“Donald Trump’s policies, especially his war on Iran, are having the unintended effect of accelerating the very green transition project he scorns. The Left must ensure the renewable energy build-out advances the well-being of the US working class.” (06/09/26)
“Kennedy facilitated important changes in U.S.-Soviet relations. Less than two months later, the two nations and Great Britain signed the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which prohibited weapons testing in the atmosphere and in the water. The signatories agreed to work toward ending the arms race and, ultimately, complete disarmament. The treaty didn’t succeed — but that doesn’t mean it didn’t matter. Kennedy’s efforts showed how bitter rivals could nevertheless work toward a common goal. Though he wouldn’t live to see them, future diplomatic efforts enabled even the most ideologically opposed regimes to build institutions that constrained humanity’s worst impulses.” (06/09/26)
“The American Revolution was revolutionary. That’s the deceptively simple claim to which Gordon Wood, the historian who was tragically killed at the age of 92 on Sunday, devoted his career. The Revolution, of course, overthrew a monarchy — but the freedoms it advanced were unequally enjoyed, and the Founders left a great deal undone. But Wood insisted that, even so, we not lose sight of its fundamental character.” ()6/09/26)
“A federal judge on Tuesday permanently blocked Alabama from executing an inmate with nitrogen gas after declaring it violates the ban on cruel and unusual punishment. U.S. District Judge Emily Marks issued the ruling hours after an appeals court reversed her initial finding that the method was constitutional. Marks permanently enjoined the state from executing Jeffrey Lee, 49, by nitrogen gas. He was scheduled to be executed Thursday. The decision, for now, blocks the use of the controversial new execution method that the state has championed since 2024, but the issue will likely end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.” (06/09/26)
“‘Block by Block,’ Zohran Mamdani’s ‘sweeping blueprint’ to reduce housing prices in New York City, comes with a dangerous promise. ‘When necessary,’ the mayor said on May 26, ‘we will take aggressive legal action to remove negligent owners and property managers’ and transfer ownership to ‘responsible stewards.’ The problem: The proposal is an unconstitutional power grab that would exacerbate the city’s housing crisis. … The mayor’s proposal doesn’t just violate the federal and state constitutions, which have nearly identical restrictions on takings. It would also make the city’s shortages worse. Faced with the prospect of potential expropriation, many owners would likely withdraw properties from the market or not list them in the first place.” (06/09/26)
“Birth rates have been declining in the United States for decades, and there is little indication that the trend will reverse anytime soon. This poses challenges for many of our institutions that were built on the implicit assumption of continued population growth. Social Security is the most prominent example. Because the program relies on taxes paid by current workers to fund benefits for retirees, it depends on a steady influx of younger workers. Social Security is in trouble, and its day of reckoning is not far off. More quietly, schools across the United States are struggling with declining enrollment. After decades of needing more — more buildings, more teachers, more staff — we’re entering an era where we will need less of all these things.” (06/09/26)