A Speech Against Assisted Suicide

Ethos in rhetoric is an appeal to the speaker's or writer's credibility, character, and authority to sway an audience.  Opposition to assisted suicide tends to be more prevalent on the political right than the political left.  So in a recent House of Commons debate, one speaker demonstrated the idea of ethos: a Labor MP who has a terminal illness spoke out against an assisted suicide bill.

The single speech that might well have defeated the wretched Assisted Dying Bill. pic.twitter.com/PuG1vJk9P7

— Emily Hewertson 🇬🇧 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (@emilyhewertson) September 11, 2026

9/11 and Daily Life

Many posts have discussed the impact of 9/11.

Jeffrey M. Jones at Gallup:

Millennials and Gen Xers are more likely than other generations to report permanent changes to their lives, according to combined data from the 2021 and 2026 polls. Those generations of U.S. adults would have been between the ages of 5 and 36 when 9/11 occurred, ranging from children just beginning school to younger adults.

There are significant differences in responses to this question by race/ethnicity, with 51% of Hispanic adults, more than any other major subgroup, saying they have changed the way they live. That compares with 35% of Black adults and 22% of White adults.

Additionally, 40% of religious Americans, those who attend services every week, say they have altered their way of life, compared with 22% of those who seldom or never attend.

There are modest but not statistically meaningful differences by gender and party identification. People who live in urban, suburban and rural areas also do not differ, nor do Americans living in different regions of the country.

One possible reason for the result among Hispanics:support for restrictive immigration policy spiked after 9/11.

Republicans for a Social Security Tax Hike?

 Many posts have discussed Social Security and Medicare.

Steve Thompson at WP:

For decades, Washington has replayed the same fight over taming the soaring national debt: Democrats cite a need for more taxes. Republicans refuse. And anyone who suggests cutting the biggest source of spending — federal retirement benefits — gets attacked.

But a coming crisis in Social Security appears to be pushing at least a few Republicans off the GOP’s long-standing pledge never to raise taxes.

This summer, Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) joined Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) in proposing to raise the payroll tax cap so people with higher incomes pay more into the program. Now the idea is emerging as an acceptable fix among other GOP lawmakers, including Rep. Tom Cole (Oklahoma), the influential chair of the House Appropriations Committee.

“We’ve got too many people who say, ‘Well, we have to stay within the current income level or stay at the current tax rate,’” Cole said in an interview. “I’m willing to look at the tax rate. I am willing to raise the amount of income through tax.”

The rare GOP concessions on taxes come as lawmakers begin to confront a Social Security shortfall so large and so imminent that the party’s traditional demand for curtailing benefits is unlikely to suffice. In just six years, millions of Social Security recipients will absorb a 22 percent cut in benefits unless lawmakers provide an immediate infusion of nearly $500 billion.

“Twenty or thirty years ago,” when the shortfall was far in the future, “you could come up with a straight-faced solution” that solved the problem entirely by cutting future benefits, said Charles Blahous, a senior research strategist at George Mason University’s Mercatus Center who served from 2010 to 2015 as the Republican public trustee for Social Security.

Now the problem is so big and urgent, Blahous said, “I don’t think you can look at it with a straight face and not do all of the above.”

Grover Norquist, founder of Americans for Tax Reform and the longtime enforcer of Republican anti-tax orthodoxy, dismissed the crack in party discipline, arguing that Republicans should stick to demanding spending cuts. Otherwise, he said, they risk infuriating voters already angry about the high cost of living.

“When Republicans say no to tax increases, they win. When they say yes to tax increases, they lose,” Norquist said. “They don’t get spending cuts — at all. And, they get smeared in the next election.”

Mistrust of Government Information

"Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book has been rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street and building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And that process is continuing day by day and minute by minute."   -- George Orwell, 1984

A number of posts have discussed presidential documents, official data, and government websites.

AMELIA THOMSON-DEVEAUX and LINLEY SANDERS at AP:

Americans are more skeptical of government information than they were a few years ago, with majorities now saying they have little or no trust in federal government information about elections and politics, foreign affairs or the environment, a new poll finds.

The survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and USA Facts shows that while mistrust of government information has grown since 2024, it’s also higher than it was at the end of President Donald Trump’s first term, underscoring how his recent attempts to dismantle parts of the federal bureaucracy may have affected public confidence in the executive branch, particularly among Democrats.

Those suspicions extend to the results of the coming midterm elections. Only 34% of U.S. adults trust government certifications of election results “a great deal” or “quite a bit,” which is down slightly from 40% in 2024. Certification is a typically routine process in which local and state officials confirm the vote count, but it’s become politicized since Trump lost the 2020 presidential election.

Trust in government information has also become more partisan since Trump’s first term, the survey found.

...

The findings come after a year and a half of upheaval in the executive branch. Trump began to dismantle key parts of the federal bureaucracy soon after entering the White House for the second time, moving to end longstanding programs and shutter entire agencies.

Since then, thousands of federal employees have been fired or left their jobs, substantially reducing the ranks of the government statisticians and leading experts to warn about risks to data quality

Immigration Attitudes After 9/11

Many posts have discussed immigration.

From Gallup:

The Data: Shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, 58% of Americans favored decreasing immigration, up from 41% in June 2001.

Today’s View: Support for decreasing immigration spiked to 55% in 2024 after averaging 40% the prior two decades. In 2026, 29% of Americans would like to see decreased immigration, while 31% favor increasing it and 35% say it should be kept at its present level.

Calls for Less Immigration Surged After 9/11 The Data: Shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, 58% of Americans favored decreasing immigration, up from 41% in June 2001. Today’s View: Support for decreasing immigration spiked to 55% in 2024 after averaging 40% the prior two decades. In 2026, 29% of Americans would like to see decreased immigration, while 31% favor increasing it and 35% say it should be kept at its present level.

Thermostatic Opinion on Labor Unions

Many posts have discussed labor unions.

 Lydia Saad at Gallup:

Nearly half of Americans (47%) want labor unions in the U.S. to have more influence than they do today, a record high in the past quarter century and roughly double the 23% who want unions to have less influence. Another 26% want unions’ influence to remain the same.

The share wanting greater union influence is up four percentage points from 2023 after rising almost continuously from a record-low 25% in 2009. Over the same period, the percentage wanting unions to have less influence has fallen from 42% to a record-low 23%.

Running Out of Munitions

Many posts have discussed war powers and the US military.  The Iran War has been a disaster.  We are running low on munitions.

 Bruce Mehlman:

Summer Lesson: There’s a new missile gap (how many we have vs how many we need)

Fall Question: Can America rearm faster, smarter & in time to deter?