Source: Underthrow
by Max Borders

“Recent democratic socialist victories in New York are a harbinger. Like an invasive species sent from the unproductive activist class, they have infiltrated politics at the highest levels of government. As if the creatures who have been ruling us weren’t bad enough, a fifty-year period of permitting socialist activists to take comfort in the academy is now yielding poisonous fruit. And as we celebrate the 250th birthday of America, the democratic socialists openly wipe their asses with America’s founding documents. That is, until election season, when the wolves don sheep’s clothing.” [editor’s note: The difference between a “democratic socialist” and a “mainstream American politician circa 2026” is that the former openly admit they’re socialists – TLK] (06/29/26)

https://underthrow.substack.com/p/the-poisonous-fruit-has-ripened/comments

Source: The New Republic
by Malcolm Ferguson

“The opening weekend of the Great American State Fair in Washington, D.C., was, to put it simply, miserable. It was extremely muggy, with rain pouring down seemingly every hour. A child rolled around in the grass, crying and screaming, ‘I. WANT. TO. GO. HOME!!!’ Creed’s ‘Higher’ blared over the loudspeakers, and a sparse crowd milled about the various exhibitions. The bare-bones setup (flimsy, fake two-dimensional columns that looked like something Wile E. Coyote would run into while chasing the Road Runner) left much to be desired, as America’s 250th anniversary was celebrated with kitsch and ennui rather than grandeur and appreciation. More than anything, the event lacked energy—and people. There wasn’t any line or wait to get in. The vibe was more conference-like than celebratory, and the state exhibits varied wildly in effort and presentation.” (06/29/26)

https://newrepublic.com/article/212455/trump-great-american-state-fair-review

Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by George Ford Smith

“Ideologically, Americans went from Blackstone, to Coke, to Otis, to Paine, to the Declaration, to winning the war for independence (the latter two with Paine’s help). The undoing of this unprecedented victory for human liberty began in 1786 with the exploitation of a government-caused revolt called Shay’s Rebellion. Liberty has taken the hit ever since.” (06/29/26)

https://mises.org/mises-wire/july-4-will-you-be-celebrating-founders-or-status-quo

Source: Washington Post
by Ramesh Ponnuru

“Trump acted as though voters chose him in 2024 because they loved everything about him, rather than because they hated inflation. Since winning, he has taken a few steps that place upward pressure on prices — warring with Iran, imposing tariffs, trying to push interest rates down by intimidating the Federal Reserve — and done little to foster the impression that he cares about the public’s top concern. In Trump’s popularity decline, we are also seeing the interaction of our constitutional system and a president who is neither interested in nor adept at working through it. A determined president can make the Justice Department issue frivolous indictments. He can’t make the courts respect them.” (06/29/26)

https://archive.is/tnnkY

Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone

“Israel is still pushing for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza. They keep trying different angles and rebranding it under different names, but the end goal has remained the same since October 2023: the removal of all Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. From the early months of the Gaza holocaust, Israel apologists had been referring to the ethnic cleansing agenda as a plan for the ‘voluntary migration’ of Gaza’s inhabitants. This framing conveniently ignored the fact that you cannot destroy a populated area and deliberately make it uninhabitable and then say the inhabitants of that area are leaving ‘voluntarily’. According to a Haaretz report that was published last week, Israel’s new National Security Council chief convened a meeting of top national security officials to discuss the issue of ‘encouraging the voluntary emigration’ of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.” (06/29/26)

https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2026/06/29/theyre-still-pushing-the-ethnic-cleansing-of-gaza/

Source: Liberal Currents
by Alan Kahan

“There are good reasons for liberal pessimism. Every liberal knows the sad arc of world history since 1992, the sudden vertiginous rise of liberal hopes, the long, bumpy descent into the grim present and its populism. There are, however, older and deeper reasons for liberal pessimism which are less evident. Liberals have been far too optimistic for far too long, leaving them ripe for disappointment. In particular, they have been too optimistic about the political fruits of education and the political consequences of a growing middle class. Properly understood, however, a more pessimistic view of the world might be grounds for optimism.” (06/29/26)

https://www.liberalcurrents.com/for-a-liberal-pessimism/