Source: The Dispatch
by Kevin D Williamson

“There is an ancient magical belief that to know the true name of someone or something is to hold a special power over that person or thing; relatedly, a change in one’s metaphysical status is accompanied by a change in name. … It is a very long way down to the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania’s 10th Congressional District. But the belief that magical words can transform facts on the ground persists there, too. Hence the peculiar phenomenon of Democrats’ adopting MAGA-style rhetoric and speech. The winner of the Democratic primary on April 23 will have the honor of almost certainly losing the R+8 district to House Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry, the sycophantic cretin and half-assed QAnon cultist who helped to execute the legislative leg of Donald Trump’s failed coup d’etat in early 2021. There must be something in the water down in Dillsburg.” (04/17/24)

https://archive.is/NquDq

Source: Underthrow
by Max Borders

“Some battles are better fought from a distance. Indeed, it can be better to exit and build something great than to stay and fight but build nothing.” (04/17/24)

https://underthrow.substack.com/p/exodus-reconsidered

Source: The Hill
by Elizabeth Goitein

“Buried in a bill the House passed Friday is a provision that would create the largest expansion of government surveillance on U.S. soil since the Patriot Act. The potential for abuse of this new power, included in the House’s reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, is staggering. … Under current law, the government can compel ‘electronic communications service providers’ that have direct access to our communications, such as Verizon, AT&T, Google or Microsoft, to provide assistance — generally by turning over the communications of targets identified by the government. Under the House-passed bill, the government can compel the assistance of individuals or companies that provide any service at all, as long as they have access to the equipment (for instance, servers, routers or cell towers) on which communications are transmitted.” (04/17/24)

https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/4599695-the-fisa-expansion-turning-cable-installers-into-spies-cannot-stand/

Source: The American Prospect
by David Dayen

“Last week, the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) announced that the United States has the largest number of medicines in short supply in the history of its survey, which dates back to 2001. As of the end of March, 323 drugs were in shortage, disrupting treatment for patients and in many cases risking prolonged injury or death. The news was accompanied by the usual parade of ignorance. ‘Health care is the US’s most highly regulated, socialist industry and shortages are endemic under socialism so the pattern fits,’ mused libertarian Alex Tabarrok of George Mason University about a system where every single pharmaceutical manufacturer (save for a nascent effort in California) is private and for-profit, and pretty much every provider too (unless you believe the convenient fiction that ‘nonprofit’ hospitals are not adopting that status as a tax dodge).” (04/17/24)

https://prospect.org/health/2024-04-17-our-uniquely-american-drug-shortages/

Source: Tenth Amendment Center
by TJ Martinell

“The Anti-Federalist writer Agrippa powerfully expressed many of the same reservations about the Constitution as other opponents – that it would create a consolidated government leading to a loss of liberty. But unlike most others, Agrippa was also concerned with the implications a strong central government would have on the economies of the states and their people. The Agrippa letters were influential enough for Alexander Hamilton to dedicate at least one Federalist Paper, No. 11, countering these positions.” (04/17/24)

https://tenthamendmentcenter.com/2024/04/17/limited-or-absolute-power-warnings-from-anti-federalist-agrippa/