Source: Law & Liberty
by James M Patterson

“There is a deep irony in [Sohrab] Ahmari’s position. He is distressed by the American right’s hostility to Pope Leo. But he has aligned himself with the Catholic sub-group that is least able to reconcile itself to the pope’s anti-war position. Modern popes have for some time been deeply critical of militant global powers, and great powers tend to push back against those critiques. But the patriotic, pro-inclusion thinkers Ahmari despises (like Murray, Neuhaus, and Novak) warmly welcomed the Church’s move away from forms of authoritarian nationalism that repeatedly led to state oppression and war. Ahmari and the postliberals are the ones actively trying to reinvigorate those forms of political theology, despite ample empirical evidence that they tend to breed violence and hatred.” (04/24/26)

https://lawliberty.org/the-pontiff-and-the-postliberals/

Source: The Bulwark
by Patrick Granfield

“Hegseth’s approach to the press risks lasting damage to the institution he leads. A Pentagon that shares only good news with the public, and a secretary who consistently insults the press, lose both the benefit of the doubt and an important mechanism for self-correction. Hegseth’s posture endangers more than accountability at the Pentagon. It limits the effectiveness and legitimacy of U.S. service members who are called to carry out their mission.” (04/24/26)

https://www.thebulwark.com/p/pete-hegseth-war-on-the-press-pentagon-credibility

Source: The Daily Economy
by Patrick Carroll

“A legal case in Kansas shows how surveillance technology can distort policing priorities. When authorities can monitor anyone cheaply, the temptation to target critics increases.” (04/24/26)

https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/he-wrote-an-op-ed-then-police-tracked-him/

Source: Common Dreams
by Miles Mogulescu

“In the short run, Democrats’ victory in gerrymandering Virginia to create four new blue Congressional districts is a good thing. It will restore balance to the critical 2026 House elections to offset Republicans’ Texas gerrymandering which created four new red districts. President Donald Trump was technically right when the night before the Virginia vote he told a conference of supporters, ‘I don’t know if you know what gerrymandering is but it’s not good.’ Of course what Trump really meant is that gerrymandering is bad when it disenfranchises Republicans but good when it disenfranchises Democrats. Here’s what we do know: partisan gerrymandering is an affront to democracy by letting politicians pick their voters instead of voters picking their politicians.” (04/26/26)

https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/john-roberts-gerrymandering

Source: The Weekly Dish
by Andrew Sullivan

“The case for thinking the Iran War means the implosion of the Trump era.” (04/24/26)

https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/a-tipping-point-at-last-874

Source: The American Conservative
by Ted Snider

“The foundation of international trust has cracked, and partnerships have been broken. The world can no longer trust the United States. The bond between Europe and the U.S. has been frayed. And the hard-won emerging trust between Iran and its Gulf neighbors, which had held the hope of a safer region, has been badly wounded. There are only losers in this war: the Gulf states, Ukraine, America, and, of course, the Iranian people. An important long-term geopolitical loss suffered by the U.S. is the accelerated erosion of its hegemony and the continued transfer of trust to China.” (04/24/26)

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/how-the-iran-war-makes-china-look-good/