Smash The Bubble

News and opinion from both the left and the right, mixed together so you can break out of your filter bubble.

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Today's Headlines

Don’t Count GOP Out of Midterms Yet

The Axe Files with David Axelrod

Go beyond the soundbites and get to know some of the most interesting players in politics.

Ilhan Omar’s Sister’s Phone Was Seized Before Search of Lawmaker’s Home

A criminal investigation into the lawmaker’s immigration process advanced after federal investigators reviewed family text messages from a seized phone.

Zelensky Needs To Learn the Fine Art of Shutting Up

FOX News contributor Marc Thiessen argued on "Special Report" that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is making a mistake by publicly criticizing President Donald Trump.

Ilhan Omar's turbulent week explained: The dueling probes that threw the Somali-born progressive into chaos

Federal agents raided Ilhan Omar's D.C. home, seizing her phone, computers and passport as part of a criminal probe into immigration fraud.

U.S. Floats Lifeline to Russia: Allowing More Gas Sales to Europe

The Trump administration is pitching the idea as part of a peace deal with Ukraine, but Europe is wary and critics say Russia would be strengthened.

Susan Collins Criticizes Rival’s ‘Oh, Shut Up’ Comment as ‘Very Telling’

Ms. Collins, a Republican running in a crucial race, said the debate remark by Troy Jackson reflects how he treats women. Mr. Jackson has defended his comment, and his campaign said Ms. Collins had run a campaign based on personal attacks.

California diners are cutting back as costs soar — but restaurant owner reveals one trend that's booming

Happy hour business jumped from roughly 8% to nearly 30% of sales at a San Diego restaurant group as California diners hunt for cheaper meals.

‘Oh, Shut Up’: The Transparent Fraudulence of Feminist Politics

The charge that male politicians show disrespect to all womanhood by interrupting or clashing with a female politician is made against men in only one party.

Claire's Weekly Letter: An Army of Yesterday’s Civilians

Rubio Misunderstands What Makes the West Great

Consider the qualities he celebrates: courage, strength, ambition and pride. Genghis Khan had all of these in abundance. So did Persian emperors, Russian czars and rulers of imperial China.

Equal Pay, Unequal Work

Grand Slam champions take home identical prizes, but the men must win 50 percent more sets to get there.

Are We Winning the Culture War?

‘The central insight of conservatism is that you’re fighting this twilight struggle to impose a kind of speed limit on societal change that is sustainable.’

The Rise and Fall of Katie Zacharia

Ever since 2017, Washington has used a new unit of time: a Scaramucci. It refers to the 11-day period that Anthony Scaramucci served as a communications director in the first Trump administration. This week, the president's newest press secretary,…

Everything you need to know about Biden's student loan forgiveness program

President Joe Biden's federal student loan forgiveness program, which promises to deliver up to $20,000 of debt relief for millions of borrowers, is on hold indefinitely as legal challenges work their way through the courts.

Zacharia Fired After Just 5 Days: 'Did Anyone Vet Her?'

Settling in for a seven-hour flight across the continent this week, President Donald Trump offered little indication there was anything wrong.

Trump Revives 2020 Election Conspiracy Theories as Midterms Loom

Voting rights advocates fear the Trump administration may use the federal government to cast doubt on the election, discourage participation or try to delegitimize results.

ICE arrests more than 100 alleged gang members in single week, including violent MS-13, TdA suspects: DHS

A suspected MS-13 member wanted for homicide and a teenage Tren de Aragua associate facing murder charges were among 131 ICE gang arrests.

To Squeeze Iran, Washington Must Go After Halkbank

The Netherlands Has Its Own Stonehenge

Income inequality at Obama Foundation, as brass thrives and rank and file seeks union

Half of the Obama Foundation's reported workforce topped $100,000 in pay, outpacing five other presidential nonprofits examined in recent tax filings.

Anatomy of a Book Promotion

How a LinkedIn spat over the “glass cliff” cost McKinsey partner Chris Bradley his leadership role, and became the centrepiece of a book launch.

Trump Betrays Lindsey Graham; Will Rally with Darline Wednesday

Trump waived implementation of a sanctions bill named after the late Lindsey Graham. What is Senator Darline Graham supposed to say about this?

Ilhan Omar should be jailed, deported if citizenship fraud proven, Top House Republican says

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer says Ilhan Omar should serve jail time and be deported if the federal investigation proves she lied on paperwork.

Trump Signs Order Waiving New Russia Sanctions

The sanctions were part of a measure that was named after Senator Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican who died in July.

Closing the Enthusiasm Gap

Republican voter enthusiasm is catching up with Democrats’, but the GOP still faces a difficult midterm landscape.

How Genetics Rewrote History

Ancient DNA has given historians a new archive, and in two decades it has settled long-running arguments about who migrated, who conquered, and who replaced whom.

How Kyrsten Sinema's decision makes Democrats' 2024 Senate map tighter

Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema decided to shake up the political world on Friday by becoming an independent. The former Democrat is still caucusing with the party in the Senate, so the Democratic caucus still has 51 members. Now, instead of 49 Democr…

Australia’s Coming Censorship Machine

The Albanese government's proposed Digital Duty of Care laws would give regulators sweeping powers over online content, threatening free speech in Australia and setting a dangerous precedent for internet regulation worldwide.

Your bumper sticker could help Flock cameras track where you go — new bill aims to stop it

Rep. Pat Harrigan's bill would require warrants for ALPR searches, delete records within 24 hours and ban tracking political or religious stickers.

'No Kings' foot soldiers ignore organizers' warning, go all in for Democrats

"No Kings" organizers promote "Vote Blue" and partisan slogans that their own national coalition rulebook explicitly prohibits at Saturday's rallies.

Report: Musk Suggested Cutting Ukraine's Starshield Access

The Same Old, Same Old European Runaround

What the Godfather of Foreign Policy Realism Would Say

It's a good bet that most Americans have never heard of Nicholas Spykman. He was born on October 13, 1893, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He attended Delft University and during the First World War served in Dutch diplomatic posts in Cairo and the…

Even by Recent Standards, This Year’s Continuing Resolution Is a Disaster

One Democrat Who Knows What a Blue Wave Feels Like

I think there's a chance this is going to be the first election of the post-Trump era, Perriello told HuffPost.

Congressional Staff Open Letters Containing Suspicious Substances

The incidents, the first of which was reported on Thursday, came as election officials have reported a growing number of threats directed at them.

A Pop Fiction Master and Monster

Rest in Peace, Jeffrey Archer—politician, novelist, and reviled human being.

Welcome to The Poll Vault

Twenty days before a midterm is a ridiculous time to launch an elections newsletter. But I'm doing it anyway.

Politics of the Day

Politics of the Day

Take the Wilderness Road and You'll Find the Appalachian First Lady Who Fooled Washington

'Sell It to Someone Else': Tafoya Blows Up Flanagan Over Massive Fraud

Josh Frydenberg on Bondi, Antisemitism and A Grateful Son

Former Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg tells Claire Lehmann why he believes Bondi was preventable, and what Australia needs on antisemitism, tax and economic reform

Anti-Catholic Social Panics, Then and Now

Two centuries before the claimed discovery of non-existent ‘unmarked graves’ in British Columbia, a wave of bestselling ‘convent exposés’ purported to detail mass rape and child murder among priests and nuns.

America's Net Zero Near Miss

The green ideology that nearly conquered the country.

From handyman to House history: HVAC mogul Joe Strada pushes trade schools, business mindset in Florida race

From humbling beginnings, Joe Strada built a half-billion dollar a year HVAC business; now he wants to bring his hard work, no-nonsense approach to Washington DC.

Defending Dynamic Markets

Domestic production costs aren’t fixed. Tariffs can spur investment, competition, and falling prices.

Why a Senate Win for Abdul El-Sayed Has Capitol Hill Running Scared

The fine print of the Respect for Marriage Act

Let's start with the positive: Republicans and Democrats are coming together to protect same-sex marriage from the Supreme Court.

Graham Breaks With Trump Over Russia Sanctions Law Her Brother Championed

Senator Darline Graham, appointed to fill the Senate seat of her late brother, Lindsey, gently disagreed with the president’s decision to exempt Russia from the sanctions legislation.

A Dishonest (and Dangerous) Nobel Laureate

Navi Pillay’s appalling treatment of Hamas’s sexual violence provides ample reason to deny her any prestigious honours. But she is also dangerous to the very international legal system that she pretends to uphold.

Meet the woman steering Biden's bipartisan winning streak on Capitol Hill

The Biden administration managed to rack up a long list of major legislative wins in its first two years despite facing one of the most closely-divided Congresses in history. From bipartisan action on infrastructure, gun safety and same-sex marria…

The Importance of Pillay's Nobel Peace Prize

She believes that human rights and international law are universal principles that must be enforced regardless of violator's ideology, ethnicity, or geostrategic alignment.

As Scrutiny of His Aid to Putin Intensifies, Trump Waives More Russia Sanctions

As Trump cancels sanctions from Graham bill he just signed, new report claims Elon Musk suggested, and Trump agreed, on restricting Ukraine’s defenses.

Radicals Burning France Down

Secretary Rubio Learned ‘Everybody’s Story’ Ahead of Memorial Honoring Americans Who Died on October 7

Ruby Chen called on Congress to initiate an investigation into Oct. 7.

Meet the 22-year-old candidate eyeing history in key swing state as Gen Z embraces conservatism: 'Step up'

Dillon Fillion, a 22-year-old Domino's driver and Iowa House candidate, credits Charlie Kirk with helping Gen Z men embrace conservative principles.

Have Leftist Professors Poisoned the Electorate?

Virtually our entire educational system has been captured by destructive political radicals, and it is madness for an advanced society to know this is happening and do nothing to stop it.

DOJ Sues CA Over Non-Citizen Voters

Friday, October 16th on RealClearPolitics - Joined by former White House Middle East coordinator and author of "Brink," Brett McGurk

Common People

A wonderful new book by Stephen Wade, America’s greatest living folklorist, chronicles the history of the country’s folk music.

Cars, Cars, Cars, Cars

Chinese new-car sales have risen steadily over the last few years, reaching 30 million last year, but that number is falling as the Chinese economy goes through tough times.

Katie Zacharia Is Gone Before I Even Got the Chance to Mock Her

Another spectacular embarrassment for the administration.

The notable legal clouds that continue to hang over Donald Trump

All eyes are on former President Donald Trump, who has launched another White House bid.

Office of Refugee Resettlement Pushes Back on Reports of Children Facing Court Without Lawyers

Officials say they are cleaning up a mess left over from the Biden administration that has been unconscionably and unaccountably hurting children.

'Moderate' AG's office turned to groups that spent years suing prisons for recruiting help: emails reveal

Kris Mayes rejected defund the police calls, but emails show her Arizona AG office asked the ACLU to help recruit key corrections attorneys.

Justice Department Seeks to Disqualify Judge Overseeing Golf Course Lawsuit

Escalating a standoff with Judge Ana C. Reyes, the Justice Department demanded that she recuse herself from a case in which she had ordered several Trump officials to testify.

CNN Political Briefing

The political news you need to know, in 10 minutes or less. Hosted by David Chalian.

The Radicalisation of Tucker Carlson

The most parsimonious explanation for Carlson’s political project in recent years is that he has developed a hatred of Western liberal democracy.

From ‘Third Reich’ to ‘not that informed’: Senate debates deliver fireworks before midterms

Candidates in Michigan, Georgia, South Carolina and Maine delivered personal accusations and unexpected admissions during debates that have led up to their elections.

Trump Administration Restricts Drone Activity Along U.S.-Mexico Border

The new restrictions ban unauthorized drone flights within a nautical mile of the southern border, up to 400 feet in the air.

Department of Things Not to Worry About

Senior citizens not spending enough? Not to worry.

How Pennsylvania Explains the Forces Shaping the Midterms

Four battleground congressional districts in the state reveal fault lines that are echoing nationwide.

Inside the family business that turned a famous fair food into an American tradition

Fletcher's Original Corny Dogs sells 550,000 corny dogs each year at the Lone Star State's iconic fair using the same 84-year-old recipe.

Margins of Error

Look closely at almost anything and you'll find data—lots of it. But what are those numbers really saying about who we are and what we believe? Harry Enten is on a mission to find out.

Medical Journal Promotes Ideological Redefinition of ‘Infertility’

Infertility is a biological condition.

James Lindsay’s Fever Dream

Sherrod Brown's Troubling Pledge on Judges

Even the pretense of deliberation is over. He is pledging not to consider the merits of nominees in fulfilling his oath to give "advice and consent" on nominations.

They Walked in Line

A look back at the heyday of cinema’s lurid Nazisploitation subgenre, from ‘Ilsa’ to ‘The Night Porter.’

Woke Dean of Students Warns Saying 'In Christ Alone' Constitutes 'White 'Privilege'

Dispute Between Trump Allies Centers on Millions Transferred From Congo

The White House inquiry is focused on diverging accounts from Richard Grenell and Alina Habba Mildon about a $17 million transfer from a government account in the African country to a Texas defense firm.

What Pennsylvania Reveals About the Midterms

In Pennsylvania, four congressional districts exemplify the types of seats that Democrats are aiming to flip. Our national political correspondent Shane Goldmacher explains.