Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Jennifer Kavanagh

“The United States has long relied on ground-based air defense systems to protect U.S. personnel, infrastructure, and assets from adversary missiles. But Iran was able to effectively disable these systems, suggesting that this approach to force protection is entirely insufficient in a world of “precise mass” where even weak adversaries have advanced targeting capabilities. If the U.S. ground-based air defense network could not survive against Iran, it is most certainly inadequate for a war with China. The U.S. experience against Iran also raises questions about U.S. plans to rely primarily on stand-off weapons to strike Chinese ships and military targets in an Indo-Pacific contingency. Although this strategy evolved as a response to China’s anti-access/air denial capabilities, which will make operating close to the mainland coast impossible, the war in Iran suggests that the stand-off approach may be limited in what it can accomplish.” (04/29/26)

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/us-military-unprepared-war-china/

Source: Real Clear Politics
by John R Lott Jr.

“Violence motivated by political differences has emerged as a defining, if alarming, feature of 21st -century American civil life. Neither side in our nation’s increasingly dangerous ideological divide has a monopoly. But one side, the Democratic Party and its allies, refuses to acknowledge the increase in mayhem from the left [sic]. This is true even in the face of the campus assassination of beloved conservative activist Charlie Kirk, or the very public attack against a televised banquet featuring the president of the United States in a ballroom room full of politicians and journalists. On Sunday, well after authorities released Cole Tomas Allen’s anti-Trump administration screed, former President Barack Obama posted on X that the attacker’s motive remained unclear. Actually, Allen’s writings made his radical leftist [sic] views perfectly clear, along with his rage against conservatives and President Trump himself.” (04/29/26)

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2026/04/29/political_violence_isnt_one-sided__so_why_is_the_conversation_154071.html

Source: Foreign Policy
by Elisabeth Braw

“Estonia is some way from the Persian Gulf. Even so, it has vocally supported U.S. President Donald Trump’s war against Iran. That has done it no good, despite Trump’s railing against NATO allies for not joining his attack on Tehran: This month, the United States canceled military deliveries to the Baltic nation because it needed the weapons for the Iran war. Other allies are encountering similar delays. The United States has the legal right to suspend weapons deliveries — but such suspensions will hardly encourage nations to buy American.” [editor’s note: So what’s the down side? Retool those factories to produce things American consumers want. “Problem” solved – TLK] (04/29/26)

https://archive.is/DIuIj

Source: Semafor
by David Weigel

“Eighteen months after losing everything, left-leaning activists and unions have a comeback in their sights. All they need is money, aggressive turnout of their 2024 voters, and a president who keeps screwing up on the cost of living. The Democratic Party could figure out its own problems later. That was the overwhelming sentiment at the annual summit of America Votes, founded 22 years ago to coordinate the electoral work of left-leaning unions and climate groups. … One of my questions heading into America Votes was how worried progressives were about the Trump administration looking for legal avenues to suppress their work. I detected surprisingly little concern about that over my two days at the conference. There was more short-term angst that Trump’s network would contest a GOP loss in the midterms, which everyone there expected.” (04/29/26)

https://www.semafor.com/article/04/29/2026/progressive-groups-we-dont-need-the-democratic-party-to-cause-a-blue-wave

Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff

“A majority of Americans – two-thirds – feel that the nation’s corrections system does well on maintaining prison security, thus contributing to a sense of overall public safety. But only 16% believe that the system does a good job of rehabilitating incarcerated individuals. With 95% of these individuals rejoining society after serving an average of about three years, the likelihood of reoffending is concerning for families of those convicted, the communities to which they return, and local law enforcement and justice systems. In response, more than a dozen states have intensified efforts to reorient their correctional systems toward reformation and rehabilitation. Reforms range from providing more mentorship and educational access to the ambitious reconstruction of San Quentin State Prison in California and – on the East Coast – a statewide shift away from what the National Institute of Justice has described as ‘a command-and-control culture.'” (04/28/26)

https://www.csmonitor.com/Editorials/the-monitors-view/2026/0428/Toward-correction-that-respects-and-redeems