Source: The New Republic
“Trump Blurts Out Vile Scheme to Rig Midterms as Polls Take Brutal Turn.” (07/02/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/212652/trump-blurts-vile-scheme-rig-midterms-polls-take-brutal-turn
Source: Washington Post
by Gonzalo Schwarz
“As America turns 250 years old, many people say the American Dream is at risk. Last month, an Associated Press-NORC poll found that only one-third of Americans believe the American Dream still exists. A CNBC poll the same month found that a majority of people consider the American Dream out of reach. But most public polling captures what people believe about the accessibility of the American Dream for others. In their own life, they are far more optimistic.” (07/02/26)
Source: EconLog
by Hans Eicholz
“Yes, Thomas Jefferson had read Smith, but before 1776, he could only have read The Theory of Moral Sentiments, and he read it for much the same reason he read all the other Scottish theorists of his day: Because each, in his own way, had illuminated reasons for confidence in the ability of individuals to exercise personal and political self-government. In other words, each had argued that by either convention (e.g. Hume) or nature (e.g. Kames), human beings were apt to use their individual liberty in ways that promoted a prosperous and orderly society, uncoerced by princes or prelates.” (07/02/26)
Source: CNN
“The Vatican announced Thursday that priests and members of a breakaway Catholic group that ordained four new bishops in defiance of Pope Leo XIV’s wishes are in schism and excommunicated. The Society of Saint Pius X, an ultra-traditionalist group, went ahead with the ordinations on Wednesday without papal approval and despite appeals from Leo to reverse the decision. In response, the Vatican’s doctrinal office on Thursday published a decree saying that the four bishops are excommunicated, along with the two bishops who participated in the ordination ceremony. Excommunication means they are excluded from the sacraments of the church. It added in an explanatory note that priests belonging to the society and lay members who ‘formally adhere’ to the group are also in schism and excommunicated.” (07/02/26)
Source: Underthrow
“Why Every Empire Dies After 250 Years. Is America Next?” (07/02/26)
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Charles A Kupchan
“Internationalists are once more doing battle with America Firsters, cleaving the body politic between two incompatible approaches to global affairs.” (07/02/26)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/america-first-foreign-policy/
Source: CBS News
“Three members of a four-person MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter crew were rescued at sea after an ’emergency water landing’ in the Arabian Sea early Wednesday morning, according to U.S. Naval Forces Central Command. A search continues for the fourth and final crew member. There is ‘no indication’ the helicopter was shot down by hostile action, the military said. The helicopter is assigned to the USS George H.W. Bush.” (07/01/26)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/u-s-helicopter-goes-down-in-arabian-sea-crew-member-missing-navy-says/
Source: Show-Me Institute
“The Case for an Education Outsider in Missouri with Andy Smarick.” (07/02/26)
ider-in-missouri-with-andy-smarick/
Source: New York Times
“A Quiet Surge in ICE Arrests, and Trump’s First Flight on Plane Given by Qatar.” (07/02/26)
Source: CounterPunch
by Dean Baker
“People’s negative assessments of the economy continue to be somewhat of a mystery. The recent run-up in gas prices and inflation more generally is unambiguously bad news, but is this the worst economy ever, as some of the consumer confidence measures have been showing recently? Real income for those at the middle and bottom has generally been rising by standard measures, so it seems that we’re missing something, and I’m not sure any of us have figured out what. My friend, Jared Bernstein, argues that a big part of the story is that consumers are unhappy not just because of inflation, but because prices are high. Implicitly, they expect them to come down and are unhappy that they don’t.” (07/02/26)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/07/02/why-people-say-the-economy-is-bad-fees-and-insurance/