James Rushmore | The Libertarian Institute

‘Signalgate’ Highlights the Trump Administration’s Disregard for Civilian Life

by James Rushmore | Apr 8, 2025 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy

Much of the media discourse surrounding Signalgate has focused on its national security implications. Nevertheless, the most important—and most overlooked—dimension of The Atlantic leak is the unvarnished look it provides at the Trump administration’s disregard for civilian life. At no point before or after the U.S. airstrikes against Yemen do any members of the Houthi principals committee acknowledge the human cost of such military operations. This brazen approach to warfare contravenes the America First ethos that President Donald Trump and his allies purport to embody. Many have cited...

Does the First Amendment Come with an Israel Exception?

by James Rushmore | Mar 31, 2025 | Featured Articles

Earlier this month, Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner introduced a resolution threatening to cancel the O Cinema’s lease. The theater’s crime? Showing No Other Land, a documentary about the Israeli occupation of Palestinian villages in the West Bank. About a week after the film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, Meiner condemned it as “a false one-sided propaganda attack on the Jewish people that is not consistent with the values of our City and residents.” Meiner also wrote: "The film director’s comments at the Oscars prove the antisemitic nature of the film using Jew-hatred...

Israel’s Lobby Launches Preemptive War on Thomas Massie

by James Rushmore | Mar 4, 2025 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy, Politics

Two weeks ago, Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell announced that he would not seek re-election in 2026. McConnell’s announcement prompted Congressman Thomas Massie to share a poll asking his Twitter followers if he should run for McConnell’s open Senate seat, seek the governorship in 2027, or remain in the House. If you were me, would you: — Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) February 20, 2025 Naturally, Massie’s followers were very enthusiastic about the former idea. But the prospect of a Senator Thomas Massie already has the Israel lobby on high alert. Republican Jewish Coalition CEO Matt...

The War on Michael DiMino

by James Rushmore | Feb 13, 2025 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy, Politics

Ever since being named deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East, Michael DiMino has found himself in the crosshairs. On January 22, conservative talk radio host Mark Levin, citing a tweet condemning the former CIA analyst’s critique of the “ironclad U.S.-Israel relationship,” called DiMino a “Biden regime reprobate.” The following day, Matthew Kassel published a piece in Jewish Insider framing DiMino, along with defense policy advisor Dan Caldwell and undersecretary of defense for policy nominee Elbridge Colby, as isolationists. Such opposition is to be expected. Over the...

Tulsi Gabbard, For Better or For Worse

by James Rushmore | Jan 14, 2025 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy, Politics

When President-elect Donald Trump first nominated former Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii to serve as director of national intelligence (DNI) in his second administration, many critics of current U.S. foreign policy saw the selection as a step in the right direction. To borrow from The New York Times, Gabbard has long been “deeply skeptical of the effectiveness of U.S. military intervention abroad.” Unfortunately, Gabbard applies this skepticism very selectively. In terms of the conflicts in Syria and Ukraine, she’s proven to be one of the more effective critics of U.S....