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Is The War on Iran Unlawful And Unfair To U.S. Troops?

Is The War on Iran Unlawful And Unfair To U.S. Troops?

Protestors holding signs, many that say "Stop Bombing Iran."

Trump’s ‘Just for Fun’ War Talk Shows a Dangerous Trivialization

Disinformation Wins: Justifying ICE Murders through Transphobia

Disinformation Wins: Justifying ICE Murders through Transphobia

Republican scheming backfires in Texas election

Republican scheming backfires in Texas election

Trump: The King of Fake

Trump: The King of Fake

Hawaii’s vote-by-mail primary wraps up Saturday

​Rep. Kai Kahele

Rep. Kai Kahele is vacated his House seat to run for governor of Hawaii, but is running a distant second.

Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
David Meyers
By David MeyersAug 12, 2022
David Meyers

David Meyers is the Executive Editor of The Fulcrum. Before launching The Fulcrum, David spent more than two decades at CQ Roll Call, a leading publisher of political news and information. During his time there, David served as managing editor of Roll Call (“the newspaper of Capitol Hill”) and as managing editor of member information and research, which included co-editing the definitive biographical directory of Congress, “Politics in America.” David went on to lead all of CQ Roll Call’s congressional research teams as vice president of research and content development before shifting to a revenue and strategy role as vice president of business operations for Roll Call, working with the advertising and editorial teams to develop new revenue models and expand the company’s events business. David lives in Fairfax, Va., with his wife, two daughters and rottweiler. A graduate of Tufts University, David is a past president of the Tufts University Alumni Association. He is also a past president of the Washington Press Club Foundation, which works to celebrate and advance the role of women and minorities in the media. David currently serves on the board of directors for Temple B’nai Shalom in Fairfax Station.

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For years, Hawaii has lagged behind every other state when it comes to voter participation. But that changed two years ago, when the state debuted voting by mail. That year, participation reached 51 percent, a 17-point jump from 2016. After this weekend, we’ll know whether the new system also boosts turnout in midterm primaries.

Voters in Hawaii have been filling out ballots for about two weeks, selecting nominees for the Senate, the House, governor and other state and local offices. The voting period ends Saturday, when mailed ballots are due and those who choose to vote in person head to voting centers.

As of Tuesday, about a quarter of the ballots sent to all registered voters had been completed and returned to election officials.

Term-limited Gov. David Ige’s exit has created a cascade of openings. Lt. Gov. Josh Green is the leading candidate for the Democratic nomination, creating an opening for his current post. Running a distant second is Rep. Kai Kahele, who is also vacating her seat in a bid for the top job in the state. Ten Republicans are battling for their party’s nomination.

Sen. Brian Schatz is expected to cruise to victory in the Democratic primary and then easily win reelection in November.

Republicans rarely win high-level elections in Hawaii. Only two Republicans have served as governor and two as lieutenant governor (the most recently in 2010). The state hasn’t had a Republican senator since 1977, and Charles Djou was the only Republican to represent Hawaii in the House, serving one term in 2010-11.

Hawaii conducts an open primary, meaning registered voters can cast a ballot for candidates in the party of their choice.

The biggest change to Hawaii’s election laws in recent years was, of course, the switch to a proactive vote-by-mail system prior to the 2020 election.

Last year, lawmakers made an additional change, requiring each county to open at least one voting center during a 10-day early voting period. Country clerks are also required to publicize such details as hours and locations for voter centers and ballot drop boxes.

In 2021, lawmakers also voted to combine online and same-day voter registration systems to make it easier for people to vote, and people were given more time to register to vote.

The only election-related law enacted in 2022 requires ballot packaging to include instructions for voters who need assistance in other languages.

Read more about election law changes in Hawaii.


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Is the U.S. at "War" with Iran?

A woman sifts through the rubble in her house in the Beryanak District after it was damaged by missile attacks two days before, on March 15, 2026, in Tehran, Iran.

(Photo by Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)

Is the U.S. at "War" with Iran?

This question is not an exercise in double-talk. It is critical to understand the power that our Constitution grants exclusively to Congress, and the power that resides in the President as Commander-in-Chief of the military.

The Constitution clearly states that Congress has the power to declare war. The President does not have that power. The War Powers Resolution of 1973 recognizes that distribution of power by saying that a President can only introduce military force into an existing or imminent hostility if Congress has declared war or specifically authorized the President to use military force, or there is a national emergency created by an attack on the U.S.

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Healthcare Jobs Surge Mask a Productivity Crisis—and Rising Costs
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Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

Healthcare Jobs Surge Mask a Productivity Crisis—and Rising Costs

Healthcare and social assistance professions added 693,000 jobs in 2025. Without those gains, the U.S. economy would have lost roughly 570,000 jobs.

At first glance, these numbers suggest that healthcare is a growth engine in an otherwise slowing labor market. But a closer look reveals something more troubling for patients and healthcare professionals.

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A large group of people is depicted while invisible systems actively scan and analyze individuals within the crowd

Anthropic’s lawsuit against the Trump administration over a Pentagon “supply-chain risk” label raises major constitutional questions about AI policy, corporate speech, and political retaliation.

Getty Images, Flavio Coelho

Anthropic Sues Trump Over ‘Unlawful’ AI Retaliation

Anthropic’s dispute with the Trump administration is no longer just about AI policy; it has escalated into a constitutional test of whether American companies can uphold their values against political retaliation. After the administration labeled Anthropic a “supply‑chain risk”, a designation historically reserved for foreign adversaries, and ordered federal agencies to cease using its technology, the company did not yield. Instead, Anthropic filed two lawsuits: one in the Northern District of California and another in the D.C. Circuit, each challenging different aspects of the government’s actions and calling them “unprecedented and unlawful.”

The Pentagon has now formally issued the supply‑chain risk designation, triggering immediate cancellations of federal contracts and jeopardizing “hundreds of millions of dollars” in near‑term revenue. Anthropic’s filings describe the losses as “unrecoverable,” with reputational damage compounding the financial harm. Yet even as the government blacklists the company, the Pentagon continues using Claude in classified systems because the model is deeply embedded in wartime workflows. This contradiction underscores the political nature of the designation: a tool deemed too “dangerous” to be used by federal agencies is simultaneously indispensable in active military operations.

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