Recent Posts
The Art of Pretending You Have a Deal
Dan Drezner: “Trump’s last-minute cease-fire acceptance is an example of the Madman Theory only insofar as the madman gambit has a lousy track record of securing greater concessions — and…
Viktor Orbán and His American Apologists
Matt Welch: “Why has this administration shredded all precedent by going whole-hog campaign mode for the fading autocrat of a country whose GDP ranks somewhere between Greece and Uzbekistan?” Save…
Greenland Hits Back at Trump
“Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said on Thursday that he represents a proud nation seeking to maintain global order, pushing back against the latest comments about the Arctic island by…
1979 Is the Year That Explains Donald Trump
The Atlantic: “It sure feels like 1979 again. Iran is fighting the West. The price of gas has been rising for weeks. Moscow is aiming to take advantage of a…
Strait of Hormuz Remains Closed
“Ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained blocked Thursday, limited to a handful of Iran-linked ships, another sign that a fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran has yet…
Automatic Registration for Military Draft Coming
USA Today: “Eligible men will be automatically registered into the U.S. military draft pool by December in an effort to streamline the existing self-registration process, according to the agency that…
Only Losers Play the Madman
David Frum: “The most important thing to understand about the “madman theory” of foreign policy is that it was designed by losers for losers.” “The world first heard of the…
Extra Bonus Quote of the Day
“I love working for President Trump. It’s the greatest honor of a lifetime. And if President Trump chooses to nominate somebody else and asks me to go do something else,…
Two Senate Races to Watch
Jonathan Martin: “I have in mind two baby boomers, the most underrated and under-covered candidates in this midterm: Ohio’s Sherrod Brown and North Carolina’s Roy Cooper. Each comes from a…
Why the Iran Ceasefire Changes Everything
Robert Pape: “The two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran is being described as a pause in hostilities. That description is misleading. What has occurred is not simply a…
Supreme Court Ushers in Historic Defeats for Civil Rights
Washington Post: “The sharply conservative Supreme Court that President Donald Trump’s three appointees remade is the first since at least the 1950s to reject civil rights claims in a majority…
The Astronauts Are Studs
Sally Jenkins: “Until this past week, a certain ho-humness had set in about human space flight. The International Space Station has been manned for more than 25 years; routine trips…
Hungary’s Opposition Party Eyes Landslide Win
Reuters: “Hungary’s opposition party Tisza is on track to win a two-thirds parliamentary majority in Sunday’s election, allowing it to amend the constitution and key laws needed to unlock EU…
Bonus Quote of the Day
“The unemployment rate is 4.3%, for heaven’s sake! That’s a boom, for God’s sake!” — White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett, on Fox News. Save to Favorites
Trump Has Forever Weakened NATO
Playbook: “For doomster-minded NATO leaders, the redeployment of U.S. troops within the alliance might feel like a win at this point. But in truth, the damage is done. NATO is…
A Ceasefire in Name, Not in Practice
Carolyn Kissane: “There is an old Russian line: a pessimist is a well-informed optimist. This moment calls for that posture. Yes, the ceasefire reduces some risk and buys time. It…
Iran’s Shattered Economy Tempers Ceasefire Victory
Reuters: “Iranian authorities see the truce with the United States and Israel as a strategic victory, but they emerge battered and isolated with an economy in tatters, little prospect of…
Virginia Democrats Begin Campaign with an Apology
Russell Berman: “Democrats in Virginia desperately want permission from voters to gerrymander the state beyond recognition. They also want Virginians to know how profoundly sorry they are to have to…
JD Vance Gets His Big Moment Leading Peace Talks
Bloomberg: “It’s the biggest moment yet of JD Vance’s vice presidency.” “The VP (who has been conspicuously quiet for much of the Iran war) is suddenly center stage for peace…
Jockeying to Replace Pam Bondi Is Underway
Politico: “To outside eyes, being President Donald Trump’s attorney general might look like the worst gig going, with the president piling on the pressure for vindictive prosecutions and ready to…
