July 3rd
Mark David
1) The Test They Left Us Adam Kinzinger Jul 03, 2026
The Founders told the world what tyranny looks like. Before we honor them tomorrow, we must hold their list up to America today.
In the summer of 1776, in a hot room in Philadelphia, a few dozen men signed a document they knew could be their death warrant. These were not men radicalized by personal desperation. Most had wealth, property, and families to lose. And still, they pledged to one another “our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor,” and they meant it as plainly as it reads.
They took this risk because they had watched power gather dangerously into one man’s hands. They laid out their case against him, item by item, and reached a verdict: “A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.”
2) ‘World’s most contagious disease’ on track for highest US cases in 35 years — doc warns: ‘We are allowing it to spread’ by Allie Yang NEW YORK POST
Measles only needs a small opening — and it got one.
For the second year in a row, cases of measles — known as the world’s most infectious disease — will hit record highs, and 2026 is on track to be substantially worse than 2025.
In a matter of weeks, we’re likely to blow past last year’s total, hitting the highest number of cases in 35 years.
“This is a major public health warning sign,” epidemiologist Dr. Syra Madad told The Post. “The US is already Close to last year’s total with about half the year still ahead.”
https://www.aol.com/articles/world-most-contagious-disease-track-172506000.html
3) 250 Years of Ignorance Andy Borowitz Jul 03, 2026 BOROWITZ REPORT
As we mark the USA’s 250th birthday, you might be wondering, “How did we get to such a stupid place?”
I humbly offer this partial explanation in the first chapter of my book Profiles in Ignorance: How America’s Politicians Got Dumb and Dumber:
Imagine a hypothetical job applicant. He can’t spell the simplest words, such as “heal” and “tap.” Confused by geography, he thinks there’s an African country called “Nambia.” As for American history,he’s under the impression that Andrew Jackson, who died in 1845,was angry about the Civil War, and that Frederick Douglass, whodied in 1895, is still alive.
Given the alarming state of his knowledge, you might wonder what job he could get. Unfortunately, he’s not hypothetical, and the job he got, in 2016, was president of the United States.
4) Portrait exhibit brings 47 American presidencies to life by Erica Pandey AXIOS
America's 250 years have been divided into 47 presidencies, served by 45 men.
- A new exhibit on display in the lobby of Goldman Sachs' global headquarters in New York City brings each presidency to life. Artist Salvatore Catalano pairs a portrait of every president with a quote that captures the era or the individual.
Why it matters: "Most Americans can't name the presidents, much less tell you what they look like," Catalano tells Axios. "This was a labor of love."
- "Portraits are very important to me," says Catalano, who's spent decades developing a distinctive style of color, shadow and light in portraiture. "We look at a list of names, but there's no color there. There's no brilliance, no blood."
Zoom in: He used quotes from each president to inspire the style of the portrait. Here's a sampling from the first three and latest three presidents, shown above:
- George Washington: "Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism," from the first president's farewell address on Sept. 19, 1796.
- John Adams: "To be good, and to do good, is all we have to do," from a letter Adams wrote to his daughter, Abigail, on March 17, 1777.
- Thomas Jefferson: "Where the press is free ... all is safe," from a letter to close friend and political ally Charles Yancey on Jan. 6, 1816.
- Barack Obama: "We are the change that we seek," from his speech after Super Tuesday on Feb. 5, 2008.
5) NATO Isn’t a Charity NEWSWEEEK EDITORS Jul 02, 2026 at 11:12 AM EDT
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
6) Former CIA Director John Brennan Takes on Trump's DOJ
Joyce Vance Jul 02, 2026Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance
Former CIA Director John Brennan sued the Trump administration on Wednesday. The Defendants include Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, FBI Director Kash Patel, the Director of the CIA, the Director of National Intelligence, the U.S. Attorney in Southern Florida, and Trump himself, as well as others. Brennan is going on the offensive, instead of waiting to get indicted, asking a Judge to order the government to preserve records he will need to establish that the prosecution is a vindictive one if he does get indicted.
7) Blue Scare Dan Rather and Team Steady Jul 02, 2026
Democratic socialism rattles both parties
Despite what you may hear from the president, the rise of democratic socialism is a far cry from the “godless communists” he claims are taking over the Democratic Party.
Donald Trump would have you believe Karl Marx is on the ballot. But today’s socialists are not the old school communists who demanded state ownership of everything. Historically, socialists have sought collective control of major means of production — such as factories, steel mills, power plants, and natural resources. Democratic socialism differs from straight-up socialism because it includes democratic principles like voting.
In our time and place, Republicans’ cult-like behavior has swung the political pendulum so far to the right they can be called autocratic or worse. Some Democratic voters, desperate to find an alternative, are going further to the left with democratic socialism.
8) Let us honor America by Proacting our Wild Homeland Jul 2nd 2026
By Thomas D. Mangelsen
I feel most fortunate to live in this country. Just the other morning, literally “by the dawn’s early light,” I watched a bald eagle set its wings to glide, lower its talons at Oxbow Bend and snatch a trout from the Snake River in Grand Teton National Park. As our national avian symbol carried its catch to the top of a spruce and enjoyed breakfast, I could see the feathers in its crown almost mirroring the fresh early summer snow dusting the Tetons.
Without being melodramatic, the colors of our flag were there: a reddish-hued alpenglow interacting with the white of the snow-capped peaks. The smooth surface of the Snake reflecting the growing blue of the morning’s sky. How lucky are we to have this kind of shared heritage and to know that because of the model of citizen-supported conservation we have perfected, this great bird was brought back from the brink.
https://www.mangelsen.com/blog/conservation/honor-americas-wild-heritage