Source: The American Conservative
by Ivan Eland

“uring the past three-quarters of a century, beginning in 1950 and continuing right through to the current war with Iran, U.S. presidents repeatedly have risked involvement in conflicts that resulted in military quagmires with disappointing endings. Why do presidents keep repeating the same mistakes in the name of ‘national security?'” (03/30/26)

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/why-do-u-s-presidents-keep-risking-foreign-quagmires/

Source: exile in happy valley
by Nicky Reid

“Iran as we once knew it has essentially been reduced to the world’s largest open-air burn unit, and yet no one but Donald Trump seems to be foolish enough to believe that America is actually winning this war. Iran may be devastated beyond belief, but someone is still fighting like hell from the smoldering ruins and the imperial machine tasked with swiftly containing this undead menace before the American people can smell a quagmire is beginning to show signs of desperation as they lose control of the narrative. You can see it written all over Donald Trump’s leather face as he attempts to make sense of the havoc in real time, declaring victory over and over again before announcing another escalation of violence, bragging about negotiations that Iran denies having any interest in as thousands of American troops are positioned in the region for an invasion.” (03/29/26)

https://exileinhappyvalley.blogspot.com/2026/03/iran-teaches-america-how-to-lose-war-in.html

Source: Fox News
by Newt Gingrich

“Despite all the current polling and the constant comments of the professional analyst class, the Democrats have the biggest problems going into the 2026 election. People know they have unpopular values. Their big government socialist models of taxing, spending and bureaucracy don’t work. The Democrats’ key institutions have long histories of performance failure. And the dominance of the hard left in the Democratic Party forces Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries into painfully tone-deaf positions. It all represents a huge burden, weakening the likelihood of a major Democratic victory this fall. Consider some of the burdens the Democrats will be carrying as they campaign this summer and fall.” (03/30/26)

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/newt-gingrich-democrats-could-get-alarming-wake-up-call-2026-election

Source: The American Conservative
by Ted Galen Carpenter

“Since the end of World War II, the United States has built an ever-expanding global network of military allies. The term ‘ally’ may legitimately apply to Britain, France, Japan, Germany, and a few of Washington’s other security partners, but most of the so-called allies are merely small U.S. security dependents. They constitute potential burdens and dangerous geopolitical snares for the United States while providing few if any strategic benefits. An especially worrisome aspect of these relationships is that such clients spend considerable effort trying to manipulate, even pervert, U.S. policy to support their parochial objectives. That dynamic creates the danger of small clients gaining undue influence over Washington’s behavior. A security client tail thus may succeed in wagging the U.S. dog.” (03/29/26)

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/client-tails-wag-the-u-s-dog/

Source: Paul Krugman

“Why the U.S. is the ‘last big petrostate’ and why that’s bad for everyone.” (03/29/26)

https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/is-america-suffering-from-the-resource