Peace in Politics

It is the longstanding mission of The Hustings to promote civil discourse between political animals from the far left to the far right, all everywhere between in the political spectrum. Even when the “other side” seems to be stomping all over your rights peaceful protest will be more effective than resorting to violence.  

Our new series in Annville, Pennsylvania, Talking With, Not At … with at The Allen Theatre and Salamander Bookstore Café represents the extension of The Hustings’ ethos. We have held two Talking With, Not At … debates, on whether the Trump economy has improved Americans’ lives, and whether Congress should pass the president’s Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, and we look forward to announcing our third in the series soon.

Until then, you are invited – encouraged, even – to contribute to our right or left columns by emailing your comments and opinions to editors@thehustings.news. Keep it civil and please indicate your political leanings in the subject line so we post your comments in the proper column. –Editors

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MONDAY 4/27/26

Iran War, Week Nine

Queen Camilla, King Charles III, President Trump and First Lady Melania at the White House Tuesday. [Official Website of the Royal Family]

Up for discussion on this Big News day:

•SCOTUS further weakens 1965 Voting Rights Act

•Powell’s Fed holds interest rates steady

•Return of The Apprentice?

Trump War Action Imminent? – Axios scoops Thursday morning that President Trump will receive a briefing on a new plan for potential military action against Iran from CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper, according to two sources with knowledge. According to the scoop this signals Trump is “seriously considering” major combat operations either in an attempt to break the logjam in negotiations to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or to pound Iran hard before ending the war. 

The scoop comes about a week after The Atlantic reported that military commanders avoid presenting Trump with battle plan updates on a daily basis. That report says war/Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth typically schedules daily briefings for 8 a.m., when the president will be watching Fox and Friends instead. 

Hegseth testifies Thursday before the Senate Armed Services Committee, a day after appearing before the House Armed Services Committee, where he said the US has spent $25 billion on the war on Iran so far and fought with committee Democrats over the whole we’ve won the war but now we’re removing the nuclear arms capability that we obliterated in last year’s attack on Iranthing.

•••

Price Matches Date – On April 30 the national average price of a gallon of unleaded regular has hit $4.30, according to the AAA. That’s up 7.1 cents over Wednesday’s price and $1.318 over February 27. Diesel is $5.496, up 3.2 cents for the day and up $1.732 per gallon from just before the US-Iran war began.

•••

Jim Crow Redux? – The Supreme Court began eroding the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act in 2013, and its 6-3 ruling Wednesday that struck down a congressional map in Louisiana a group of self-described “non-African Americans” had challenged as the result of unconstitutional racial gerrymandering appears to have completed the job. SCOTUS’ decision on Louisiana v. Callais upholds a federal court ruling that banned Louisiana from using the new map, which would have created a second majority-Black district in the state, according to SCOTUSblog.

SCOTUS did not specifically strike down the protection clause of the Voting Rights Act, though Elena Kagan in her dissent of the majority opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito, wrote the provision is “all but dead letter.”

•••

Steady Powell – And defiant, to paraphrase Fortune magazine in its report on outgoing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s announcement Wednesday that the board’s Open Market Committee has voted for the third consecutive meeting to hold interest rates steady at 3.5% to 3.75% in the face of President Trump’s persistent demands for a sharp reduction. 

Powell is set to step down as Fed chair, but not as an FOMC member when the Senate likely confirms Trump’s choice for a replacement, Kevin Warsh. The White House removed Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) as an obstacle, as he held up Warsh’s confirmation until the Justice Department dropped an investigation of Powell and the Fed’s long-planned renovation of its Washington headquarters. 

Powell’s term on the Fed board ends in 2028. If he were to step down early, Trump would have the opportunity to nominate a fourth board member, giving the White House a majority on the FOMC.

•••

In Case Melania Wasn’t Enough – Amazon is discussing a reboot of the television show that propelled Donald J. Trump past the pages of Spy magazine into the national consciousness, The Apprentice, potentially with Don Jr. as host, according to an exclusive in The Wall Street Journal.

Apparently, paying the first lady $40 million for the Melania “documentary” was not enough. 

Discussions are in the early stages according to the report, which notes that Amazon Prime Video owns the original 14 seasons of The Apprentice on NBC-TV starring Donald Sr. since 2022, when Amazon acquired the back catalog of MGM’s film and television studio. 

An Amazon spokesperson told the WSJ; “Since our acquisition of MGM, we have had preliminary internal discussions about what’s next for The Apprentice as a property.” –TL

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All The King’s President – Brilliantly the King of England, who has no real power in his own country, was able to manipulate President Trump’s royal obsequiousness to tell Congress Tuesday that the US must stick with NATO, support Ukraine over Russia and generally restore itself as the bulwark for global democracy. 

On Wednesday, King Charles III and Lady Camilla visit the 9/11 memorial in Trump’s hometown a day after the King reminded in his address the president that the attack on the US stands as the single example that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization invoked Article Five. An armed attack against one is an armed attack against all.

Herewith, some of His Royal Highness’ key points from his speech to Congress, directed to Trump-obsequious Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) …

On America First: “Drawing on these values and traditions, time and again, our two countries have always found ways to come together. And by Jove, Mr. Speaker, when we have found that way to agree, what great change is brought about – not just for the benefit of our peoples, but of all peoples.”

On shared democratic values founded in the Magna Carta and reinforced by the US Constitution: “Distinguished members of the 119th Congress, it is here in these very halls that this spirit of liberty and the promise of America’s founders is present in every session and every vote cast. Not by the will of one, but by the deliberation of many, representing the living mosaic of the United States. In both of our countries, it is the very fact of our vibrant, diverse and free societies that gives us our collective strength, including to support victims of some of the ills that, so tragically, exist in both our societies today.”

Support for British Prime Minister Kier Starmer, whom Trump decried as ‘no Winston Churchill’ when the PM refused to join the war on Iran: “As my Prime Minister said last month: ‘ours is an indispensable partnership. We must not disregard everything that has sustained us for the last eighty years. Instead, we must build on it.”

On Article 5 and Ukraine: “In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, when NATO invoked Article Five for the first time, and the United Nations Security Council was united in the face of terror, we answered the call together – as our people have done so for more than a century, shoulder to shoulder, through two World Wars, the Cold War, Afghanistan and moments that have defined our shared security. Today, Mr. Speaker, that same, unyielding resolve is needed for the defense of Ukraine and her most courageous people. It is needed in order to secure a truly just and lasting peace.”

However … President Trump Truth Socialed Wednesday morning that King Charles III agrees with him about the need to disarm Iran of its nuclear weapons, The Guardian reports.

“Iran can’t get their act together,” Trump wrote. “They don’t know how to sign a nuclear deal. They’d better get smart soon! President DJT.”

••• 

Acting Like a Trump AG – Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche wants to become attorney general, and to that end the Justice Department indicted former FBI Director James Comey Tuesday for his Instagram post of seashells arranged on a beach to read; “8647.” DOJ alleges Comey was suggesting the “86” means “doing harm” to “47,” President Trump. 

Comey quickly removed the post after that Trumpian interpretation, though “86” is more commonly taken to mean “get rid of” in the “kick out of the place” sense. 

Speaking with NPR’s Steve Inskeep on Morning Edition Wednesday, Lawfare editor, Brookings Institute fellow and Friend of Jim Comey Benjamin Wittes noted that Amazon sells t-shirts reading “8646,” meaning, “kick Joe Biden out of the White House.” Dated as they may be, people wear them, protected by the First Amendment (if not by Jeff Bezos himself).

FOJC Wittes told Inskeep this second indictment of Comey is “even dumber” than the first, “about lies Jim Comey didn’t tell to Congress and this one is about a threat he didn’t make to the President of the United States.” It is based on the Supreme Court doctrine that a “true threat” is not First Amendment protected.

Comey’s attorneys have “several” opportunities to file for dismissal of the case, Wittes said.

First is “selective or vindictive” prosecution as in the first indictment. Second is First Amendment protected speech. Wittes expects motions for dismissal to be filed “relatively quickly.” Certainly before Blanche can become permanent US AG.

•••

Trump Wants to Stamp Your Passport – The Bulwark, a right-leaning never-Trumper publication since the first Trump administration, which we’ve often quoted, gets the scoop cred for reporting that President Trump plans to “plaster” his face on US passports in “celebration” of the nation’s 250th anniversary. 

Like the Trump-Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (soon to be perhaps just the Trump Center), the Arc d’ Trump and Trump’s gilded ballroom, this would be no fleeting homage to the 45th/47th president. Apply for a Trump US passport today and it’s your passport to the rest of the world to date of application 2036. 

According to its report, The Bulwark sought comment from the White House after consulting two independent sources on and obtaining photos of the new passport, and the White House asked The Bulwark to hold for comment while it passed on the news to the much more Trump-sympathetic Fox News, which reported it without all The Bulwark’s details.

•••

Gas Pains – After dipping toward the $4 mark earlier in the month gas prices are up again according to the AAA. National average for a gallon of unleaded regular hit $4.229 Wednesday, up $1.247 over February 27. Diesel, the fuel that drives much of our goods across the US averages $5.464, up $1.707 over February 27. –TL

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WHCD Shooting Suspect Charged – Cole Allen was charged with attempted assassination of the president of the United States over the shooting that disrupted the White House Correspondents Dinner at the Washington Hilton Saturday (The Wall Street Journal). Authorities are still trying to determine who, exactly fired the shot that wounded a Secret Service officer when a bullet bounced off his bullet-proof vest, according to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. 

Allen, 31, could face a life sentence on the first count. He also was charged with discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence and transportation of a firearm and ammunition in interstate commerce with intent to commit a felony.

One of Allen’s public defenders stressed that he is presumed innocent going into trial and noted he has no prior arrests or convictions on record.

•••

What Has the President Been Told? – The Atlantic, which has had an unusual relationship with President Trump and the Pentagon since Pete Hegseth inadvertently let the magazine’s editor Jeffrey Goldberg in on a top-secret Signal chat reports in an exclusive that Vice President JD Vance has “repeatedly questioned” the way the Defense Department has depicted US successes in the war on Iran.

Vance, who has tried to stick to his isolationist guns in the face of the war, has questioned the accuracy of information provided to the president by the Pentagon, two senior administration officials told the magazine. He also is worried the US is running low on weapons as a result of the war.

Defense Secretary Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine have publicly claimed that stockpiles of US weapons are robust and damage to Iran's military is drastic.

Read the full story HERE. (Subscription required.) –TL

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Correspondents Dinner Attack – The Onion may want to adapt its recurring headline about school shootings, “’No way to prevent this,’ says only nation where this regularly happens” to political violence in America. 

We are not the only such country of course, but it seems we are the only such nation that’s not part of the third world and/or in constant political turmoil.

After FBI agents and Secret Service wrestled teacher Cole Thomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, to the floor of the Washington Hilton for allegedly firing a shot during the White House Correspondents Dinner, CNN contributing commentator and bombastic Trump supporter Scott Jennings said that conservatives in the US are feeling the heat of political violence from the left. [There continues to be question and speculation that an agent saved by his bulletproof vest may have been struck by friendly fire rather than the suspect’s bullet.]

It should be noted that to date, there is little known about the motives and political leanings of Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old killed after shooting at President Trump at his July 2024 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Same with Tyler Robinson, suspect in the shooting last September of Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk. Liberals note Robinson has Republican parents and a MAGA background, according to Newsweek. 

Whatever the motives of Crooks and the Charlie Kirk suspect, it does not serve either side of the political aisle to claim singular victimhood from political violence, and it’s hard to ignore recent violent government crackdowns on immigration policy protestors by the federal government itself in Minneapolis and other cities recently.  Not to mention the January 6, 2021 attack on the United States Capitol.

The WHCD suspect, Allen, “sent a chilling anti-President Trump manifesto to his family just before opening fire” calling himself the “Friendly federal assassin.” Allen’s manifesto was obtained from a family member by the New York Post, which reports that his alleged “targets” were administration officials except for FBI Director Kash Patel.

“I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes,” the manifesto says.

President Trump, who expressed some comradeship with journalists at the black-tie press conference immediately after the melee attacked CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell as a “disgrace” the next evening for asking on 60 Minutes about the pedophile, rapist, traitor accusations. 

Meanwhile … As with they did in response to the Butler, Pennsylvania attempt, social media influencers, particularly from the left, are posting ridiculous conspiracy theories saying with absolutely no evidence that the WHCD attack was “staged,” The New York Times reports. 

And yet, Trump potentially threw fuel on that fire Sunday morning – between the black-tie presser and his 60 Minutes appearance – that the attempted attack proves the need for his gilded White House East Wing ballroom.

“It’s got every single bell and whistle you can possibly have for security and safety,” Trump told The Sunday Briefing on Fox News.

“You can’t have a thousand rooms (above) or whatever. It’s a very big hotel on top of the ballroom and people come down the elevator, and they’re right next to the ballroom. Nobody’s blaming them. They’re good people … I’ve been in that room many times, but it’s had difficulty in the past and the new one is not to have that kind of thing.”

The White House ballroom WHCD will have to wait – Trump says he wants to see the White House Correspondents Association to reschedule within 30 days. 

•••

Iran Has No Cards – President Trump will not send a US envoy to Islamabad, Pakistan, for peace talks with Iran, The Wall Street Journal reports. The president suggested on Fox News that if Iran wants peace talks, they could happen by telephone instead.

Iran has floated a proposal to the US in which it would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the war with the US, with nuclear arms negotiations to come later, a US official and two other sources told Axios.

Meanwhile, the WSJ says that US forces have sent 38 Iranian tanker ships back to port in its blockade within Iran’s blockade.

•••

Tillis Wins – In what The New York Times called a “stunning reversal” the Justice Department said Friday it would call off its investigation into the Federal Reserve and its chairman Jerome Powell over renovation of the Fed’s Washington headquarters. Two days earlier, US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro vowed to continue investigating the case, but Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) had made it clear he would block President Trump’s nominee to replace Powell, Kevin Warsh, as long as the investigation plodded on.

After his term as Fed chair ends in May, Powell has two more years left on the Fed board. –Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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MONDAY 4/27/26

What Are We Doing?

Commentary by Stephen Macaulay

One of the oft-cited points made about the US bombing the stuffings out of the Iranian military and related infrastructure is that it isn’t going to be like US military involvements of the past.

As Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said in a briefing on April 24: “Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, as the President has pointed out, all took years, decades, vague missions, shifting sands, little to show for it.”

The implication is that this is not a vague mission. 

In fact, Hegseth went on to say: “It's a bold and dangerous mission, a gift to the world, historic, courtesy of a bold and historic president.”

This is all about boldness. The mission. The president. The Hegsethian rhetoric!

Bold. Bold. Bold!

Let’s assume that the mission is to keep Iran from having a nuclear weapon. That’s what Hegseth says.

There are other Administration officials — including the man who Hegseth obsequiously describes as “the only president with the guts and moral clarity to finally do something about it”* — who have varying descriptions of why the US is involved.

But if the keeping Iran nuclear weapon-incapable is the mission, then why has the US used, according to The New York Times, 1,100 long-range stealth cruise missiles, more than 1,000 Tomahawk cruise missiles, 1,200 Patriot interceptor missiles, and 1,000 Precision Strike and ATACMS ground-based missiles, when according to the bold and historic president that was accomplished some months back?**

Last June, after “Operation Midnight Hammer,” after there were 14 GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrators and over 24 Tomahawk cruise missiles used against the Fordow Uranium Enrichment Plant, the Natanz Nuclear Facility, and the Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center, President Trump declared the Iranian nuclear capabilities “completely and totally obliterated.”

So if there is no nuclear material — or, as the President sometimes calls it, just “nuclear dust” — then why are we bombing the heck out of Iran? 

Was the obliteration just hyperbole before, and now it is really happening?

According to Hegseth, “the bottom line remains the bottom line, Iran will never get a nuclear bomb.”

While that’s certainly a good objective, then why does Hegseth also say:

“It's worth saying again, for 47 years, Iran has been at war with America, killing our citizens, our soldiers, and our allies, while previous administrations looked the other way.”

Are we at war with Iran because Iran has been at war with America for 47 years (and if that is actually the case, how many Americans have actually been aware of that?) or because we want to keep them from having a nuclear weapon? Hegseth says: “Operation Epic Fury has been laser-focused from the very start.” So which is it? The nuke or the “war with America”? Is it regime change? Is it because Israel was going to start bombing so we had to get in, too? Is it something else entirely?

Doesn’t “laser-focused” imply that there is some pinpoint accuracy here regarding the mission which seems to be rather diffuse, not collimated?

According to Hegseth, “President Trump's fortitude is unshakable and his mission is crystal clear.”

As he cancels negotiations to end the war, and as he has appointed lead negotiators who are not in any way expert in things nuclear (however, if you need some luxury real estate developments, these are your guys), what is crystal clear is that the situation is anything but crystal clear.

==

*Apparently the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreed to by the Obama Administration and Iran, which reduced the uranium stockpile, reduced enrichment levels for 15 years, dismantled centrifuges, etc., was a gutless move.

**One could make the argument that these are all tactical munitions and that as the US has them, the US might as well use them. Fair point — but to what end? And what happens should China decide to invade Taiwan and what had once been stockpiles of weapons have been reduced to stockouts? Consider this: as many as 95% of the advanced semiconductors used in the US for everything from missiles to iPhones to, well, lasers, come from Taiwan. If they get in trouble, we really get in trouble.

Macaulay is pundit-at-large for The Hustings.

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MONDAY 4/27/26

SAVE is an Assault on Our Democracy

COMMENTS?: editors@thehustings.news.

Reader Comments

If registering for the draft can be automatic, why not for registering to vote? Also, all things considered, wouldn’t focusing on the current status of our education system have a higher priority than SAVE? –Ron Wilke /Debate & Donuts II participant

Our Contributing Pundits …

A Simple Question of Math

Commentary by K.E. Bell

It's a simple question of math. If the Republicans think more women will vote for Democrats than Republicans, then the best thing to do is kick as many women off the voter rolls as possible. That might get them the seven or 10 percentage points they need to win in close districts. 

These are the people who claim to love America, but nothing could be more anti-American than dismantling democracy. 

It's already illegal for illegal immigrants to vote. A study by the Heritage Foundation — you know, the think tank that's dismantling democracy every way it can through Project 2025 — showed that just 68 illegal immigrants voted in US elections since the 1980s. Kick 21 million off the voter rolls to prevent 68 illegal votes over 40 or so years? The only reason is anti-democratic math.

Bell is a contributing pundit for The Hustings.

•••

SAVE’s Less Than Noble Intentions

Commentary by Joel Postman

The first general election in the US (in a modern sense) was probably the election of 1828, nearly 200 years ago. Since that time, there have indeed been isolated instances of voter fraud, but historians, and the record, concur that we have never had voter fraud that changed the outcome of a presidential election.

On November 12, 2020, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), under President Trump, issued a statement that “The November 3rd election was the most secure in American history.”

Occam’s Razor tells us the simplest explanation that fits the facts is usually the right one. In this case, it tells us that enacting a law ostensibly to prevent voting by non-citizens, when such law already exists, and when voting by non-citizens has not historically been a problem, has other, less noble intentions and is unnecessary.

Postman is a contributing pundit for The Hustings.

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EARTH DAY 2026/WEDNESDAY 4/22

Debate the SAVE Act

Our pundits weighed in on the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act ahead of our live debate at The Allen Theatre in Annville, Pennsylvania Wednesday. Scroll the right column for commentary by Rich Corbett and Stephen Macaulay and scroll the left column for commentary by K.E. Bell and Joel Postman. 

By Todd Lassa

Ahead of the Talking With, Not At series at The Allen Theatre in Annville, Pennsylvania Wednesday evening The Hustings has asked contributing pundits to weigh in on the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act. 

President Trump has been pushing for passage of the bill in order to influence the November 3 midterm elections for the Republican Party. He hopes it will shift enough races in urban and suburban areas sufficiently to preserve the GOP’s thin majorities in the House of Representatives and Senate, and perhaps even gain a couple of seats. 

The president’s rational behind the SAVE Act is that he believes Democrats have stolen elections by relying on ineligible voters, most particularly the 2020 presidential election he lost. To this day, his appointees, including federal judges, will not say “Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election” when pressed by Democratic senators in their confirmation hearings, but rather; “The electoral college certified Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential election.”

He has called on Republican legislators to redistrict their states and improve chances of GOP gains in the House this coming November, to very mixed results. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), who has presidential aspirations for 2028, led a redistricting drive in his state to essentially wipe out gains Texas Republicans made with their redistricting effort. On Tuesday, Virginia voters approved a mid-decade redistricting measure by narrow, 51.5% to 48.5% margin according to USA Today, that will likely add five House seats to the Democratic side of the aisle.

Trump also says mail-in ballots are corruptible and wants to outlaw them. 

Opponents, including never-Trump conservatives as well as liberals and the unaffiliated, see the SAVE Act as potential further erosion of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which helped end Jim Crow. 

Last May, the Trump Justice Department demanded that 48 states plus the District of Columbia hand over election-related records and data, including driver’s license numbers and partial, four-digit social security numbers. The federal government has since sued 30 states plus D.C. for not complying, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, though the result of DOJ’s demand may violate state and federal security and privacy laws.

In January, the FBI seized all the ballots cast in Fulton County, Georgia, during the 2020 election “based largely on allegations from conservative activists that have been repeatedly rejected by state and local officials, according to court filings” unsealed February 10, according to Politico.

It appears the president is still looking in Georgia for his 11,780 votes.

In late March, Trump issued an executive order to “strengthen election integrity by ordering citizenship verification for federal elections and modernizing and securing mail-in and absentee ballot procedures through the United States Postal Service.”

Last week, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon sent a letter to Wayne County, Michigan Clerk Cathy Garrett demanding all ballots submitted for the 2024 election, the Detroit News reports.

Michigan Democratic leaders released the letter last Sunday with the response by state Attorney General Dana Nessel, who vowed to fight against “any attempt to interfere in Michigan’s elections.” Nessel accused Trump of “weaponizing” the Justice Department to “sabotage our democratic process and turn it into his own personal agency to interfere in state elections.”

Fulton County is home to Atlanta and Wayne County is home to Detroit.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has demonstrated how Immigration and Customs Enforcement can take over such cities as Minneapolis, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Will the White House use ICE and other federal enforcement to check identification of voters in Democratic-leaning cities on November 3?

Email your comments on this issue to editors@thehustings.news.

Lassa is founding editor of The Hustings.

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EARTH DAY 2026/WEDNESDAY 4/22

Two Conservative Views on SAVE

COMMENTS?: editors@thehustings.news.

Why Congress Should Pass the SAVE Act

Commentary by Rich Corbett

The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act – known as the SAVE Act or SAVE America Act – would require documentary proof of US citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections. The bill already has passed the House and is now before the Senate, which should deliver it to President Trump’s Resolute Desk without delay.

The bill amends the National Voter Registration Act to ensure that applicants provide acceptable documents such as a US passport, a REAL ID that indicates citizenship, a military ID with birth records or a birth certificate paired with photo ID. It includes provisions for name changes (like marriage certificates) and allows states to use the Department of Homeland Security’s SAVE database to verify records and maintain accurate voter rolls. Some versions also require photo ID at the polls for federal elections.

The goal is simple: Make certain that only US citizens vote in our federal elections.

Federal law already prohibits non-citizens from voting in federal elections, with penalties including fines, imprisonment and deportation. Yet registration currently depends almost entirely on self-attestation under penalty of perjury. That system leaves gaps.

Real-world checks reveal the issue. Texas identified over 2,700 potential non-citizens on its voter rolls through database cross-checks. Georgia’s audit of millions of voters found 20 non-citizens registered, with some having voted. Other states, including Virginia, have uncovered similar cases. While the overall numbers are small, even a few illegal votes undermine the principle that every citizen’s ballot counts equally – especially in tight races. With high levels of immigration in recent years, proactive safeguards make sense. The SAVE Act addresses the problem at registration rather than relying on after-the-fact enforcement.

Critics argue that non-citizen voting is extremely rare and that the bill would create barriers for millions of eligible Americans who lack easy access to passports or birth certificates. They often cite estimates that over 20 million citizens might struggle to provide the required documents.

These concerns deserve attention, but they are overstated. The bill accepts widely available alternatives and includes an alternative process for edge cases. Many states already help residents obtain birth certificates at low or no cost for voting purposes. Most Americans can readily provide or acquire the necessary records – the same way they do for other important government services. Arizona and other states with similar requirements have implemented them without widespread disenfranchisement.

Public support is strong and bipartisan. Recent polls show a majority of Americans – including many independents and even a notable share of Democrats – favor requiring proof of citizenship for voter registration. Requiring verification for voting is consistent with how we handle other high-stakes activities like boarding flights or opening bank accounts. Election integrity should meet at least that standard.

The SAVE Act is not about suppressing votes. It is about protecting the fundamental right of American citizens to choose their leaders without dilution. Every eligible voter benefits when confidence in the system is high. Local experiments with non-citizen voting in some jurisdictions only heighten the need for a clear federal standard: Citizenship required.

Congress has an opportunity to strengthen trust in our elections. Passing the SAVE Act is a common-sense step that enforces existing law more effectively. Senators should move forward and send it to the President.

Corbett is a contributing pundit for The Hustings and writes and publishes My Desultory Blog.

•••

Do the Math

Commentary by Stephen Macaulay

Mr. Corbett is absolutely right when he writes: “Real-world checks reveal the issue.”

So let’s look at some real-world numbers.

Mr. Corbett points out: “Texas identified over 2,700 potential non-citizens on its voter rolls through database cross-checks.”

While that “potential” is a bit sketchy, let’s take the 2,700 number.

According to Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson (R), there are 18,657,918 registered voters in the state as of last February.

So this means that if there truly are 2,700, this means 0.014% of the total.

There are 7,349,646 “total active voters” in Georgia according to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

If we take Corbett’s “Georgia’s audit of millions of voters found 20 non-citizens registered, with some having voted,” there is another bit of a dodge: “some” having voted.

But let’s take the 20.

Here the percentage is even less than that of Texas: 0.00027%

America doesn’t need saving through the SAVE Act. 

What it needs are more politicians with the grasp of numbers.

“Every eligible voter benefits when confidence in the system is high.”

And based on the numbers Mr. Corbett presents, there is no reason to think that a large percentage don’t think there’s confidence in the system, were it not for ginned-up scare tactics.

Macaulay is pundit-at-large for The Hustings, where he comments primarily for the right column.

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EARTH DAY 2026/WEDNESDAY 4/22

Right and Left on SAVE

President Trump wants Congress to quickly pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act in time for this November’s midterm elections, when Republican control of the House and Senate are on the line. 

Proponents say it would assure election integrity by requiring such identification as a driver’s license to vote.

Opponents say the SAVE America Act would severely restrict voting rights and that it is not a stretch to be concerned ICE and border agents will be deployed to guard and possibly restrict access to voting booths in major American cities during the midterms this November 3. The Trump Justice Department’s latest move is an order for Democratic-leaning Wayne County, Michigan, to provide election materials including ballots, ballot receipts and ballot envelopes from the November 2024 elections, per The Independent.

“Should Congress pass the SAVE America Act?” is subject of Debate & Donuts II, the new Talking With, Not At series sponsored by The Hustings and The Allen Theatre & Salamander Bookstore Café in Annville Township, Pennsylvania, Wednesday, April 22. 

Confirm your attendance via info@theallentheatre.com or editors@thehustings.news.

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MONDAY 4/20/26

Iran War, Week Eight

President Trump addresses reporters on the South Lawn last week [WHITE HOUSE photo].

Another TACO Tuesday? – President Trump late Tuesday announced another ceasefire with Iran, this one indefinite on the heels of the about-to-expire two-week ceasefire, to give Iran’s leadership time to submit a response to US demands (per The New York Times). This ceasefire will last “until discussions are concluded, one way or another,” Trump said.

The US president appears to have blinked first. US negotiators to be led by Vice President JD Vance called off their flight to Islamabad for round two of negotiations after it became clear Iran had no intentions of sending its delegation. –TL

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TUESDAY 4/21/26

One-Sided Peace Talks – Vice President JD Vance was off to Islamabad, Pakistan Tuesday for peace talks with Iran, which had not yet sent a delegation, according to Semafor. Citing a “divided regime” from when the US and Israel took out Ayatollah Hossieni Khamenei two months ago, the report posits that Iran’s hardliners may be stalling, perhaps to demand an end to the US blockade.

Meanwhile, President Trump says he is “highly unlikely” to extend the two-week ceasefire with Iran, which is set to expire later Wednesday.

It seems apparent the new regime in Iran has read The Art of the Deal, and so it’s probably up to Trump to decide whether attacks actually resume by Thursday.

Good news first … The good news is that both the US and Iran want a peace deal, Financial Times chief foreign affairs commentator Gideon Rachman writes, but the bad news is they “distrust each other and remain far apart on all the crucial issues.”

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Fed Up Next – President Trump’s nominee to replace Jerome Powell (his previous nominee) as Federal Reserve chairman, Kevin Warsh, is a change agent ready to shake up the institution’s traditions. That’s the argument most Republicans were to take during Warsh’s Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday, according to Axios. 

Most Republicans except Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), who says he will block Warsh’s confirmation until Trump’s Justice Department concludes its investigation of Powell and his alleged responsibility for cost and schedule overruns in renovating the Fed’s Washington headquarters.

Powell, whose term as chairman ends in May, has said he will not step down from that role until his replacement is named and he does not plan to resign from the Fed board before his term ends in 2028.

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Labor Secretary is Out – Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer is leaving the Trump administration to take a job in the private sector, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said in a statement, (per The Hill). The department’s inspector general’s office has conducted a monthslong investigation into allegations of misconduct including allegations of an affair with a subordinate, using department resources for personal trips and suggestions of drinking during the workday.

Deputy Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling is acting secretary.

After a year with nary a change in the Trump cabinet, Chavez-DeRemer now joins former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and ex-Attorney General Pam Bondi, who have left the administration in the last couple of months to pursue other interests.

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Patel Sues – FBI Director Kash Patel has filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit against The Atlantic and author Sarah Fitzpatrick for their article published last Friday, “The FBI Director is MIA.” In the article, Fitzpatrick cites colleagues alarmed by “episodes of excessive drinking and unexplained absences.”

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Deal On? – Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has not paid his $1.3 billion judgment to families of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting, still. At the end of the Biden administration, Jones successfully blocked sale of his Infowars -- from which he made up a pro-gun story about the Sandy Hook tragedy being a staged event with actors as those family members -- to Global Tetrahedron, parent of The Onion.

Now Global Tetrahedron says it has reached a provisional deal to assume control of Infowars, pending approval by a Texas judge. GT plans to revive Infowars as a parody of itself, something like Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report before Stephen Colbert was hired (and much more recently fired) as host of CBS’ The Late Show. –TL

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MONDAY 4/20/26

The Art of the Deal, No Deal – Iran says it will not attend a second round of negotiations set ahead of Wednesday’s expiration of its two-week ceasefire with the US, NPR’s Morning Edition reports, after the US seized an Iranian oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz. President Trump had said Vice President JD Vance would lead the delegation along with special envoy Steve Witkoff and White House son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Dinosaurs not in the usual places … As strife in the Middle East rages on, Big Oil is spending big money on drilling sites in other regions, The Wall Street Journal reports. 

These include ExxonMobil dropping $24 billion on deep water oil fields in Nigeria, Chevron expanding its Venezuelan footprint, BP’s purchase of oil blocks off the coast of Namibia and Total Energies signing an exploration deal with Turkey. The report quotes energy research and consulting firm Wood Mackenzie estimating creation of $120 billion in value from the new exploration over the coming years.

Gas pains … Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNN’s Jake Tapper on State of the Union Sunday that gas prices have “likely peaked” but may not dip down below $3 per gallon “until next year.” After dipping below $100 per barrel during the two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran, prices started to spike again Monday, Semafor reports.

Not so slowly … Asked about Wright’s comments on SOTU, Trump told The Hill in a brief phoner Monday, “No, I think he’s wrong on that. Totally wrong.” 

So, how long will it take for gas to drop below three bucks? 

Trump replied, “as soon as this ends.”

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AAA National Average Unleaded Regular, Monday: $4.076 per gallon, down 3.4 cents from Friday, up $1.045 over February 26. Diesel: $5.531 per gallon, down 6.2 cents from Wednesday, up $2.269 over February 27.

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Tariff Refund Time – The Trump administration began accepting requests Monday for tariff refunds forced by the Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling in Learning Resources Inc. v. Trump (per The New York Times). In the ruling, SCOTUS said President Trump could not invoke the Economic Powers Act of 1997, which he used to impose a large portion of his tariffs last year. The federal government owes $166 billion, plus interest, in tariff refunds.

•••

Amen – “Nothing’s riding on this, except the First Amendment to the Constitution, freedom of the press and maybe the future of the country.” – Ben Bradlee (played by Jason Robards), executive editor of The Washington Post warning Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) they had better get their reporting on Watergate right, in Alan J. Pakula’s film version of Woodstein’s All the President’s Men. NPR’s All Things Considered celebrated the 50th anniversary of the movie’s release on Sunday. –Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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MONDAY 4/20/26

For Left and Right

The war in Iran essentially is over and we won, President Trump has said, though Iran appears to have dropped out of peace talks in Islamabad ahead of Wednesday’s expiration of a two-week US-Iran ceasefire.

Big Oil companies are looking for new, non-Middle East locations to drill for oil and the Trump administration’s energy secretary says high gas prices will linger into 2027.

Meanwhile, the federal government is about to dole out $166 billion plus interest to businesses that paid certain Trump tariffs in the last year. 

And these are just the lead news stories from Monday’s front page. 

The Hustings invites you to become a Citizen Pundit and email us your thoughts on these and other recent issues to editors@thehustings.news. Please indicate your political leanings in the subject line – we will post comments by those of you leaning right in this column and those of you leaning left in the other column.

And if you plan to be in the Lebanon, Pennsylvania area this Wednesday, April 22, please join us for Talking With, Not At… Debate & Donuts II at The Allen Theatre & Salamander Bookstore Café in Annville, Pennsylvania.

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MONDAY 4/20/26

On Orbán’s Defeat

Hungarian Preview of Our Own Midterms -- The world is sick of this s#*t. Orban may have lost due to his own horrible regime, but he finally managed to lose after 16 years when Trump decided he needed to bully not only his country but the world, start war after war, and do his best to eliminate democracy in the United States. Hungary is a preview of what Trump and the spineless Republicans are in for in the midterms. Let's hope we can limit the damage before that time comes. –K.E. Bell

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Going Quietly – I’m mildly surprised, though grateful, that Orban is going more quietly than Trump did in 2020/21. Just one more example of DJT’s gift for making nearly anyone look better by comparison. Is Trump privately furious, and contemptuous of Orbán’s “weak loser” concession? Or is he consciously scared by the outcome? – Hugh Hansen

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Your Comments on Viktor Orbán’s reelection loss to remain Hungary’s prime minister are welcome. Submit your comments to editors@thehustings.news and please indicate your political leanings – right or left, conservative or liberal – in the subject line so we may post them in the proper column. 

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Should Congress pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act? is the topic for Debate & Donuts II, second in our new Talking With, Not At series sponsored by The Hustings and The Allen Theatre & Salamander Bookstore Café in Annville Township, Pennsylvania, Wednesday, April 22. 

Proponents say it would assure election integrity by requiring such identification as a driver’s license to vote.

Opponents say the SAVE America Act would severely restrict voting rights and that it is not a stretch to be concerned ICE and border agents will be deployed to guard and possibly restrict access to voting booths in major American cities during the midterms this November 3.

Confirm your attendance via info@theallentheatre.com or editors@thehustings.news.

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TUESDAY 4/14/26

Iran War, Week Seven

Arch d’Trump is GO – The Commission on Fine Arts, hand-picked by the White House, Thursday unanimously approved the president’s massive triumphal arch in Washington near Arlington National Cemetery, Politico reports.

FRIDAY 4/17/26

UPDATE: The Strait of Hormuz is “fully open” to all commercial vessels according to a Truth Social post by President Trump and an X-Twitter post by Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araghachi, The Associated Press reports Friday.

But… About 12 minutes following the above posts, Trump Truth Socialed that the US blockade of Iranian ports remains UNTIL SUCH TIME AS OUR TRANSACTION WITH IRAN IS 100% COMPLETE. …

THIS PROCESS SHOULD GO VERY QUICKLY IN THAT MOST OF THE POINTS ARE ALREADY NEGOTIATED.

Meanwhile … New York Stock Market futures indicate a record day ahead as crude oil prices drop 10%, AP reports.

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Ceasefire Upon Ceasefire – Israel’s 10-day ceasefire on Lebanon announced Thursday appears to be holding, NPR’s Morning Edition reports, as thousands of families displaced from Southern Lebanon by the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah are returning to their homes, according to The New York Times. The two-week truce between the US and Iran due to end next week extends to Lebanon, Tehran said, building hopes the new ceasefire could remove a major hurdle to ending the war. 

Meanwhile, President Trump says he could attend peace talks soon with Iran in Islamabad, Pakistan.

•••

Holy War – In his press conference Thursday, war/Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth compared “the legacy, Trump-hating press” (and not others, presumably MAGA-right bloggers and influencers) with the pharisees who persecuted Jesus. 

Hegseth, who frequently quotes scriptures, earlier at a Pentagon prayer service repeated word-for-word Samuel L. Jackson’s Jules Winnfield-interpretation of Ezekiel 27:17 in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction. 

On NPR’s Morning Edition former Republican congressman and Obama administration Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told A Martinez that we all have religious beliefs, but a Defense secretary should not impose his beliefs on young soldiers.

“It confuses the mission by introducing that element,” Panetta said. 

Hegseth’s mission, in other words, seems to be Christian Nationalism v. Islamic Republic.

On the blockades … Panetta also told Martinez “there was no question,” his Defense Department and others pre-Trump planned for enemy closure of the Strait of Hormuz. “That was all in the plan for war with Iran,” he said.

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AAA National Average Unleaded Regular, Friday: $4.076 per gallon, down 3.2 cents from Thursday, up $1.079 over February 26. Diesel: $5.593 per gallon, down 2.1 cents from Thursday, up $2.331 over February 27. --TL

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THURSDAY 4/16/26

UPDATE: Lebanon, Israel Agree to Ceasefire – Lebanese and Israeli diplomats have agreed to a 10-day ceasefire after meeting in Washington earlier this week, The Hill reports. President Trump Truth Socialed Thursday he had an “excellent conversation” on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and has invited him to Washington to work out a permanent peace deal.

Hegseth Warns Iran Again – Iran should “choose wisely” or face US military “maximally postponed” to resume attacks, war/Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a Pentagon briefing Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reports. Hegseth told reporters the US blockade will continue as long as necessary, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine said US military will “actively pursue” dark-fleet vessels aiding Iran, even those outside the Persian Gulf. 

Ships sanctioned by the US already are subject to boarding, search and seizure according to United States Naval Forces Central Command, though up to now only those ships entering or exiting Iranian ports.

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Trump Threatens Powell Again – President Trump threatened to fire “incompetent” Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell – whom he nominated during his first term – in an exclusive interview Wednesday with Fox Business Mornings With Maria host Maria Bartiromo. Powell says he will remain Fed chairman past May if Trump’s nominee to succeed him, Kevin Walsh, is not confirmed by the Senate in time. What’s more, Powell’s seat on the Fed board runs to 2028. 

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) says he will “oppose the confirmation of any Federal Reserve nominee, including for the position of chairman, until the DOJ’s inquiry into Chairman Powell is truly and transparently resolved.”

The president plans to advise US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro (who is actively campaigning for the attorney general seat vacated by Trump's firing of Pam Bondi) to end the investigation of Powell regarding spending for Fed headquarters renovations “that I would have done for $25 million that’s going to cost maybe $4 billion. Don’t you think we have to find out what happened here?”

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Another War Powers Resolution Blocked – The Senate blocked Democrats’ fourth effort to impose a war powers resolution on the Trump administration’s incursion into Iran Wednesday by 47-52 vote, largely along party lines, CQ Roll Call reports. The vote killed a Foreign Relations Committee resolution by Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) that would direct President Trump to “remove the United States Armed Forces from hostilities within or against Iran, unless explicitly authorized by a declaration of war or a specific authorization for use of military force.”

As in the earlier resolutions, the two crossover votes were Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY) and John Fetterman (D-PA). Earlier this week, Democrats filed seven more war powers resolutions to force Republican senators on the record in coming weeks. 

Unless more Republicans cross over in the coming weeks the Trump administration has to May 1 before the 1973 War Powers Resolution kicks in, Roll Call notes, in which the president must withdraw forces from military conflicts in 60 days if Congress has failed to authorize the war. This can be extended to 90 days – so, to June 1 – to safely withdraw US military forces.

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AAA National Average Unleaded Regular, Thursday: $4.108 per gallon, down 1.5 cents from Wednesday, up $1.111 over February 26. Diesel: $5.614 per gallon, down 2.1 cents from Wednesday, up $2.352 over February 27. --TL

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WEDNESDAY 4/15/26

Latest Mixed Messages on Iran War – There is a “high chance” Tehran will host a delegation of Pakistani mediators Wednesday in indirect talks with the US, spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry Esmail Baghei told a news conference in Tehran, The New York Times reports. 

“Following the discussions that took place in Islamabad, as well as the talks the Pakistani side has had with the United States, our views have been conveyed, heard,” Baghei said. 

Meanwhile on Fox Business’ Mornings With Maria Bartiromo, President Trump said the end of the war may be near, but not because of diplomacy. 

“I think it’s over. I think it’s very close to being over,” Trump told Bartiromo, a refrain he has been repeating for weeks. “I don’t know how much longer they can survive. I don’t know how much longer they can go because they’re being hit very hard.

“We could take out every one of those bridges in one hour. We could take out their powerplants, electricity plants, in one hour. … We don’t want to do that, because some day you have to rebuild it, and it takes you 10 years to rebuild the bridges, even if you’re Trump, it takes a long time.”

It seems like there could be something to Jonathan Karl’s report on ABC’s Good Morning America last week that Trump had floated the idea of partnering with Iran to “manage and secure” traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. 

But Iran has threatened retaliation over the US naval blockade of its Strait of Hormuz ports, according to the NYT, while the US military says it has “completely halted” trade in and out of Iran by sea, with more than 10,000 US soldiers and dozens of airplanes and warships deployed.

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AAA National Average Unleaded Regular, Wednesday: $4.108 per gallon, down 1 cent from Tuesday, up $1.126 over February 26. Diesel: $5.635 per gallon, down 1.5 cents from Tuesday, up $2.373 over February 27.

•••

Meanwhile, World Economy – Global economic growth is projected to slow to 3.1% in 2026 and 3.2% in 2027 if the war in Iran and Lebanon remain limited in duration and scope, the International Monetary Fund says in its preliminary World Economic Outlook, “Global Economy in the Shadow of War” (hat tip to NPR’s Morning Edition). And global headline inflation is projected to rise modestly before resuming its decline in 2027 (NOTE: This means slowdown in the rate of inflation in ’27, not prices coming down.)

However … There are much greater “downside risks” if the conflict is longer, broader, and “worsening geopolitical fragmentation, a reassessment of expectations surrounding artificial intelligence-driven productivity or renewed trade tensions could significantly weaken growth and destabilize financial markets.” 

The summary continues: “Elevated public debt and eroding institutional credibility further heighten vulnerabilities” though with economic gains from AI development a potential mitigation. 

The IMF releases its full World Economic Outlook report at the end of April. –TL

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TUESDAY 4/14/26

Those Aren’t Scrubs – Donald J. Trump as Jesus marks the second time this year that the president has quickly removed a social media post. First was Trump’s video depicting the Obamas as apes, The Wall Street Journal's Politics newsletter notes. After immediate criticism as ‘blasphemy’ from right as well as left, Trump took down this image. He admitted it was his, saying “It’s supposed to be me as a doctor. Making people better. And I do make people better.”

•••

US, Iran to Try Again? – Peace talks between the US and Iran did not end with Vice President JD Vance’s 21-hour effort in Islamabad last weekend. Two anonymous Pakistani officials not authorized to speak officially told The Associated Press those first negotiations were part of an ongoing diplomatic process. 

On Monday, two US officials said the next round could begin as early as this Thursday in either Islamabad or Geneva.

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AAA National Average Unleaded Regular, Tuesday: $4.118 per gallon, down 0.7 cents from Monday, up $1.136 over February 26. Diesel: $5.65 per gallon, down 0.2 cents from Monday, up $2.388 over February 27.

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Swalwell, Gonzales Out – Rather than face House Ethics Committee investigations over sexual misconduct allegations, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) Monday stepped down from the House of Representatives. A frequent Trump critic on cable news, the seven-term congressman withdrew as frontrunner in this year’s race for California governor after four women approached The San Francisco Chronicle and CNN with allegations of the congressman’s sexual misconduct.

Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) announced Monday on X-Twitter he would resign Congress but did not specify the date. Gonzales faced a bipartisan expulsion effort later this week, Politico reports. Earlier this month, he admitted to an affair with a staff member, Regina Santos-Aviles, who later committed suicide. 

Cal gov … Swalwell’s withdrawal from California’s gubernatorial race leaves seven Democrats and two Republicans vying for the June 2 primary, from which the two frontrunners will head into the November 3 election regardless of party. With Swalwell out, the two new frontrunners are also Democrats; former US Rep. Katie Porter and billionaire and former presidential candidate Tom Steyer. –Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

Editor’s Notebook on Hungary’s Elections – The outcome shows the limits of right-wing populism, and this American of Hungarian descent is glad to hear it! It’s an untimely defeat for Trump and renewed hope for Zelenskyy. The new Hungarian leader can earn friends in the EU if he endorses a package of aid to Ukraine. –Charles Dervarics

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TUESDAY 4/14/26

To SAVE or Not to SAVE

President Trump did not wait for Congress to take up a vote on his Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act when he issued a March 31 executive order to “strengthen election integrity by ordering citizenship verification for federal election and modernizing and securing mail-in and absentee ballot procedures through the United States Postal Service.”

Trump’s EO issued five days after the president voted by mail himself in a Florida special election for state representative for most of Palm Beach County (his endorsed candidate, Republican Jon Maples, lost to Democrat Emily Gregory). The EO ignores states’ constitutional authority to regulate and control their own voting procedures, prompting 23 Democratic-led states on April 3 to file suit to block it.

“The president wants to control your vote,” Washington Attorney General Nick Brown said in a statement (per The Hill). “He wants to tell the Postal Service what ballots they can accept and when. But this is patently unconstitutional. And come November, despite the president’s lawless threats, we’ll once again use that power to protect our democracy.”

Trump’s EO and the lawsuit will be part of the discussion in Debate & Donuts II, the new Talking With, Not At series sponsored by The Hustings and The Allen Theatre & Salamander Bookstore Café in Annville Township, Pennsylvania, Wednesday, April 22. 

Our topic: “Should Congress pass the SAVE America Act”?

Proponents say it would assure election integrity by requiring such identification as a driver’s license to vote.

Opponents say the SAVE America Act would severely restrict voting rights and that it is not a stretch to be concerned ICE and border agents will be deployed to guard and possibly restrict access to voting booths in major American cities during the midterms this November 3.

Confirm your attendance via info@theallentheatre.com or editors@thehustings.news.

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TUESDAY 4/14/26

To ‘SAVE’ or Not to ‘SAVE’

President Trump did not wait for Congress to take up a vote on his Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act when he issued a March 31 executive order to “strengthen election integrity by ordering citizenship verification for federal election and modernizing and securing mail-in and absentee ballot procedures through the United States Postal Service.”

Trump’s EO issued five days after the president voted by mail himself in a Florida special election for state representative for most of Palm Beach County (his endorsed candidate, Republican Jon Maples, lost to Democrat Emily Gregory). The EO ignores states’ constitutional authority to regulate and control their own voting procedures, prompting 23 Democratic-led states on April 3 to file suit to block it.

“The president wants to control your vote,” Washington Attorney General Nick Brown said in a statement (per The Hill). “He wants to tell the Postal Service what ballots they can accept and when. But this is patently unconstitutional. And come November, despite the president’s lawless threats, we’ll once again use that power to protect our democracy.”

Trump’s EO and the lawsuit will be part of the discussion in Debate & Donuts II, the new Talking With, Not At series sponsored by The Hustings and The Allen Theatre & Salamander Bookstore Café in Annville Township, Pennsylvania, Wednesday, April 22. 

Our topic: “Should Congress pass the SAVE America Act”?

Proponents say it would assure election integrity by requiring such identification as a driver’s license to vote.

Opponents say the SAVE America Act would severely restrict voting rights and that it is not a stretch to be concerned ICE and border agents will be deployed to guard and possibly restrict access to voting booths in major American cities during the midterms this November 3.

Confirm your attendance via info@theallentheatre.com or editors@thehustings.news.

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MONDAY 4/13/26

Iran War, Week Seven

Péter Magyar is Hungary’s new prime minister as his center-right Tisza party won a supermajority of parliament seats in Sunday’s elections. Losers in the race are authoritarian Viktor Orbán, PM since 2010, President Trump and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. Scroll this column for details. [PHOTO: Tisza]

• In the right column: Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay on Trump’s ‘Wins.’

• In the left column: Details on our next Talking With, Not At…

MONDAY 4/13/26

US Blockades Blockade – It appears the US Military blockade of the Strait of Hormuz as promised by President Trump has taken effect, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing a UK Maritime Trade Operations notice to mariners. Trump earlier said the US blockade of ships entering or exiting Iranian ports would take effect at 10 a.m. US Eastern Time Tuesday. [The UKMTO is affiliated with the British Royal Navy.]

“We, of course, support this firm stance and we are in constant coordination with the US," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised statement.

Spokesman for Iran Parliament’s National Security Commission Ebrahim Rezai responded to Trump’s threat that no port on the Persian Gulf or the Sea of Oman would be safe. Rezai called Trump’s threat “bluster” and said Iran would consider a US blockade an “act of war” to which it would respond, according to the WSJ.

“If they don’t come back,” Trump said of ceasefire talks with Iran, “I’m fine. Their military is gone, and their missiles are largely defeated.”

As a reminder, the US-Israeli war on Iran is in the middle of a two-week ceasefire Trump announced earlier last week ahead of peace talks between Vice President JD Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff, White House son-in-law Jared Kushner and Iranian diplomats in Islamabad, Pakistan, last weekend. 

The talks ended in futility Saturday after 21 hours of negotiations. Vance left Islamabad empty handed four days after he stumped for populist “defender” of “Western civilization” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s re-election. 

“We have got to get Viktor Orbán reelected as prime minister of Hungary, don’t we?” Vance said. 

Scroll down to read about how that turned out Sunday.

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AAA National Average Unleaded Regular, Monday: $4.125 per gallon, up $1.143 over February 26. Diesel: $5.652 per gallon, up $2.44 over February 27.

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Democracy Wins Hungary – There was speculation that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán would pull a Donald J. Trump circa December 2020-January 2021 and refuse to concede Sunday’s Hungarian elections. But the preternaturally MAGA – er, MHGA -- anti-immigrant populist leader, in office since 2010, told a crowd of his supporters the following, The New York Times reports:

“The result of the election, while not complete, is clear. The result of the election is painful for us, but clear. Voters did not give us the responsibility and the ability to govern. I’ve congratulated the victorious party.”

Orbán ominously added; “We will never give up. Never, never, never.”

Voter turnout topped 80%, highest since Hungary’s 1989 election to separate from what was left of the Soviet Union, NPR’s Rob Schmitz told Morning Edition. 

The Respect and Freedom party, or Tisza for short, won 137 seats in Hungary’s parliament to Fidesz’s 55. Hungary’s new prime minister, Tisza’s Péter Magyar, resigned Fidesz himself two years ago to run largely on a promise to end the corruption that has enriched Orbán while devastating Hungary’s economy to make it the poorest in the European Union, by far.

Tisza’s two-thirds majority gives Magyar “basically free reins to undertake sweeping constitutional changes,” Abel Bojar, of the Budapest-based 21 Research Center political polling firm, told NPR’s All Things Considered Sunday. “And what we’re hoping at this point is that he will use that to re-democratize the country.”

Orbán and his Fidesz party were not the only losers in this election. By close association include as the election’s losers the Trump White House and Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) and Putin’s Kremlin, for which Orbán blocked 90 billion euros in aid to Ukraine from the EU just prior to the war’s fourth anniversary in February (per Financial Times).

Orbán’s Fidesz playbook will look familiar: His “illiberal democracy” stacked Hungary’s judicial system and nominally independent agencies with Fidesz loyalists and took control of the country’s news media outlets. 

“We have done it,” Magyar told a crowd of supporters at a rally on the Danube River (NYT). “We have liberated Hungary and have taken back our country.” – Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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MONDAY 4/13/26

This Is Winning?

Commentary by Stephen Macaulay

During his 2016 campaign, Donald Trump said on more than one occasion: “We’re gonna win so much, you may even get tired of winning. And you’ll say, ‘Please, please. It’s too much winning. We can’t take it anymore, Mr. President, it’s too much.’ And I’ll say, ‘No it isn’t. We have to keep winning. We have to win more!’”

If this is winning, “Please, please. We can’t take it anymore.”

Trump has frequently declared victory in the war on Iran.

What has he accomplished besides having a bunch of things blown up?

According to Pete Hegseth’s comments on April 8, “Together with our Israeli partners, America's military achieved every single objective on plan, on schedule, exactly as laid out from day one. Iran's navy is at the bottom of the sea. . . . Iran's air force has been wiped out. Iran no longer has an air defense — any sort of a comprehensive air defense system. . . . Their missile program is functionally destroyed, launchers, production facilities and existing stockpiles depleted and decimated and almost completely ineffective. . . .[T]hey can no longer build missiles, build rockets, build launchers or build UAVs. Their factories have been razed to the ground, set back in historic fashion. . . . . Their top leadership was systematically eliminated, their previous Iranian supreme leader dead, the supreme national security council secretary dead, the supreme leader office advisor dead, the supreme leader military office chief dead, the defense minister no longer with us, the IRGC commander dead, the armed forces general staff commander dead, the intelligence minister dead, the IRGC navy commander no longer here, the IRGC Intel chief dead.”

So they blew up the Iranian navy and air force.  They blew up rockets, warehouses, and factories. They killed an array of people in Iranian leadership positions. But there has been no regime change, and while there have been no Iranian missile attacks since April 8, what we know to be true is that this is in the period of the ceasefire, so maybe Iran is following through on its commitment (or building more munitions).

What’s more, while there was also the statement that Iran could have no nuclear material that could be used to build a bomb, the state of that material is unclear.

On June 21, 2025, after Operation Midnight Hammer, Trump announced: “Our objective was the destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world’s number one state sponsor of terror.

“Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success. Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated.

The Iranians must be quite industrious if they could bring back facilities that were “completely and totally obliterated” in a matter of months.

Iran is thought to still possess some 970 pounds of uranium that’s been enriched to 60%. A bomb requires 90% purity.

It requires from 33 to 55 pounds of uranium to construct an atomic bomb.

This means Iran still has enough to build from 19 to 29 nuclear weapons.

It also has, according to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, more material, as in 405 pounds enriched to 20%, 13,244 pounds to 5%, and 5,260 pounds up to 2%.

Is any of that gone?  

What is gone is more money out of the pockets of American consumers. 

Because of the Iranian control of the Strait of Hormuz, gasoline prices have skyrocketed in the US (and elsewhere around the world).

Trump regularly said during his most-recent campaign as well as after he was re-elected that the price of energy, as in petroleum products, in particular, are the key to the costs of everything such that if the price of oil went down, the prices of everything else would go down, too.

On February 26, 2026, the average price of a gallon of gas in the US was $2.98. According to AAA, as of April 12 the price is up to $4.12 per gallon.

That’s a 38% increase.

What’s more — and it is really more — the current price of a gallon of diesel fuel — the fuel that powers everything from big rig semi-trucks to agricultural equipment — is $5.66. Growing goods is going to be more costly for farmers who have to fuel all of the Deere equipment. And moving those goods to the grocery store in a semi-trailer is going to be more expensive, too.

In other words, if the price of fuel has gone up as it has, and if Trump argued that the price of fuel drives the prices of everything else, then the prices of everything will continue to rise.

What is Trump’s plan to open the Strait of Hormuz to tanker traffic?

It is to make it impossible to go through it.

Or, as he posted on April 12 on his social media platform, “Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the Finest in the World, will begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz.”

Or course what you or I consider to be immediate (i.e., “right now”) isn’t the same in the vocabulary of Donald Trump, as he added, “The Blockade will begin shortly.”

Well, it does take time to move some ships around.

He continued, “Other Countries will be involved with this Blockade. Iran will not be allowed to profit off this Illegal Act of EXTORTION.”

Given that he’s pretty much annoyed our NATO allies, some of whom (e.g., the UK has world-class mine-sweeping capabilities), who these “Other Countries” are, remains to be determined.

The “Illegal Act of EXTORTION” that Trump refers to is likely the toll that Iran is charging to oil tankers.

How does that square with Trump’s comment to ABC News’s Jon Karl on Wednesday, April 8, that he was thinking about collaborating with Iran on charging fees for boats going through the Strait: “We’re thinking of doing it as a joint venture.”

So it is a business opportunity if the US breaks maritime law along with Iran but EXTORTION otherwise.

The point is, this isn’t “winning.” This is “flailing.”

When will Donald Trump explain to the American people what he thinks he has accomplished in Iran?

Well, the answer to that is “frequently.”

Unfortunately, along with the frequency is policy incoherence.

Macaulay is pundit-at-large for The Hustings.

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MONDAY 4/13/26