A New Kind of State

Source: Law & Liberty
by Paul Seaton

“Modern political philosophy and modern politics brought ‘the State’ to the fore in novel and contentious ways. Leo Strauss argued that Machiavelli’s concept of ‘lo stato’ was an essential component of a revolution in human thought and aspiration. The Treaty of Westphalia is rightly said to have inaugurated a new international order in Europe, precisely with its legitimatization of absolute territorial sovereignty, expanding upon the principle of cuius regio, eius religio—that is, the modern state system. And Will Morrisey, in his Regime Change: What It Is, Why It Matters, argued that fledgling America sought to escape the Westphalian conception with a new understanding of liberal republican government.” (07/03/26)

https://lawliberty.org/a-new-kind-of-state/

Melat Kiros’s perverse views are the latest evidence that US schools need to be fixed

Source: New York Post
by staff

“America’s educational system has clearly failed, judging by the recent comments of 29-year-old lawyer Melat Kiros, who just won a Democratic primary in Colorado and is now a sure bet for Congress. And if we fail to fix that system (and to dispel young folks of the absurd notion that America and Israel are, essentially, the root of all the world’s problems) the nation faces a rocky road ahead for sure. Kiros, a member of the radical Democratic Socialists of America, just dethroned Rep. Diana DeGette (D), despite (or maybe because of) her repugnant assertions. She has claimed, for example, that 9/11 was ‘inevitable’ because the United States ‘destabilized a lot of the Middle East’, which convinced people that ‘violence was the only response’.” [editor’s note: Is it significant or just ironic that Dr. Ron Paul said almost the same thing when the plane attacks happened, yet this is now considered leftist ravings? – SAT] (07/04/26)

https://nypost.com/2026/07/04/opinion/melat-kiros-sick-views-are-just-the-latest-evidence-that-us-schools-need-to-be-fixed/

These Difficult States

Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob

“I’ve been a U.S. citizen for more than a quarter of the 250 years that there has been a United States.
Proud to be an American? Yes. Not because my country, or more specifically our government, has always been spectacular, or even in the right. I’ve taken a few lumps battling against the government. More than ‘proud to be an American,’ which was admittedly an accident of birth, I’m proud of America.” (07/03/26)

https://thisiscommonsense.org/2026/07/03/these-difficult-states/

Our university is trying to discredit our paper, but that won’t stop us from telling the truth

Source: Expression
by Dylan Hembrough

“Southern Illinois University Edwardsville claims it believes in free speech, but its administrators are disparaging the student press.” (07/03/26)

https://expression.fire.org/p/our-university-is-trying-to-discredit

Marco Rubio’s Dangerous Diplomacy in Lebanon

Source: The American Prospect
by Nathan Thompson

“While Secretary of State Marco Rubio seemed to maintain a low profile while the Iran war’s violence was at its apex, content to focus on projects closer to his heart in the Americas, he has now re-emerged at the helm of Israel-Lebanon diplomacy. That diplomacy has produced an agreement that is roiling Lebanese society, perceived as a functional surrender to the ongoing Israeli occupation. Many commentators were impressed by Vice President JD Vance’s candid rebukes of Israeli excesses, but Rubio’s Lebanon track demonstrates how the pro-Israel wing of the White House is reasserting itself, peace with Iran be damned. The Lebanon front may receive far less media attention than the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and its economic fallout, but it has been no less central to the helter-skelter effort to end Trump and Netanyahu’s war.” (07/03/26)

https://prospect.org/2026/07/03/marco-rubios-dangerous-diplomacy-in-lebanon/

The Declaration

Source: Free Association
by Sheldon Richman

“If for no other reason, the 250-year-old Declaration of Independence deserves adoration for its invocation of each individual’s rights to ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.’ The significance of that phrase, which overshadows everything else in Thomas Jefferson’s composition (it clarifies the meaning of ‘all men are created equal’), cannot be exaggerated. Unfortunately, those words are so familiar—which should have been a good thing—that they long ago blended with the landscape. By and large, people have stopped noticing it and lack appreciation for it. Unlike in the 1700s, it has become a cliché.” (07/03/26)

https://sheldonrichman.substack.com/p/tgif-the-declaration