'The political waters we swim in are only going to be more polluted'

'How AI is transforming the way political campaigns work'

Micah L. Sifry in The Nation

Artificial intelligence tools are transforming "how political campaigns work," says Micah L. Sifry in The Nation. Early concerns focused on "deep fakes," like the phony Joe Biden robocall that urged people not to vote in New Hampshire's primary. Such disinformation indeed could start "upending elections." But AI also could change "the practice of campaigning itself," potentially replacing phone-bank volunteers and even professional campaign managers, and threatening to turn candidate pitches into "blatant pandering and manipulation."

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'Christian nonprofits incentivize illegal immigration with your tax dollars'

Jordan Boyd at The Federalist

Popular evangelical groups are "offering food and financial resources to the caravans snaking through Central America," writes Jordan Boyd at The Federalist. This might "seem humane on the surface," but they "actually incentivize more migrants to pay the cartel smuggling fees so they can make the trip north." Making matters worse, these "well-intentioned Christian charities are using American taxpayer money" as they fuel "the surge of human trafficking across borders" toward the United States.

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'The Senate's false hope of a grand bargain meets its Trumpy demise'

Susan B. Glasser at The New Yorker

"The carnival of stupidity that is a Donald Trump-led Republican Party remains the most distracting show on earth," Susan B. Glasser at The New Yorker. "Trumpier corners of the internet" hyperventilated over conspiracy theories about pop megastar Taylor Swift's support for President Joe Biden. This overshadowed the "debacle" of Republicans doing Trump's bidding by tanking a deal linking Ukraine  funding to a border crackdown, even though Republicans "were the ones who demanded it in the first place."

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'Washington's welfare uniparty'

Kimberley A. Strassel in The Wall Street Journal

So much for "spending discipline," says Kimberley A. Strassel in The Wall Street Journal. "Four months after decapitating their own speaker for a supposed lack of conservative principle, House Republicans this week" collaborated "with Democrats to pass a welfare blowout." The $78 billion spending deal included expanding the child tax credit "and its availability to parents who don't pay income tax" — Democratic priorities — "proving again that Congress is incapable of anything beyond redistributing other people's money."

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