bill Hagerty (TN), Josh Hawley (MO), Ron Johnson (WI), Cynthia Lummis (WY), Dan Sullivan (AK), Tommy Tuberville (AL) and Rep. Mike Kelly (PA).

Blurb:

A Democrat councilman in Bergen County, New Jersey announced Wednesday that he would be flipping to the Republican Party and endorsing GOP gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciattarelli’s campaign, becoming the latest Garden State Democrat to do so.

Alpine Councilman David Kupferschmid, who will now serve as the council’s lone Republican, said the Democratic Party has become increasingly “unrecognizable” to him in making his announcement. The councilman pointed to the rise of Zohran Mamdani in neighboring New York, the pro-communist candidate who is heavily favored to become the next mayor of New York City.

“The Democrat Party does not represent us anymore,” Kupferschmid said. “With my switch, I will now be the first Republican on the council in more than 20 years. I hope that this is the beginning of a resurgence for the Republican Party in Alpine where alternate voices are much needed on the governing body.”

Blurb:

These people cannot get out of their own way. While not a story emanating from the United States, across the pond, our cousins in Britain ousted the president of the Oxford Union. Members voted in a no-confidence motion overwhelmingly to boot George Abaraonye after his atrocious remarks about Charlie Kirk following his assassination on September 10. Abaraonye brought the motion for a vote himself. When he lost, Abaraonye essentially claimed voter fraud—you cannot make this stuff up (via BBC):

The president-elect of the Oxford Union has lost a no-confidence vote after he was criticised for comments appearing to celebrate the death of Charlie Kirk.

The motion against George Abaraonye had met the required two-thirds threshold to oust the student from his position, the society has announced.

It comes after Mr Abaraonye reportedly posted on social media to seemingly welcome the attack on the US conservative activist in September.

Mr Abaraonye is disputing the no-confidence vote, telling the BBC people campaigning to oust him had “unsupervised access” to the email account collecting proxy ballots.

[…]

Blurb:

A former Republican Senator  just upturned the election landscape for one particular seat in the U.S. Senate.

And he did so in more ways than one — possibly with the direction and support of President Trump.

I say possibly, because that endorsement hasn’t been publicly announced yet.  Though White House meetings have taken place which reportedly included President Trump.  (More on that as we get into this.)

Blurb:

The Trump administration and House Republicans have accused Democrats of “celebrating” the government shutdown after Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA) admitted that it is one of the “few leverage times we have.”

“I mean, shutdowns are terrible, and of course there will be, you know, families that are going to suffer,” Clark, the No. 2 House Democrat, told Fox News. “We take that responsibility very seriously, but it is one of the few leverage times we have.”

Blurb:

Allies of President Donald Trump are pressuring Indiana state lawmakers to vote on a redistricting proposal after a key state leader predicted the measure would fail.

A spokesperson for Rodric Bray, the Indiana Senate’s president pro tempore, told Politico Wednesday morning that “the votes aren’t there for redistricting,” prompting a number of heavyweight Trumpworld figures to hint at political consequences for Indiana Republicans if they don’t redraw the state’s map for the 2026 elections.

Blurb:

President Donald Trump has announced initiatives to expand access to in vitro fertilization and reduce associated costs — as each round of IVF can cost $12,000 to $25,000 — and one round is often not all it takes.

“In the Trump administration, we want to make it easier for all couples to have babies, raise children,” Trump said at the White House on October 16.

“That’s why today I’m pleased to announce that after extensive negotiations, EMD Serrano, the largest fertility drug manufacturer in the world, has agreed to provide massive discounts to all fertility drugs they sell in the United States, including the most popular drug of all, the IVF drug,” he continued.

Blurb:

The U.S. Military has carried out its first strike against a drug cartel boat in the Pacific Ocean. The attack, which took place on Monday, was announced in a bulletin posted by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on X.

Yesterday, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel being operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization and conducting narco-trafficking in the Eastern Pacific.  The vessel was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking transit route, and carrying narcotics. There were two narco-terrorists aboard the vessel during the strike, which was conducted in international waters. Both terrorists were killed and no U.S. forces were harmed in this strike. Narco-terrorists intending to bring poison to our shores, will find no safe harbor anywhere in our hemisphere. Just as Al Qaeda waged war on our homeland, these cartels are waging war on our border and our people. There will be no refuge or forgiveness—only justice.

Blurb:

Christians in Turkey are reportedly being removed from the country because they pose a “national security threat.”

During remarks given at a human rights conference in Warsaw on October 13, Lidia Rieder, a legal expert for Alliance Defending Freedom International, said that Christians are being targeted by Turkey’s government.

“Türkiye’s labeling of peaceful Christian residents as ‘security threats’ is a clear misuse of law and an attack on freedom of religion or belief,” Rieder said. “When governments manipulate administrative or immigration systems to exclude people based solely on their faith, it undermines both the rule of law and the very principles of tolerance and peaceful coexistence that the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) was founded to protect.”

Blurb:

A leftist Howard University professor urged white allies to emulate a pre-Civil War violent radical, now used by designated terrorist organization Antifa as a revolutionary icon.

Stacey Patton, a journalism professor at the Washington, DC-based university, posted a blog post, “John Brown Didn’t Ask Enslaved People How to Be A Good White Ally.”

Patton wrote, “So when white allies ask, ‘What can I do?’ here’s the answer: Be like John Brown. Ask yourself, what am I willing to burn so somebody else can breathe?”