Backing a Losing Horse
Source: Law & Liberty
by Rachel Lu
“Postliberals seem determined to disprove the old adage that hindsight is 20/20.” (07/28/26)
Category: Opinion
As fine an argument for minarchy as you’ll ever see
Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Tim Worstall
“It simply is true that if we concentrate power – of any kind – into one place then those who desire power over others will attempt to occupy that position. So as to have that power, d’ye see? The answer to the wrong people gaining such power is not to have the concentrations of power. We are not commenting upon whether Trump is good or bad as a person to have such power. Only upon the logic of the argument as presented. For one of the things we have observed over the decades is that The Guardian is very rarely happy with any occupant of such a position of power. There’s always something bad they’re doing, something good they’re not. That every powerful politician is such a disappointment is an obvious clue to the idea that power should not be so concentrated.” (07/28/26)
https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/as-fine-an-argument-for-minarchy-as-youll-ever-see
Trump is playing chicken with America’s oil reserves
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Hekmat Aboukhater
“Back in 1975, reeling from the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973, President Gerald Ford signed the Energy Policy and Conservation Act. The law established the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) and framed it as a rainy day fund, made ready for the benefit of the American people should a crisis in supply reach us once more. Today, after two consecutive administrations, our rainy day fund has been drawn down to the lowest levels since 1983.” (07/28/26)
Farmers Are Getting Control Of Their Equipment Back
Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation
by Chao Liu & Katharine Trendacosta
“For years, John Deere had actively made repairing their tractors near-impossible for anyone but itself and the few ‘authorized’ repair shops—regardless of the ability of its customers to actually visit such shops. Now, in a major win for farmers and right to repair advocates, John Deere must soon provide farmers with not just the tools and resources to finally repair their own John Deere equipment, but also access to future updates for said equipment.” (07/28/26)
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/07/farmers-are-getting-control-their-equipment-back
The Myth of Iranian Exceptionalism: Rethinking Iran in the Shadow of the Israel-US War
Source: Informed Comment
by Mojtaba Mahdavi
“The Discourse of ‘Iranian exceptionalism’ appears in both negative and positive forms. The negative version must be examined within the broader framework of ‘Middle Eastern exceptionalism’ and its various manifestations. In this view – whether in Orientalist discourses, Orientalism in reverse found in autocratic Islamism or authoritarian secular nationalism, or even in certain strands of cultural relativism – Iran, as part of the Global South, the Muslim world, and the Middle East, is deemed unfit for democracy. … The present analysis, however, is more concerned with a positive version of a particular articulation of Iranian exceptionalism that has been mobilized in support of war and sanctions, and in the normalization of the moral justification of military aggression, including alignment – whether strategic or discursive – with Trumpism and Netanyahu’s far-right, war-criminal regime.” (07/28/26)
https://www.juancole.com/2026/07/iranian-exceptionalism-rethinking.html
Why 45 Percent of Americans Left Major Parties and Where Independence Leads
Source: Karl Dickey’s Freedom Vanguard
by Karl Dickey
“Hey, did you hear the latest? Gallup put out the results of a poll showing that a record 45% of American adults now identify as political independents, while the old Democrat and Republican parties have each dropped 27%. Here in Florida, political independents (NPA) account for 3.3 million registered voters, rapidly catching up to Republican and Democratic Party registrations. Also of note, over half of Gen Z and Millennial voters prefer no party label and tend to register as independent voters, in Florida, known as NPA (No Party Affiliation). But we have seen this movie before. Polling of rising independent voters, yet when they get in the voting booth, they seem compelled to pull for either D or R (Democratic or Republican parties). Perhaps things will change sooner than later.” (07/28/26)
https://palmbeachexaminer.substack.com/p/why-45-percent-of-americans-left
Why are 4,000 National Guard still patrolling Washington?
Source: Los Angeles Times
by Jon Duffy
“Earlier this month, the Pentagon quietly extended the National Guard’s ‘D.C. Safe and Beautiful’ mission in Washington through Jan. 20, 2029. That date corresponds to no publicly identified security condition, crime objective or military task. It is simply the day President Trump’s term officially ends. The extension raises obvious questions: How will we know when this mission has been accomplished? If January 2029 is its only publicly announced endpoint, what tells the military its job is finished?
Defense Department missions are supposed to begin with defined objectives and include clear conditions for ending them.” (07/28/26)
The US-Saudi Nuclear Deal Makes No Sense
Source: Antiwar.com
by Trita Parsi
“Compared to previous negotiations, Riyadh has secured remarkable concessions. It no longer appears to have to normalize relations with Israel as part of the package. It is reportedly not required to sign a traditional Section 123 agreement that would deprive KSA of enrichment technology. And there are no comprehensive IAEA safeguards comparable to those Washington has long insisted upon elsewhere. If these reports hold, Saudi Arabia has achieved what few thought Washington would ever accept.” (07/28/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/trita-parsi/2026/07/27/the-us-saudi-nuclear-deal-makes-no-sense
The DSA Platform Would Destroy American Democracy
Source: Washington Monthly
by Bill Scher
“The socialist group’s vision of a federal government without three equal branches providing checks and balances would facilitate the whims of a would-be authoritarian. Sound familiar?” (07/28/26)
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2026/07/28/the-dsa-platform-would-destroy-american-democracy/
What Being a Digital Nomad Taught Me About the Real World
Source: Persuasion
by Sam Kahn
“About three years ago I pulled up stakes and moved to the far side of the world. My reasons for this were so personal and idiosyncratic that I don’t talk about this all that much—largely because I don’t feel that there’s much about this decision that would be particularly applicable to anybody else. But one thing you learn in journalism is that you should never let an opportunity to opine go to waste, and having made a really significant, life-changing decision like this one—moving from New York City to, of all the world’s unexpected places, Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan—it seems like sooner or later I should see if I’ve learned anything from it. So what have I learned?” (07/27/26)
https://www.persuasion.community/p/what-i-learned-from-moving-to-the