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On Friday, all of the evening broadcast networks previewed the upcoming midterm election by fretting over changes to President Trump’s rally schedule as election day neared. While CBS and NBC continued to put focus on the backlash controversy of the Decoy Dan Sullivan in Alaska’s Senate race, ABC avoided the topic and instead pushed Democratic hopes for candidate Adam Hamilton to win Kansas’s Senate election.ABC World News Tonight anchor David Muir led off by worrying about “abruptly canceled rallies in Kansas” that were then “suddenly back on.” Reporter and co-anchor of ABC’s This Week, Jonathan Karl began his report by saying Trump was “bristling” at a reporter when asked about the rally schedule changes yesterday.Karl turned the rally-scheduled talk into a promotion of Hamilton in the Kansas race: Friday’s ABC World News Tonight’s election preview featured Jonathan Karl wondering about Trump midterm rallies in Iowa and Kansas “suddenly” being rescheduled, while he favorably portrayed Kansas’s Democratic nominee for Senate, Adam Hamilton, and his chances of winning. pic.twitter.com/QjU4b4DxZA— Nick (@nspin310) October 30, 2026 Kansas hasn’t elected a Democratic senator in nearly a century, but Senator Marshall is struggling this week, drawing attention by praising the economy even as record diesel prices have hit the state’s farmers.Karl then showed an interview with Hamilton we did earlier this month, while positively portraying him as “the pastor of the largest Methodist church in the United States,” and “A Democrat making real headway in this deep red state.”Karl closed his report with some Republican doom talk:It’s unclear why President Trump suddenly canceled those rallies in Kansas and Iowa or why he suddenly rescheduled them. But this much is clear in these tight Senate races. The Republicans are defending ground in what has been some of the most solidly Republican states in the country.Also on ABC’s newscast, a report on Christa Pike, the convicted murderer in Tennessee whose execution was botched, about the race for Tennessee governor, essentially insinuated a Democrat would not allow Pike to face the death penalty compared to a Republican: Somehow, ABC made the botched execution of convicted murderer Christa Pike about the Tennessee governor’s race, essentially acting as if the Democratic candidate would save her from the death penalty:“Christa Pike’s future is now tied to next week’s election for Tennessee… https://t.co/W0JEHUVIvr pic.twitter.com/R1C69TornK— Nick (@nspin310) October 31, 2026 Christa Pike’s future is now tied to next week’s election for Tennessee governor. The two women running disagree on the death penalty and on what should happen next in this case.”While ABC would relate a midterm race to Pike, they could not bear to mention the Alaska “Decoy Dan” scandal. Friday’s CBS Evening News ticked the midterm report boxes by fretting over the schedule of Trump rallies, while also focusing on the Alaska Senate Ballot controversy and previewing a ’60 Minutes’ report on the Michigan Senate Race. pic.twitter.com/HrkM9XUoJw— Nick (@nspin310) October 31, 2026 CBS Evening News did take the time, however, to mention Alaska. Still, like ABC, CBS’s Weijia Jiang continued to talk about the rally schedule, and played more of Trump’s hilarious exchange with a reporter who insisted Trump canceled the rally because of health, with Jiang labeling it as “questions about his stamina.”Jiang then detailed the Alaska controversy:In Alaska, where Trump visited earlier this month, the top federal prosecutor confirmed a criminal investigation related to an alleged plan to confuse voters by putting a Senate candidate on the ballot with the same name as the Republican incumbent, Dan Sullivan, after The New York Times reported Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola’s campaign appeared to be involved.She then turned to talk about voter concern for corruption in government, and previewed a 60 Minutes piece by Ross Douthat on the Michigan Senate Race where Douthat asked Rogers, “Do you think the Trump administration has a corruption problem? NBC Nightly News even led off its Friday show with reporting on the Alaska ‘Double Dan Sullivans’ controversy and detailed the growing criminal investigation into Democratic recruiting of the decoy candidate. https://t.co/unsqIvHV48 pic.twitter.com/CUrCQOY6GR— Nick (@nspin310) October 31, 2026 On NBC, a premier focus was given to the Double Dan Sullivan in Alaska, with the topic given the lead story on the newscast. Tom Lllams led off the show with a strong introduction:We want to begin with the criminal investigation into Alaska’s Senate race now expanding tonight, as federal prosecutors say they’re surging FBI agents on this case. The FBI now interviewing those allegedly involved in a secret democratic scheme to recruit a candidate with the same name as the Republican senator in the race, you see it here, to cause confusion for voters. The Justice Department holding a news conference late today announcing more federal agents will be heading to the frontier state. At stake: Control of the Senate, which could come down to Alaska.A report from Steve Patterson detailed the growing criminal investigation into the recruiting of the Democrat deputy Dan Sullivan:Federal prosecutors say they’ve surged FBI agents to figure out if laws were broken in an alleged scheme to trick Alaska voters.For such a growing scandal that seemed poised to impact the midterm elections, ABC interestingly made the decision to avoid it.The transcripts from all of the broadcast networks are below. Click “expand”:ABC World News TonightOctober 30, 20266:34:43 PM Eastern(…)DAVID MUIR: We turn now to the high-stakes midterm elections just four days away tonight, after President Trump abruptly canceled rallies in Kansas and Iowa and then being asked about it. Those rallies suddenly back on tonight, with both of those Senate races in normally red states now a dead heat tonight. Here’s Jonathan Karl.[Story begins]JONATHAN KARL: After holding 25 campaign rallies across the country this month, President Trump abruptly canceled planned weekend rallies in Kansas and Iowa. Bristling when a reporter asked him why.REPORTER: You not going to Kansas has nothing to do with you being sick of traveling?PRESIDENT: Oh, you’re sick to ask that question. You are sick. He comes to me, ‘Sir, you’re not going to go to Kansas.’ I’m not going to Kansas because he’s doing very well.KARL: But in Kansas, a state Trump won three times. Republican senator Roger Marshall is now locked in a neck-and-neck race with Democrat Adam Hamilton. Marshall seemed surprised when he learned that the president’s weekend rally had been called off.REPORTER: Senator, any reaction to the president canceling the in-person rally this weekend?SEN. ROGER MARSHALL (R-KS): I’m not sure yet. Thye might think that I’m doing so well in the polls that he’s got probably got better places to spend his time. Not sure.KARL: Today, Trump suddenly reversed course, announcing his weekend rallies were back on.TRUMP: I got a call from both states, Kansas and Iowa, and they said, if you could go, it would be better than a tele-rally.KARL: Kansas hasn’t elected a Democratic senator in nearly a century, but Senator Marshall is struggling this week, drawing attention by praising the economy even as record diesel prices have hit the state’s farmers.MARSHALL: This is one of the best economies I’ve ever seen in my lifetime. Yes, gas prices are too high, but the economy itself.KARL: I spoke to Marshall’s Democrat opponent, Adam Hamilton, who is the pastor of the largest Methodist church in the United States. A Democrat making real headway in this deep red state. [To Hamilton] Why do you think they may vote for a Democrat this time around?REV. ADAM HAMILTON (D-KS): Again and again and again, people who have been strong supporters of Trump are paying the price for decisions made in Washington, D.C. That are harming them. And I think they feel like, where’s the champion for us? You know, we might have voted for Trump, but we need a senator who’s going to say, Mr. President, you know, this is not good for my people.[Cuts back to live]KARL: It’s unclear why President Trump suddenly canceled those rallies in Kansas and Iowa or why he suddenly rescheduled them. But this much is clear in these tight Senate races. The Republicans are defending ground in what has been some of the most solidly Republican states in the country. David?(…)6:38:34 PM EasternSTEVE OSUNSAMI: Pike says she woke up alone in the hospital, confused and in pain, and has been in pain ever since. My body hurts. My arms hurt, my hands hurt. Her lawyer says the state should now give her a life sentence.STEPHEN FERRELL:I think that a life sentence in this case is definitely a fair outcome for everything that has taken place.OSUNSAMI: But Tennessee’s governor disagrees.GOV. BILL LEE (R-TN): She is still incarcerated under the laws off the state of Tennessee, and I expect her sentence will be the same as it was before, unless determined otherwise by the courts.OSUNSAMI: Christa Pike’s future is now tied to next week’s election for Tennessee governor. The two women running disagree on the death penalty and on what should happen next in this case, David?(…)CBS Evening NewsOctober 30, 20266:31:58 PM EasternWEIJIA JIANG: Tonight, President Trump is holding his 27th rally in 30 days. A sign of how competitive key congressional races have become.TRUMP: You know, the people want them. You see the people there, it’s amazing, the crowds have been unbelievable.JIANG: On Thursday, he canceled two weekend rallies in Iowa and Kansas, prompting questions and sharp answers about his stamina.TRUMP: I feel perfect. You are disgusting. Put yourself in shape. You look like hell. JIANG: Republican officials said Trump would reach more people with phone rallies, but by this moment, both in-person events were back on.TRUMP: We want to make sure we win Kansas. We want to make sure we win Iowa. We should do that.JIANG: In Alaska, where Trump visited earlier this month, the top federal prosecutor confirmed a criminal investigation related to an alleged plan to confuse voters by putting a Senate candidate on the ballot with the same name as the Republican incumbent, Dan Sullivan. After The New York Times reported, Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola’s campaign appeared to be involved.US ATTORNEY FOR ALASKA MICHAEL HEYMAN: Anyone who tries to illegally deceive voters and interfere with the election will answer for it.JIANG: A recent CBS News poll found voters in both parties see government corruption as a factor in their votes. The issue came up when 60 Minutes correspondent Ross Douthat sat down with Michigan G.O.P. Senate candidate, Mike Rogers.ROSS DOUTHAT: Do you think the Trump administration has a corruption problem?MIKE ROGERS (R-MI): Well, I can tell you this. I’m an FBI agent by training.DOUTHAT: What did you work on as an FBI agent?ROGERS: Organized crime and public corruption.DOUTHAT: Public corruption. Yes, Yes.ROGERS: So, I’m going to act as a United States senator with the best interests of Michigan. I can tell you that right now.JIANG: Michigan is one of several states reporting a surge in early voting. Nationwide, more than 48 million people have already voted, including Pope Leo, the first pontiff to ever vote in a U.S. Election, mailing in his Illinois ballot from the Vatican. Tony?(…)NBC Nightly NewsOctober 30, 20266:32:08 PM EasternTOM LLAMAS: Friday night. We want to begin with the criminal investigation into Alaska’s Senate race now expanding tonight, as federal prosecutors say they’re surging FBI agents on this case. The FBI now interviewing those allegedly involved in a secret democratic scheme to recruit a candidate with the same name as the Republican senator in the race, you see it here, to cause confusion for voters. The Justice Department holding a news conference late today announcing more federal agents will be heading to the frontier state. At stake: control of the Senate, which could come down to Alaska. And that investigation comes as we saw President Trump shaking up his campaign just four days out from election day. The president had promised an all-out campaign blitz in the final days. But then last night suddenly canceled major rallies in Kansas and Iowa scheduled for this weekend. But then, in a surprise move, he added them back in. Our Gabe Gutierrez is traveling with the president in Florida, but we want to start with Steve Patterson on the ground there in Alaska.[Story begins]STEVE PATTERSON: Tonight. The growing criminal investigation into Alaska Democrat Mary Peltola’s Senate campaign.US ATTORNEY FOR ALASKA: What we’ve learned recently has been deeply troubling.PATTERSON: Federal prosecutors say they’ve surged FBI agents to figure out if laws were broken in an alleged scheme to trick Alaska voters.US ATTORNEY FOR ALASKA: Anyone who tries to illegally deceive voters and interfere with the election will answer for it.PATTERSON: After that bombshell report in the New York Times about a secret democratic plot to sabotage the campaign of Republican senator Dan Sullivan by placing another candidate with the same name on the ballot to confuse voters. The Times reporting Peltola campaign worked with national Democrats, eventually finding a man named Dan J. Sullivan to run. Tonight, we spoke to people in Anchorage. [To Voter 1] Are you disappointed in the in the Democrats in this.VOTER 1: I mean, if the basis is true, then yes, of course, it’s very disappointing. Iit’s less than honest, you know.PATTERSON At least 60,000 alaskans have already voted. [TO VOTER 2) Any confusion filling out the ballot?VOTER 2: No confusion. It’s clear that he is the incumbent.PATTERSON: [To VOTER 3] Were you confused about which Dan Sullivan it was? VOTER 3: I wasn’t, but I’m sure there’s other people that will be.PATTERSON: Overnight, Peltola denied any involvement, and so has the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee.MARY PELTOLA (D-AK): I knew nothing about any other candidates on the ballot except for me and the incumbent.PATTERSON: With Senator Sullivan slamming Peltola for the alleged scheme.SEN. DAN SULLIVAN (R-AK): One thing Alaskans don’t like is to be treated with contempt and disdain, and that’s what she’s done.[Story ends]LLAMAS: All right. Steve joins us now live from Alaska. Steve, you mentioned that New York Times report. And I know we have reporting now that the FBI is already starting to interview people that were mentioned in that article.PATTERSON: Tom, we confirmed the FBI contacted an insurance manager quoted in that article who says he was recruited to run for Senate as well. He told us, quote, “At the time, it felt gross.” Tom? LLAMAS: Steve Patterson leading us off tonight from the campaign trail there.(…)

Instacart’s repeated instances of unethical business behavior are giving ammunition to the critics of capitalism.
Those of us who defend the prosperity brought about by free markets have always had our work cut out for us, because socialists promise “free everything” by the confiscation of others’ wealth. To make our economic case, we need businesses to operate as good corporate citizens, consistent with America’s historic culture of being a high-trust society. The motivation for a corporation to refrain from deceptive trade practices should not be the fear of legal consequences. Ethical behavior should be the default. Similarly, non-exploitative employment practices should be the expectation of Western capitalism, not something that must be compelled.
[N]on-exploitative employment practices should be the expectation of Western capitalism, not something that must be compelled.
While there have always been some dishonest businesses, their reputations generally catch up with them, and they cease operations. It is disturbing, however, that large corporations are now adopting the “what can we get away with” mindset, treating employees as a pestilence and customers as prey.
Instacart is one of those corporations that keeps getting caught engaging in abhorrent behavior.
Most recently, Maplebear, Inc., doing business as Instacart, agreed to a $5 million settlement with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division for its illegal discrimination against American workers. As publicly announced in a tweet dated Oct. 20 by Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, “Major win for protecting U.S. workers! Instacart has agreed to a $5 million settlement for discrimination during PERM recruitment. Thank you @andrealucasEEOC for your partnership in getting a great result and sending a message that this administration holds companies accountable.”
The “PERM recruitment” Ms. Dhillon is referring to is the certification process that requires employers to document that no Americans can fill a job being given to a foreign visa holder. As documented in this DOJ press release titled “Civil Rights Division and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Secure $5,000,000 Joint Settlement with Instacart for Discriminating Against U.S. Workers”: 

Instacart created additional burdens on U.S. workers for jobs that it intended to be filled by visa holders. Specifically, to dissuade American job applicants, those PERM jobs were posted domestically only via legacy media such as printed newspapers. Similarly, only traditional mailed resumes were accepted. Those few Americans who actually found the classified ad and navigated through the process were often rejected for not mailing their resumes in a timely enough manner. (By contrast, when Instacart intentionally wants to hire Americans, it uses traditional online job boards with electronic applications.)
Instacart has to pay compensation of up to $4 million in aggregate to those American citizens who applied for jobs and were subject to Instacart’s discriminatory process that excluded American applicants.
Instacart is paying another $1 million fine to the U.S. government, as both a penalty and to recoup the costs of investigating its shameful corporate behavior.
Going forward, Instacart has agreed to post all jobs via online job boards.

Instacart was also recently exposed for engaging in “surveillance pricing,” in which the same product from the same grocery store is priced differently based solely on who the customer is. As I documented in an American Spectator piece this past May, “The price charged to a specific customer was determined by how sensitive the algorithm determined the customer was to higher prices. If two customers were buying the exact same item at the exact same time, they were charged a different amount.” (RELATED: Price Gouging, Now Personalized Thanks to Surveillance Pricing and Collusion)
Consumer Reports performed an experiment in which a group of customers bought identical baskets of groceries through Instacart at the same time from the same store. The price of the basket ranged from $114 to $124, with only 8 percent of customers getting the lowest price. As this story spread, public disgust grew, and Instacart quickly backed away from this discriminatory pricing practice.
Instacart also has an ongoing problem with its independent contractor labor force (known as “shoppers”) subcontracting their accounts to third parties. This violates Instacart policies, but as documented in a recent story from the Boca Raton Tribune, Instacart does not seem terribly bothered by its groceries being delivered by people not contracted to do so.
Per this article, a customer realized that the delivery person was not the driver listed in the Instacart app. The customer contacted Instacart but only got boilerplate responses about regretting the situation, without any promises to rectify it. So, the customer went to the Boca Raton newspaper, which published the account and also reached out to Instacart, which has apparently not responded to the newspaper.
As the Tribune points out, with Instacart allowing sub-contracted third parties to deliver its groceries:

Unvetted drivers are entering customers’ homes on behalf of Instacart, betraying the promise made when ordering groceries. There are obvious hazards with this.
Codes to gated communities and apartment complexes are being provided to unknown persons on behalf of Instacart.

Unmentioned in the article is that this also allows Instacart to have illegal or otherwise ineligible workers serve as its contract labor, introducing the prospect of forms of indentured servitude to those unable to gain legal employment.
Corporate America must embrace the idea that ethical behavior is not just good business, but that it is a necessary responsibility to insulate against the enemies of market economies. Instacart has earned its opprobrium, and it should be seen as an example of inexcusable corporate behavior.
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Voter turnout for Israel’s parliamentary elections reached a record high as Israelis took to the ballot boxes on Oct. 27 to determine if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud coalition can sustain another term against mounting opposition on the political right and left. With the majority of votes already counted, the future prospects of a new government coalition and prime minister in Jerusalem still weigh in the balance. As new U.S. military hardware arrives in the Middle East this week ahead of the congressional midterms, a renewed war against Iran could paralyze the Israeli electoral process.
Israelis cast their vote not for an individual candidate but for a political party to be represented in the 120-seat Knesset. The percentage of the votes for each party will constitute the percentage of seats they occupy in the Knesset. A party needs to reach 61 seats in order to have the majority, and since a single party rarely achieves this, coalitions among parties are formed to constitute the majority.
The election is a process, not an overnight decision. After all the votes are counted, which usually takes several days, the chairmen of each party voted into the Knesset will meet with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who then decides which parties or blocs of parties are best suited to form a coalition. The president grants the candidate of the dominant party a 28-day period to form a coalition government. If the candidate does not form a government, new elections are held, and the process is repeated. All the while, the incumbent government and prime minister remain in office. (RELATED: Bad Night for Netanyahu)
The biggest surprise of the election, defying all expectations, was the surge in Arab voters.
With close to 95 percent of the votes counted, Israeli news sources conclude that the incumbent coalition under Netanyahu will take about 53 seats in the Knesset, while the right-wing opposition bloc under Gadi Eisenkot will take 48 seats. Both are short of the majority and need to ally with other minor parties to increase the number of their seats. This points to the Arab parties.
The biggest surprise of the election, defying all expectations, was the surge in Arab voters. In the last election, Arab parties held 10 seats. Now they are projected to hold 19. This high turnout has been explained by the Arab population’s dissatisfaction with the current government’s handling of security in the Arab cities. The past years have seen a sharp rise in internal Palestinian gang violence and terrorism. Arab communities blame the Israeli police under National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir for failing to provide adequate public safety and security infrastructure in their cities. Their galvanized voice was heard on Tuesday, as Arab-Israelis showed up in droves to vote for the two Arab parties, the Joint List and Ra’am.
The paradox is that both the Joint List and Ra’am parties are working to create an independent Palestinian state under the current Palestinian Authority government. They are Israeli political parties that no longer want to be part of Israel but whose voter base is demanding more security and infrastructure from the Israeli security establishment. The Joint List has expressed that they are willing to join any coalition to ensure the removal of Netanyahu from office. But teaming up with this party means allowing their policies to have a greater voice in the Knesset. Short of an independent Palestinian state, their policies advocate for the re-institution of UNRWA and other international organizations exposed to be collaborating with Hamas back into Gaza and the West Bank.
The presence of a formidable Arab minority in the Knesset now has the potential to lead to an electoral stalemate and possible reelection. In 2021, the only right-wing government to unseat Netanyahu, under Naftali Bennett, had to ally with Ra’am to form the majority. Now, Netanyahu’s coalition and Eisenkot’s opposition promised their voter base that they would not build coalitions with Arab parties.
However, it’s unlikely that either party will be able to form a majority government without Arab cooperation. And if no Arab party is considered, the message to the Arab population is clear that their voice — now more politically active — is not heard.
Without a majority, a stalemate will ensue, and a reelection will most likely be called. Most Israeli commentators agree that under a reelection, Netanyahu will certainly have the advantage as the momentum of the opposition will have waned.
The likelihood of a renewed war with Iran will also paralyze the electoral process and work to Netanyahu’s advantage.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Oct. 28 that the U.S. is warning Arab Gulf states to prepare for a possible “short, intense military campaign” against Iran after the U.S. midterm elections on Nov. 3. New U.S. Patriot systems, including missile launchers, radars, and interceptors, have already been deployed to the Middle East, and a third aircraft carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt group, is expected to arrive in November.
If the U.S. ignites a new campaign against Iran, Israel will most certainly join in the fight, and a new war against Iran will be used strategically by the Netanyahu coalition to remain in office. If Israel enters into war during an election season, the electoral process is halted, and the current office remains the caretaker of the government under emergency powers until the war is over.
Fighting Iran is therefore a loophole that can be used by Likud’s coalition to keep Netanyahu in office during the interim and better prepare its voter base for the postwar reelection. A new war with Iran can also backfire against the incumbent. Much of the voter opposition against Netanyahu is centered around the argument that he has kept the country in prolonged wars and damaged Israel’s international reputation. An interim war period could also give the opposition more time to rally and coalesce for the next elections.
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I do not like shouting choruses, ranks of people marching in lockstep, group slogans, or trendy movies. I do not like the unthinking judgment of the mob, the habit of tailoring one’s thoughts to avoid offending “collectives” (whatever that might mean), or those professional intellectuals who sign manifestos without even reading the documents they endorse. I do not like agitated hordes egging one another on, the clamor of a frenzied stadium crowd, cancellation squads, or massive demonstrations, even those that happen to share my views.
I do not like dividing the world into “us” and “them,” or using acronyms that narrow our horizons. I do not like self-help bestsellers, or any other kind of bestseller, for that matter. I do not like listening to what everyone else is listening to, watching the television series everyone seems obliged to see, or reading those novels people insist you simply must get through before you die. I do not like the fanciful references to democracy as a pagan god, the so-called consensus that avoids the hard work of reaching agreement, or the same 10 or 12 damn buzzwords that, in every era, serve only to drive up the fees of the most shamelessly charlatan-like speakers.
Consciousness is individual.
I do not like having everything handed to me ready-made by countless other people, or the condescending standardization imposed by so-called artificial intelligence. I do not like those who, while barely maintaining a connection to a religious institution, effectively leave their brains at the door, as Chesterton once put it, or sects that flatten the distinctive features of one’s personality, stripping the individual of both soul and free will. (RELATED: Psychology Gone Mad: When Every Quirk Becomes a Disorder)
I do not like the cover-girl blondes coveted by the entire herd, the influencers preaching trivialities in pursuit of likes, or this century’s habit of lumping everything into fictitious collectives. I do not like dwelling on what “communities” feel, because only individuals can truly feel. Nor do I like songs with ideological messages, humor that demands laughter, or opinion leaders patting me on the back to approve of what I think.
I do not like educational policies that level students down and impoverish them, orchestrated collective actions, or the damn obsession with resilience among people who probably think Latin is a musical rhythm that makes you shake your ass. I do not like viral videos, millions of shares, an excess of hearts on photographs, or trends that lead nowhere except toward the dumbing down of society. Nor do I like imported cultures forced into the happy, natural flow of local life, cultures that dissolve sovereignty into globalism.
I do not like audience-voted awards, overnight fame propelled by mass hysteria, or cosmetic procedures that force everyone toward a single standard of beauty. I do not like diversity held together with the glue of propaganda, the idiotic revisionism that views history exclusively through a 21st-century lens, the brands young people feel compelled to wear to belong to God knows what, or the digital obsession with exposing every private thought and feeling to the vast, anonymous cosmos.
I do not like the political determination to normalize the abnormal, to label and package identities until they lose all substance, or the rehearsed, synchronized, prefabricated crocodile tears. Nor do I like towns and villages that have lost their souls, swept away by the globalized aesthetic of cities we have already lost. I dislike globalization when it destroys history, tradition, and sovereignty; the immense public buildings inspired by Soviet architecture; utopias promising a brave new world; the odious waiting rooms where we wait for whatever it is we have to wait for; the lines outside trendy pubs; and the powerful who handle people as though they were herding cattle. (RELATED: Bauhaus and the Cult of Ugliness)
I do not like redistribution that amounts to individual theft in the name of the collective, or the countless standards imposed by the Brussels bureaucracy, or anything that comes from Brussels. I do not care whether everyone likes me or dislikes me. I do not like the collective lynching of a solitary individual, the chorus of boos from beasts addicted to hatred, the feigned, contagious excitement over things that have nothing to do with us, or irrational, orchestrated applause devoid of the slightest trace of spontaneity.
In short, I dislike anything that reduces the individual to an interchangeable piece in a puzzle, people who never make the effort to understand another person’s private motivations, and the lukewarm coward who always takes refuge in the majority to go unnoticed, making the insatiable appetite of his own fear his sole reason for living.
We enter this world alone. We leave it alone. Consciousness is individual. Eternal salvation is, too. Perhaps loathing collectivism, whether political, cultural, or social, ought to be a human right, or even a human obligation for anyone who dreams of being free.
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Pete Buttigieg adopted fairly radical positions during his first bid for the presidency, feeling he had to match the radical energy stewing on the left at the time. For instance, you would have expected Bernie Sanders to be the one leading a rally of Uber and Lyft drivers in support of California’s Assembly Bill 5, but no, that was Pete Buttigieg.
But now, on the cusp of his second bid for the presidency — and holding third position in a recent New York Times poll — Buttigieg is going even more radical. First on his agenda? Making transformative changes to the U.S.’s constitutional system. (RELATED: Tim Walz Turns Against Kamala and Embraces This Candidate)
What he means is that he wants to “fight the affordability crisis” by amending the Constitution in Democrats’ favor.
Buttigieg trotted out his new agenda earlier this month while delivering a speech at the New Hampshire Democratic Party’s annual Eleanor Roosevelt Dinner. The appearance was part of his effort to criss-cross the country to vouch for other candidates for the purpose of laying the groundwork for his future presidential campaign. Buttigieg has been able to pursue these endless political rallies because of his lack of a day job. Democrats had urged Buttigieg to run for governor or senator of Michigan, but he declined, noting that he had only just shown up to the state in 2020.
“Things have to change,” said Buttigieg at the dinner. “We’ve got to deliver reform because we’ve got to do something about a political system that keeps kicking the legs out from under the kitchen table.”
What he means is that he wants to “fight the affordability crisis” by amending the Constitution in Democrats’ favor.
There is, he said, a “connection” between “kitchen table issues and the brokenness of our system.”
So, to ostensibly fix the affordability crisis, he wants to pack the Supreme Court, end the Electoral College system, “ban gerrymandering,” and more.
“We have to build something that is not just better than what we have now, but better than what we had before,” he said at that dinner in New Hampshire.
Buttigieg’s structural overhaul of the U.S. constitutional system is supposed to combat the affordability crisis because it will entrench progressive priorities in the U.S. system. In August, he appeared on the Diary of a CEO podcast to chronicle how his proposed constitutional reforms will enact a liberal policy paradise. (RELATED: 2028 Begins!)
“We shouldn’t be afraid to use maybe the most elegant feature of the entire Constitution, which is that it has a process to change it. We should use it,” he said. “All of the things I’ve mentioned are these kinds of system reforms. They’re about the engine.”
“Then the policies — what comes out of the engine — like whether we get paid family leave in this country, whether we have fair taxes and whether there is a healthcare system that gives everybody healthcare, are decided by a government that works better.”
So, make the Supreme Court permanently left-wing, make the House of Representatives permanently left-wing, and make the presidency permanently left-wing, and there you have it, a perfect system: Medicare for All and higher taxes.
Buttigieg is not fooling anyone into thinking that his attempt at rebalancing the Supreme Court is anything other than tilting it to the left. But on his Diary of a CEO appearance, he went through the motions of presenting it as a “fair” rebalancing.
“I would have term limits, more justices, and some process that makes it less partisan who the justices are,” he said. “There are some different ways to do that. The one I think is most interesting is called the balanced-bench proposal.”
Buttigieg also wants to entirely reconstitute how the House of Representatives is made up, reapportioning districts into larger ones that all have a metro area from which to draw out more Democratic votes.
“For school board or city council, sometimes you get more than one vote and more than one person wins, we could do that for Congress. The people who get the top three votes, not just one, get to go to Congress,” he said. “You’d have bigger districts, fewer districts and it would be harder to gerrymander.”
So there you have it: “banning gerrymandering” leads to a progressive policy paradise because it is in reality a giant effort of Democratic gerrymandering at the national level.
Buttigieg also wants to entirely ban money from politics by canceling out Citizens United via constitutional amendment. This fits with the Democrat conspiracy theory that Republican political hopes are kept alive by big-moneyed interests, but in reality it’s unclear if eliminating money from the political process would favor one party over the other.
In an interview with the Atlantic last month, Buttigieg criticized any Democrats who aren’t on board with his plan of political transformation, telling them to get with the program.
“This idea that it is somehow beyond our power to use what is probably the single most elegant feature of the Constitution, which is its capacity to be amended — right? — is a complete failure of ambition and imagination,” he said.
Buttigieg is pursuing this radical plan of transformation while claiming that it is anything but.
“I still can’t believe that anybody considers this radical,” Buttigieg said of his plan to eliminate the Electoral College.
But of course, basing your presidential campaign on dramatic constitutional reform is, in fact, quite radical.
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