Student debt relief debate: it is a massive wealth transfer for Americans who did not attend college to those who did — a shameful play to buy more votes, six months before an election?”

interesting reporting: the minorities supporting Trump are obviously not hearing what progressive elites think they are hearing from Trump's rthetoric

America breaks global rules as it defends the free world. As in the cold war and the earlier struggles of the 20th century, the world’s democracies do not need to apologise for being ruthless in defence of free societies. on.ft.com/3yvWZkS

Another brilliant Persian rap protest by song.

Elegantly written report-surprised to read this nuttiness was still the case: a third of U.S. congressional representatives and more than 60 percent of all registered Republican voters continue to believe President Biden was falsely elected nytimes.com/2024/06/06/us/…

Very important statement on the significance of Donald Trump’s felony conviction. Violating commercial rules of the game undermines one of the foundations of our economic system and future prosperity.

Progressives have created places where they never have to encounter beliefs other than their own…A lot of us in the center left or the center right don’t want to live amid this much conformity. nytimes.com/2024/06/06/opi…

Discovered this powerful artist today. Astonishing work, produced during a very short life.

Video of the event I moderated is now available Countering Anti-Muslim Hate: A Conversation with Farah Pandith youtu.be/OmyTjHu_6dU?si… via YouTube

Fascinating: the single most powerful predictor of voting intention is religion. A model that knows nothing save for respondents’ religious affiliations can correctly identify their preferred candidate 62% of the time, compared with 59% for race. economist.com/interactive/us…

Bold defense of democratic peace theory: The world, then, could be peaceful if all states became liberal democracies. But until that happens, the world will likely remain mired in a dangerous ideological standoff. Why They Don’t Fight reader.foreignaffairs.com/2024/06/18/why…

Noteworthy via @NYTOpinion nytimes.com/2024/07/06/opi…

A conclusion is hard to escape: America suffers from an incompetent leadership class. Donald Trump and the Clouseau Democrats wsj.com/articles/donal…

Obama and Biden…spend more time plotting and scheming about how to screw Netanyahu than they do about how to screw Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Much more. While they have no emotions about Khamenei, they hate Netanyahu.

Excellent common sense response to low voter turnout and how to combat xenophobic populism-with lessons for NYC: Mainstream parties must win back white working-class voters by focusing on local issues, says the former Labour MP Margaret Hodge economist.com/by-invitation/…

About time: Nick Kristoff asks “Why put liberals in charge nationally when the places around the country where liberals have the greatest control are plagued by homelessness, crime and dysfunction?” nytimes.com/2024/08/14/opi… via @NYTOpinion

Sobering and noteworthy