Source: The American Conservative
by Harrison Berger
“On Tuesday morning, President Donald Trump took to Truth Social to declare that ‘a civilization will die tonight.’ By 8 p.m., the U.S. announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran had begun. Whether the ceasefire holds (or even takes hold) is already in question …. The best hope that it might stick comes from Israel, where TV presenters who spent Monday salivating over a clock counting down the minutes and hours until Trump’s planned genocide of Iranians were left confused and outraged when the president backed down shortly before the deadline. But whether or not Trump ultimately goes as far as the Israelis would like him to, Americans must now reckon with the destruction already carried out in our name, the civilization-destroying actions Trump has threatened, and the barbarians we have become in the process.” (04/10/26)
“People on numerous subreddits have rallied to support the recent warehouse arson in Ontario, California. This fire, allegedly started by a disgruntled employee, destroyed a 1.2 million-square-foot warehouse that supplied toilet paper to approximately 50 million people. According to the United States Attorney’s Office, this fire caused approximately $500 million in damage. As he started the blaze, the suspected arsonist recorded a video of himself saying, ‘All you had to do was pay us enough to f***ing live.’ … While the economic frustration the suspect and people on Reddit feel is perhaps understandable, they should blame the real culprits behind the cost-of-living crisis, not a toilet paper company.” (04/10/26)
“I have been pounding this for literally decades and I’m going to continue to pound it as long as the good Lord gives me breath and the ability to do so: our Founding Fathers created a limited government, but one that required virtuous people. And the latter is FAR more important than the former. And today’s America has very little of either, on either side of the aisle. Democrats are certainly the greatest problem America has right now, but they aren’t the only problem. I see far too many foul-mouthed, promiscuous, pleasure-oriented, unvirtuous Republicans in the country now to ever make the nation great again. Some people need to get the logs out of their own eyes before they start talking about the specks in other people’s eyes.” (04/12/26)
“War is the most unrestrained expression of humanity’s destructive capacity, a setting where order disintegrates, moral boundaries are tested, and life is reduced to its most vulnerable state. Medicine, by contrast, stands as a deliberate act of resistance against that collapse, a disciplined and unwavering commitment to preserve life even when surrounded by death. Despite these opposing identities, war and medicine have remained deeply intertwined across history, not by design, but by inevitability.” (04/10/26)
“Americans are falling in love with Project Hail Mary, a movie about an astronaut who finds himself alone at the end of the universe, with perhaps no hope of ever returning among mankind. He then has to figure out how to save mankind in very difficult circumstances, by his wits and his technical know-how. A man a lot like the navigator-turned-shipwreck Robinson Crusoe, so much so that it’s worth comparing them, their stories, and why they matter to modern society.” (04/10/26)
“On Thursday, in the exact White House room where President Trump recently addressed the nation about the Iran war, First Lady Melania Trump strode up to the lectern to address a different sort of crisis. Her topic and demeanor were grave; her scripted words meant to convey solemnity. The delivery, however, conveyed a jarring disconnect. This is not to litigate the complex web of associations and legal questions swirling around the Jeffrey Epstein case. Those demand their own continuous investigation. But the timing of the First Lady’s rare national address was weird, the formal setting incongruous, and the call for Congress to act befuddling. We will certainly find out more in the coming days, but this piece is not about the Epstein case. This is about what we heard in that room.” (04/11/26)
“Less than 24 hours after the U.S.-Israeli coalition bombed oil depots around Tehran on March 7, blanketing the city of 10 million with smoke that blotted out the sun, Brenda — 6,300 miles away in South Baltimore — found out she had lost her food stamps. She had checked the status of her SNAP benefits after I had first interviewed her a few days prior about the United States spending billions on war with Iran while Americans like her struggle to eat. When she logged in to the online portal, she discovered her food stamps had been terminated. She’s tried to stay positive in the weeks since. … But it stings that she can’t afford to give her 13-year-old daughter healthy options, like fresh fruits and vegetables.” (04/10/26)
“For a nation that dominates the seas, the United States now faces a critical crossroads. Its commercial shipyards — once the envy of the world — have fallen into near collapse. The Trump administration’s 2026 Maritime Action Plan aims to reverse this decline with sweeping fees on foreign-built ships and subsidies to revive domestic production and rebuild the maritime industrial base. Yet rather than confronting the structural causes of decline, Washington has turned to familiar tools: protectionism, subsidies, and penalties on foreign competition. America’s shipbuilding troubles did not begin with foreign rivals — and they will not be solved by taxing them.” (04/10/26)
“US president Donald Trump says that his war in Iran — currently in a supposed ceasefire — resulted in ‘total and complete victory. 100%. No question about it.’ The Iranian regime, via a statement from its Supreme National Security Council, also claims ‘great victory.’ If the war is really over (I’m skeptical), who actually won? Well, not you.” (04/09/26)
