Good Day, this is the Commonwealth Report.
News for the public, not the powerful.
Iran Slams the Door on a Military Fix. Is Trump Sailing America Back Into War?
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, told ambassadors in Tehran Sunday that America can’t bomb its way out of this war. “There is no military solution, nor any solution based on new sanctions,” he said. Hours later a tanker was hit in the Strait of Hormuz, the second struck in two days. Iran’s parliament speaker says the strait won’t reopen until seven conditions are met, including an end to the US naval blockade and the release of frozen Iranian assets. Trump rejected that plan. The US hasn’t struck Iran since September 1, but a third carrier group and 2,000 Marines are reportedly headed to the region. Brent crude sits above $102 a barrel. Seven months in, this war of choice has bought us no peace, no open strait, and a bigger bill at the pump.
Trump Packs the Bench With Judges in Their 30s, Locking in His Agenda for Decades
While that war drags on, Trump’s building something meant to outlast him. A Politico analysis finds he’s put 31 people in their 30s onto the federal bench across his two terms, with at least two more waiting on the Senate. Biden appointed 13. Obama appointed nine in eight years. A judge seated in their 30s can serve 60 years, and one sitting federal judge is 102. One pick, Samuel Adkisson, was 33 and working in Trump’s own White House Counsel’s Office when nominated. His hearing stalled when Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn wouldn’t sign off. In 2020 Trump seated Kathryn Kimball Mizelle at 33, after the American Bar Association rated her not qualified. Legal writer David Lat says “younger judges serve for longer and exert greater influence.” Voters can fire a president in four years. They’ll live under these judges for half a century.
Can Bernie Sanders Rescue California’s Billionaire Tax From a $200 Million Assault?
Bernie Sanders packed San Francisco’s Curran Theatre on Saturday to fight for Proposition 40, a one-time 5% tax on the net worth of California’s roughly 200 billionaires. The money would go to health care. Politico reports the campaign is losing ground. Opponents have raised more than $205 million, according to CalMatters, against about $32 million for the yes side, most of it from the health care workers’ union. Governor Gavin Newsom is against it. So are Planned Parenthood and some labor groups. The California Democratic Party and the California Labor Federation back it. Sanders called it “the most important ballot initiative in the country.” If a handful of billionaires can buy a no vote in the biggest blue state, they can buy one anywhere.
Are Democrats About to Take the Governor’s Mansion in Texas?
New York Times and Siena polls show Democrats leading governor’s races in four states Trump carried by double digits. In Texas, Gina Hinojosa leads Governor Greg Abbott 49 to 46. Texas hasn’t elected a Democratic governor since Ann Richards in 1990. In Ohio, Amy Acton leads Vivek Ramaswamy 49 to 45. In Iowa, Rob Sand is up 11 points over Zach Lahn, 52 to 41. In Alaska, Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins holds 40% against a split Republican field. Kansas runs the other way, with Republican Ty Masterson ahead of Democrat Cindy Holscher 49 to 44. The Times says voters have soured on Trump over the economy, gas prices and “a deeply unpopular war in Iran.” The Texas and Ohio leads are slim, so nobody should coast. Governors sign the maps, run the elections and veto the bad laws.
Measles Kills a Fifth Pennsylvanian. Why Do 60 Counties Have No Health Department?
Pennsylvania has confirmed 943 measles cases across 39 counties, and last week the state reported its fifth death. The Guardian reports only seven of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties have their own health department. Lancaster County, the epicenter with 381 cases, isn’t one of them. Most cases there are among Amish and other Plain communities with low vaccination rates. Next door, Chester County has 83 cases. “These types of disease don’t care about borders,” said county health director Jeanne Franklin. Her nurses hear from people who were told the vaccine carries a microchip or will make them sterile. Meanwhile Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. feeds vaccine doubt from Washington. We beat this disease once with public health. Starve public health and measles comes back for our kids.
Tennessee Congressman Vows to Block a Democrat From Her Seat. Has He Read the Constitution?
Tennessee Republican Tim Burchett confirmed Sunday he’s 100% planning to block Democrat Darializa Avila Chevalier from being seated if she wins New York’s 13th District next month. Her offense? A now-deleted post joking about using the American flag as a napkin. Burchett says that’s disavowing the Constitution. Even the New York Post admits her Republican opponent’s chances are slim, so this is about overruling the voters of Harlem. First Amendment lawyer Ari Cohn called it “shameful and embarrassing to anyone with a 3rd grade civics education.” In 1969 the Supreme Court ruled the House can’t refuse to seat an elected member who meets the Constitution’s requirements. That case was won by Adam Clayton Powell, Harlem’s own congressman. A politician who says he’ll decide which winners get to serve isn’t defending the flag. He’s burning what it stands for.
And that’s the way it is, Today is Monday, October 5, 2026. I’m Thom Hartmann.
