November 7, 2026
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Michael's Daily Memo
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Radley Balko is a civil libertarian who has spent 25 years reporting on policing and the drug war. Andy McCarthy is the former federal prosecutor who convicted the Blind Sheikh for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and has defended the Patriot Act for more than two decades. On the newest episode of “Can We Agree?”, I asked them whether the freedom America surrendered after 9/11 was worth the security we gained.
You’d expect them to split on the presidents who wielded those powers. They didn’t, at least not entirely.
Start with Barack Obama. McCarthy argued that Obama, having campaigned against Bush-Cheney interrogations and Guantanamo, made it so hard to detain and question enemy combatants that it became easier to kill them. He pointed to the drone lists, including the 2011 strike on American-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. Balko said it was a point he hadn’t considered. His own complaint was that Obama left Bush’s excesses in place and never prosecuted anyone for torture. They faulted Obama for different reasons, and Balko opposed the Awlaki strike that McCarthy defended. But neither let him off the hook.
On Donald Trump, they were nearly in lockstep. McCarthy called the strikes on boats in the Caribbean an atrocity, noting that labeling a cartel a terrorist organization is not an authorization of military force. Balko added that we don’t execute even the worst drug smuggler, yet the administration is doing it without a jury. Both said emergency powers have been invoked on pretexts. Then McCarthy, who told me he voted for Trump, called the administration “utterly lawless.”
They parted on the remedy. Balko would leave Section 702 surveillance dead until there is real oversight; McCarthy says it has to be renewed. Still, both want the 2001 war authorization rewritten, and both want a Congress willing to reclaim its own power.
Can we agree? More than I expected.
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DAILY POLL
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Is stopping new data centers worth the cost to the U.S. economy?
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TOP STORY
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Democrats' new trifectas in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona and Nevada could push the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact past the 270-electoral-vote threshold needed to activate it, potentially reshaping how presidents are elected starting in 2028.
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CAN WE AGREE?
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IN OTHER NEWS
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Hours after telling 60 Minutes he planned post-midterm shakeups, President Trump announced Susie Wiles' departure as White House chief of staff and said Stephen Miller would replace her, following GOP losses in both chambers of Congress.
Last month was the warmest October ever recorded globally and the third straight month to top the Paris Agreement's 1.5°C warming threshold, with 2026 on pace to be the second-hottest year on record as a strengthening El Niño adds heat.
The 2026 midterm elections delivered major victories to candidates opposing AI data center expansion, setting the stage for stricter regulations as concerns grow over electricity costs, water consumption and their impact on local communities.
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A MESSAGE FROM INCOGNI
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A Philadelphia cycling group is organizing rides to intimidate Jewish-owned restaurants it considers “Zionist,” prompting criticism of the campaign and questions about the Democratic Socialists of America’s involvement.
Israeli opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot said he expects a mandate to form a government after partner Avigdor Liberman dropped his veto on working with ultra-Orthodox parties, potentially clearing a path to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following the October 27 election.
With fewer than 2,000 votes separating Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith and Democrat Scott Colom, no one can say how many affidavit ballots remain uncounted in Mississippi's decentralized election system, where inactive voters are forced to cast provisional ballots.
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MORE NEWS
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After choosing the 76ers as his new team this summer, LeBron James was booed by Philadelphia fans before halftime of the home opener on October 22, as the Sixers fell behind the Cavaliers by 27 points amid a brutal stretch for the city's pro sports teams.
Martha Stewart sat down with 'Today' anchor Craig Melvin on Nov. 6 to apologize for her Halloween costume mocking homelessness and to walk back suggestions that a chocolate ganache mishap with Melvin was behind the outfit.
Atlantic City is attracting second-home buyers and developers with its relatively affordable beachfront properties, ongoing infrastructure improvements and growing residential development, as the New Jersey shore town works to overcome its reputation for urban decay.
For the Left
On Friday, President Donald Trump eluded that Israel, as well as “the entire Middle East” would not exist today if not for his hand in preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, following the claim by stating American aid to Israel will end this year, departing from an annual $3.8B 10-year agreement.
For the Right
Late-Night host Jimmy Kimmel addressed President Trump’s move to declare the Oval Office and White House Cabinet Room as national monuments this Thursday, questioning the President’s focus following the midterm election results and suggesting he is planning to leave office ‘sooner than we think’.
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