The iPINIONS Journal

Welcome! This is an unapologetic, agenda-free zone. Just commentaries on current events that’ll move you to think, laugh, rage, and even cry.

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Flávio Bolsonaro Leads Into Presidential Runoff… to Spring His Daddy From Prison and Hand Brazil to Trump

Monday, October 5, 2026 at 8:32 AM
Written by Anthony L. Hall

Brazil’s runoff is about more than Lula versus another Bolsonaro. iPINIONS contends it’s about whether voters will spring the father through the son, reward Trump’s meddling, or hand the would-be emperor another humiliating lesson in unintended consequences. Read my full take on Substack: https://ipinionsdaily.substack.com/p/flavio-bolsonaro-leads-into-presidential Read more.

The Real Queen’s Gambit Is 11-Year-Old Bodhana Sivanandan

Saturday, October 3, 2026 at 8:39 AM
Written by Anthony L. Hall

Beth Harmon was fiction. Bodhana Sivanandan is 11, British, brilliant, and already making chess history. Meet the real Queen’s Gambit. Read my full take on Substack: https://ipinionsdaily.substack.com/p/the-real-queens-gambit-is-11-year Read more.

Chief Justice John Roberts Is No MAGA Zealot. He’s a MAGA Conjurer.

Friday, October 2, 2026 at 8:23 AM
Written by Anthony L. Hall

John Roberts doesn’t rant like MAGA. He does something more consequential. Behind the robes and institutionalist pose lies a jurisprudence that has steadily expanded presidential power, weakened democratic guardrails, and left Trump free to act first while everyone else litigates the wreckage. iPINIONS argues that the conjurer may recoil at the monster, but he helped… Read more.

Republicans Persecute Jack Smith to Protect Donald Trump

Wednesday, September 30, 2026 at 8:25 AM
Written by Anthony L. Hall

Republicans hauled Jack Smith before Congress to punish him for prosecuting Trump. iPINIONS argues the farce says less about Smith than about a party still willing to bend law, truth, and institutional power around one man. See my full take on Substack: https://ipinionsdaily.substack.com/p/republicans-persecute-jack-smith Read more.

Pope Leo Is Leader of the Free World… and America’s Saving Grace

Tuesday, September 29, 2026 at 11:06 AM
Written by Anthony L. Hall

Too little is being made of Pope Leo XIV’s extraordinary popularity and influence on the world stage. As Trump forfeits America’s claim to lead the free world, iPINIONS contends that the first American pope is filling the vacuum with the moral authority  Trump has squandered. Paris offered the latest proof. See my full take on… Read more.

America the Sucker

Saturday, September 26, 2026 at 8:37 AM
Written by Anthony L. Hall

An Austrian bakery is charging New Yorkers $60 for the same loaf it sells for $16 back home. But perhaps Auer has simply learned what Big Pharma discovered long ago. And so iPINIONS laments that Americans will pay sucker prices. Read my full take on Substack: https://ipinionsdaily.substack.com/p/america-the-sucker Read more.

If Trump Is Putin’s Puppet, and Putin Is Xi’s Bitch, That Makes Trump Xi’s Lapdog, No?

Friday, September 25, 2026 at 8:28 AM
Written by Anthony L. Hall

Trump keeps warning MAGA Republicans that Democrats are bent on turning America communist. Yet he trashes democratic norms at home while genuflecting before Xi Jinping abroad, treating the Chinese strongman with the kind of deference he rarely shows America’s democratic allies. iPINIONS argues that the hypocrisy is as revealing as the spectacle. Read my full… Read more.

Jayden Daniels Is Not Built for Football. The Commanders Need to Move On.

Wednesday, September 23, 2026 at 9:07 AM
Written by Anthony L. Hall

Jayden Daniels has given Washington plenty of reasons to believe in his talent. His body keeps giving the Commanders reasons not to bet their future on him. iPINIONS argues that the echoes of RGIII are becoming impossible to ignore. Read my full take on Substack: https://ipinionsdaily.substack.com/p/jayden-daniels-is-not-built-for-football Read more.

US Welcomes Iranians to UN General Assembly but Bars Palestinians, Again.

Monday, September 21, 2026 at 8:22 AM
Written by Anthony L. Hall

Trump is rolling out the welcome mat for Iranian leaders while barring Palestinians from the UN General Assembly. iPINIONS argues that the hypocrisy reflects a broader pattern of alienating friends, courting enemies, and turning self-created crises into supposed triumphs. Read my full take on Substack: https://ipinionsdaily.substack.com/p/us-welcomes-iranians-to-un-general Read more.

Apple: Affordability Crisis? What Affordability Crisis?

Saturday, September 19, 2026 at 8:45 AM
Written by Anthony L. Hall

Apple’s greatest innovation isn’t manufacturing hardware. It’s manufacturing need, and the obsolescence of common sense. This latest iPINIONS cartoon lampoons the peculiar power of Apple consumerism in an age when everyone is supposedly struggling to afford the basics. Read my full take on Substack: https://ipinionsdaily.substack.com/p/apple-affordability-crisis-what-affordability Read more.