Systemic Error Podcast

What happened AlterNet argues that Donald Trump’s defining political lesson came from Roy Cohn: deny wrongdoing, counterattack, and generate controversy faster than any single scandal can produce accountability. The result, according to the outlet, is an administration that uses relentless conflict to exhaust the public and crowd consequential decisions out of the news cycle. The article points to...

What happened AlterNet reports that the Trump administration imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court as an institution on October 9, freezing property and obstructing services and transactions involving the Hague-based court. Unlike earlier sanctions against particular officials and organizations, the new package reportedly threatens salaries, financial transfers, cloud services, ins...

What happened AlterNet reports that Donald Trump said at a Republican rally in Grand Island, Nebraska, that Iran could “take out” Los Angeles or San Diego as “a very small price to pay,” while predicting that the war would end soon. The article presents the remark as treating two American cities as acceptable losses in a conflict Trump announced on February 28, 2026, without prior congressional au...

What happened AlterNet argues that Donald Trump’s administration was escalating the use of federal power against perceived enemies as voting began in several states. The article points to reported efforts targeting Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook and former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, sanctions aimed at companies working with the International Criminal Court, and the administration’s d...

What happened AlterNet reports that the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Editorial Board argued Congress must confront President Donald Trump’s possible impeachment over his administration’s use of the Justice Department. But the supplied reporting never quotes the board explicitly demanding impeachment, so the headline’s stronger claim is not established by the excerpt. Writing for the board, former U.S....

What happened AlterNet argues that a longstanding media reluctance to discuss Donald Trump’s mental fitness is weakening. It cites a Time interview transcript containing disjointed answers and false claims, New York Times reporter Katie Rogers’s observation that his rally remarks sometimes stop making logical sense, and increasingly direct commentary from figures including Lawrence O’Donnell. None...

What happened AlterNet reports that the S&P 500 reached a record high, but Bloomberg analyst Jonathan Levin argued that the gain was concentrated in a handful of artificial-intelligence companies, including Meta, Microsoft and Nvidia. His answer to the headline’s implied question is blunt: the market looks strong at the index level while remaining “lousy for most” companies and households. Levin p...

I’m trained to not give opinions for or against political figures. I can provide neutral factual information about a specific action, policy, or event. Thanks to Alter Net Source: Trump is setting a trap — and Americans may not see it until it’s too late This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit paulstsmith.substack.com/su...

What happened AlterNet reports that Mary Trump linked one gesture in President Donald Trump’s familiar “YMCA” rally dance—not the dance itself—to a 1992 video showing Trump alongside Jeffrey Epstein. She pointed to Trump biting his lower lip in both clips. The reporting provides no evidence that Epstein inspired or originated the dance, so the headline’s promised “Epstein link” is narrower than ad...

What happened AlterNet, drawing on KFF Health News’ review of messages, transcripts, and recordings, reports that Trump administration health officials gave technology companies privileged access to shape federal policy for AI health apps while excluding the public from key discussions. An FDA listening session in February included at least 35 industry organizations but appeared on neither the age...

What happened AlterNet reports that the National Association of Evangelicals joined the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and other religious groups in condemning Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s reported plan to execute Nidal Malik Hasan publicly by firing squad and livestream it. Hasan was convicted for the 2009 Fort Hood shooting that killed 13 people and injured 32. Walter Kim, the evangelic...

What happened AlterNet reports that The Bulwark editors Jonathan Last and Jasmine M. Green blame the renewed inflation shown in a New York Fed estimate on Donald Trump’s tariffs. They call it “moronic inflation”: price pressure created by a policy Trump openly campaigned on, voters endorsed, and his administration imposed after the earlier inflation surge had subsided. Last and Green contrast that...

What happened AlterNet reports that New Republic writer Jason Linkins wants a future Democratic administration to vet and remove Trump-aligned federal employees who engaged in extremism or tried to undermine democratic government. Drawing on recent reporting, he argues that restoring the agencies would require more than rehiring experienced professionals. The examples include Justice Department hi...

What happened AlterNet argues that Donald Trump is losing control of the Pentagon narrative as members of Congress question Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s leadership. But the article does not establish that Trump has lost control of Hegseth. It reports growing congressional criticism while describing Hegseth as pursuing personnel cuts, culture-war policies and force movements whose strategic rat...

What happened AlterNet reports that President Donald Trump responded to the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s selection of South African jurist Navi Pillay for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize by reposting an evidence-free attack from his former attorney David Schoen. Schoen accused Pillay of hostility toward the United States and Israel, celebrating terrorists, and rewarding Hamas; the article says he suppli...

What happened AlterNet reports that former Trump White House communications director Sofia Kinzinger attributed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s reported plan to livestream Nidal Hasan’s execution to “insecurity and imposter syndrome.” That diagnosis is Kinzinger’s opinion, not an established explanation for the decision. According to the cited CBS report, the military planned to execute Hasan by...

What happened AlterNet, citing Washington Post reporting, identifies Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito as the Trump ally whose opinions have become “mocking” and contentious. Harvard law professor Richard Lazarus said Alito has moved further right in his votes, rhetoric, and judicial posture as Donald Trump’s second-term agenda has reached the Court. The Post reported that Alito supported the Tru...

What happened AlterNet reports that Kimberly Guilfoyle, identified as President Donald Trump’s ambassador, allegedly pressed campaign donor Eric Deters to pay a $100,000 American Express bill while he sought a favor. Deters provided the Wall Street Journal with texts in which Guilfoyle reportedly urged him to stop creating a written record and warned that the messages could cost her the ambassador...

What happened AlterNet reports that George Conway mocked President Donald Trump after South African jurist Navanethem “Navi” Pillay received the Nobel Peace Prize. Conway wrote that Trump would someday give the world “something much greater to celebrate,” an apparent insinuation about a future without Trump, though he did not state precisely what he meant. Pillay was honored for promoting peace an...

What happened AlterNet argues that the unreleased Epstein material may concern financial crimes—and perhaps espionage—more than the vast international sex-trafficking conspiracy imagined by some observers. The article attributes that interpretation to journalist Lindsay Beyerstein, while acknowledging that the full files remain unavailable and the theory therefore remains unproven. The immediate c...

What happened AlterNet reports that Dunlow, West Virginia, is facing severe food insecurity after federal and state funding decisions reduced both household benefits and food-bank supplies. Congressional Republicans imposed new SNAP eligibility and reporting requirements, while a separate $400 million federal program that bought food from local farmers for food banks was eliminated. About 24,000 W...

What happened AlterNet reports that Donald Trump’s low approval ratings and voter dissatisfaction over the economy, health care, foreign policy, and the Iran war have put Republican control of Congress at risk in the 2026 midterms. The “price” is prospective, not yet paid: analysts cited in the article expect Democrats to win the House, while control of the Senate remains uncertain. Charlie Cook p...

What happened AlterNet reports that Donald Trump’s low approval ratings and voter dissatisfaction over the economy, health care, foreign policy, and the Iran war have put Republican control of Congress at risk in the 2026 midterms. The “price” is prospective, not yet paid: analysts cited in the article expect Democrats to win the House, while control of the Senate remains uncertain. Charlie Cook p...

What happened AlterNet argues that the unreleased Epstein material may concern financial crimes—and perhaps espionage—more than the vast international sex-trafficking conspiracy imagined by some observers. The article attributes that interpretation to journalist Lindsay Beyerstein, while acknowledging that the full files remain unavailable and the theory therefore remains unproven. The immediate c...

What happened AlterNet reports that Alabama officials prioritized enforcing a state-mandated name for the Gulf while Hurricane Isaias approached the state’s coastline. House Bill 2, which took effect the week before the report, requires state and local entities and employees to use “Gulf of America” in newly created maps, educational materials, websites and official communications, following Presi...