Source: Libertarian Institute
by Patrick Pillow

“In 2026, the world’s first trillionaire—following the recent stock debut of SpaceX—Elon Musk has remained one of the most influential figures in American politics. After campaigning for Donald Trump in 2024 and initially playing a leading role in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Musk has remained a constant presence in the headlines. One of his latest political clashes came with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) over the impact of DOGE’s cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Citing a 2025 Lancet study, Khanna argued the reductions were ‘potentially a death sentence for an estimated 4.5 million children around the world.’ … its projection of fourteen million additional deaths by 2030 assumes that other governments, NGOs, private charities, and international organizations would be unable to meaningfully fill the gap left by USAID. That distinction matters.” (07/10/26)

https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/musk-v-usaid-the-complicated-legacy-of-americas-aid-agency

Source: Antiwar.com
by Muhammad Sahimi

“The fragile ceasefire between Iran and the United States has been broken once again. The United States has been bombing Iran, claiming that its attacks are in retaliation for Iran attacking three vessels near Straight of Hormuz, which it considers as violation of the Islamabad agreement, officially known as the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two nations. But it is in fact the United States that has been violating the MoU because its interpretation of Article 5 of the MoU is simply false.” (07/10/26)

https://original.antiwar.com/sahimi/2026/07/09/the-us-has-been-violating-mou-with-iran-from-day-one

Source: The Dispatch
by Kevin D Williamson

“Moderation and centrism are not necessarily virtuous: A man should not be moderately honest or split the difference between virtue and vice. But in the realm of electoral politics—and, especially, in this time of populist demagoguery—bipartisanship and moderation have real practical value. We do not want our elected officials to be easily carried away by ideological enthusiasm and passion—especially in the Senate, which is meant to be a brake to the House’s accelerator. And because we have a big election every two years, the only sure path to creating a stable policy environment (and there are many cases in which an imperfect stable policy is preferable to an improved but unstable policy) is bipartisanship. Sen. Collins also provides a reminder that more than a few supposed conservatives in our time need: To be conservative is not the same thing as to be a right-wing revolutionist.” (07/10/26)

https://thedispatch.com/article/susan-collins-platner-maine-republican-party/

Source: New York Post
by staff

“Kudos to the State Department for putting the kibosh on city International Affairs Commissioner Ana María Archila’s bid to meet with Amir-Saeid Iravani, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, even as America and Iran are at war — but the affair poses a challenge to Mayor Zohran Mamdani: Does he have the grit to break with the openly anti-American factions of the Democratic Socialists of America? Mamdani’s tried to downplay the disgraceful episode, insisting Archila had no clearance to do such outreach, yet he’s not firing her or imposing any discipline. Nor even saying outright how very wrong she was. Which raises the question of whether he prefers the theocratic regime in Tehran to the United States government.” (07/11/26)

https://nypost.com/2026/07/11/opinion/does-mamdani-dare-disavow-his-openly-anti-american-dsa-comrades/

Source: Independent Institute
by Caleb Petitt

“The Jones Act spends its political energy on shipbuilding. The real maritime power game is somewhere else.” (07/10/26)

https://www.independent.org/article/2026/07/10/america-maritime-policy/