Against the Political Clerisy
Source: Law & LIberty
“Contributing Editor Luke Sheahan’s keynote talk at Law & Liberty‘s recent event on conservatism and constitutionalism.” (04/30/26)
Source: Law & LIberty
“Contributing Editor Luke Sheahan’s keynote talk at Law & Liberty‘s recent event on conservatism and constitutionalism.” (04/30/26)
Source: Antiwar.com
by Andy Worthington
“For the last two and a half years, the State of Israel has unilaterally — and with jaw-dropping illegality — reimagined warfare as a religiously-mandated existential struggle against alleged ‘forces of darkness’ in which there are no rules, and no sense of proportionality or restraint.” (04/30/26)
Source: The Atlantic
“The ‘Great Man’ Presidency.” (04/30/26)
https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/2026/04/donald-trump-presidency-legacy/686999
Source: Foreign Policy
by Robert Zaretsky
“On April 30, 1956, the commander of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Moshe Dayan, spoke at the funeral of Roi Rotberg. A young man in charge of security at the Gaza border settlement of Nahal Oz, Rotberg had been murdered and mutilated by Palestinian fedayeen. Dayan, who had met Rotberg a few days earlier and was impressed by his youth and courage, quickly drafted a eulogy that, in the original Hebrew, runs just 285 words. Nearly the same length of Abraham Lincoln’s 272-word address at Gettysburg, Dayan’s speech has assumed nearly the same foundational role in his own nation’s self-understanding.” (04/30/26)
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“The US is ‘studying and reviewing’ whether to reduce the thousands of troops it has stationed in Germany, President Donald Trump has announced via social media. His remarks came days after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticised his approach to the war in Iran, suggesting that US had been ‘humiliated’ by Iranian negotiators. Trump said in a social media post late on Wednesday that a decision on troop numbers would be made ‘over the next short period of time. Then early on Thursday he rounded on Merz, saying he should ‘spend more time on ending the war with Russia/Ukraine (Where he has been totally ineffective!).’ The BBC has reached out to the White House for comment. The US has a significant military presence in Germany, with more than 36,000 active duty troops assigned to bases across the country as of last December.” (04/30/26)
Source: Politico
“Back to the maps with SCOTUS, more Pete Hegseth, and a governor’s dilemma.” (04/30/26)
Source: Antiwar.com
“Trump Threatens Iran With AI Image of Himself, House Passes FISA Section 702 Extension, and More.” (04/29/26)
Source: Astral Codex Ten
by Scott Alexander
“Constraint consequentialists believe that you should try to do good things that improve the world, unless those break hard-and-fast rules (‘deontological bars). For example, you shouldn’t assassinate democratically-elected leaders, even very bad ones. Why not? Since bad leaders set bad policy, and bad policy can kill many thousands of people, wouldn’t it be for the greater good? Because there’s always one gun-owner who thinks any given leader’s policies are bad, so without the rule, every leader would face constant assassination attempts, probably some of them would succeed, and the nation would either crumble or degenerate into a security state.” (04/30/26)
Source: Law & Liberty
by Samuel Gregg
“In one sense, the debate about abundance is about the future of the left in America. That is the political agenda underlying many of the economic ideas promoted by the journalists Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson in their 2025 book Abundance. Right now, the center-left in America is fixated on regulating everything to realize greater social justice in the economy. Abundance liberals like Klein and Thompson, however, want to shift the left’s attention towards the matter of how we can diminish many of the blockages that create artificial scarcities throughout the United States. The fight about abundance on the left, however, has great import for the right as well. The lurch toward economic nationalism and populist economics on the part of large segments of the right has made the possibility of deeper conversations and even possible alliances with abundanistas a live topic among classical liberals and fiscal conservatives.” (04/30/26)
https://lawliberty.org/forum/abundance-liberalisms-statist-heart/
Source: The American Prospect
by David Dayen
“A swing-seat congressional primary in Nebraska that’s already swarming with outside spending has a new twist with a familiar ring. Big money from a pro-Israel super PAC was en route to help its preferred candidate, but the ham-fisted attempt to conceal that support may backfire on its intended beneficiary, centrist New Democrat–endorsed candidate Denise Powell. Since mid-March, outside groups have spent $2.93 million (as of April 29) in Nebraska’s Second Congressional District, supporting Powell and opposing state Sen. John Cavanaugh, a populist candidate with an extensive personal and family political history in the Omaha region that the district encompasses. Cavanaugh had been the early favorite in the race for the open seat vacated by Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) and won by Democrats in the last two presidential elections. The nearly $3 million already poured into the contest is an enormous amount for the relatively modest media market of Omaha and environs.” (04/30/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/04/30/controversial-pro-israel-pac-launders-spending-powell-nebraska/