Genevieve Adaline Moreno was kidnapped, raped, and strangled in Nipomo, California, on the night of June 17, 1974. Her body was found the next morning in a grove of eucalyptus trees. Alberto Tamez Jr. was identified that same day — blood on his hands, debris from the crime scene on his clothing. He was convicted of first-degree murder, robbery, kidnapping, and rape by force, and sentenced in September 1974 to life with the possibility of parole.

The California Board of Parole Hearings granted Tamez parole on December 30. Governor Newsom, who held the constitutional authority to reverse that decision, declined to act. San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow fought the release at every stage. Said Dow: "Genevieve Moreno deserved better. She deserved the full protection of justice, and it is my solemn obligation as District Attorney to ensure that her story is not forgotten."

The oath of office exists for moments exactly like this one. The republic's first duty to its citizens is the protection of the innocent — and when a governor has the power to honor that duty and walks away, the people are owed an explanation.

The Justice Department is moving to revoke citizenship from a dozen naturalized Americans, marking a dramatic acceleration of the denaturalization push under the Trump administration — 22 cases filed since January 2025, compared to an average of 11 per year across the entire period from 1990 to 2017.

Said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche: "The Trump administration is taking action to correct these egregious violations of our immigration system."

The cases filed so far include a man with alleged ties to al Qaeda, a former Gambian police officer accused of war crimes, and a Colombian-born priest convicted of sexually assaulting a minor. The republic has every right — and every duty — to pursue those cases. What comes next deserves a harder look.

Poland's defense minister said Saturday that Warsaw is prepared to accept additional American troops to reinforce NATO's eastern flank — a direct response to President Trump's signaling that U.S. forces may shift out of Germany.

Said Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz: "Poland is ready to accept additional American troops in order to strengthen NATO's eastern flank and provide even better protection for Europe."

The Founders placed the war power in Congress for a reason. Repositioning thousands of American sons and daughters across an alliance theater is not a boardroom transaction. Eisenhower's farewell warned us that the machinery of permanent military presence develops its own momentum — its own budget lines, its own contractors, its own gravitational pull on policy. Before the next flag goes up on Polish soil, the republic deserves a vote in Article I, not just a post on X.

Iran has imposed what Bloomberg Politics reports is a record-length internet blackout, with private business owners and industry officials warning the shutdown could trigger mass layoffs and widespread closures across the country.

The regime's calculation is plain: control the information, control the population. When a government's first move against economic distress is to blind its own citizens rather than answer for its failures, you are looking at a state that has made peace with devouring the people it claims to serve.

The Founders understood that a government which fears free information fears free men. Every tyrant eventually turns the lights off. The American republic was built on the opposite proposition — that the truth, however hard, is the only foundation worth standing on.

U.S. Southern Command has carried out more than 50 lethal strikes against alleged drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific since early September, killing at least 190 people under Operation Southern Spear. The most recent strike, in the eastern Pacific on Friday, killed two men the military designated 'narco-terrorists.' The White House has not publicly presented evidence that any targeted vessel was carrying drugs at the time of the strike.

The administration's position, stated plainly: this operation does not require congressional approval. White House Senior Director for Counterterrorism Sebastian Gorka framed it Wednesday as 'strangling the commercial and logistics venues' of cartel organizations designated as foreign terrorist organizations.

The Founders gave Congress the power to declare war for a reason. The oath every officer swears is to the Constitution — not to the convenience of the executive. 190 dead, no public evidence, no vote. The republic deserves an accounting.

At least six American citizens remain wrongfully detained in Iran as the Trump administration conducts nuclear negotiations. According to the Foley Foundation, no senior official has yet made their release a publicly stated condition of any deal — a silence that dishonors both the hostages and the republic's obligation to its own.

Two of the detained are named: Reza Valizadeh, a journalist imprisoned since September 2024, who suffers from debilitating asthma and is being denied medication at Evin Prison; and Kamran Hekmati, a grandfather and cancer survivor detained since May 2025, who requires ongoing medical monitoring that Evin cannot provide. Said Diane Foley, whose son James was beheaded by ISIS in 2014: "The diplomatic window cannot be allowed to close without the unconditional release of our hostages."

On March 9, President Trump pledged: "To every American unjustly held abroad — we will not waver in our commitment to bringing you home." The republic keeps its word — or it doesn't. That is the only question left.

ABC filed with the FCC on Friday accusing the commission of violating its First Amendment rights, as Chair Brendan Carr scrutinizes whether programs like 'The View' qualify as 'bona fide news' — a distinction that affects constitutional protections Congress extended to broadcasters. The filing called Carr's review 'unprecedented, beyond the Commission's authority, and counterproductive to the Commission's stated goal of encouraging free speech and open political discussion.'

The commission separately called Disney-owned local stations in for early license renewal — one day after President Trump publicly demanded ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel be fired. ABC settled a defamation suit brought by Trump for $15 million in 2024.

The Founders built the First Amendment precisely so government could not use the licensing power — or any power — to bring a press to heel. The republic should be suspicious of any administration that discovers 'public interest' violations the week a comedian makes the wrong joke.