Live Debate This Week

What are your top issues in the midterm elections, November 3? If you are anywhere between Harrisburg and Philadelphia this Wednesday we encourage you to join our latest Talking With, Not At … at The Allen Theatre in Annville, Pennsylvania, to discuss this question. 

Escape social media echo chambers … Debate & Donuts VII is 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. October 28 and is free and open to anyone leaning right tor left and willing to discuss, in a civil manner, politics with people who may not agree with them. 

No matter where you are this Wednesday or next Tuesday, this column and the one on the right are friendly, open spaces for you to discuss that question (and other current issues). Email your COMMENTS to editors@thehustings.news and please indicate your political leanings, right or left, centrist-moderate, hard-right or prog-left, in the subject line, irrespective of the political position taken within, so we publish your thoughts in the proper column.–Editors

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MONDAY 10/26/26

Iran War, Week 28

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Luca da Silva won re-election Sunday.

•Will Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prevail? Israel’s legislative elections are Tuesday, October 27. President Trump has endorsed Netanyahu.

Trump’s Pre-Midterm Defeat – Voters in Brazil handed leftist leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva victory in the country’s second round of voting to defeat the President Trump-endorsed son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving 27 years in prison for trying to overturn Lula’s previous victory in an attempted 2022 election coup. Lula turns 81 Tuesday, 

Lula had lost the first round to Flávio Bolsonaro, 45, by two points earlier in October, but came back strong for the second round, with 51.8% of the vote to Bolsonaro’s 48.2%. Lula’s surprise win comes after seven straight wins by right-wing leaders in elections in the region the last 18 months, according to The New York Times.

“I would like to thank the Brazilian people for the generosity they have shown me for a long time,” Lula said.

Not unexpectedly for the defeated son of the former right-wing leader convicted of attempting a coup in 2022, Flávio Bolsonaro has asked for the results to be annulled, after a Brazil’s judiciary ruled polls remain open Sunday for an extra two hours for an overflow of voters. Both the Bolsonaro campaign and the Lula campaign requested the voting extension, NPR’s Morning Editionreports, but the court’s ruling was directed at the Lula campaign request only.

•••

Trump Says Alaska Must Elect Dan S. Sullivan – In maybe the most baldfaced effort by the president to control the outcome of the November 3 midterms, Donald J. Trump confirmed Friday he directed the Justice Department to sue the state of Alaska over the US Senate race between two Dan Sullivans. 

“I’m the one that said, ‘do it,’” Trump told reporters in Florida Friday (per Newsweek).

The DOJ lawsuit demands that Alaska turn over election results unless Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan wins the ranked choice election. If Democratic challenger Mary Petola beats him next week, the election results must overturn the results, according to the suit. 

An independent named Dan J. Sullivan is running against Sen. Dan Sullivan and Mary Petola. The Republican Party alleges the independent Sullivan is a Democratic plant to drain votes from Republican Sullivan, a charge that independent Sullivan denies.

•••

Cost of Gas and Diesel – AAA reports the national average for a gallon of unleaded regular costs consumers $4.2858 Monday, 0.68-cent less than Friday and $1.31984 higher than on February 27. Diesel prices continue to rise, meanwhile, to $6.3492 Monday, up 3.2 cents over Friday and $2.6358 higher than on March 5, AAA reports. –Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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MONDAY 10/26/26

Running on Fumes

Commentary by Stephen Macaulay

When the war in Iran began in late February, there were 415 million barrels of oil in the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

According to the US Energy Information Administration, as of October 16, 2026, there are 282.7 million barrels of crude in the reserve.

That’s a reduction of 41.49%.

Donald Trump likes to boast about “the biggest” and “the most” and “the greatest.”

And he would be correct, for a change, were he to claim that he has caused the greatest draw-down in the reserve by percentage in history.

MAGA!

Trump, who claims he is a big supporter of the US auto industry. (“We didn’t build a car plant for 44 years in this country. Now we’re building more car plants than we ever have in history,” he said. Now it so happens that in March 2025 Hyundai opened a massive assembly plant in Georgia — which he probably takes credit for, but shouldn’t, as ground was broken for the plant in 2022, under the Biden Administration. And how can he forget his buddy Elon, who opened Tesla’s Gigafactory Texas in 2022? I’m not a mathematician, but that’s not 44 years ago.)

The traditional US auto industry is still based in Southeastern Michigan. Cars, trucks and SUVs, unless they are part of what Trump described as the “Green New Scam” (i.e., electric), operate on gasoline or diesel fuel.

According to AAA (the day this is being written, not some cherry-picked date), the average price of a gallon of regular in Michigan is $4.83. A year ago the average price was $3.10 per gallon.

If that $3.10 grew at the annual inflation rate — 3.74% according to the US Congress Joint Economic Committee — it would cost $3.22.

Yet here are those people in the auto industry in Michigan paying not $3.22 but 50% more than $3.22.

Although Michigan is associated with autos, agriculture is an important aspect of the state economy. Michigan has the second-most diverse ag industry of all US states, following California — which happens to be 69% bigger by land area, so it should have more diversity.

Ag equipment — tractors, harvesters and the like — run on diesel fuel.

Again, on October 24 the price of a gallon of diesel in Michigan was $6.68, up from $3.65 a year ago. A rise of more than $3.00 per gallon.

Farms operate on razor-thin margins. How does that diesel price affect that?

That’s not all. According to the latest data from the US Department of Agriculture, in the last year the price of fertilizer has increased 15.3% over the past year, a rise contributed to by the closing of the Strait of Hormuz.

Whether it is the auto worker or the farmer, Trump is not doing much for Michigan besides costing them more money. 

And a similar case can undoubtedly be made for the other states. Turning to The Watson School of International and Public Affairs at Brown University, its “Iran War Energy Cost Tracker” has it that in terms of just gasoline and diesel each household in the US has paid an additional $1,091.18 since the start of the war in Iran.

That’s money that’s not coming back.

President Trump has repeatedly said that Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon.

No one (outside the Iranian administration, of course) would disagree with that.

So he travels around the country, ostensibly campaigning for Republican candidates. 

And the “no nuclear weapon” trope gets repeated.

After Operation Midnight Hammer in June 2025 Trump said the Iranian nuclear enrichment facilities were “completely and totally obliterated.”

Eight months later the Iranian war began.

Perhaps that obliteration was exaggerated.

Be that as it may, the US kinetic military activities in Iran have been wound down for several months. Operation Epic Fury ended on May 5, 2026. There have been some bursts of activities since then, and Trump keeps threatening to mount new attacks.

Evidently that nuclear weapon-making capability has once again been obliterated. And then what?

There have been 24 weeks since May 5 and today.

And what has the man who claims to be a magnificent dealmaker done during this period?

Everyone who buys gas and groceries knows: Nothing.

Soon his schtick won’t stick.

Macaulay is pundit-at-large for The Hustings.

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MONDAY 10/26/26

Live Debate Oct. 28 for Right and Left

Ahead of what could be the largest national turnout for a midterm in decades – if not in a couple of centuries -- The Hustings and The Allen Theatre in Annville, Pennsylvania, asks the question in our next live debate next Wednesday: “What Are Your Top Issues in this Midterm Election?”

Talking With, Not At … Debate & Donuts VII is set for Wednesday, October 25, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. and is free and open to anyone willing to discuss, in a civil manner, politics with people who may not agree with them. 

The Allen Theatre is 36 East Main Street, Annville, Pennsylvania.

If you are anywhere in the Central Pennsylvania region, say, between Harrisburg and West New Jersey on the Wednesday before the November 3 midterm election, please stop by. 

No matter where you are, you also are welcome to discuss this question in the right and left columns. Email your COMMENTS to editors@thehustings.news and please indicate your political leanings, right or left, centrist-moderate, hard-right or prog-left, in the subject line, irrespective of the political position taken within. –Editors

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THURSDAY 10/22/26

Iran War, Week 27

Tesla unveiled its Roadster last week with a launch spectacle featuring SpaceX boosters attached to the car (and certainly some AI). CEO Elon Musk welcomes a Tesla-SpaceX merger (scroll this column for details). [IMAGE: Tesla]

Iran Warns Back – Tehran will strike not just US airbases and warships, but also airports, pipelines and other civilian targets of its Persian Gulf neighbors if the United States and Israel carry out plans to restart its air war on Iran after the November 3 midterm elections, The Wall Street Journal reports. The warnings were issued publicly and in private diplomatic communications, according to the report.

The Trump administration and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly backed off plans for the resumption of air strikes in mid-October, ahead of next week’s elections in Israel, for the post-midterm plans, The New York Times and Financial Timesreported.

On Wednesday, Netanyahu warned in a speech that Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is attempting to develop what the Israeli PM called “the bombs of death.” (This raises the question, ‘is there any other kind?’) Netanyahu was referring to nuclear weapons, which Trump has repeatedly stated that Iran must never have.

Netanyahu said in the speech that the only way to remove the threat of Iranian “bombs of death” is to overthrow the regime.

•••

Trump Must Be Deposed – Federal Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett has ordered President Trump to record a deposition in his $10 billion lawsuit against the BBC by December 11 or face sanctions, including possible dismissal of the suit (The Guardian). Trump’s suit alleges the BBC spliced together two comments the president made about one hour before the January 6th attack on the United States Capitol began for a Panorama documentary.

Judge Lett also rejected the Trump team’s request to prevent the seven-hour long deposition from being videotaped, even though it will be restricted to access by attorneys in the case.

Trump cancelled a deposition that was to be held last Friday, with his attorneys arguing the president had “other matters or national importance” that day. BBC attorneys countered that Trump had attended on October 16 a campaign rally in Dalton, Georgia and a Republican National Committee event at Mar-a-Lago, according to NPR’s Morning Edition.

The BBC had acknowledged the specific edit in question was misleading, according to The Guardian, but said Trump had falsely claimed the British broadcaster had used AI to insert words into his speech. Trump filed suit under Florida’s Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act, though the Panorama documentary has never aired in the state.

•••

Fuel Upped – With the Strait of Hormuz “effectively closed” according to Political.org and Brent Crude trading above $114 per barrel Friday morning, according to Business Insider, AAA reports the national average for a gallon of unleaded regular costs consumers $4.2926, up 2.25 cents from Thursday and $1.32664 costlier than on February 27. AAA’s national average for a gallon of diesel is up 0.82 cents to $6.3172, or $2.6038 more per gallon than on March 5. –TL

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THURSDAY 10/22/26

Post-Election Attack on Iran? – The United States and Israel are working on plans to possibly attack Iran after the November 3 midterm elections, Morning Edition reports, citing a person briefed on the preparations who spoke with NPR Thursday on the condition of anonymity.

The US and Israel had initially planned to resume military action on Iran in the middle of this month, about two weeks before Israel’s October 27 elections, in which Benjamin Netanyahu is fighting to retain his seat as prime minister. President Trump earlier this week endorsed Netanyahu for re-election.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi responded Thursday, saying Iran is ready for war with the US and Israel.

•••

Fuel Up – In an up-down week, the national average for a gallon of unleaded regular was up more than half a penny Thursday, +0.57 cent, to $4.2701, according to AAA. That’s up $1.30414 over February 27. Diesel prices fell for the second day in a row Thursday, to $6.3090 per gallon Thursday, down 0.84 cent over Wednesday and up $2.5956 over AAA’s March 5 average.  

•••

Mass Strikes on Ukraine – After real estate developer/White House special envoy Steve Witkoff met with the president of Russia in Moscow, Wednesday to discuss a potential peace agreement, “humanitarian” Vladimir Putin’s military launched a mass overnight strike on Ukraine’s capital, The Kyiv Independent reports. This, despite Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s expressed interest in reaching a deal with the Kremlin to cease attacks on each other.

Russia’s attacks come as Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo reached Kyiv in “a flurry of diplomacy” according to the Independent, bringing with him news Helsinki will allocate €2 million (US$2.2 million) in humanitarian aid to Ukraine, including for winter purposes. 

•••

MegaElon Merger? – SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk told Wall Street analysts in SpaceX’s third-quarter earnings call Tuesday the boards of both his companies have formed special committees of independent directors to consider a merger, The New York Times reports. Wall Street analysts dialing in to Musk’s Q3 earnings call for Tesla the next day were told questions about the possibility of a merger were off-limits.

“Do I think it would be a good idea? Yes,” he told the SpaceX Q3 call. 

He said he would recuse himself from participating in both committees. If the largely fanboy base of shareholders for Tesla and SpaceX voted in favor of a merger, the combined monolith would be worth an estimated $3.5 billion (NYT’s number) to $3.7 billion (NPR’s number).

Either total could restore Musk's trillionaire status, as he is largest shareholder of both companies, and would cement his position as the world's most powerful life form.  – Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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THURSDAY 10/22/26

How Do You Spell Corrupt? T-R-U-M-P

Commentary by Stephen Macaulay

It was one thing when he claimed that American adults would get a check for $5,000 if the House and Senate remain in Republican control.

If not, no money.

How this is not construed as attempted bribery — which is a crime under various statues, including 18 U.S. Code § 201 — is beyond me.

Here is the president of the United States trying to use money — cold, hard Benjamins (he will probably demand people stop using that term because Franklin wasn’t a president — to influence every single voter in the United States.

And as he has been out and about, making speeches in various states, he has been promising a number of things to the locales, like changing emissions regulations in Kansas so more of the corn grown there — and, yes, corn exports are down for a variety of reasons, including the fact that one of the main export markets is Mexico, which Trump hasn’t exactly been benign toward — can be used for blending in auto fuel.

Again, these carrots are only going to be distributed if voters vote Republican.

If not, no bueno.

But at a rant earlier this week in North Carolina Trump went beyond the pale with his bribery.

There are American citizens who have various cancers — e.g., kidney, bladder, liver — because of a contaminated water supply at Camp Lejune, a Marine Corps base. This wasn’t a one-off situation but lasted from 1953 to 1987.

Congress passed the Camp Lejeune Justice Act in 2022, which allows the victims of the contaminated water and their families to sue the United States. 

Trump told the crowd in Greenville, NC, that if the Republicans keep the House and Senate he would instruct the Department of Justice to settle “all remaining legitimate claims as soon as possible.”

“If we don’t win, there’s no money. If we do win you are getting it, and it is going to be finally over with.”

Think about the cruelty expressed by the President of the United States.

Do it my way — or else.

Notice that he said “legitimate claims” wouldn’t be settled if the Republicans don’t win. Shouldn’t the man who with the flick of his Sharpie to do all sorts of things simply sign an Executive Order saying that these claims should be paid right now? Oh, but he has bigger things in mind, like keeping a feckless Congress in place so he can do what he wants to.

But realize he is talking about US Marines, men and women who have pledged their lives to defending the United State of America. He is talking about the families of those brave patriots who lived on base and drank the contaminated water.

He is talking about people who have died or who are suffering from horrible, ravaging diseases.

Vote his way and things will be taken care of pronto.

Otherwise. . . .

He bloviates about how much he supports the military. And then he does this.

And consider: He is holding out the settlement of the cases to people who realize that while they may have their own vote and may be able to influence others, should some congressional districts elsewhere turn from red to blue the president will leave them hanging. Some of them undoubtedly feel helpless in the face of cancer. And now they have to worry about the election results in some far-flung state.

It is both outrageous and pathetic.

It is immoral.

The support of this behavior by anyone is absolutely unconscionable.

And those who do support it are going to have to look themselves in the mirror if, God forbid, a member of their family or themselves is stricken with a horrible disease and realize how Trump toyed with those who suffer.

Macaulay is pundit-at-large for The Hustings.

-30-

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THURSDAY 10/22/26

Next Live Debate for Left and Right

What are your top issues in the midterm election, driving you to the polls November 3?

That’s just two weeks away, and next week, The Hustings and The Allen Theatre in Annville, Pennsylvania, will hold the seventh in our regular series of Talking With, Not At … live debates. Debate & Donuts VII is Wednesday, October 28, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. and is free and open to anyone willing to discuss, in a civil manner, politics with people who may not agree with them. 

You also are welcome to discuss this question in the right and left columns. Email your COMMENTS to editors@thehustings.news and please indicate your political leanings, right or left, centrist-moderate, hard-right or prog-left, in the subject line, irrespective of the political position taken within. –Editors

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MONDAY 10/19/26

Iran War, Week 27

Zelenskyy on Meet the Press Sunday. [NBC News]

Witkoff Lauds Putin as a ‘Humanitarian’ – After meeting with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Oslo Tuesday, real estate developer/White House special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow to Vladimir Putin’s announcement he had released US political prisoner Stephen Hubbard, 74, The Kyiv Independent reports. Despite his age, Hubbard was sentenced by a closed court in 2024 to nearly seven years in prison for allegedly joining a Ukrainian territorial defense unit in Izium, Kharkiv Oblast after Russia’s February 2022 invasion.

"You speak so much about how my president, President Trump, is a humanitarian," Witkoff told Putin.

"You, too, are a humanitarian, sir, and I commend you for that. I offer you my respect and thank you once again," he told the Russian dictator/leader, whom The Kyiv Independent notes is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes against Ukraine.

Putin later said that Russia is ready to resume trilateral peace talks with the US and Ukraine.

President Trump welcomed back Hubbard on his social media site, NPR’s Morning Edition reports. Trump wrote: “There was no ‘swap’ for this release. This major return should have taken place long ago by the Biden administration, which got nowhere in its negotiations with the Kremlin.”

And so it goes for a peace deal.

•••

Cost of Gas and Diesel – National average for a gallon of unleaded regular slipped 1.42 cents from Tuesday to $4.2644 Wednesday, AAA reports. That’s $1.29844 more expensive than on February 27, cusp of the US-Israeli war on Iran. After a slight increase Tuesday, diesel is down a quarter of a penny -- 0.25 cents -- Wednesday to $6.3174. That’s up $2.604 from AAA’s March 5 average.

•••

Jr. v. Trump – Donald Trump Jr. has long been among the most prominent attack dogs for his father on X-Twitter and on right-wing broadcasts. But since his father and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began the war on Iran at the end of February, Don Jr. and President Donald J. have privately been at odds, The Atlantic Daily reports, citing two people who have spoken directly with Trump the younger. 

“The president’s son, these people said, opposed the war from the outset and made his opposition known to his father,” the magazine reports. 

Don Jr. was also very close to the late Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk, who also had broken with the White House on the war.  –TL

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TUESDAY 10/20/26

More Ceasefire Talk – White House special envoy Steve Witkoff has landed in Oslo for talks with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Axios reports. Meetings to perhaps reach a ceasefire agreement that offers some concessions to Ukraine while President Trump has lifted the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act he signed September 18 are to include Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, E4 nations’ representatives (the UK, France, Germany and Poland) and representatives from the European Union and NATO. 

This comes after Trump said he is open to meeting with Russian and Chinese counterparts (without Ukraine) in Moscow as he continues to criticize Zelenskyy and call for his removal, and has held up the transfer of Patriot interceptors to Ukraine (per Semafor).

•••

Alberta Won’t Go – Is this President Trump’s first midterm loss? Albertans roundly rejected a referendum that would lead to the province’s separation from Canada with about 75% voting ‘no,’ the Edmonton Sun reports. The vote on the province’s second binding referendum was part of a 10-question ballot reported late Monday due to extended voting at some polling stations that had experienced delays.

Alberta is Canada’s richest province, rated number four for known global oil reserves and probably its most conservative. Separatists have met earlier with Trump administration officials, according to the BBC (51st state?). 

Premier Danielle Smith has scheduled a televised address to the province for 6:45 p.m. Mountain time. 

•••

Minor Gas Relief – National average for a gallon of unleaded regular slipped 1.67 cents from Monday to $4.2786 Tuesday, AAA reports. That’s $1.2986 more expensive than on February 27, cusp of the US-Israeli war on Iran. Diesel rose 0.12 cents Tuesday to $6.3199 per gallon, or $2.5629 higher than AAA’s March 5 average. –TL

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MONDAY 10/19/26

On Handing Russia the Win --  Even Sen. Darline Graham (R-SC) objected, though carefully and politely, to President Trump’s executive order issued last weekend waiving the bipartisan bill he signed into law September 18 named for the senator’s late brother, and meant to financially stifle Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s drone attacks on Ukraine.

“I look forward to talking to him” about the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, Sen. Graham said Saturday, The Hill reports. She spoke carefully and politely because she is running for a full six-year term for her Senate seat.

“The president and I share the same goal, which is to end the war, get gas and diesel prices down,” Graham said. “The sanctions bill is one of the tools he can use to do that. It’s up to him whether or not he chooses to use it.”

Lowering diesel prices in time for the November 3 midterms is Trump’s stated goal in lifting sanctions against Russia. It is also Trump’s latest indication of his fondness for Putin and for his propensity to appease Russia’s interests going back at least to 2016, including antipathy toward NATO.

“I find it more difficult to deal with [Ukrain President Volodymyr Zelenskyy] than Putin,” Trump said, providing a sort of update of “I have President Putin, he just said it’s not Russia” that interfered in the 2016 presidential election. “I will say this, I don’t see any reason why it would be.”

On Sunday’s Meet the Press, Zelenskyy told NBC News’ Kristen Welker he always seeks to be “very clear, very honest and very supportive” of Ukraine’s strategic partners. By lifting sanctions against Russia, Trump is financing Putin’s war against Ukraine by un-freezing assets as well as allowing Russia to sell gas globally, Zelenskyy said, but Putin will not succeed because Russia, facing a determined Ukrainian army, has not found success on the battlefield.

“But I can’t applaud any decision or any words of any leader if they go against Ukraine,” he said.

Zelenskyy demurred on Welker’s question of who is responsible for Starshield (the military component of Elon Musk’s Starlink) throttling Ukraine’s defense system to a 161 kp/h (100 mph) limit. This has made it impossible for Ukraine to defend itself against Russia’s Iranian-designed Shahed drones capable of 450-500 kp/h or more, according to Zelenskyy. Starshield throttled Ukraine’s system late last week.

According to a report in The Telegraph, Musk approached Trump about slowing down Starshield in Ukraine.

The Upshot … Zelenskyy says he wants to reach a ceasefire deal with Russia so long as Russia stops attacking Ukraine. He said he expects to meet with US negotiators in the coming week.

Meanwhile, Ukraine drones hit an oil facility, bridge and data center in St. Petersburg overnight, as Russia continues to attack civilian buildings and locations, and launched “one of its largest attacks” on Ukraine’s energy grid, according to The Kyiv Independent.

•••

About Gas and Diesel Prices – Unleaded regular gas average $4.2953 per gallon Monday, AAA reports, for savings of 3.18 cents compared with last Friday’s prices. That’s $1.3153 more per gallon than on February 27, just as the US-Israeli war on Iran started. Diesel is $6.3187 Monday, 0.74 cents lower than Friday and $2.5617 per gallon higher than on March 5. –Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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MONDAY 10/10/26

The End of Principles

Commentary By Stephen Macaulay

One of the things that was long characteristic of conservatives is they had moral principles. They believed in honesty and decency in terms of how they would behave. There were ethical standards manifest in their behavior.

Now. . .not so much.

Thanks to the example set by Donald J. Trump, behavior — public and private — is more transactional. And everything is a zero-sum game.

Rules, vetting, consideration of consequences — none of these things matter much, if at all.

This is evident in what has happened of late in terms of turnover among people who Trump had appointed and who have left their positions under, let’s say, a cloud. To be sure there are job changes occurring all the time, everywhere, but in these cases it points to the fact there was little evidence that qualification and probity matter.

First there is Kristi Noem, who had been Secretary of Homeland Security. She was fired in March 2026. One of the reasons may have had something to do with her dismissing the killing of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota by ICE agents as the victims being associated with “domestic terrorism,” which she probably didn’t believe herself.

But that was unlikely to have been the tipping point in her cabinet career. Rather, it was likely the $220-million ad campaign regarding border security which featured Noem on horseback, like she was going to be riding the line to keep the border safe.

That focus, and that task, is something her boss holds for himself, so he put her in the position of special envoy for the Shield of the Americas, and after the six months in that job ran out, she became the senior advisor to Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau. All of which seems like Swamp-like behavior, slithering from one pond to another. But at least she’s out of the limelight.

One remarkable thing is that the ads recently run starring none other than Donald J. Trump, paid for by you and me, only had a tab of $19 million, less than a tenth of what Noem spent — but that $19 million came out of the budget for the Department of Homeland Security.

Then there is Kimberly Guilfoyle, the former US Ambassador to Greece. She held that office for just under a year, far less than the amount of time she dated, and was eventually engaged to, Donald Trump, Jr., which was about 6.5 years. (Again, isn’t there the whiff of Swamp?)

Guilfoyle allegedly asked a Republican donor to pay off her personal American Express credit card bill -- $100,000. (“Honey please I need you to get this done for me today.”) 

Allegedly there was a promise to the donor that she would help him out with some tax and legal problems he was having. She denies all of this. But Trump asked her to resign.

Then there is Katie Zacharia, the White House press secretary who held the position for five days. While there was considerable questioning of her handling of her first (and only) press briefing, a bigger issue was her claim, on more than one occasion, to being a lawyer. Yes, she went to law school. Yes, she graduated from law school. But according to The Wall Street Journal, she took the bar exam in California and didn’t pass. Which means she is not a lawyer.

Zacharia was Trump Media Communications advisor for a few months before getting the position in the White House and was a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security for a few weeks (February 2026 to March 2026).

But she never practiced law because, well, she wasn’t qualified to practice law, despite having claimed to be a lawyer. Even President Trump referred to her as an “attorney.”

Here was a person who was to explain to the press and by extension the American people what is going on in the Oval Office who lied about being a lawyer — which is illegal in California, where Zacharia resides. 

In a world where standards applied there is little likelihood that any of these people — one who is evidently rather self-centered; one who likes to spend but not personally pay; one who misrepresents her qualifications — would have ever gotten these important jobs.

Someone signed off on their getting those jobs and someone, as in Donald J. Trump, put the final Sharpie signature on their getting the OK.

But in a world where standards are totally flexible, anything evidently goes.

And conservatism as a guiding position has gone with it.

Macaulay is pundit-at-large for The Hustings.

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MONDAY 10/19/26

On Trump’s Russian Diesel Deal

Trump Diverts Attention from Mistakes -- It certainly is Trump being Art of the Deal Trump: lying, reneging, defrauding, and depending on the work of others to divert attention from his own mistakes. Ukraine's attacks on Russian refineries are all the more valuable now, since their success will hurt the amoral crowd trying to profit off Trump's lack of decency. –Hugh Hansen/Contributing Pundit

Trump’s Pro-Russia Agenda -- This is the world we live in. Black is white. Up is down. Enemies are friends. Evil is good. Treason is patriotism. Corruption is valiant. Russia is our friend. Ukraine, the country being attacked, is the aggressor. 

The kompromat must be much worse than a simple pee tape. 

Trump's Russia agenda has been going on since he entered politics and more likely since the 1980s. Paul Manafort served as Trump's campaign manager for the 2016 election while doing Russia's bidding with regard to Ukraine. The Mueller Report showed Russian interference in the 2016 campaign, but the traitorous Attorney General Bill Barr buried it. 

Then February 28, 2025 became one of the darkest days in American political history when Trump, J.D. Vance, and Marco Rubio bullied Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the White House in front of TV cameras. There has been no such bullying of the man who started this war, Russian President Vladimir Putin. In fact, there has only been negotiations on behalf of Russia rather than for Ukraine from this White House. 

Now Trump is lifting sanctions on Russian oil purportedly to alleviate a diesel price spike he started with his impetuous, ill-conceived, and ill-informed decision to go to war with Iran. As Russia helps Iran with intelligence on US positions in the Middle East, Trump hands Russia an economic gift. Help kill our soldiers and destroy our bases? Very good. Here's millions of dollars. 

Trump is a madman with a pro-Russia agenda. He also just so happens to be the most powerful man in the world. He could be reined in by Congress, but the Republicans in this Congress will go down in history is the biggest group of supplicants, yes-men, and spineless fools in American history. 

Vote Democrat in the midterms to at least put a check on the damage this man is doing. The sad thing is his backing of Russia is only a small part of his path of destruction. –K.E. Bell/Contributing Pundit

•••

Join the conversation – Become a citizen pundit by emailing your COMMENTS on the latest center-column issues and/or commentaries in the left and right columns with an email to editors@thehustings.news and please indicate your political leanings (left or right) irrespective of the comments contained within, in the subject line so we publish them in the proper column.

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MONDAY 10/12/26

Iran War, Week 26

CPI Jumps to 3.7% -- Inflation rose 0.6% in September, for an annual Consumer Price Index rate of 3.7%, up from 3.4% in August, the Labor Department reports. (Scroll this column for details in Wednesday's report. [CHART: Bureau of Labor Statistics]

Zacharia Out – Katie Zacharia is out as White House press secretary after five days and one press conference, Politico reports Friday. Kinda. Speaking to reporters in a helicopter pad scrum at the White House while on his way to another campaign rally for GOP midterm candidates, Trump disputed the Politico report and says of Zacharia; “I think she’s been treated very unfairly” by the press. 

The president said he has scheduled a meeting with Zacharia -- who had called her new post last Monday a “dream job” before taking questions from three conservative journalists in her sole, 10-minute press conference – to discuss her future at the White House. Trump cited Zacharia’s unwavering loyalty to himself.

•••

Is Trump’s Break with Ukraine Final? – The answer seems to be ‘yes’ with President Trump criticizing Ukraine’s latest round of attacks on Russian oil one week after he had a perfect call with Vladimir Putin during which neither wanted to hang up, leading to a deal in which the US will drop sanctions on Russia and let Putin fund his war economy in return for some diesel fuel. Trump has criticized Volodymyr Zelenskyy for breaking a ceasefire, while Ukraine’s president says his country has the right to defend itself, the BBC reports.

On Friday, Ukraine’s military says it struck an estimated $1 million Russian Nebo-U long-range radar near the Magri settlement in Krasnodar Krai, The Kyiv Independent reports. 

“The Nebo-U is a long-range, three-coordinate radar designed to detect and track aerial assets, including aircraft, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles,” according to a statement by Ukraine’s general staff.

The Kyiv Independent also reports at least three people were killed and 52 injured across Ukraine since Thursday from Russian attacks on energy infrastructure in several oblasts. The Associated Press reports that Russian attacks on nine regions resulted in emergency power outages, with at least 15 casualties.

•••

Public Execution is Off – The firing squad execution of Nidal Malik Hasan will not be televised, as Defense/War Secretary Pete Hegseth had wanted.

Under bipartisan pressure, President Trump Thursday Truth Socialed that while Hasan is “a very bad and evil man,” his execution will not be streamed, though it “might have been a strong deterrent,” according to Newsweek.

Hasan was convicted in 2013 of the 2009 mass shooting of 13 people at Ft. Hood, Texas, where he was an Army Medical Corps psychiatrist. Another 30 people were wounded in the melee. 

“It was a radical Islamist attack in uniform inside the ranks, and so he’s going to get a firing squad of soldiers, as it should be,” Hegseth said when he announced plans to stream the execution last week. “And we’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public, because people need to understand that this is a – there’s serious consequences on these types of things.”

If Trump had not put a stop to it, the US would have joined Iran, Saudi Arabia, North Korea and Somalia as countries that still conduct public executions, according to Amnesty International.

Some religious scholars connect Hegseth’s desire to stream the firing squad point to his affiliation with the Christian Nationalist Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC), according to NPR’s Morning Edition. 

•••

White House Ballroom Donors Revealed – The Washington Post scoops a secret list of donors who contributed a total $333 million to President Trump’s White House East Wing ballroom project. You might remember that Trump promised its construction would not cost taxpayers.

This is from an internal spreadsheet used to track contributions for Trump’s fundraising effort, WaPo says, including donors who have not previously been named, as well as known contributors whose donation amounts were not previously public.

According to the scoop, top contributions of $25 million each came from Apple, Nvidia Corp. and the Adelson Family Foundation, a pro-Israel non-profit founded by the late preternaturally MAGA casino (Las Vegas Sands) magnate, Sheldon Adelson. Another $22 million came from Google, via the John P. Coale Esq. Trust, plus $20.27 million from The Laura & Isaac Perlmutter (former CEO of Marvel Entertainment) Foundation Inc., and $10 million each from defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp., Microsoft, Rocket Companies mortgage lender-affiliate RH II LLC and Palantir Technologies Inc. (Peter Thiel, co-founder and CEO).

•••

About Those Gas and Diesel Prices – After a price increase Thursday, the national average for a gallon of unleaded regular dropped 0.73 cents Friday to $4.3271, or $1.3471 over February 27. Diesel is up 0.88 cents to $6.3261, or $2.5691 over March 5. –TL

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THURSDAY 10/15/26

Ukraine Hits Russian Oil – Pentagon-controlled Starshield -- the military version of Elon Musk’s Starlink -- is back up and running in Ukraine, which set one of Russia’s biggest oil refineries ablaze Thursday, BBC World Service reports.

"As of now, Starshield service while on the move has been restored and remains operational. We have confirmed this through reports from our units," a source for Ukraine’s Defense Ministry told The Kyiv Independent Thursday.

"The Defense Ministry is also continuing its engagement to clarify all the reasons and circumstances surrounding yesterday’s restrictions."

Starshield for Ukraine was throttled back Wednesday for tracking drones exceeding 100 mph, which certainly excludes Russia’s new fleet of jet-powered drones pummeling, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, mostly civilian targets in his country.

Zelenskyy called President Trump’s withdrawal of US intelligence-sharing in Ukraine’s defense against Russia as “dangerous,” in an exclusive interview with the Financial Times, which reports that European leaders will urge Ukraine’s president to “rein in” his criticism of the US president. 

The relationship between Ukraine’s Zelenskyy and Trump has reached a new low as Trump has announced a deal to release Vladimir Putin’s Russia from economic sanctions so the country could finance its war on Ukraine by selling its diesel fuel. 

The Wall Street Journal Thursday cites an unconfirmed report that Trump ordered Starlink owner Elon Musk to throttle back Ukraine’s access to its Starshield terminals. 

Musk sees nothing, knows nothing … Musk posted on his own X-Twitter that he had nothing to do with Starshield’s service disruption in Ukraine, noting that unlike civilian Starlink, Starshield is controlled by the US government. 

Musk apparently did not mention his new assignment from War Secretary Pete Hegseth to lead a Pentagon project examining the future of warfare. 

•••

Fuel Up – After trending downward for a couple of weeks, unleaded regular gas prices are up Thursday, though by just 0.11 cent per gallon over Wednesday to $4.3344, according to AAA’s survey of the national average. That’s $1.3544 more than what Americans paid on February 27. Diesel is $6.3173, up 1.76 cents from Wednesday, and up $2.5603 over March 5. –TL

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WEDNESDAY 10/14/26

CPI is 3.7%, Details -- All items less food and energy rose 0.3% in September, to a 2.6% annual rate. Energy is up 20.4% -- the Labor Department says gasoline rose 9.1% in September alone, though it is unclear whether that includes diesel (which is not a gas) -- and food is up 2.5% annually. For the month, shelter was up 0.4%, food at home was up 0.2% and food away from home was down 0.1%.

•••

Trump’s Ultimate Bow to Putin? – Ukraine has not received US intelligence on Russian ballistic missiles in the past two nights, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told NPR’s Joanna Kakissis in an interview from Kyiv on All Things Considered Tuesday. This comes some four days after President Trump Truth Socialed a ceasefire deal between Moscow and Kyiv that neither party were part of, initially, in which Ukraine would stop drone-bombing Russia’s oil infrastructure if Russia stopped ballistic missile attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure before a cold winter.

Earlier, Trump, who blames Ukraine for record-high diesel fuel prices, lifted sanctions on Russian oil to lift Vladmir Putin’s war-weakened economy. In return, Putin’s Russia will release 300,000 tons of diesel fuel to the global market (roughly the amount the world consumes in a day). This, of course, is supposed to lower record-high diesel fuel prices in the US ahead of the November 3 midterms.

This also flies in the face of the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, which the president signed just three-and-a-half weeks ago (see Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay’s commentary, “Post-Graham” in the right column).

Zelenskyy in a statement last weekend called this “a weak decision by strong partners.”

“Mostly people in the world know why their prices on any kind of energy, including diesel, raised up, why they increased,” Zelenskyy told NPR’s Kakissis. “Because of blocking the Strait of Hormuz. Yes. Because of blocking the Strait of Hormuz.”

Russia hit Ukraine with a “huge” assault on its infrastructure overnight Wednesday, while Ukraine has lost its Starlink satellite service for defense -- run for Ukraine not by CEO Elon Musk but by the Pentagon -- the BBC World Service reports.

Richard Haas, principal advisor to the secretary of state under President Bush 43 and president emeritus for the Council on Foreign Relations told Morning Edition Wednesday: “We have consistently done things for Russia, and we have consistently done things to Ukraine.”

•••

About Gas and Diesel – For at least the second day in a row, the national average price for a gallon of diesel inched up, while the national average price for a gallon of unleaded regular slipped down, AAA reports. Diesel Wednesday is $6.2997, up 2.1 cents over Tuesday’s average, and up $2.5427 over March 5. Regular gas is 4.3333, down 0.8 cents versus Tuesday and up $1.3533 over February 27. –TL

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TUESDAY 10/13/26

Áde ya, Guilfoyle – The Trump administration has asked Kimberly Guilfoyle to step down as US ambassador to Greece after last week’s Wall Street Journal scoop she had solicited a $100,000 gift from a Trump donor ahead of her confirmation hearing last year. 

“We have asked Ambassador Guilfoyle to resign,” White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia said in what may have been her first official statement in the job. “She has been a wonderful asset to the team and we wish her well.”

•••

Federal Raid on Omar’s D.C. Home – Homeland Security Investigations raided the Washington, D.C. home of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), longtime critic of President Trump early Monday morning, a Justice Department spokesperson confirmed in a statement. 

“Today’s enforcement action is part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation,” the DOJ spokesperson said, according to Politico. Trump said las January his Justice Department was investigating Omar, whom he said “left Somalia with nothing and now reportedly is worth $44 million.”

Several news reports pointed Monday to an unwritten rule that the Justice Department would not investigate a political candidate this close to an election. Omar is running in the November 3 midterms for her fourth House term. 

Omar, whose family immigrated from Somalia when she was a small child, is the highest-profile member of The Squad after Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), and thus a frequent target by Fox News hosts and those to their right.

Monday’s enforcement action is “just the latest escalation in (Trump’s) campaign of political intimidation,” Omar posted on X-Twitter. “I’m ok. Make no mistake: this is an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement. For ten years, Trump has targeted me with baseless lies and smear campaigns.” 

“I’ve always found her to be totally crooked personally, but that has nothing to do with me,” Trump told reporters Monday. “I think she’s a terrible person, just a complainer. She comes from a country that is a noncountry, and then she comes over here and she complains about our Constitution.”

Trump’s statements certainly will be defense attorney fodder if Omar ends up in court over DOJ’s investigation. 

•••

Of Diesel and Gas – Diesel in the US averages $6.2787 per gallon nationally Tuesday, AAA reports, a 1.22-cent increase over Monday and up $2.5217 over March 5. Unleaded regular slipped 1.43 cents to $4.3413 Tuesday, up 1.3613 over February 27. –TL

_________________________________________________

MONDAY 10/12/26

Art of Russia’s Deal -- President Trump’s claim of an energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, coming after his announcement that the US is freeing up its sanction on Russian diesel fuel, was news to Kyiv.

“Ukraine has no information about an energy ceasefire” as announced by Trump Sunday, a senior Ukrainian official told The Kyiv Independent.

[UPDATE: Six senators called on President Trump to “immediately reverse course” on his administration’s plan to purchase diesel from Russia to lower prices, The Associated Press reports. Four are Republicans; Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and John Curtis of Utah. Two are Democrats; Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut.]

Speaking to reporters at the White House Saturday, Trump had again blamed Ukraine for high global diesel fuel prices – which of course inflate prices on anything shipped by diesel truck or train – and said he will lift sanctions on Russian diesel in order to quickly lower the fuel’s global price, according to The New York Times.

The president said the US has told Ukraine; “You can do whatever you want to Russia. Don’t hit the refineries because that’s a world problem that’s caused.”

Trump’s statement thus scapegoats Ukraine, which has been fighting Russia’s jet-drone strikes on its civilians with drone strikes of its own on Russian oil refineries in the country’s effort to bring dictator Vladimir Putin’s economy to its knees. 

Global diesel prices have, in fact, skyrocketed since the beginning of the US-Israeli war on Iran. According to AAA’s survey of national average prices at the pump, diesel jumped from $3.757 per gallon on March 5, shortly after the war began, to $4.33 on March 6. It hit an all-time high in the US of $6.5276 per gallon on September 22 and has since eased just a bit to $6.2771 per gallon.

While the White House has negotiated an end to Russia’s war on Ukraine largely by meeting with the Kremlin, Trump blames Ukraine for refusing to reach a deal. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “wants to make problems for the world,” Trump told reporters Saturday. “I think it’s time for Ukraine to get a new president.”

Trump’s relationship with Putin remains much warmer. NPR’s Charles Mayne told host Scott Simon on Weekend Edition Saturday that Trump had a “highly successful” discussion with the Russian dictator in which he agreed to “immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel fuel to the US and global markets, with more to follow.” 

This will bring down diesel prices worldwide “IN RECORD NUMBERS, AND FAST,” Maynes said of Trump’s TS, though no oil industry analyst believes it will be fast enough to come in time for the November 3 midterm elections. But Trump immediately issued a six-month wavier, Maynes reported, of the sanctions on Russian oil that were imposed shortly after Putin attacked Ukraine in February 2022. 

Is this just Trump being The Art of the Deal Trump, as his supporters would say --  negotiating agreements between Moscow and Kyiv without consulting Kyiv, for leverage?

It doesn’t look that way. Rather, Trump appears to be ‘negotiating’ in Moscow’s favor, as he has done since blowing his deadline of ending the war on Day One of his second term.

Behind the deal …. Even before Trump’s latest attack on Zelenskyy, a New York Times report last Thursday detailed the White House’s proposed multibillion-dollar deal involving a partial acquisition of Russia’s Lukoil that the president claims will advance our foreign policy interests and lower energy prices.

Under this deal, the US government, via the US International Development Finance Corporation would acquire about 15% of Lukoil’s interests, including oil fields, refineries and gas stations. Todd Boehly, an American billionaire who has donated about $2 million to pro-Trump causes in the last two years, and the federal government, would receive a small minority stake in the deal, but would control a majority of its board, people close to the deal told the NYT. 

More than half the equity of this Lukoil entity is currently held by investors in the Middle East, including ties to the royal family in Abu Dhabi as well as two billionaires partnered with White House son-in-law Jared Kushner and the president’s daughter Ivanka Trump, the NYT reports, again citing participants in the negotiations. Kushner and fellow special envoy Steve Witkoff have been key negotiators trying to get a ceasefire deal with the Kremlin.

If Putin, who is said to have final say, approves the deal, Boehly’s group would acquire Lukoil stock from non-Russian owners at a face value of about $10 billion. Once the deal is complete and the Treasury Department approves, Lukoil’s assets no longer would be subject to the US sanctions, the NYT reports, and that $10 billion worth of stock would see an immediate increase in value. 

One can see why President Trump and his kleptocratic peace negotiators would find it unacceptable for Zelenskyy’s Ukraine to continue drone-bombing Russian oil fields. 

•••

And the Price Is – Diesel in the US averages $6.2665 per gallon nationally, AAA reports, which is 1.06 cents cheaper than on Sunday but $2.5095 more than on March 5. Unleaded regular, meanwhile, fell 0.29 cents from Sunday to $4.3556 Monday, or $1.3756 costlier than on February 27.

•••

Guilfoyle’d? – Former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson has joined former Fox News Vice President Ken La Corte in criticizing the conservative television outlet for failing to report on a scandal involving another of its former hosts, current US Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle, Mediaite reports. 

Last week The Wall Street Journal reported that Guilfoyle (who also is a former wife of Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom!) was preparing for her Senate hearing for her ambassadorship when she reached out to Trump donor Eric Deters seeking $100,000 to pay her American Express bill and offering access to administration officials. 

Former corporate veep La Corte accused Fox News of “journalistic malpractice” prompting former host Carlson to respond that the decision not to cover the scandal was made “from the top.”

Meanwhile, top Democrats on the House and Senate Foreign Affairs Committees have asked the State Department to investigate the WSJ’s reporting that Guilfoyle allegedly used her position to promote gas deals with a Greek company across southern Europe. 

Michael Kosta, host of The Daily Show except on Mondays said; “Wow, if the Justice Department still existed, Kimberly Guilfoyle would be in soooo much trouble.” –Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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MONDAY 10/12/26

Post-Graham

Commentary by Stephen Macaulay

After the untimely demise of Lindsey Graham many commentators took the opportunity to question why the South Carolina senator went from being a critic of Donald Trump (e.g., “the most flawed nominee in the history of the Republican party”) to, for all intents and purposes, a Trump toady. There was a metaphysical certainty that there was a serious rolling in a grave at the US Naval Academy Cemetery, where Graham’s friend John McCain was laid to rest.

Clips were shown and cited of Graham basically explaining that he decided to cozy up to Trump with the intention of being able to influence the man.

Who can imagine that a former JAG attorney could have been so naïve?

On September 18, 2026 — yes, but a few weeks ago — Donald Trump signed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026.

The bill includes a number of measures to penalize Russia for its attack on Ukraine.

Despite other questionable positions, there was one thing Graham was stalwart about: the right of Ukraine to exist without Russia taking whatever land it wished.

One of the measures in the bill is presidential authority to impose tariffs of 100% on major global purchasers of Russian crude oil and natural gas. Tariffs — those things Trump is so fond of, not only as a means to accumulate money but a tool he can use to punish those countries he thinks have in some way “ripped us off.”

And yet on October 9 — yes, but a few days ago and so a few weeks after signing the bill — Donald Trump announced on his social media platform: “Russia will immediately supply over 300,000 Tons of Diesel Fuel to the American and Global Marketplace, and another 500,000 Tons during the month of November, and 1,000,000 Tons immediately thereafter.”

Where are the punishing tariffs?

Now don’t imagine that Vladmir Putin is going to be supplying those Tons out of the goodness of his heart. There will certainly be a financial transaction involved.

The sort of thing that the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 was meant to stop. Money going into Russia is money that will be used for military personnel and munitions that will be used against Ukraine.

That’s right: Donald Trump is underwriting the Russian military efforts.

But what did Donald Trump say about Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy on October 10?

“He wants to make problems for the world. He wants to make problems for our farmers, our ranchers with diesel fuel, because Russia supplies a large portion of diesel fuel around the world.”

A primary objective of the Graham Act is to keep Russia from supplying a large portion of diesel fuel around the world.

Zelenskyy knows that Russian diesel sales can be lucrative, so the Ukrainian forces are understandably — well, understandably for most people who understand things like “tons” not being a proper noun -- targeting refineries. Take out a revenue source.

What does Trump say about that in relation to the Ukrainian president?

“He better damn well stop.”

Whose side is Trump on? That of a democracy or an authoritarian regime that attacked Ukraine?

A few days before that social post, at a campaign rally in Nebraska, Trump defended his administration’s actions in Iran, actions that are arguably making problems “for our farmers, our ranchers with diesel fuel.”

The US economy absorbed the disruption of Russian fuel supplies a couple years ago.

But the constraints caused by one-fifth of global oil shipments not getting shipped with anywhere near the volume they had been prior to the US and Israeli attack on Iran is something that continues to roil the US and global economies.

This is on Trump, not on Zelenskyy. He is the one who started the disruption that is causing so much trouble in terms of supplies not only of diesel, but of gasoline, jet fuel, heating oil, fertilizer, and more. Zelenskyy is defending is country.

During that presentation Trump said of Iran: “They can take out a city. Let them take, let them out Los Angeles; let them take out San Diego.”

That’s right: the president of the United States saying that a foreign adversary can wipe out American cities.

And one of those two cities happens to be the home of Naval Base Coronado, the physically largest US naval base in the country. How does this square with his alleged report of the brave women and men who are defending this country?

How this isn’t a cause for serious senators (oh, we miss you John McCain) to rise up and condemn Trump for saying that is beyond understanding. How Americans of all political alliance accept this as just another one of the things that Trump says is unthinkable.

But while that is outrageous rhetoric, the securing of Russian diesel, a move that is undoubtedly calculated to help him save face in the midterm elections, is a physical act that will result in the deaths of more Ukrainian children, women and men.

Shame.

Clearly Lindsey Graham didn’t recognize what a non-principled man he was oh-so obsequious to. 

Macaulay is pundit-at-large for The Hustings.

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MONDAY 10/12/26

To The Republic for Which the Flag Stands

Commentary by Ken Zino

Sessions of our Congress -- both the House and Senate -- open with the pledge of allegiance to the Republic. This means people acting as voters hold the power to choose the elective representatives who will govern them, not kings with divine rights and royal whims. This year voters -- we the people -- are troubled and alarmed about the economy. The primary results that rejected Republicans [Republi-cons?] has the Trump MAGA gang doing more than pearl clutching in metaphorical fear the pearls are about to be transformed into rhinestones. Much fretting here over what to do about the majority of Americans who now tell pollsters that Trump economic polices – comingled with foreign policy and shootings war, food and gas prices, rising interest rates – have them thinking the economy is bad?

The latest Pew Research Report on voters published 23 July indicates six in 10 now say Trump’s economic policies have made the economy worse.

Authors Andrew Daniller, Andy Cerda, Hannah Hartig and J. Baxter Oliphant - of what I describe as a MAGA rejection  -- note that “Americans remain in a sour mood about the economy – roughly a quarter (24%) rate economic conditions in the country today as excellent or good, while 41% say they are “only fair” and 35% describe them as poor. Positive ratings are slightly lower than in January, when 28% rated the economy as excellent or good. Still, Americans’ economic ratings have hovered around this level for the last few years. The recent drop is primarily driven by a shift among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents: 41% now rate the economy as excellent or good, down from 49% in January. Just 10% of Democrats and Democratic leaners rate the economy positively, essentially unchanged since early in President Donald Trump’s term.”

What’s that shift driven by again? “The recent drop is primarily driven by a shift among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents: 41% now rate the economy as excellent or good, down from 49% in January. Just 10% of Democrats and Democratic leaners rate the economy positively, essentially unchanged since early in President Donald Trump’s term.”

The new Pew Research Center survey, conducted July 6-12 among 3,554 U.S. adults, also finds that Americans are less likely than they were in January to expect the economy to improve over the course of the next year.

  • 23% now say they expect economic conditions to be better a year from now, down from 31% in January.
  • 36% say they expect conditions to be worse a year from now; little changed from January (38%).

“These views come as Americans remain concerned about the costs of healthcare, housing, food and energy. Concerns about gas prices, in particular, have risen sharply since January (before the US military action against Iran). Note: US gas prices had declined somewhat prior to the survey’s field period, but have risen steadily in recent weeks as military actions have escalated in the region and the price of crude oil has risen,” Pew said.

“Most Republicans continue to say Trump’s policies have either improved economic conditions (42%) or not had much of an effect (29%).

But GOP views have become less positive since January. The share of Republicans who say Trump’s policies have worsened conditions has risen from 18% to 28%, while the share saying they have improved conditions has fallen from 57% to 42%. (Do I hear the sound of pearl clutching/)

“The vast majority of Democrats continue to say Trump’s economic policies have made the economy worse (89% say this today).

Americans’ Economic Concerns (Pew)

  • Large majorities of Americans remain very concerned about the cost of healthcare, food and consumer goods, and housing. And concern about gas prices has risen sharply: 56% now say they are very concerned about this, up from 34% in January.
  • A narrower majority (54%) of adults say they are very concerned about the price of electricity, while 49% say they are very concerned about the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in the economy.
  • More than four-in-ten (44%) express a high level of concern about people who want to work not being able to find employment.
  • In contrast, relatively few Americans (18%) say they are very concerned about how the stock market is doing.”

In my personal view I have watched my weekly spend for food grow from $22-$28 under the Biden Administration to $55 –$70 under King Trump. My healthcare insurance costs and prescription prices have increased every year under Trump. My daughter, nieces and nephew are trying to deal with constantly rising interest rates (currently at a three year high and likely to keep rising) while they are looking to buy a house or condo.  I dread the coming effects of financing record and growing US National Debt on interest rates. 

In my humble Pledge of Allegiance to the Republic, it’s time to short President Trump’s preferred stock, along with MAGA’s. It looks like they are going to be converted to fewer shares of lower value common (paste not pearls) come November. The voters will decide who will represent them after the Pledge of Allegiance start the 120th Congressional sessions. 

Zino is a contributing pundit for The Hustings and writer/editor/publisher of AutoInformed.

-30-

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MONDAY 10/526

About Trump’s War Economy

President Trump personally instructed Russ Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, to use $20 million of taxpayer money from the Department of Homeland Security, The New York Times reports, for his blatantly political TV ads.

•Do Not Miss Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay's "Who's He Kidding?" in The Gray Area.

By Todd Lassa

Last week’s most important economic news was not Friday’s tepid Labor Department report that the US economy added just 29,000 jobs in September (for a still exceptional 4.2% unemployment rate). The number was good news, in a way, for President Trump in that the Federal Reserve’s next interest rate hike signaled by his choice for chairman, Kevin Warsh, may now be held to zero for the rest of 2026.

Last week’s most important economic news was, instead, Freddie Mac’s report that home mortgage rates breached the “psychologically important” 7% level last seen a year-and-a-half ago.

Home mortgage rates had fallen below 6% last February, for the first time since 2022, “sparking a flurry of buyer interest and fueling optimism” ahead of the traditional spring selling season. Now, The Wall Street Journal reports, the 7.03% Freddie Mac reported for the end of September and into October “may be the housing market’s ‘new normal.’” 

Trump in his big interview with Time magazine last week promised an end to the war with Iran after the midterms, resulting in a quick drop in oil prices. To make sure you received that message, Trump repeated his offer to give every adult US citizen $5,000 if Republicans hold their majorities in the House and Senate.

But the prospect of an easy resolution to the war he along with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched in February is far from guaranteed. 

This Sunday The New York Times reported that the Pentagon has withdrawn all 12 B-1 Air Force bombers from RAF Fairfield after commanders received threats regarding an Iranian-backed plot against the field in southern England, according to two officials. Report of the withdrawal was confirmed by the Pentagon’s European command, though they gave no reason for it.

This comes one week after police arrested five men approaching RAF Fairfield in three white vans. It must be noted that British authorities have not yet indicated the motive or nature of the presence of the five men at the airfield.

Meanwhile … As both chambers of Congress take recess until after the November 3 midterms and Trump (above) hits the campaign trail in an effort to retain the GOP’s control of the Senate and House of Representatives, we are off from our regular schedule of daily updates, October 5 to October 9 only. 

We will return with daily news/aggregate/analysis updates in this center column Mondays through Fridays on October 12. During this time, you are still encouraged to join our conversation on political news. Email your COMMENTS to editors@thehustings.news and please indicate your political leanings in the subject line, so we can publish them in the appropriate (left or right) column.

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MONDAY 10/5/26

Still the Best Seat in the House

Commentary by Rich Corbett

The midterm elections are around the corner and “affordability” is on everyone’s mind. Look past the pump for a moment and the American economy is still doing something most of the world would trade for: It is employing people and paying them more.

The unemployment rate in September was 4.2%. That’s not a boom-time 3.5%, but it is a tight labor market by any historical standard. Payrolls added 162,000 jobs last month. Average hourly earnings for private workers reached $37.75, up from $36.62 a year earlier. Nominal pay is still climbing. Headline inflation is 3.4%; core inflation, which strips food and energy, is 2.4%. Energy is the ugly piece — up more than 16% over the year —  which is why the sticker shock at the pump and the diesel island feels worse than the core number. 

The political left will focus on the price of gasoline and diesel. Fair enough. They offer few solutions that do not amount to more central control: Price fixing, rent control and “free everything.” Freedom-loving, common sense voters have watched that experiment. It does not raise the living standards where it has been tried. 

Let’s be honest. Affordability is real. Housing is still too expensive in most metro areas. Grocery prices never fully came down from the Biden-era spike, even if the annual rate of food inflation has cooled. Childcare and insurance chew through paychecks. A US Conference of Mayors survey this week found nearly every mayor saying residents are “very or extremely concerned” about costs. Consumer sentiment has been bouncing around near multi-decade lows for a reason. The squeeze is not imaginary. 

The midterm question is what you do with that fact.

You can treat a sharp oil spike — driven by geopolitics: Russia and Ukraine, Hamas and Hezbollah against Israel and the confrontation with Iran — as proof this administration has failed. Or you can notice that the United States is absorbing the shock better than most countries while trying to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of a regime that chants “Death to America.” No one gets a clean receipt that says the price at the pump was “worth it.” That is a judgment about risk, not a CPI footnote.

The path in front of us is the current one: keep economic pressure on Iran, defend allies and US bases and produce more energy in places that are not under immediate threat — including, yes, cleaner sources where the market can actually deliver them. Efficiency comes from markets, innovation and competition. Those used to be shared assumptions of Republican and Democratic leadership. They are not the programs being sold by DSA-aligned candidates now making inroads in the Democratic Party. 

Ride out the pain at the pump a little longer with eyes open. There is still no better place to ride out a messy world than the United States. The numbers, even the uncomfortable ones, beat the alternative: A weaker economy, a weaker dollar, weaker hiring, higher taxes and a political class that treats production as a moral problem and central control as the answer. Most of us already know better. 

Corbett is a contributing pundit to The Hustings and writer/editor/publisher of  mydesultoryblog.com.

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MONDAY 10/5/26