Source: The American Conservative
by Peter Van Buren
“Whether you believe Mahmoud Khalil deserves to be deported for antisemitic stances while a student at Columbia University or you believe he was righteously exercising his First Amendment rights, his green card revocation stinks. It is a perfect example of ‘we told you so’ about powers granted so freely to the government, in this case by a provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 covering deportable aliens and a similar one covering American citizens.” (03/24/25)
“When, in the early 1990s, Israel defined Iran as its main threat, it sought ties with Azerbaijan as a counter. Baku has benefited greatly from that relationship: Israel played a key role in Azerbaijan’s defeat of Armenia in wars over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region in 2020 and 2023. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Israel accounted for up to 70% of Azerbaijan’s imports of advanced weaponry. Azerbaijan, in turn, is Israel’s main supplier of oil, accounting for up to 40% of overall oil imports. Baku never suspended oil shipments during Israel’s war in Gaza after October 7, 2023. In a sign of further developing ties, Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR recently acquired a 10% stake in Israel’s offshore ‘Tamar’ gas field. Thus, the added value of Azerbaijan joining the Abraham Accords is not obvious on its merits alone.” (03/24/25)
“On March 14, Secretary of State Marco Rubio publicly berated South Africa’s Ambassador to the U.S. Ebrahim Rasool in a most undiplomatic tweet, writing: ‘South Africa’s Ambassador to the United States is no longer welcome in our great country. Ebrahim Rasool is a race-baiting politician who hates America and hates @POTUS. We have nothing to discuss with him and so he is considered PERSONA NON GRATA.’ On Sunday, March 23, the South African ambassador returned home to a hero’s welcome. The United States lost a seasoned South African representative who had previously served as ambassador under President Obama, was a member of South Africa’s National Assembly, and was active (and imprisoned) during his country’s anti-apartheid struggle. And ginning up the conflict with a country that has such tremendous international standing may prove to be a bad move for President Trump.” (03/24/25)
“Even before President Trump invoked powers under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, the historical meaning of ‘alien enemy’ had become a topic of controversy, because the distinction between an alien enemy and an alien friend is also relevant in the context of immigration and birthright citizenship. Largely overlooked in this debate has been the legal doctrine that defines the difference between an alien enemy and an alien friend: the doctrine of allegiance, which our Founders inherited from English law. The English doctrine closely paralleled the international law concept of the same name. To understand the Alien Enemies Act, it is important to understand the Founding-era rules of allegiance and how they divide alien friends from alien enemies.” (03/25/25)
“Americans are understandably preoccupied with the extensive damage that the administration is causing at home, but the public still needs to be aware of the danger that the U.S. is on course to start a war with Iran for no good reason.” (03/23/25)
“Pity poor John Roberts. No, he’s not corrupt or compromised. He is simply a man who has found himself at a pivotal time and place in a position of great responsibility for which he is utterly unsuited. He’s not a dumb man. He is, in fact, a very smart man – Hugh Hewitt knew him personally in the Reagan administration and testifies to that. I have no doubt it’s true. I know many smart people who have similar flaws. As objectively intelligent as John Roberts is, he is unwise, and he is endangering the institution he wants to preserve because he does not understand human nature or the times he finds himself in. Frankly, I’ll take wisdom over raw intellect any day of the week.” (03/24/25)
“At the end of the day, aren’t we all just one big, disorganized tribe of freaks biologically compelled to obstruct the status quo? In fact, it wasn’t all that long ago that Queer people were considered crazy by the same therapeutic state that has labeled my existence to be an illness. Members of the Gay Liberation Movement worked very hard to have every letter of LGBT removed from the DSM but what we should have done was burn that normie bible and declare all forms of neurodivergence to be expressions of Queer individuality. Instead, we left our comrades at the asylum behind in the name of assimilation and opened up a Pandora’s Box that afforded an old white lesbian the ability to call me trash with a rainbow flag on her lapel.” (03/23/25)
“Vaping products are not riskless, but they are substantially safer than smoking and probably the most effective tool for adult smokers trying to quit. Vaping provides nicotine without the harmful effects of burning tobacco and is also satisfying in addressing the ritualistic aspects of smoking. UK health authorities have even encouraged hospitals to hand out free vaping starter kits to recruit smokers into cessation programs. In short, the science on vaping, while not entirely settled, points to a fairly obvious policy recommendation. Regulate vaping products to ensure they are safe, don’t let children access them, and tax them at a fairly low rate so that you nudge smokers towards vaping. UK policy has historically followed this approach, but today is wavering. US policy has always been a mess and is getting worse.” (03/23/25)
