A quarter of young Africans believe USAID cuts could be positive, survey finds

Degan Ali, executive director of Adeso, an African non-profit incubating ideas and enterprises to lower aid dependency, said that while the cuts were carried out in a “hugely irresponsible and inhumane” manner, she was not surprised that a significant proportion of young people saw positivity there. “I think it’s a reflection of the general feeling. A lot of people find aid very demeaning,” she said. “They didn’t feel that the aid was being used for the right things and there is a sense of ‘We can do this for ourselves’. The younger generation feel like our leaders are the duty bearers and are supposed to be handling the needs of our communities.”…

 https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/jul/30/a-quarter-of-young-africans-believe-usaid-cuts-could-be-positive-survey-finds

 

Longtime Democrat turned independent governor candidate Mike Duggan says voters deserve a 'third choice' - WDET 101.9 FM

“There is nowhere you go in the state where people are not stressed by the cost of housing. Young people are being forced out of the state because they can’t afford their first home, whether it’s an apartment or a house. There’s no easy way to say this, but the jobs of the future are going to Ohio and Indiana. Our biggest export is no longer our cars, it’s our young people. People said you can’t solve the affordable housing problem. In Detroit, we built 6,000 units. And I understand how we did it. We didn’t do it with a lot of state help. But if you both reduce the cost and put in some subsidy, the problem is solvable, as we’ve proven...”
https://wdet.org/2026/05/04/longtime-democrat-turned-independent-governor-candidate-mike-duggan-says-voters-deserve-a-third-choice/ 

 

Kansas pastor’s Senate buzz sparks GOP pushback!

 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Pd1qvDgWYCk

‘There’s an appetite for this brand of politics’: the independent politician making a bid for US Senate

"I just don't understand the whole bragging about hurting people," Osborn said...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/04/dan-osborn-nebraska-independent-senate

 

What to Know About RFK. Jr. and His Threat to Biden and Trump - The New York Times

Mr. Kennedy has become the most prominent independent or third-party presence in the 2024 race.

https://www.nytimes.com/article/rfk-jr-third-party-candidate-bid.html

RFK Jr.'s eye-popping poll numbers should have Trump a little worried

A new Quinnipiac University poll shows independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is attracting an eye-popping amount of support from voters and seemingly positioning himself as a serious threat to both parties. The survey found that in a hypothetical three-way match-up in 2024, Kennedy would get the support of 22% of registered voters, former President Donald Trump would get 36%, and President Joe Biden would get 39%...

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/robert-f-kennedy-jr-poll-biden-trump-rcna123356

Liberal Redneck - RFK Jr. Runs as Independent

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5_C7hSBQec

NPR pushes back after Twitter designates it as ‘state-affiliated media’

Up until a few hours ago, Twitter explicitly listed NPR along with the BBC as exceptions to this categorization. The policy noted that while both organizations receive state financing – NPR derives less than 1% of its annual operating budget from government programs – they have editorial independence, according to screenshots posted by NPR reporter David Gura. 

By Wednesday morning, however, the policy had been changed to remove the mention of NPR. The designation of the BBC's Twitter account remained unchanged, and the organization was still included as an exception in the policy.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/apr/05/twitter-national-public-radio-state-affiliated-media-label

Kyrsten Sinema goes independent days after Democrats secure Senate majority

Arizona senator swaps party affiliation and says she will not caucus with Republicans…

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/dec/09/kyrsten-sinema-independent-days-after-democrats-secure-senate-majority

The politics of Kyrsten Sinema’s party switch - The Washington Post

It also could matter for committees. Democrats will have a majority regardless, but their composition is subject to negotiations at the start of the new Congress. If she's a pure independent, and their edge is 50-49 rather than 51-49, that could impact how much of an edge Democrats have...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/09/what-sinema-party-switch-means/

Rep. Paul Mitchell leaving GOP | TheHill

"It is unacceptable for political candidates to treat our election system as though we are a third-world nation and incite distrust of something so basic as the sanctity of our vote," said Mitchell. "Further, it is unacceptable for the president to attack the Supreme Court of the United States because its judges, both liberal and conservative, did not rule with his side or that 'the Court failed him.' It was our Founding Fathers' objective to insulate the Supreme Court from such blatant political motivations."

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/530162-rep-paul-mitchell-leaving-gop

'This is revolutionary’: new online bookshop unites indies to rival Amazon

It is being described as a "revolutionary moment in the history of bookselling": a socially conscious alternative to Amazon that allows readers to buy books online while supporting their local independent bookseller...

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/nov/02/this-is-revolutionary-new-online-bookshop-unites-indies-to-rival-amazon

Why the man Trump once called 'my African American' is leaving the GOP - PBS NewsHour

After two years of frustration with the president's rhetoric on race and the lack of diversity in the administration, Gregory Cheadle told PBS NewsHour he has decided to leave the Republican party and run for a seat in the U.S. House of Representative as an independent in 2020.....
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/man-trump-once-called-my-african-american-leaves-republican-party

Ohio’s Richest Republican Backer Leslie Wexner Quits Party After Visit From President Obama - The Daily Beast

He said he had been a Republican since college, but would now consider himself an independent. ....
https://www.thedailybeast.com/ohios-richest-republican-backer-leslie-wexner-quits-party-after-visit-from-president-obama

Wealthiest GOP donor in Ohio says he is 'no longer a Republican' after Obama visit - USA TODAY

"I won't support this nonsense in the Republican Party," L Brands CEO Les Wexner said, adding that he is now an independent. ....
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2018/09/16/les-wexner-leaves-republican-party/1329384002/

Indicted Campaign Adviser Remained Closely Tied To Trumpworld Into 2017 -- TPM

Asked Monday about the explosive indictment of two former Trump campaign officials, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders responded with a familiar refrain, casting the pair as independent actors whose alleged misdeeds were entirely unrelated to the campaign.....
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/white-house-minimizes-ties-rick-gates-after-indictment-despite-close-ties-campaign-transition

Sally Yates: Protect the Justice Department From President Trump - NYTimes.com

The spectacle of President Trump’s efforts to humiliate the attorney general into resigning has transfixed the country. But while we are busy staring at the wreckage of Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ relationship with the man he supported for the presidency, there is something more insidious happening.

The president is attempting to dismantle the rule of law, destroy the time-honored independence of the Justice Department, and undermine the career men and women who are devoted to seeking justice day in and day out, regardless of which political party is in power. If we are not careful, when we wake up from the Trump presidency, our justice system may be broken beyond recognition.
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/07/28/opinion/sally-yates-protect-the-justice-department-from-president-trump.html?mabReward=CTM3&recp=2&mi_u=78638145&mi_user_hash=727cf331d7cc41bf4894508cb4c04295f5005bc5e0039811e6a4ea96&referer=

The White House Is Weighing A Plan To Weaken The Special Prosecutor's Investigation Into Trump's Russia Scandal

The Trump administration is exploring whether it can use an obscure ethics rule to undermine the special counsel investigation into ties between President Donald Trump's campaign team and Russia, two people familiar with White House thinking said on Friday.

Trump has said that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein's hiring of former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to lead the investigation "hurts our country terribly."

Within hours of Mueller's appointment on Wednesday, the White House began reviewing the Code of Federal Regulations, which restricts newly hired government lawyers from investigating their prior law firm’s clients for one year after their hiring, the sources said....
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/05/reuters-trump-mueller

Trump’s manifesto (TOLEDO BLADE)

Whatever else the presidency of Donald Trump turns out to be, it will not be boring. ...
http://www.toledoblade.com/Keith-Burris/2017/01/22/Trump-s-manifesto.html

Republican Mark Kirk insists he's really not a Republican

Mark Kirk, the GOP's most endangered senator, is doing his damnedest to convince the people of Illinois that he really isn't a Republican. No, he wants them to know, he's an "independent" voice for the state. Call it the Trump effect.

The Illinois senator became the first Republican last month to release an anti-Trump television ad, which said his party's presumptive nominee "is not fit to be commander in chief."

The 32-second spot, running in the Chicago market, outlines Kirk's efforts to present himself to voters in his liberal-leaning state as more moderate than his fellow Republicans in Washington. […] 

A few weeks into his dump Trump strategy, Kirk says bucking the top of his ticket is paying off.

"It's helped because I'm a very independent voice for Illinois," he told CNN, adding that his strategy helps "make sure that people know that I always put Illinois first."...
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/1545256