Smash The Bubble

News and opinion from both the left and the right, mixed together so you can break out of your filter bubble.

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Today's Headlines

Pro-Trump artist unleashes powerful message about American flag, touts massive Old Glory painting

A Trump-supporting artist is painting a potentially record-breaking 9-by-17-foot American flag at the Great American State Fair, but he insists the flag belongs to everyone no matter political party.

Claire's Weekly Letter: Celebrating 250 Years of America

How Canada Jumped the Rails on ’Gender-Affirming Care’: A Quillette Investigation

The career arc of Canadian Paediatric Society president Natasha Johnson helps explain why her country has become such an outlier in the treatment of trans-identified children.

Top Trump official touts how DC makeover is proof America is rejecting 'decline by choice'

Doug Burgum defends Washington D.C. infrastructure push, citing 510 graffiti removals, monument restoration, and crime reduction ahead of July 4th.

Why Australia's New Capital Gains Tax Is the Best Tax Policy for Crushing the Economy

Fund manager Derek Francis tells Claire Lehmann that Treasury's modelling of Australia's new capital gains tax contains a basic error — one that could push tax rates on shares as high as 70 percent.

OpenAI's Sam Altman wants to negotiate a 5% stake in company for US if competitors agree to key provision

Sam Altman reportedly met with Trump and Bernie Sanders about offering 5% of OpenAI to the public, but only if Anthropic and Meta do the same.

America at 250: When You Get Ordinary Americans Away From the Noise, We Still Agree on the Basics

Benjamin Franklin, Champion of the Wealth Tax

When public needs were great, he wrote, its claim on the 'superfluous' property of the rich was strong and just.

A Larger Socialist Coalition Is Bound to Form in Congress, Whether We Like It or Not

Melat Kiros is the most recent Democratic Socialists of America-endorsed candidate to win her primary election.

House Dems dodge questions on SCOTUS trans athlete ruling, shift blame to 'culture wars'

House Democrats mostly sidestepped questions on the Supreme Court transgender athletes ruling, pivoting to the economy and Washington dysfunction.

Trump grants pardons to 'persecuted' mechanics in right-to-repair crackdown: 'I am setting them all free'

Trump granted full pardons to more than half a dozen people, calling the prosecutions "weaponization."

Justice Alito Gives No Indication He’s Ready to Step Down From the Supreme Court

This term, Justice Alito delivered major wins for conservatives on voting rights, immigration and guns. He’s given no indication that he’s ready to step down.

For leader of the tall ships, some rare 18th-century cargo.

The USCGC Eagle, which leads the parade of tall ships in honor of America’s 250th birthday, is carrying a rare 1776 printing of the Declaration of Independence.

Thursday's Final Word

What England Can Teach Us About 'Democratic Socialism'

Hot Child in the City: Commie Mamdani Expects Mommies and Families to Fry

Immigrant business owner who built the American Dream says birth tourism is a 'slap in the face'

Kris Ramsingh, a Trinidad-born Virginia businessowner, calls birthright citizenship a 'slap in the face' to legal immigrants who worked hard.

The Truth Does Not Belong to Eight Billion People

Total disclosure, as Spielberg imagines it, is a beautiful thing to watch. It is also a fantasy.

Readers Pick the Definitive Films That Capture America

Though “Idiocracy” and “The Godfather” topped their list, the sheer range of suggestions shows how there are many ways to understand the country.

Promises Made and (Eventually) Kept

The Declaration of Independence at 250.

The United States of America Is a Miracle

The American federal system has survived for 250 years because it separates power and balances competing interests.

The Handful of Democrats Fighting Back Against the DSA Takeover

They may be waging a losing fight against the DSA’s ascension, but theirs is a venerable mission nevertheless.

Abolish Everything, Replace It With What?

Zohran Mamdani's allies want to abolish the police, prisons, borders, and capitalism. None of them have said what comes next.

Pope Leo urges US to welcome immigrants in America 250 speech before visiting global migrant hotspot

Pope Leo XIV accepted the 2026 Liberty Medal virtually from the Vatican before departing for Lampedusa to urge Europe to accept more migrants.

As Trump commands 250th stage, Democrats offer their vision of patriotism

Partisanship around the country’s big anniversary has put Democrats in a bind: They want to criticize the president without appearing unpatriotic.

Nearly a Million Investors Lost a Total of $3.8 Billion on Trump Crypto Coin

A report from a cryptocurrency analytics firm details how those who bought the Trump memecoin have fared, with most retail investors having lost money while sophisticated traders did better.

Trump pardons 9 people convicted of tampering with emission controls on diesel engines

Trump pardoned people convicted of Clean Air Act violations who he said were "persecuted by the Biden Administration" and punished for "fixing their car."

Timing: America 250, the Return of Marx, and the Anti-Communist Film Festival

The Axe Files with David Axelrod

Go beyond the soundbites and get to know some of the most interesting players in politics.

Imagining the 250th If Harris Were President

A celebration of what could have been if the 2024 election had gone differently

'The Enemy of 1776': Trump Celebrates America 250 While Rebuking Mamdani

HotAir Celebrates America 250

Claire's Weekly Letter: Managed Decline, Unmanaged Heat

‘Who Should I Vote for?’ Voters Turn to A.I. Before Casting Their Ballots

It takes effort to be an informed citizen. Artificial intelligence tools offer an alluring shortcut — but they’re not without risk.

At the tall ships parade, a historic bell rings out.

Trad Schism, Again

The Society of Saint Pius X ordained four bishops without a papal mandate. The Vatican responded with excommunication.

The NGO Industrial Complex: Gerald Steinberg on How Human Rights Became a Racket | Quillette Cetera Episode 67

NGO Monitor founder Gerald Steinberg on how Amnesty, Human Rights Watch, and the UN's "civil society" experiment were hijacked — and why journalists still buy it.

Politics of the Day

Politics of the Day

Will Jefferson and Smith Reach the Tricentennial Intact?

The ideas animating the Declaration and Wealth of Nations have profoundly shaped America and the modern world.

Al Green responds to July 4 question with renewed call to impeach Trump

Democratic lawmakers affirm pride in American democracy and freedoms while voicing concerns about the administration ahead of the 250th Independence Day.

It’s heat dome 1, George Washington 0.

In Philadelphia, extreme temperatures forced the cancellation of some events, including the city’s big parade and a ceremonial pitching of George Washington’s field tent.

The Roe v. Wade of Birthright Citizenship

The Supreme Court’s ruling means that changing the law will take longer and be more wrenching than it would otherwise have to.

The Industrial Foundation of America

In both gunpowder and policy, the Continental Congress holds lessons for today.

Gloomy Optimist

Jefferson emerges as a man who doubted democracy's permanence yet placed his faith in future generations. Onuf and Cogliano rescue him from caricature—even if one dimension of his thought remains in shadow.

The Great Audacity of American Ambition

The boldness of American zeal is something to be championed at home and missed abroad, no matter what Europeans say about it.

Margins of Error

Look closely at almost anything and you'll find data—lots of it. But what are those numbers really saying about who we are and what we believe? Harry Enten is on a mission to find out.

Dana Milbank Doesn’t Understand the Constitution

No, a ‘unitary executive’ doesn’t mean that the next Democratic president will be a dictator.

SoCal HOA Bans Display of the U.S. Flag

Trump Angles for a Legacy Moment

Thursday, July 2nd on RealClearPolitics - Joined by Author and Political Analyst Juan Williams: 00:00 Trump Promises

Another Supreme Court Detour Waiting To Be Corrected

Trump v. Barbara may come to be remembered not as the final word on birthplace citizenship but as another constitutional detour.

NY Times Columnist Attacks SCOTUS' Trans Sports Decision

Meet the woman steering Biden's bipartisan winning streak on Capitol Hill

The Biden administration managed to rack up a long list of major legislative wins in its first two years despite facing one of the most closely-divided Congresses in history. From bipartisan action on infrastructure, gun safety and same-sex marria…

Trump hails America as 'most exceptional nation ever to exist' in Mount Rushmore speech

President Trump declared communism the greatest threat facing the USA and vowed the country would never become a communist nation in his Mount Rushmore speech.

Who Is Going to Be Next to Donate $1,776 to Our July 4 Fundraiser?

If you can chip in, it makes a big difference.

How Kyrsten Sinema's decision makes Democrats' 2024 Senate map tighter

Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema decided to shake up the political world on Friday by becoming an independent. The former Democrat is still caucusing with the party in the Senate, so the Democratic caucus still has 51 members. Now, instead of 49 Democr…

Trump Pardons Violators of the Clean Air Act and a Major Donor

The president used his clemency power to further undermine environmental laws and to help a political supporter who pleaded guilty in a fraud involving Jack Abramoff.

The notable legal clouds that continue to hang over Donald Trump

All eyes are on former President Donald Trump, who has launched another White House bid.

Spain’s Opened Door

Needless to say, it is a mistake.

The Greatest Tradition of All

Apart from the Declaration and Constitution, there is perhaps no more essentially American document than Thomas Paine’s revolutionary pamphlet ‘Common Sense.’

Vance: Christianity Can Help Overcome Divisions

Vance sees Christianity as a unifying force. His new memoir, "Communion," blames secularism for social strife and proposes faith as the solution. The book is not just a conversion narrative.

Representative Joyce Beatty Still Celebrating Victory in Kennedy Center Legal Battle

Representative Joyce Beatty, Democrat of Ohio, said her lawsuit challenging the president’s changes to the performing arts center was a fight for justice.

What Britain Taught Us

We Americans should be proud of the ideals that guided our war of independence and the creation of our republic

Politico Party Pooper: Trump's America 250 Celebration Will Pollute DC, You Know

Heroes of 1776

A Supreme Court justice remembers the signers, soldiers, farmers, fifers, spies, and messengers who made the American Revolution-and reflects on our enduring task of forming 'a more perfect Union.'

Newsom, Walz urge Congress to block anti-climate bill in their ‘woke’ crusade

Democratic governors urge Congress to reject the Stop Climate Shakedowns Act as the Supreme Court prepares to hear the Boulder ExxonMobil lawsuit.

Here’s the latest.

CNN Political Briefing

The political news you need to know, in 10 minutes or less. Hosted by David Chalian.

In Bad Faith

The US vice president’s new memoir leaves an unflattering impression of its author.

American

Why Public Policy Schools Aren’t Working

Students with a right-of-center inclination aren’t interested in learning from climate alarmists or school-choice opponents.

NC governor faces criticism for skipping Trump-backed America 250 event

Chuck Edwards accused Gov. Josh Stein of choosing partisanship over patriotism by boycotting the Great American State Fair on the National Mall.

How America Revolutionized Food, Decade by Decade

Sliced bread. Soul food. Cheetos. Here are 25 inventions, crazes and cravings that defined the national diet, decade by decade.

Jefferson and the Source of Human Rights

To understand the intent of the US Declaration of Independence, recall that its primary author was a deist rather than a Christian.

The fine print of the Respect for Marriage Act

Let's start with the positive: Republicans and Democrats are coming together to protect same-sex marriage from the Supreme Court.

What a French Fighter Jet Ride Taught Me About the Fourth of July

My adrenaline was pumping, and I had more or less learned how to use my ejector seat, but the flight was really a reminder of France’s role in securing American independence 250 years ago.

Everything you need to know about Biden's student loan forgiveness program

President Joe Biden's federal student loan forgiveness program, which promises to deliver up to $20,000 of debt relief for millions of borrowers, is on hold indefinitely as legal challenges work their way through the courts.

Why Communists Fear Religion, Want Believers Silenced

Karl Marx called religion the opium of the masses. A Catholic bishop warns that extreme socialists and communists in America threaten freedom of religion.

Trump Takes Stock of Other Presidencies, Shedding Light on His Own

In his second term, the president has increasingly mused about his predecessors, comparing himself with some and distancing from the failures of others.

New York Times Story Features ‘Tree Rights’

This resolution is another case of “rights” being granted to non-human entities without its framers understanding the consequences.

Sometimes You Have to See It to Believe It — Reflections from a Reenactor

You can read as many history books as you’d like, but there’s nothing quite like stepping into the past and experiencing it for yourself.

Friday's Final Word