by Lt. Col. Rachel E. VanLandingham (ret.) | Aug 14, 2026 | Opinion, Politics, White House
In a Wednesday letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., demanded answers to reports that approximately 5,000 men and women aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier have been stuck in the Persian Gulf with “shortages of basic supplies, water contamination, plumbing issues, deteriorating mental health, deck safety concerns, and disruptions in the mail system.”
Blumenthal’s mention of “deteriorating mental health” follows reports from the Military Times and Stars and Stripes that multiple sailors have tried to jump off the USS Lincoln. During their almost nine months at sea, those aboard the carrier have faced Iranian drone and missile attacks and have had inexcusably poor logistical support.
Blumenthal’s mention of “deteriorating mental health” follows reports that multiple sailors have tried to jump off the USS Lincoln.
But in keeping with the Trump administration’s pattern of gaslighting and denial, Hegseth has claimed, with zero evidence, that stories about Navy personnel being so mentally and physically exhausted that they’ve tried to harm themselves have “completely misrepresented” the conditions aboard the carrier.
Hegseth is following President Donald Trump’s lead. When news broke at the start of the war that the U.S. had struck an Iranian girls’ school during its initial bombardment of Iran, the president immediately claimed, with zero evidence, that an Iranian missile had killed the more than 170 girls and their teachers. That wasn’t true. A U.S. strike, one that, according to a preliminary inquiry, may have been an egregious targeting error that relied on old intelligence, was to blame.
Trump’s irresponsible and unconstitutional war against Iran has killed 18 service members and left more than 600
by Kevin Baron | Aug 14, 2026 | Opinion, White House, World
I love my media colleagues, but they and others being made decoys in President Donald Trump’s secret, switcheroo plane swap in Turkey last month so the president could avoid a perceived assassination threat is not the top story. We should focus on the first fact: that there was a perceived international assassination threat against the U.S. president so serious that security officials believed he had to be pulled off Air Force One, put on a separate plane and secreted away from a NATO summit in Ankara, the capital city of a member country.
That shouldn’t happen.
The escapade illustrates three worrying issues: First, whether an actual threat existed or not, there appear to be U.S. intelligence and security gaps. Second, animosity toward Trump has reached a level that such a foreign attempt would seem plausible, especially in Turkey. Third, U.S. and Israeli intelligence services have credibility problems, which many believe are being caused by the countries’ top leaders.
The escapade illustrates three worrying issues.
Was the threat real? If not, then why did U.S. officials so readily believe it? According to multiple reports, the warning did not come from U.S. intelligence; Israeli intelligence alleged there was a threat from an Iranian-sourced shoulder-fired missile. Such missiles are especially frightening because they are so hard to detect or defend. CIA officials assessed the claim as “Israeli-derived, not U.S.-generated, and viewed as low confidence,” The Washington Post reported Wednesday. Those CIA officials reportedly told Trump administration officials as much. The president was moved anyway.
As with any credible threat of presidential assassination, Congress should quickly hold classified and unclassified hearings with Secret Service, U.S. military and intelligence leaders. The
by Paul Waldman | Aug 14, 2026 | elections, Opinion
As your high school English teacher may have told you, all drama is rooted in conflict. This may help explain why the supposed “battle for the soul of the Democratic Party” between the left and the center has occupied so much attention during this primary season. But while there certainly is an internal power struggle there, that may obscure an equally important phenomenon defining this election: Democrats of all kinds — leftists, moderates and anyone in between — are turning out to vote at rates that should terrify their Republican opponents.
Primary turnout isn’t the only way to measure the enthusiasm that will translate into votes in the fall. But it’s a particularly good one, because it’s precise and offers a way to compare this election to prior years when we know what happened in the general election.
Wisconsin is the most closely divided state in the country; the last three presidential races were all decided there by less than one percentage point.
One useful case study is the recent primary in Wisconsin. The dramatic twists in the gubernatorial race that ended when David Crowley nosed out the progressive upstart Francesca Hong was the main story, but there was also a flood of Democrats heading to the polls.
Wisconsin is the most closely divided state in the country; the last three presidential races were all decided there by less than one percentage point. This year, about 491,000 Republican voters cast ballots in the governor’s race, the most important on the ticket. But on the Democratic side, a whopping 792,000 people turned out to vote.
One explanation for that disparity is that while the Democratic
by John Pfaff | Aug 13, 2026 | Civil Rights, Opinion
This past week, a notice posted by the Department of Homeland Security revealed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement recently entered into a $20 million no-bid contract with Compliant Technologies for “The G.L.O.V.E.” The contract comes as ICE takes advantage of the billions in funding that Congress has awarded the agency since Donald Trump returned to the presidency.
The acronym stands for “generated low output voltage emitter,” and it is exactly what it sounds like: an electrified glove that agents can trigger to deliver a pretty powerful, painful-looking jolt to anyone the officer has in their grasp.
The device is marketed as a de-escalation device, but the potential for widespread escalation and abuse seems pretty clear.
The device is marketed as a de-escalation device, but the potential for widespread escalation and abuse seems pretty clear. ICE has already demonstrated a willingness to excessively point — if not fire — guns and pepperballs at people, even when they are being clearly filmed by civilians and media alike. These gloves would allow ICE agents to hurt people in ways that could leave no marks and may be impossible for observers to notice or document.
What if, for example, an agent activates his gloves while holding someone down who has already been arrested and who is blocked from the public’s view by other agents? No weapon is pulled; the agent just touches a button on his gloved hand.
Alarmingly, the DHS notice listed the firm’s North American Industry Classification System code as “Other Spectator Sports,” a category the firm itself doesn’t use — it instead lists services such as “security guards and patrol services” — and whose definition it doesn’t appear to meet (which, if just an administrative screw-up, is an
by Hayes Brown | Aug 13, 2026 | Opinion, White House
The price tag keeps ratcheting higher on one of President Donald Trump’s favorite perks of being president. Since returning to office last year, he has spent a major chunk of his time focused on renovating, remodeling and relandscaping the Executive Mansion and the broader White House grounds. The Washington Post now reports that the potential price tag is likely to exceed $900 million — with the lion’s share of that coming from taxpayer funding.
That’s a much higher number than the Trump administration has previously claimed and far exceeds the meager amounts Congress has historically set aside for White House maintenance. It’s also a figure that seems likely to grow as the president continues tacking on new projects and nitpicking over the details of those already underway. Through shady donations from wealthy funders and corporations, questionable accounting practices and an entirely misplaced sense of focus, Trump is well on his way to converting the people’s house into his own billion-dollar dream home.
Trump is well on his way to converting the people’s house into his own billion-dollar dream home.
The planned ballroom being built over the demolished East Wing is the most visible and expensive item on the list of “modernization projects,” as the White House is calling the renovation efforts. Also underway are a helipad on the White House South Lawn, a pair of updated fountains across the street at Lafayette Park, a new visitor screening center and a subterranean bunker. The underground military facility has provided the basis for the administration to claim in court filings that the ballroom is necessary for national security purposes. (A federal appeals court disagreed, issuing a
by Katelyn Burns | Aug 13, 2026 | Opinion
The Trump administration announced Tuesday afternoon that Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, will stop funding for gender-affirming care for transgender youth, including cross-sex hormones, puberty blockers and transition-related surgeries. The rule will cut off thousands of teenagers from life-saving transition care who couldn’t otherwise afford it.
“Children deserve our protection, not experimental interventions that pose serious risks and convey no proven benefits,” Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz said in a statement. “By cutting off federal funds for these sex-rejecting procedures, we’re following the science, saving taxpayer dollars, and, most importantly, protecting children from potentially irreversible harm so they can truly flourish.”
The rule will cut off thousands of teenagers from life-saving transition care who couldn’t otherwise afford it.
Oz and the Trump administration have maintained without evidence for years that gender-affirming care for trans youth, which has been the international gold standard of care for youth gender dysphoria for about 20 years, is harmful to kids. The truth is that this administration’s political ideology demands that trans people stop existing; its members are morally opposed to gender transition. They see transitioning as “harm” even though we have ample evidence that youth being unable to transition is a studied factor for youth suicidality. The irreversible harm in many such devastating cases could not be more clear.
Instead the administration has attempted to argue that trans youth should be subject to denial of care and conversion therapy, according to related HHS reports. HHS cites the controversial Cass Review, produced by a British official with no experience in trans healthcare, as the basis for its claims, even though the report has
