Author: nick

The grotesque spectacle practically writes itself. For years, the guardians of “consumer welfare” in Washington postured as vigilant sentinels against consolidation in the airline industry, so that when JetBlue sought to acquire Spirit Airlines, the Department of Justice intervened immediately and with all earnest. The argument, we were told, was simple: Spirit, the plucky ultra-low-cost carrier, provided downward pressure on fares. To allow its absorption into a larger competitor would be to deprive consumers, especially cost-conscious ones, of a vital check on airline pricing power. It was a familiar story. Antitrust, in its modern form, is less about law than…

The Most Ridiculous Lawfare Yet Source link

As Trump’s excursion veers into quagmire territory, he may just try to walk away amid a host of new distractions. Source link

From ‘Fine People' to Assassinations Source link

I’ve finished reviewing the Supreme Court’s 92-page decision in Louisiana v. Callais (rhymes with waylay). I’ve distilled it down to about 16 pages for the 2026 Barnett/Blackman supplement. My focus here was on the ConLaw aspects of the case, so much of the history of Section 2, the 1982 amendments, and Gingles is trimmed. I also did not include the lengthy and complicated procedural posture. I’m not sure that it will matter too much as the Court found the application of the “updated” standard to be easy. I’ll have more to say about the case in another post. Source link

With the U.S.-led Pax Silica framework, the Philippines is becoming a dual-use platform where military strategy and supply-chain restructuring are converging. Over the past year, the Philippines has moved decisively into the front line of US–China friction, thanks to expanded access under the bilateral Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), large-scale military exercises near Taiwan-adjacent waters, and growing interoperability with U.S. forces. The Philippines is transitioning toward a logistics hub in a possible regional contingency. What is new is that this military alignment is now paired with an economic architecture: Pax Silica. Pax Silica, a risk multiplier In April 2026, the…

Leaders of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) have cleverly exploited U.S. policy blunders throughout the international system for at least the past three decades to enhance Beijing’s influence and erode Washington’s. The Trump administration’s mishandling of relations with Iran affords China a new opportunity, and it may prove to be the most significant one yet. Indeed, the question arises whether Xi Jinping’s government is moving beyond passively taking advantage of chronic U.S. ineptitude in the Muslim world and is now actively using Iran and its Shia allies as proxies to create major strategic and economic headaches for the United…

The main question I have about Donald Trump’s latest attempted assassin, Cole Tomas Allen—a teacher, naturally—is: I wonder whether he was a fair grader to Trump supporters? One question I don’t have is whether some new security protocol could stop random nuts from doing insane things in a country of 340 million people. Every journalist who was at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner seems to be writing pieces saying, first, that they were at the dinner; second, they really, really were at the dinner—that was them sitting next to the energy secretary!—and third, that they noticed the lax security at…

After much anticipation, the Supreme Court finally decided Louisiana v. Callais. (The Chief Justice pronounced it as waylay.) I have some preliminary thoughts. First, more than five months elapsed from the oral argument in October till decision day. The longer this case dragged on, the harder it would be for Republican legislatures to redistrict. There was some speculation that the dissenters were dragging out the case to run out the clock. Are these insinuations accurate? Justice Alito’s majority opinion in somewhat unusual in that it barely engages with the dissent. There are a few paragraphs on the penultimate page of the…

Reminiscent of the Gingrich Revolution, a multi-bill package would attack higher costs, raise wages, and get big money out of politics. Its architect sees it as a battle plan for the midterms. Source link