TV News LIES

When not firing off social media posts threatening potential war crimes against 93 million Iranians, Donald Trump is busy quietly killing the so-called American dream. With gasoline at US$4 a gallon, credit card debt hitting a record US$1.28tn, and stagnating wages, Americans are struggling to detect the prosperity their president promised them. Regardless, Trump plans to spend a record $1.5tn on the military in 2027 – a 40% increase for the Pentagon at a time when farm bankruptcies have increased by 46%.

But if Trump’s illegal war on Iran has taught us anything, it is this: Americans will pay any price for freedom, except if it increases the price of groceries or gasoline. People in the Maga heartlands tolerated the erosion of civil liberties, democracy and the rule of law during the first year of Trump’s second presidency but they will be unforgiving if their standard of living declines.

My wife and I moved from Fremantle to New York for our careers 15 years ago, bringing our three small children with us. All of them are US citizens. But we recently took a family decision to return to Australia. To be honest, it feels like an escape.

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Clay Fuller supports the war in Iran. Shawn Harris opposes it. Voters in Marjorie Taylor Greene’s former district in north-west Georgia decided that this distinction was not enough to propel a Democrat into a conservative-leaning House seat on Tuesday night.

Associated Press called the election as results from the rural counties of north-western corner of the state rolled in.

Both men running to replace the former Trump ally turned critic, who resigned from Congress earlier this year, have considerable military credentials. Fuller is an air force reserve lieutenant colonel and military attorney. Harris is a retired brigadier general who has commanded combat troops in Afghanistan, Liberia and elsewhere, with his last active-duty assignment as a military attache in Israel.

On paper, the odds of a Harris win were slim. Georgia’s 14th congressional district voted for Trump by a two-to-one margin in 2024, which is nearly the same margin Harris lost to Greene in 2024. In line with special elections for Congress since the start of Trump’s term, the Democratic candidate overperformed. Early results suggest Harris has improved on his 2024 margin by double digits. Harris said he will try again in November with a full congressional term on the table.

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Democratic-backed candidate Chris Taylor is projected to win a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, expanding the court’s liberal majority, according to Decision Desk HQ. 

Taylor, an appellate court judge, defeated Maria Lazar, a conservative and fellow appellate court judge, for a seat left open by conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley, who opted to not seek reelection.

Wisconsin’s high court currently boasts a 4-3 liberal majority, expanding to a 5-2 edge with Taylor’s victory.

It’s a major victory in the state for Democrats, who only three years ago flipped the state’s high court from a conservative majority to a liberal one. 

Though Taylor was expected to win Tuesday, the election has underscored the speed with which Democrats have taken partisan control of a high court in a consequential battleground state.

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Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin says he’s considering pulling US customs agents from airports in sanctuary cities – a move that could upend international travel to and from some of the country’s busiest airports. Mullin said he was considering the change because “I believe sanctuary cities is not lawful.” Republicans and Democrats remain in a pitched political battle over funding for ICE and Border Patrol.

Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has signed into a law a bill that allows the state to designate terrorist groups, then punish those who promote them. Critics say the law will threaten free speech, especially on school campuses. The bill specifics bars the state’s courts from enforcing foreign religious laws, specifically naming Sharia Law. Florida courts enforce secular laws passed in the state, however.

Representative Yassamin Ansari, an Arizona Democrat, will introduce impeachment articles next week against defense secretary Pete Hegseth. “Only Congress has the power to declare war, not a rogue president or his lackeys,” Ansari said in a statement.

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Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed’s plans to rally in the state this week with controversial livestreamer Hasan Piker are roiling the Democratic primary, with other candidates blasting the decision to invite him on the campaign trail.

El-Sayed, the former Wayne County health director backed by progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), was the runner-up to Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) in the 2018 Democratic gubernatorial primary.

He’s earned significant progressive backing, but his decision to invite Piker to rally with him on Tuesday at the University of Michigan and Michigan State University has raised the hackles of his Democratic rivals while upping concerns for his party that if he wins the primary, he could make it easier for Republicans to take back the seat.

Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.), one of El Sayed’s opponents, told Jewish Insider that Piker is “the exact opposite of someone I’d be campaigning with.”

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Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) on Sunday said that those who push to not “engage” with popular Twitch streamer and left-wing political commentator Hasan Piker “will cost us future elections.”

“The lesson of the last election is we’ve got to be out there. We’ve got to engage. It’s a complex, messy, multiracial democracy. I will defend my views, but the people who are saying, ‘Don’t engage,’ will cost us future elections,” Khanna told NBC News’s Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press.”

Piker, who has a history of making controversial statements, is often critical of both Democrats and Republicans in his streams. He is also a notable critic of Israel and Zionism.

According to a Politico report from last month, multiple notable Democrats, including Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), rejected the idea of joining Piker on his stream when asked by the outlet.

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