As seen in the Omaha World-Herald and the Des Moines Register: Another Huge Breakthrough / A Pause and an Apology

HONEST POLITICS
Veritas Pro Populo | Brent Lambi
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The Ethanol Powered Engine Act
Powering America to a Better Future!
Four steps to put American corn in every tank and a flex-fuel car in every driveway, and take the Strait of Hormuz out of the family budget. A win for the
farmer, the driver, the worker and the air we breathe.
THE ACT AT A GLANCE
ONE – An E15 minimum in all gasoline sold nationwide, rising
to E20 in one year and E30 in two.
TWO – A $5,000 federal tax credit on every new,
American-made flex-fuel vehicle.
THREE – Every new vehicle built in the USA meets the E85
flex-fuel standard.
FOUR – Every station going forward offers E15, E20, E30 and
E85 blender pumps, plus an E0 pump for classic cars, boats and
small engines.
WHAT A BLEND MEANS FOR A BUSHEL
Blend Net New Corn
Demand
Est. price / bu
Today (E10) – $4.70
E15 1.6 billion bu ~$5.70
E20 3.3 billion bu ~$6.65
E30 6.5 billion bu ~$8.60
Author’s estimate, long run after acres adjust. Today = USDA Oct. 2026
season-average forecast. Assumes 135B gal gasoline, 2.9 gal/bu, 30%
returned as distillers grains, supply and demand elasticities of 0.3. A rushed
E30 could briefly top $11.
A PROPOSAL FOR CONGRESS BY
BRENT LAMBI
Look out any window in Iowa or Nebraska in
October 2026 and you will see the answer to a
question Washington keeps asking. The combines
are rolling on what USDA now projects as a
16-billion-bushel corn crop. In the same report,
the department cut its season-average price to
$4.70 a bushel, and futures slid to a seven-week
low. Meanwhile, drivers are still paying for a war
in the Persian Gulf every time they fill up.
We have a fuel problem and a corn problem. They
are two halves of the same problem, and they have
the same solution.
Campaign season has given us plenty of
mudslinging. Here is something better: a plan. I
am offering it to Congress as the Ethanol Powered
Engine Act. Readers know I have been hard on
this administration in these pages, and I will stay
hard where it is earned. But a good idea does not
carry a party card. The President has promised
farmers relief and promised drivers cheaper gas.
Here is a way to deliver both, with American
grain, American factories and American jobs.
Members of Congress, Republican and Democrat:
put your names on it, and send it to the President
to sign.
WHAT IT DOES FOR CORN
Ethanol already takes about 5.65 billion bushels
of corn a year. Americans burn roughly 135
billion gallons of gasoline a year, and a bushel
yields close to three gallons of ethanol. By my
own rough estimate, every five points of blend
adds about 2.3 billion bushels of gross demand.
That is a permanent floor of domestic demand,
and it means the price of an Iowa or Nebraska
bushel would no longer rise and fall on whether
Beijing feels like buying in 2026.
WHAT E30 MEANS FOR A BUSHEL
So what would a nationwide E30 minimum do to
today’s $4.70 corn? Here is my estimate, and I
will show my work. Going from today’s E10 to
E30 means about 27 billion more gallons of
ethanol, roughly 9.3 billion more bushels. But
about 30 percent of every bushel comes back out
of the plant as distillers grains that feed cattle and
hogs, so net new demand is closer to 6.5 billion
bushels: about 40 percent of the 2026 near-record
crop.
That corn has to come from somewhere. Higher
prices pull new acres into corn and pull some
bushels away from feed and exports. Using
standard farm-economics assumptions about how
much farmers plant, and buyers cut back, when
the price moves, that squeeze puts E30 corn at
roughly $8.50 to $8.75 a bushel once planting
catches up, nearly double today. E20 alone points
toward about $6.65. Nationwide E15, about $5.70.
Two honest warnings. Rushed is expensive: if
E30 arrived before the new acres and new plants
did, the same math says corn could spike past $11,
which would squeeze the hog and cattle producers
who are also the backbone of Iowa and Nebraska.
And the plants must be built: U.S. ethanol
capacity is about 18 billion gallons a year, and
E30 needs more than 40 billion. That is why the
deadlines need a safety valve tied to supply, and
why the plant-building boom is itself the jobs
program.
WHAT IT DOES FOR THE AIR
Ethanol is an oxygenate. It helps fuel burn more
completely, and every gallon of it replaces
gasoline components such as benzene and other
aromatics that foul city air and feed fine-particle
pollution. Research at the Department of Energy’s
Argonne National Laboratory has found corn
ethanol’s lifecycle greenhouse emissions
substantially lower than gasoline’s, and modern
plants keep improving. Cleaner tailpipes in
Chicago, Des Moines, Omaha, St. Louis and
Detroit are a health benefit, not a slogan.
WHAT IT DOES TO OIL
Every gallon of ethanol is a gallon we do not have
to drill, ship through a chokepoint or buy from a
regime that hates us. E15 already sells 20 to 40
cents a gallon cheaper than regular, and fuel
prices have spiked since the Iran war began.
Brazil built a flex-fuel car fleet decades ago and
now runs high-ethanol blends as a matter of
national policy. If Brazil can do it with sugarcane,
the world’s largest corn producer can do it with
corn.
WHAT IT DOES FOR IOWA,
NEBRASKA AND THE CORN BELT
Iowa and Nebraska are the one-two punch of
American ethanol. Iowa leads the nation at 4.6
billion gallons a year, supporting over 31,000 jobs
and $5.4 billion of state GDP. Nebraska is second,
at roughly two billion gallons, with an industry
the University of Nebraska puts at about $6 billion
a year in economic output and plant jobs
averaging around $80,000 in salary. Together the
two states make close to half of America’s fuel
ethanol.
Now add the rest of the Corn Belt: Illinois,
Minnesota, Indiana, South Dakota, Ohio,
Missouri, Kansas, Wisconsin and North Dakota,
and Michigan farmers too. Doubling and then
tripling ethanol demand means new and expanded
plants in every one of them, plus the construction
crews, welders, pump installers, truckers, elevator
and rail workers, seed and equipment dealers, and
Main Street businesses in towns that have been
watching their young people leave.
WHAT IT DOES FOR MICHIGAN
AND THE AUTO INDUSTRY
This is not only a farm bill. It is an auto bill.
Michigan builds about 18 percent of all vehicles
made in the United States, and 156,000
Michiganders work in motor vehicle and parts
plants, a number that has been slipping, with parts
makers shedding 4,000 jobs in the past year. The
Act gives Detroit, Flint, Lansing and every
supplier town a reason to hire again.
Requiring every American-built vehicle to be
flex-fuel means new fuel systems, sensors, seals
and engine calibrations, engineering and parts
work done here. The $5,000 credit, open only to
flex-fuel vehicles made in the USA, pulls buyers
into showrooms and toward American assembly
lines in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky,
Tennessee and beyond. Stronger sales mean more
shifts, more suppliers and more dealership jobs.
And the two halves feed each other. A farmer
earning more for corn buys a new pickup. A
Michigan autoworker fills that pickup with
Nebraska ethanol. That is economic stimulus with
far-reaching jobs in both agriculture and the
American automobile industry, the farm and the
factory pulling in the same direction. Grow it
here, build it here, burn it here, keep the money
here.
WHAT THE CRITICS WILL SAY,
AND THE ANSWERS
“My old car can’t take it.” E15 is approved for
cars and light trucks built in 2001 and later, more
than 96 percent of what is on the road. E20 and
E30 in non-flex-fuel cars still need EPA testing
and automaker sign-off, and that work must
happen before the deadlines bite. That is why the
E0 pump stays, and why every new car must be
flex-fuel from day one.
“E85 gets fewer miles per gallon.” True: ethanol
carries less energy per gallon, so higher blends
must be priced per mile, not just per gallon. Post
both at the pump and let drivers choose.
“Who pays?” A $5,000 credit on millions of
vehicles is serious money, and Congress should
score it honestly and phase it in. Stations need
cost-share help for blender pumps, as USDA’s
infrastructure grants already provide. Compare
that bill to what we spend defending oil shipping
lanes.
“What about land and water?” Fair question, and
voters in Iowa and Nebraska are asking it. In Iowa
it is a live issue in the fall 2026 race for
agriculture secretary. Yields keep climbing,
USDA now projects over 181 bushels an acre, and
conservation practices must grow alongside the
grind. Ethanol and clean water are not enemies;
neglect is.
NOT “AVAILABLE” MANDATORY
For years Washington’s idea of progress on
ethanol has been an annual fight over whether
stations may sell E15 in the summer. Permission
is not a policy. Making E15 merely available
year-round leaves it to the oil company that owns
the pump to decide whether a farmer’s corn ever
reaches a tank, and after years of “availability,”
E15 is still offered at only about 4,800 locations, a
small fraction of America’s gas stations.
The Ethanol Powered Engine Act does not ask
permission. It sets the floor: E15 in every gallon
of gasoline sold in America, E20 one year later,
E30 the year after that, with blender pumps at
every station and an E0 pump for the engines that
need it. That is the difference between a menu
option and a market. Federal fuel standards are
what took E10 from a niche product to nearly
every gallon sold today. A mandatory minimum is
what will do the same for E15, E20 and E30, and
only a mandate gives a farmer, an ethanol plant
and an automaker the certainty to invest.
THE QUESTION FOR CONGRESS
So here is the question for every member of
Congress from Iowa and Nebraska, from Illinois,
Minnesota, Indiana, Missouri, the Dakotas, Ohio
and Michigan, and for every candidate on the
November 3, 2026, ballot:
Will you sponsor and vote for a mandatory
nationwide E15 minimum, rising to E20 and E30,
not one more year of mere permission to sell it?
Ask it at the town hall. Ask it at the county fair.
Get the answer on the record. A yes is a vote for
the farm and the factory. A “maybe next year” is a
vote for $4.70 corn, shuttered parts plants and gas
prices held hostage in the Strait of Hormuz.
We have had enough mudslinging this season.
Here is something that grows. Members of
Congress, Republican and Democrat: introduce
the Ethanol Powered Engine Act, pass it, and send
it to the President’s desk.
“No blockade can stop a corn crop. No foreign navy can close an Iowa or Nebraska ethanol plant.”
Keep Honest Politics in Print
SCAN TO SUPPORT
A WIN FOR THE FARMER. A WIN FOR THE DRIVER. A WIN FOR THE FACTORY
WORKER. A WIN FOR THE AIR. GROW IT HERE. BUILD IT HERE. BURN IT HERE. KEEP
IT HERE. PASS THE ETHANOL POWERED ENGINE ACT.
Sources: USDA World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (Oct. 9, 2026); Trading Economics corn futures (Oct. 2026); USDA farm price data; Decision
Innovation Solutions for the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (March 2026); Reuters on E15 pricing (May 14, 2026); Biofuels Digest on E15 station count (May 2026);
Ohio Corn & Wheat Growers on E15 vehicle approval; Iowa Public Radio and Radio Iowa on the agriculture secretary race (Oct. 2026); U.S. ethanol capacity via
BioEnergy Times; University of Nebraska–Lincoln ethanol impact study (March 2025); Michigan Economic Development Corp./Center for Automotive Research Michigan
Dashboard, Q2 2026. Blend-to-bushel and price figures are the author’s estimates and are offered as opinion.
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THE GIFT ARRIVED TWO DAYS LATE
Putin turned 74 on October 7, 2026.
Trump promised a call; the Kremlin said
none came. Hurt feelings didn’t last. On
October 9, 2026, the call came, and Trump
announced Russia would ship 300,000 tons
of diesel at once, millions more to follow.
Treasury opened the market to Russian
diesel through April 7, 2027.
Remember the Graham “sanctions bill
from hell” Trump signed September 18,
2026 to choke off Russia’s oil money?
Ukraine’s negotiators were in Miami that
day. Hours after the deal, Russian strikes
killed at least 17 Ukrainians. Zelensky,
never consulted, called it unfair, dishonest,
weak and a “birthday gift” to Putin. We
didn’t name it. He did.
Savings at the pump? Diesel dipped seven
or eight cents, to a national AAA average of
$6.28, and analysts doubt the trend will
change. Even Republicans balked:
Nebraska’s Don Bacon called it the wrong
answer, Texas’s Michael McCaul said it
funds the Kremlin’s war machine, and
Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski said use sanctions
instead.
Did Putin get a better birthday present
from our President than Americans got all
year? Hmm? Probably Yes!
THEN HE ASKED FOR A NEW
UKRAINE
On October 10, 2026, the President said
Ukraine needs a new president, “one who
can make a deal”, the worst rupture, Axios
said, since the 2025 Oval Office blowup.
Zelensky, he said, better damn well stop
hitting Russian refineries, which he blamed
for hurting American farmers. Zelensky had
offered a fair trade: no strikes on Russian
refineries if Russia stops striking Ukraine’s
power plants. Trump took Putin’s deal
instead. Replacing Zelensky has been
Putin’s wish since his tanks rolled in.
Putin answered with missiles: at least 20
dead in Zaporizhzhia, three of them
children, four wounded in Kyiv, more than
60 dead in four days. Zelensky’s summary:
Russia’s choice is war.
Is Putin’s wish list becoming the White
House to-do list? Hmm? Probably Yes!
Ukraine needs a new president, says ours.
Does he want Russia to get a new one, too?
Hmm? Probably Not!
Should an aggressor who invaded his
neighbor and kidnapped its children be
rewarded? Hmm? Probably Not!
Did Ukrainian drones hurt Iowa farmers
more than tariffs and no farm plan? Hmm?
Probably No!
THE OTHER BIRTHDAY CARD
Vladimir isn’t the first. In 2003, for
Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th, a letter bearing
Trump’s name went into a birthday album:
typed text inside a hand-drawn naked
woman, signed below the waist, wishing a
shared “wonderful secret.” The Wall Street
Journal reported it in 2025; Epstein’s estate
gave the album to Congress under
subpoena. Trump calls it fake and sued for
$10 billion. In April 2026, a judge
dismissed the suit without ruling on the
truth; his lawyers vow to refile.
A card for Epstein, a gift for a man wanted
by the ICC, is there a pattern? Hmm?
Probably Yes!
Is it easier to chase Cassidy Hutchinson
for perjury than to release every page of the
Epstein files? Hmm? Probably Yes!
FRIENDS AND “ENEMIES”
Canada gets tariffs and 51st-state talk.
Brazil, a democracy, got punishing tariffs
and a lecture. Europe, which stood with us
after 9/11, is told it freeloads. Russia , the
Soviet heartland Republicans warned us
about for fifty years, gets a call, a waiver
and a seat at the table.
Europe noticed. Sweden said energy
revenue feeds Russia’s war chest; Germany
stands by sanctions; Poland asked where
Russia’s spare diesel would even come
from. On October 12, 2026, the EU adopted
its largest round of sanctions listings since
2022, some 1,600 listings, three days after
Washington gave Moscow a waiver.
Reagan called it an evil empire.
This White House calls it a diesel supplier.
Is the President more comfortable with
Moscow’s strongman than with our
democratic allies? Hmm? Probably Yes!
THE RETRIBUTION DOCKET
Putin got a gift; critics got grand juries.
The Justice Department is reportedly
seeking to indict Cassidy Hutchinson for
allegedly lying to Congress about January 6,
2021, through, oddly, the Civil Rights
Division. Jack Smith said he barely relied
on her. Comey has been hauled into court;
Fauci’s former adviser was indicted in April
2026. The Atlantic reported top
law-enforcement jobs may hinge on
indicting the President’s enemies. Our
stated opinion: the pattern is the point.
Brand every witness a liar, and nobody
believes them when this term ends.
Is “perjury” now the charge for testimony
you didn’t like? Hmm? Probably Yes!
Does it make holding a former President
accountable, by impeachment or in court,
harder? Hmm? Probably Yes!
THE PRIZE HE DIDN’T WIN
The Nobel Peace Prize went to Navi
Pillay, who led the Rwanda genocide
tribunal and sat on the International
Criminal Court. She heard the news in
Nuremberg’s Courtroom 600, where Nazi
leaders were tried. Trump, who said during
the week of October 5 he deserved it, posted
that the committee “demeaned” the prize.
The White House slapped new sanctions on
the ICC, Nuremberg’s heir, which has a
warrant out for Putin over Ukraine’s
deported children. So the court that wants
Putin arrested is “corrupt,” and Putin gets
diesel waivers. Funny how that works.
Would he call the committee corrupt if it
had handed him the medal? Hmm?
Probably No!
Does sanctioning the court that indicted
Putin help Putin? Hmm? Probably Yes!
MEANWHILE, BACK HOME
Americans are still waiting for the health
plan “two weeks away” for a decade, lower
prices, lower tariffs, farm income in Iowa
and Nebraska, diesel under $6.28. The
Trump family has made billions from crypto
and side deals while in office.
Is America losing while the family
business wins? Hmm? Probably Yes!
Will one Russian tanker fix any of it?
Hmm? Probably No!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, VLADIMIR.
SORRY, AMERICA, YOUR GIFT IS
STILL IN THE MAIL.
VOTE LIKE YOUR PAYCHECK
DEPENDS ON IT. IT DOES.
Sources: Washington Post, CNN, Axios, GovBrief
(Oct. 9, 2026); Al Jazeera, UN News, ABC News
(Pillay Nobel, Oct. 9); Charter 97/TASS (Oct. 7–8);
CBS News, Bloomberg, Mediaite, MS NOW
(Hutchinson, Oct. 8–9); AP/PBS (Morens, Apr. 28,
2026); United24 (Graham sanctions law); Variety
(WSJ suit dismissed, Apr. 13, 2026); Axios, Kyiv
Post, Newsweek, AP via ABC News (Oct. 10, 2026).
THE LEDGER
WHO WINS WHO LOSES
Diesel Deal
Putin’s war chest;
a pre-election price headline.
Ukraine’s leverage; the sanctions law.
“New Leader”
The Kremlin, hearing
its demand echoed.
A democracy at war; U.S. credibility.
Epstein Card
A President who sues
instead of explaining.
Epstein’s victims;
voters promised the files.
Allies A man who admires strongmen.
Allies doubting our word;
our own security.
Grand Juries
Trump, turning
accusers into defendants.
Future witnesses;
an independent DOJ.
ICC & Nobel
War criminals who
see judges punished.
Nuremberg’s rule:
no one above the law.
WITHOUT READER SUPPORT,
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A PAUSE AND AN APOLOGY
An update on the Berkshire Hathaway defamation matter and why I am choosing not to pursue this matter any further for the time being.
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Happy Birthday, Vladimir – Love, Donald
Two days after Putin turned 74, the President delivered the present: a six-month waiver
on Russian diesel. It wasn’t his first birthday greeting to a man he should have avoided.
Then he went back to prosecuting critics and sulking about a Nobel Prize.
Image created with AI.
THE GIFT ARRIVED TWO DAYS LATE
Putin turned 74 on October 7, 2026.
Trump promised a call; the Kremlin said
none came. Hurt feelings didn’t last. On
October 9, 2026, the call came, and Trump
announced Russia would ship 300,000 tons
of diesel at once, millions more to follow.
Treasury opened the market to Russian
diesel through April 7, 2027.
Remember the Graham “sanctions bill
from hell” Trump signed September 18,
2026 to choke off Russia’s oil money?
Ukraine’s negotiators were in Miami that
day. Hours after the deal, Russian strikes
killed at least 17 Ukrainians. Zelensky,
never consulted, called it unfair, dishonest,
weak and a “birthday gift” to Putin. We
didn’t name it. He did.
Savings at the pump? Diesel dipped seven
or eight cents, to a national AAA average of
$6.28, and analysts doubt the trend will
change. Even Republicans balked:
Nebraska’s Don Bacon called it the wrong
answer, Texas’s Michael McCaul said it
funds the Kremlin’s war machine, and
Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski said use sanctions
instead.
Did Putin get a better birthday present
from our President than Americans got all
year? Hmm? Probably Yes!
THEN HE ASKED FOR A NEW
UKRAINE
On October 10, 2026, the President said
Ukraine needs a new president, “one who
can make a deal”, the worst rupture, Axios
said, since the 2025 Oval Office blowup.
Zelensky, he said, better damn well stop
hitting Russian refineries, which he blamed
for hurting American farmers. Zelensky had
offered a fair trade: no strikes on Russian
refineries if Russia stops striking Ukraine’s
power plants. Trump took Putin’s deal
instead. Replacing Zelensky has been
Putin’s wish since his tanks rolled in.
Putin answered with missiles: at least 20
dead in Zaporizhzhia, three of them
children, four wounded in Kyiv, more than
60 dead in four days. Zelensky’s summary:
Russia’s choice is war.
Is Putin’s wish list becoming the White
House to-do list? Hmm? Probably Yes!
Ukraine needs a new president, says ours.
Does he want Russia to get a new one, too?
Hmm? Probably Not!
Should an aggressor who invaded his
neighbor and kidnapped its children be
rewarded? Hmm? Probably Not!
Did Ukrainian drones hurt Iowa farmers
more than tariffs and no farm plan? Hmm?
Probably No!
THE OTHER BIRTHDAY CARD
Vladimir isn’t the first. In 2003, for
Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th, a letter bearing
Trump’s name went into a birthday album:
typed text inside a hand-drawn naked
woman, signed below the waist, wishing a
shared “wonderful secret.” The Wall Street
Journal reported it in 2025; Epstein’s estate
gave the album to Congress under
subpoena. Trump calls it fake and sued for
$10 billion. In April 2026, a judge
dismissed the suit without ruling on the
truth; his lawyers vow to refile.
A card for Epstein, a gift for a man wanted
by the ICC, is there a pattern? Hmm?
Probably Yes!
Is it easier to chase Cassidy Hutchinson
for perjury than to release every page of the
Epstein files? Hmm? Probably Yes!
FRIENDS AND “ENEMIES”
Canada gets tariffs and 51st-state talk.
Brazil, a democracy, got punishing tariffs
and a lecture. Europe, which stood with us
after 9/11, is told it freeloads. Russia , the
Soviet heartland Republicans warned us
about for fifty years, gets a call, a waiver
and a seat at the table.
Europe noticed. Sweden said energy
revenue feeds Russia’s war chest; Germany
stands by sanctions; Poland asked where
Russia’s spare diesel would even come
from. On October 12, 2026, the EU adopted
its largest round of sanctions listings since
2022, some 1,600 listings, three days after
Washington gave Moscow a waiver.
Reagan called it an evil empire.
This White House calls it a diesel supplier.
Is the President more comfortable with
Moscow’s strongman than with our
democratic allies? Hmm? Probably Yes!
THE RETRIBUTION DOCKET
Putin got a gift; critics got grand juries.
The Justice Department is reportedly
seeking to indict Cassidy Hutchinson for
allegedly lying to Congress about January 6,
2021, through, oddly, the Civil Rights
Division. Jack Smith said he barely relied
on her. Comey has been hauled into court;
Fauci’s former adviser was indicted in April
2026. The Atlantic reported top
law-enforcement jobs may hinge on
indicting the President’s enemies. Our
stated opinion: the pattern is the point.
Brand every witness a liar, and nobody
believes them when this term ends.
Is “perjury” now the charge for testimony
you didn’t like? Hmm? Probably Yes!
Does it make holding a former President
accountable, by impeachment or in court,
harder? Hmm? Probably Yes!
THE PRIZE HE DIDN’T WIN
The Nobel Peace Prize went to Navi
Pillay, who led the Rwanda genocide
tribunal and sat on the International
Criminal Court. She heard the news in
Nuremberg’s Courtroom 600, where Nazi
leaders were tried. Trump, who said during
the week of October 5 he deserved it, posted
that the committee “demeaned” the prize.
The White House slapped new sanctions on
the ICC, Nuremberg’s heir, which has a
warrant out for Putin over Ukraine’s
deported children. So the court that wants
Putin arrested is “corrupt,” and Putin gets
diesel waivers. Funny how that works.
Would he call the committee corrupt if it
had handed him the medal? Hmm?
Probably No!
Does sanctioning the court that indicted
Putin help Putin? Hmm? Probably Yes!
MEANWHILE, BACK HOME
Americans are still waiting for the health
plan “two weeks away” for a decade, lower
prices, lower tariffs, farm income in Iowa
and Nebraska, diesel under $6.28. The
Trump family has made billions from crypto
and side deals while in office.
Is America losing while the family
business wins? Hmm? Probably Yes!
Will one Russian tanker fix any of it?
Hmm? Probably No!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, VLADIMIR.
SORRY, AMERICA, YOUR GIFT IS
STILL IN THE MAIL.
VOTE LIKE YOUR PAYCHECK
DEPENDS ON IT. IT DOES.
Sources: Washington Post, CNN, Axios, GovBrief
(Oct. 9, 2026); Al Jazeera, UN News, ABC News
(Pillay Nobel, Oct. 9); Charter 97/TASS (Oct. 7–8);
CBS News, Bloomberg, Mediaite, MS NOW
(Hutchinson, Oct. 8–9); AP/PBS (Morens, Apr. 28,
2026); United24 (Graham sanctions law); Variety
(WSJ suit dismissed, Apr. 13, 2026); Axios, Kyiv
Post, Newsweek, AP via ABC News (Oct. 10, 2026).
THE LEDGER
WHO WINS WHO LOSES
Diesel Deal
Putin’s war chest;
a pre-election price headline.
Ukraine’s leverage; the sanctions law.
“New Leader”
The Kremlin, hearing
its demand echoed.
A democracy at war; U.S. credibility.
Epstein Card
A President who sues
instead of explaining.
Epstein’s victims;
voters promised the files.
Allies A man who admires strongmen.
Allies doubting our word;
our own security.
Grand Juries
Trump, turning Future witnesses;
I
WITHOUT READER SUPPORT,
THIS COLUMN DISAPPEARS.
Independent voices are becoming harder to
find in America. Your contribution helps keep
Honest Politics going. Asking difficult
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