July 2, 2026 — Scott Johnson

1776 Live

Featured image Manny Marotta is the “curator” of the X thread 1776 Live — “[l]ive-posting as a reporter embedded in history.” The X thread has been of particular interest over the past few days and should continue in this vein for the foreseeable future. Thomas Paine publishes an open letter in the Pennsylvania Evening Post, under the name “Republicus,” which advocates for the name “United States of America” for the new nation »
July 2, 2026 — Scott Johnson

Iran: Realism or appeasement?

Featured imageMelanie Phillips posted her interview with Konstantin Kisin and Francis Foster of the British podcast TRIGGERnometry under the title “Realism or Appeasement?” TRIGGERnometry gave it the title “Has Trump surrendered to Iran?” The discussion takes up the possible folly of President Trump’s stalemated war on the Iranian regime. Neither title quite captures the gist of the conversation. Phillips provides this summary at her Substack site: While in London, I was »
July 1, 2026 — Bill Glahn

OK to hate

Featured imageThe Minneapolis Star Tribune finally found an illegal alien that it’s OK for you to hate. No institution in Minnesota, let alone any media outlet, has been more opposed to the enforcement of America’s immigration laws. Today, they published this story, ICE says it’s after the ‘Worst of the Worst,’ but didn’t detain this sex offender: Federal immigration officials decided that a Minnesota parolee facing deportation should instead be subject »
July 1, 2026 — Steven Hayward

Podcast: “Divided Over the Declaration,” with Bobb & Williams

Featured imageMy final conversation with authors of new books about the Declaration of Independence before this Saturday’s formal observance features the co-authors of Divided Over the Declaration: How an Enduring Debate Sustains the Vision of America. The authors of Divided Over the Declaration are David J. Bobb and Tony Williams, who are colleagues at the indispensable Bill of Rights Institute, and old pals. Bobb and Williams have hit upon a unique »
July 1, 2026 — John Hinderaker

Everything Is Political

Featured imageWestern Europe has been sweltering under a heat wave, and quite a few people have died as a result. The heat wave is unusual, but the phenomenon isn’t: every year, lots of Europeans die from extremes of heat and cold, far more than in the United States. And European climate deaths vastly exceed deaths in the U.S. from gun homicides, which many Europeans like to decry. A sane response to »
July 1, 2026 — Scott Johnson

“We wanted to inform you…”

Featured imageRom Braslavski is a former Israeli hostage held in Gaza. He was working as a security guard at the Nova music festival during the October 7 massacre as an active-duty soldier on leave from the Logistics Corps. In captivity he was tortured and assaulted. In the video below he is informed by an Israeli security official that his chief tormentor in captivity — a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad »
July 1, 2026 — Scott Johnson

After last night

Featured imageThe Commie Corridor isn’t just a New York congressional district. It’s the throbbing heart of the Democratic Party. In a Colorado primary yesterday, DSA member Melat Kiros handily defeated 15-term incumbent Diana DeGette in the Colorado’s 1st District. The district covers metropolitan Denver. Kiros handily defeated DeGette, by nearly 10 points with 93 percent of the vote counted. It’s a Democratic district — D+29. Minnesota’s 5th district, represented by Ilhan »
June 30, 2026 — Scott Johnson

There’s something about the MOU

Featured imageThere’s something happening in the Strait of Hormuz. What it is ain’t exactly the Jews. I have expressed my doubts about the the Memorandum of Understanding that was to open the Strait. Complications have arisen. Vice President Vance’s negotiating partners do not appear to be operating in good faith’ I read the news today, oh boy: US envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law ‌Jared Kushner are in Doha »
June 30, 2026 — Scott Johnson

Mao’s party never ends

Featured imageFrank Dikötter is the author of The People’s Trilogy (“a series of books that document the impact of communism on the lives of ordinary people in China on the basis of new archival material”) and, more recently, China After Mao (2022). Dikötter serves as Chair Professor of Humanities at the University of Hong Kong since 2006 — “one wonders for how much longer,” Tunku Varadarajan added in his Wall Street »
June 30, 2026 — Scott Johnson

The Scott Wiener experience

Featured imageCalifornia state senator Scott Wiener is running for the San Francisco congressional seat that Nancy Pelosi is vacating after 20 terms. She’s leaving big high heels to fill. Wiener seems like he could fill them. He’s far out in all the required respects. However, he was harassed mercilessly by one Dimitry Yakoushkin “for insufficient alacrity in condemning Israel for supposed genocide in Gaza,” as Rich Lowry puts it in a »
June 29, 2026 — John Hinderaker

Hamas Resurgent

Featured imageThis depressing report comes from Israel National News: Senior officials in the IDF Intelligence Directorate and Southern Command warned IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir last week that Hamas’ military wing is rebuilding its capabilities and preparing for another round of fighting, Kan News reported on Sunday. According to the report, the officers said Hamas is manufacturing hundreds of explosive devices and anti-tank missiles each month, recruiting operatives »
July 1, 2026 — Scott Johnson

Scott Wiener’s struggle session

Featured imageYesterday in “The Scott Wiener experience” I posted the video of the insane harassment suffered by San Francisco congressional candidate Scott Wiener on the subject of Israel’s mythical “genocide” in Gaza. Wiener long ago sought to rectify his purported shortfall on this point in a struggle session that he posted on X this past January, nearly six months ago (video below). The New York Post covered it here. For years, »
June 30, 2026 — Bill Glahn

Too windy for wind turbines

Featured imageFrom Accuweather, the feel-good story of yesterday, Accuweather has some video from the site here. Yes, the hurricane/tornado force winds did heavy damage to a wind farm in South Dakota yesterday, snapping wind turbine towers (not blades, towers) like matchsticks. Contrary to popular opinion, wind farms prefer relatively low (but steady) wind speeds. Not enough wind: blades won’t start spinning. Too much wind, and the machines tear themselves apart. But »
June 30, 2026 — John Hinderaker

Supreme Court Term Ends

Featured imageThe Supreme Court term ended today with the release of three final opinions. I have not yet had time to read them, but for now will simply recite the results with a few additional comments. The most important decision is Trump v. Barbara, in which the Court held, 6-3, that the 14th Amendment requires that the children of illegal aliens be citizens of the United States. This result is disappointing »
June 30, 2026 — Scott Johnson

On the Hezbollah front

Featured imageThe terms of the Memorandum of Understanding to the contrary notwithstanding, the IDF continues at least some of its efforts to remove the threat of Hezbollah from its northern border with Lebanon. Havind discovered a massive underground weapons cache in recent days, the IDF destroyed if on Sunday evening after warning Israelis that the resulting explosion might feel like an earthquake. The explosion could be heard across northern Israel. Now »
June 29, 2026 — John Hinderaker

The Supreme Court Implements Article II

Featured imageToday the Supreme Court decided one of the most important cases of recent years, Trump v. Slaughter. The Court affirmed what Article II of the Constitution says: the President runs the executive branch. Specifically, he can fire an FTC Commissioner, with or without cause. I wrote about the case when it was argued last December: The case tests the constitutionality of the “independent agencies” that Congress has established over the »
June 29, 2026 — Scott Johnson

The complicated Jefferson

Featured imageIn this past weekend’s Wall Street Journal Review section Richard Brookhiser reviews four new books on Thomas Jefferson. This should be a big week for Jefferson as we celebrate the semiquincentennial anniversary of his immortal handiwork. As John Adams said in his last words, “Thomas Jefferson still survives.” Jefferson had actually died a few hours earlier, but Adams got it right in the larger sense we observe this week. Along »