Source: Philadelphia Inquirer
by M Todd Bennett & David McKean
“No Kings and other protests opposing the policies and executive overreach of the Trump administration continue to draw crowds across the country, most recently on Flag Day, June 14, which was also the president’s 80th birthday. While critics have denounced these demonstrators as un-American — House Speaker Mike Johnson called a 2025 No Kings march a ‘hate America rally’ — those voicing dissent, pushing for change and speaking truth to power are, in fact, participating in a tradition at our nation’s core. That tradition dates back to July 4, 1776, when the Continental Congress, citing a list of grievances, declared independence from the rule of a would-be despot, King George III.” (07/02/26)
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“This week — the week in which Americans celebrate the Declaration of Independence — U.S. immigration police arrested a Catholic nun in McAllen, Texas, as she was walking to Mass. They handcuffed her, confiscated her rosary, and incarcerated her. But before anyone reacts too harshly to such misconduct, let’s keep in mind some important points. It is the responsibility of the U.S. immigration police to keep us safe. Who’s to say that woman was really a nun? She could easily have been a Muslim fanatic disguised as a nun who was invading America to establish a worldwide caliphate and Sharia law. Indeed, she could have been a terrorist, drug dealer or, even worse, both — a narco-terrorist!” (07/02/26)
“Of all that makes America—the subject of this symposium—nothing has been more crucial or consequential than our having constituted ourselves as a people on sound moral, political, and legal principles—the ‘self-evident truths’ set forth in our Declaration of Independence and then instituted through our Constitution as corrected by the Civil War Amendments—for those principles are the very foundation of our liberty. Yet many Americans today seriously misunderstand them, while still others reject even their preconditions—reason, objectivity, and free speech.” (07/02/26)
“In an era of information overload, genuinely fresh news and concepts can occasionally get obscured by the ‘slop’. But eventually, thought-expanding data and perspectives rise to the surface and into wider public attention. This appears to be the case with a Yale University study on aging in America published in an academic journal in early March. The findings of ‘Aging Redefined’, now being reported in mainstream media, defy – and can help redefine – long-held and limiting views about the United States’ older demographic. Collecting data on some 11,000 participants over a 12-year period, the researchers found that nearly half of American adults age 65 or older became physically stronger, mentally more acute, or both. ‘If this finding was extrapolated to the entire US population, it would suggest that more than 26 million older persons are experiencing [such] improvement,’ the study’s authors noted.” (07/01/26)
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
by Tyler MacQueen
“They could have died. We forget that now. After appeals to history and self-evident truths and the long train of abuses and usurpations, the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to a cause that was not certain. To an idea as radical as their revolution. To a notion of a nation yet to be built.” (07/02/26)
“The Trump administration concluded a recent mineral deal with Kazakhstan that, not surprisingly, enriches not only President Donald Trump’s own family but that of his secretary of commerce, Howard Lutnick. Trump’s two eldest sons, part owners of Dominari Securities, are set to profit from the Kazakh tungsten deal. So is Cantor Fitzgerald, the investment firm run by Lutnick’s two sons. As The New York Times pointed out in its investigation of the scheme, ‘Their sons were soon doing business with partners in a deal that their fathers were negotiating, continuing a pattern of self-enrichment in the second Trump administration that has few precedents in American history.’ The phrases (‘self-enrichment’ and ‘few precedents’) are interesting ways of characterizing this latest instance of the administration’s corruption. Isn’t self-enrichment a good thing, in the sense of profiting from your own hard work?” (07/01/26)
“The Trump administration is currently coming under fire for their decision to temporarily lift sanctions on Iranian oil, but the proposed alternatives have become detached from reality. The vocal opponents are treating the decision as though Washington willingly handed Tehran an enormous economic windfall beyond what they would earn regardless of sanctions being imposed. Some are now even pushing for the administration to retroactively amend the waiver by forcing Iranian oil revenues into escrow accounts, which is something Iran would never have agreed to. That may sound tough. It may sound politically appealing. It is also a great way to ensure the destruction of the agreement that reopened the Strait of Hormuz. Diplomacy is not about obtaining ideal outcomes. It is about obtaining achievable outcomes.” (07/02/26)
“This weekend, Americans will celebrate the 250th anniversary of our country’s independence in nationwide celebrations featuring backyard barbecues, fireworks displays, and concerts. President Donald Trump echoed the sentiments of many patriotic revelers and underscored the Declaration’s centrality to America’s political identity when he described the event. ‘With a single sheet of parchment and 56 signatures, America began the greatest political journey in human history.’ But America didn’t begin its journey by declaring its independence. Before those 56 men signed the hallowed document, important events had already made independence a reality. By the summer of 1776, America was well on its way.” (07/02/26)
