Politics Archives

Tuesday

July 15, 2025

The mullahs mean their threats

I write at the very beginning of July. Where I live in Connecticut, people are unpacking flags and bunting in preparation for the July 4 festivities. Elsewhere, the trumpets sounding to accompany Donald Trump’s triumphant announcement of a ceasefire between Iran and Israel have subsided. It is clear that the President dearly wants peace. So does Israel. For its part, Iran wants the extermination of “the Zionist entity” and, beyond that, the eventual extinction of the “Great Satan,” America. How do I know? Iranian spokesmen keep telling the world just that. I wonder if Salman Rushdie has reached out to Trump now that he has joined the exclusive club of those upon whom the lunatics in charge of Iran have explicitly pronounced a fatwa – a death sentence.

Chris Mondics

How progressivism killed American Protestantism

Mainline Protestantism, once a primary cultural and political pillar of American life, is in freefall. Traditional Protestant denominations – Episcopalians, Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans and others – now account for less than 11 percent of the population, down 40 percent since 2007, according to the Pew Religious Landscape Study. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the main Lutheran body in the United States, had more than five million members when it was formed in 1988. That number now stands at fewer than three million. By 2050, the ELCA projects that membership will have dropped to a mere 67,000. At that point, American Lutheranism will virtually cease to exist as a denomination – soon to be joined, no doubt, by other stalwarts of the Reformation.

Andrew Cockburn

Will we stop Saudi Arabia developing a nuclear weapon?

Though clearly resolved to declare victory over Iran’s nuclear program and move on, Donald Trump has been beset this summer by assertions that the Iranian effort has not been “obliterated” after all and that the mullahs will be back at work in no time cranking out the requisite materials for a bomb. Therefore, according to some, Trump should bomb some more – or at least unleash Israel to do so. Whether or not Trump is pushed into further strikes, the argument over Iranian nuclear weapons capabilities will not go away.

The Spectator

DoGE, alligators, public land and Mamdani mania

Daddy DoGE Despite Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s continued public fallout, DoGE is still slashing away at the federal workforce. From a peak of 3,015,000 employees on federal payroll in January, job cuts per month are as follows: February 13,000 March 11,000 April 13,000 May 25,000 June 7,000 Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics See ya later, alligator Would migrants at Florida’s “alligator Alcatraz” detention center be eaten by the surrounding wildlife if they managed to escape? “I guess that’s the concept,” said Trump. But which species would do the snacking? There are around 1.25 million American alligators in Florida which are native to the state.

Colin Freeman

Who replaces the ayatollahs if the Iranian regime falls?

The masked gunmen of Jaish al-Adl are probably not the kind of people Donald Trump had in mind when he talked about “regime change” in Iran. A terror group in Iran’s southeastern Baluchistan region, they have a bloodthirsty record of shootings and suicide bombings, all part of a jihad for a separate Baluchi homeland. They are, however, excited by Israel and America’s bombing campaign, which they see as a once-in-a-lifetime chance to achieve their goal. As they declared recently: “We extend the hand of brotherhood to all the people of Iran to join the ranks of the Resistance.” How long that brotherhood would last is another matter.

Aidan McLaughlin

Why President Trump can’t stop talking to reporters

The best time to call is the weekend. Or early in the morning. Or late at night. Definitely not when he’s on the golf course. If he’s alone, he’s more inclined to chat. If he’s in a good mood, you might get a few minutes. If he’s in a bad mood he’ll be brief, but you’re still liable to get a usable quote. That’s how White House reporters describe cold-calling Donald Trump, perhaps the most accessible president in American history. He’s not the first to smuggle a cell phone into the White House: Barack Obama insisted on keeping his BlackBerry throughout his time in office, despite the angst it caused his staff. But you couldn’t just call Obama. You can just call Trump.

Daniel McCarthy

The lessons of Ron Paul

As Elon Musk feuds with Donald Trump and looks to launch a political party of his own – the America party – he should stop to consider the lessons of Ron Paul. The former Republican congressman, who turns 90 on August 20, is best known as the leader of the GOP’s libertarian wing – which for years was practically a one-man faction. In 2008, however, Paul ran for the Republican presidential nomination and touched off a grassroots insurgency. It wasn’t enough to win him any primaries, but it laid the groundwork for the GOP’s populist turn, leading directly to the Tea Party movement and lighting the way for Trump’s arrival a few years later. Dr.

Graham Boynton

Can Clarksdale find its mojo again?

When Bubba O’Keefe announced he was running for mayor of Clarksdale this spring, there was a mixed response. This dirt-poor, crumbling Mississippi Delta city is more than 80 percent African American – and Bubba is white. But so poorly had the current mayor, who is African American, been performing that Bubba’s supporters thought he’d be a shoo-in, and that the residents would buy into the mantra that he was Clarksdale’s last hope, white or black. Locals describe Mississippi as the crime state. And Clarksdale is the worst city in Mississippi. There are 20 times more murders per capita in Clarksdale than in New York. As Bubba says: “We only have a population of 13,000 and there are 19 or 20 murders a year.

Jay Nordlinger

How Trump can win the Nobel Peace Prize

Openly, President Trump has expressed a desire to win the Nobel Peace Prize. This is understandable. It is “the world’s most prestigious prize.” That is the judgment of the Oxford Dictionary of Contemporary World History. The prize is associated with some golden names: Albert Schweitzer, Andrei Sakharov, Mother Teresa. All of those were Nobel peace laureates. Of course, Yasser Arafat was too. The history of the prize is messy, like history itself. Last month, the Pakistani government nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize. That was for his intervention in the Pakistani-Indian clash over Kashmir. The Indians were less keen on his intervention, but that is another matter. A veteran Pakistani politician, Senator Mushahid Hussain, had a wry, realistic comment.

Monday

July 14, 2025

Jacob Heilbrunn

Has Putin turned Trump into a Russia hawk?

No, President Trump wasn’t referring to Russian president Vladimir Putin when he talked at a White House luncheon today about a “stupid guy” and a “knucklehead.” But he did make it clear that his long-standing bromance with the Kremlin’s big cheese has turned out to be unrequited, much to his distress. Trump lamented that Putin’s talk about peace was so much rodomontade, amounting to more than a “nice phone call” followed by a bunch of missiles lobbed at Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities. It was Melania, he said, who had noted to him the inconsistency between Putin’s words and deeds. Perhaps Melania, more than anyone else, injected some iron into Trump’s previously anemic posture towards Moscow.

Neal Pollack

Will Trump rename soccer?

On the one-year anniversary of the Butler, Pennsylvania, assassination attempt on his life, President Trump celebrated on stage with Chelsea FC after they won the FIFA Club World Cup in Giants Stadium. No one dancing around the trophy looked happier than Trump, who appeared like an aged striker who’d ducked into the locker room to put on a blue suit and a red tie. "I knew he was going to be here but I didn't know he was going to be on the stand when we lifted the trophy. I was a bit confused,” said Chelsea FC star Cole Palmer. Above all else, Donald Trump celebrates winning, and this was a big win, complete with confetti shower. Plus, you can’t discount the fact that on this day, of all days, Trump was just happy to be alive, the greatest win of all.

Joe Biden signing not with autopen (Getty)

Cockburn

Biden attempts to straighten the record on his autopen

President Joe Biden granted 1,500 pardons in what was the largest single-day act of clemency by a US president back in January, on his final full day in office. But these were not the typical pardons since Biden did not actually sit down, uncap a fat Sharpie and draw out his signature. No: the pardons were granted with the autopen, and the Department of Justice and congressional Republicans have been investigating whether the former president was actually aware they were being signed. After seven months of crickets, Biden finally broke his silence on these accusations, last Thursday. He spoke to the New York Times, maintaining he "made every decision," and he did it "because there were a lot of them." The January 19 pardons did two things.

David Sypher Jr.

Biden admits he had no idea who he pardoned with autopen

Let’s not pretend this is normal. President Joe Biden has admitted that he didn’t personally approve the full list of individuals he pardoned on his final day in office. Instead, he delegated the task to his staff and gave them permission to use an autopen – a mechanical device that stamps his signature – to push through thousands of clemency grants in bulk.Legally, this is allowed. Morally? It’s disgraceful.Presidential clemency is one of the few powers in the Constitution left entirely to the judgment of one person. It’s meant to be exercised with moral clarity, human reflection and a sense of final responsibility. What Biden did was effectively outsource that sacred duty to nameless staffers armed with email chains and eligibility “criteria.

Neal Pollack

Why Trump can’t escape the Epstein Files drama

President Trump remains baffled over the endlessly churning Epstein List controversy. “We're on one Team, MAGA, and I don't like what's happening,” he Truth Socialed Saturday. “We have a PERFECT Administration, THE TALK OF THE WORLD, and 'selfish people' are trying to hurt it, all over a guy who never dies, Jeffrey Epstein.” Calling Epstein “a guy who never dies” raised some eyebrows with the Alex Jones wing of the party. But for the non-conspiracy minded, the MAGA infighting over the Epstein List, whose release was a major Trump campaign promise, has us reaching for another bowl of popcorn. Trump’s exasperation began to show at last week’s cabinet meeting, when a reporter asked him a question about the Epstein List. “Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein?

Cockburn

Musk’s chatbot stumbles again

No living human has had a week as tumultuous as Grok, the Elon Musk-sponsored AI that lives inside X for our, and its, amusement. If people were still making the Downfall Hitler meme videos, Grok’s progress would be an apt topic. Last week, Grok started spewing out anti-Semitic posts after a flurry of troll prompts. Soon after, X shut down its newly-created “MechaHitler,” saying "We are aware of recent posts made by Grok and are actively working to remove the inappropriate posts. Since being made aware of the content, xAI has taken action to ban hate speech before Grok posts on X. xAI is training only truth-seeking and thanks to the millions of users on X, we are able to quickly identify and update the model where training could be improved.

Brandon Goldman

Zohran Mamdani’s radical parents

Voters often pay a premium for socialism. It’s the modern-day equivalent of free-range eggs or an electric car. Zohran Mamdani, a self-described “democratic socialist,” embodies that premium. In New York’s Democratic mayoral primary election, he got blown out of the water with lower-income voters – but won overwhelmingly with young, white, college-educated idealists desperate for the revolution. He would be the furthest left mayor New York City has ever seen if elected in November. While his policy prescriptions – city-run grocery stores, higher taxes on the wealthy and a diminished police presence – are radical proposals, it is his deep devotion to socialism that truly defies convention. There is no question that Mamdani loathes the West.

Sunday

July 13, 2025

Neal Pollack

The Ten Commandments of Texas

Blessed greetings From Texas, where Governor Greg Abbott recently signed a bill that will require public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom. Teachers must display the Commandments as a poster or framed copy, at least 16 inches by 20 inches, in a typeface that is clearly legible from any part of the room. Supporters of the bill say the Ten Commandments are a cornerstone of American history, though they may have that confused with the Ten Amendments in the Bill of Rights.

David Sypher Jr.

The mask slips at Socialism 2025

From college campuses to the media, socialism is increasingly getting repackaged as a solution to every problem: homelessness, housing, policing and education. For a generation grappling with high rent, student debt and political distrust, the collectivist utopia may sound like the moral, modern choice. But it isn't – and this year’s Socialism 2025 conference in Chicago proved just why it is doomed to failure. The conference brought together scholars, activists and self-styled revolutionaries to sketch out what a “just” society might look like. The vision was as radical as it was impractical.

Saturday

July 12, 2025

Gage Klipper

The real scandal of Zohran Mamdani’s college application

While the fact that Zohran Mamdani had identified as black on his Columbia University application stole the headlines, the hack that exposed this information highlighted something much more insidious in the college admissions system.Admitting the accuracy of the leaked data, Mamdani claimed that he was simply trying “to capture the fullness of [his] background” by checking the “Black or African American” box in 2019. New Yorkers raised an eyebrow. But what would have alarmed them more was the revelation buried in the trove of hacked data: that affirmative action is alive and well in America. The leak of Columbia’s admissions data demonstrates that, even after the Supreme Court ruled affirmative action policies unconstitutional in SFFA v.

Friday

July 11, 2025

Charles Lipson

A trio of scandals

“Who will guard the guardians?” That question, posed two millennia ago by the Roman poet, Juvenal, is just as relevant today. It recurs every time we learn of a new political scandal – or suspect one is being hidden from us.