July 6, 2026 — Scott Johnson

A happy ending

Featured image In his It’s Noon In Israel newsletter Amit Segal recounts the story behind the wedding of former October 7 hostages Sasha Troufanov and Sapir Cohen in Israel over the weekend: Sapir was released…during the November 2023 ceasefire, not knowing whether Sasha was still alive. For Sasha, the nightmare stretched on for more than 400 days. He was shot in the legs by his captors, and by the time he was »
July 6, 2026 — Scott Johnson

Strange planet

Featured imageLast night TCM played the dystopian thriller Soylent Green (1973), starring Charlton Heston and Edward G. Robinson. It was Robinson’s last film. He was dying of cancer during the filming and Heston credited him with the success of the film. Robinson played his character’s death scene in the face of his own “true and imminent death,” as Heston subsequently wrote. Rereading Gulliver’s Travels, I’ve been thinking about Heston’s role as »
July 5, 2026 — John Hinderaker

On the Left, Dogma Beats Reality

Featured imageI wrote here about Zohran Mamdani’s hate-filled, anti-American July 4 rant. It was filled with poisonous distortions of American history, and Mamdani denounced “oligarchs”–an oligarch is any rich person who is not on the Left, and whose money liberals would therefore like to steal–and attacked Elon Musk as the world’s first trillionaire. (Relax, Zohran–Elon isn’t a trillionaire any more, as SpaceX shares have slid off their opening highs.) But I »
July 5, 2026 — John Hinderaker

Milton Friedman Isn’t Running the Show Anymore

Featured imageThat is what Joe Biden said in 2020. He also said, in 2019, “When did Milton Friedman die and become king?” Putting aside the non sequitur, Friedman certainly wasn’t running the show during the Biden administration, which is why the consumer price index increased by 21.2%. That Democrats are ignorant about economics is no surprise. But what about Republicans? I was dismayed to see this clip of a JD Vance »
July 5, 2026 — Bill Glahn

Habeas corpus makes a comeback

Featured imageThe number of habeas corpus cases filed in Minnesota is ramping back up again, reflecting both renewed ICE enforcement activity and increasingly lenient judges. Since March 25, when the federal 8th Circuit court of appeals ruled that “shall be detained” meant exactly that in relation to illegal aliens, some 222 new habeas cases have been filed in the federal district of Minnesota. These habeas corpus petitions seek the release of illegal aliens held »
July 5, 2026 — John Hinderaker

Patriotism Has Become Partisan

Featured imageThat was a comment I made on television last night, talking about the 250th anniversary celebration, which I said is muted compared to the Bicentennial. I took a few minutes out from a family Independence Day party to appear on Outsiders–the first time the hosts had seen me without a tie on. Along with Independence Day, we talked about Tim Walz and Keith Ellison pardoning a convicted rapist to spare »
July 4, 2026 — John Hinderaker

The Pursuit of Happiness

Featured imageThe famous second sentence of the Declaration of Independence enumerates three “unalienable Rights.” The first is life, naturally. The second is liberty. Those concepts are rather standard. But the third–the pursuit of happiness–is not. It is an expression of Jefferson’s genius, I think, and it contains the seeds of what has made America unique. You will find it no other national charter, in no international human rights document. It is »
July 4, 2026 — Scott Johnson

From 150 to 250, this truth abides

Featured imagePresident Calvin Coolidge celebrated the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1926, with a speech providing a magisterial review of the history and thought underlying the Declaration. His speech on the occasion deserves to be read and studied in its entirety. The following paragraph, however, is particularly relevant to the challenge that confronts us in the variants of the progressive dogma that pass themselves off today »
July 4, 2026 — Steven Hayward

The Week in Pictures: Sophia and the 4th

Featured imageMove over Sydney Sweeney: America has a new heroine perfectly fitted to the July 4 semiquincentennial today: She is Sophie Cunningham, Sophie being an adaptation of sophia, the ancient Greek word for wisdom. And sort of like Helen of Troy, our Sophie has launched a thousand memes. So as we celebrate today the sophia of our founding, let Sophie help point the way! Headlines of the week;       »
July 3, 2026 — John Hinderaker

Socialism and Women’s Sports

Featured imageI was on the Media Show on Sky News last night. It was a quick appearance, just over five minutes. But the topics are interesting: the Supreme Court decision on men in women’s sports, and the growing radicalism of the Democratic Party. Given that it is just five minutes, I think it is worth your time: »
July 3, 2026 — John Hinderaker

The Suicide Charge that Saved America

Featured imageIndependence Day is always a good time to recall the heroes of American history, even more so during our 250th anniversary. So let’s take a moment to remember Minnesota’s First Volunteer Regiment. The First Minnesota was the first unit to be volunteered in response to President Lincoln’s call for troops following Fort Sumter. Because the U.S. Army had not yet organized itself into Eastern and Western departments, the First was »
July 5, 2026 — Scott Johnson

Sunday morning coming down

Featured imageSuzy Bogguss returns to town this Wednesday evening for a show in Minneapolis. Anticipating the show brought me back to one of her recordings that fits this special holiday weekend. I thought I would draw on that recording to continue the festivities this morning. Suzy seemed to me to have created a second career for herself when her country star faded, but in January she was inducted into the Grand »
July 4, 2026 — John Hinderaker

America at a Crossroads

Featured imageCelebration of America’s 250th anniversary has been, I think, muted. President Trump has tried to clean up Washington, D.C., for the occasion, and has sponsored various festivities. But Democrats have actively opposed his cleanup efforts, so we have the absurd spectacle of Democrats cheering on the algae in the Reflecting Pool. And they have largely boycotted the celebrations. Many have compared the enthusiasm and good cheer with which our Bicentennial »
July 4, 2026 — Scott Johnson

The eternal meaning of Independence Day

Featured imageOn July 9, 1858, Illinois Senator Stephen Douglas gave a campaign speech to a raucous throng from the balcony of the Tremont Hotel in Chicago. Abraham Lincoln was in the audience as Douglas prepared to speak. Douglas graciously invited Lincoln to join him on the balcony to listen to the speech. In his speech Douglas sounded the themes of the momentous campaign that Lincoln and Douglas waged that summer and »
July 3, 2026 — John Hinderaker

Unprecedented Heat Wave?

Featured imageMore ignorance from the New York Times: “Without Climate Change, U.S. Heat Wave Called ‘Virtually Impossible.” Heat and humidity as severe, prolonged and far-reaching as this week’s would have been “virtually impossible” in the Northeast and eastern Canada before humans began warming the planet, a team of scientists said on Friday. *** To estimate how much climate change increased the likelihood of this week’s sweltering conditions, the scientists analyzed records »
July 3, 2026 — Bill Glahn

The “Democratic Socialist” agenda

Featured imageIt seems wherever in America that Democrats enjoy a complete monopoly on power, “Democratic Socialists” are in the ascendency. Here in Minnesota, the local outlet is close to assuming complete control of the state’s largest cities, so I was curious to see what their plan is for governing. The agenda includes everything that you were expecting: “free Palestine,” “abolish ICE,” rent control, higher minimum wages, “free” health care, etc. But »
July 3, 2026 — John Hinderaker

A Funeral for the Ayatollah

Featured imageAyatollah Khamenei has been dead for a while, but his funeral will take place tomorrow. Reportedly the funeral needed to await a truce agreement between Iran and the U.S. Perhaps the timing–July 4–is coincidental. The Telegraph headlines: “Supreme leader’s funeral expected to draw 20 million Iranians to streets of Tehran.” Around 20 million Iranians are expected to pack the streets of Tehran for the funeral of Ali Khamenei, the country’s »