Burned Again?

 

Friends, the revolving door that is the British premiership has temporarily elevated Andy Burnham to be head of government in the U.K.  A few months ago he wasn't even a member of Parliament...and now he's head honcho.  Makes a ton of sense, right?  Well, it does if you're a Labour backbencher, and you're prepared to role as many dice as it takes to revive the fortunes of your moribund party.  Presumably, Burnham won't change the substantive policies of the Labour government much, but he will govern with a bit more style and panache than poor Sir Keir.  The Reform Party is licking its chops, hoping that Labour's new leader, and the country's new P.M., will flop, and then a general election will be called.  Nigel Farage and Reform are under furious attack by the establishment, so it's not clear how well they would perform in an election...but there's only one way to find out.  If Labour gets its way, we never will.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gjz907pppo 

 

In other news, not content to bomb Iran indefinitely, DJT seems to be angling for a secondary conflict with...Canada?  He's pushing a new set of tariffs against our neighbor to the north.  He says Canada isn't playing fair on trade.  Well, maybe, but don't we have broadly even trade, i.e. a relatively small trade deficit with Canada?  Why give China a pass when it's a much worse offender in terms of protectionism and intellectual property theft?  Personally, I think Trump has a grudge of sorts against Canada, and I'm not at all sure that that's a rational basis for tariffs.  Oh well.  The chances that Canada will invade us in response are low.  Perhaps this is just more gamesmanship with an eye to getting a better "deal" out of trade negotiations, rather a serious move towards a trade war.  I hope so.

 

https://www.wsj.com/economy/trade/trump-imposes-additional-50-tariffs-on-certain-canadian-goods-5ab06a45?st=W7JhYr 

Free Riders

 

Friends, as you may have noticed, tensions have escalated once again between the U.S. and Iran.  Iran has "closed" the Strait, and we have reimposed a blockade on Iran.  What's more, President Trump briefly demanded that any ships passing through the Strait should pay a 20% surcharge to the USA, since we're so kindly securing the Strait for them.  Of course, that "security" is apparently rather shaky, as very few ships are currently transiting the Strait anyway.  Now, in any case, Trump has decided against the surcharge, which I feel is a smart move.  Sure, there's no good reason why we should solve the world's Iran problem for free, but then again demanding payment makes us look...distinctly bourgeois.  We can't have that.  All of this is fairly academic unless we can secure the Strait effectively and get large numbers of ships comfortable about running the Iranian gauntlet.  Here's hoping the indomitable U.S. Navy can achieve that objective, which alas it has not up to now.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy0608wy8pro 

 

In other news, the (temporary?) cessation of hostilities between the U.S., Israel, and Iran was warmly received by stock markets, and it caused oil prices to decline and inflation to cool.  That's all very nice, but it's an achievement that won't last unless we can keep that shipping channel open.

 

https://apnews.com/article/inflation-trump-food-prices-gas-53d221aa918c466172af494ba7debc00 

Farage-icide?

 

Friends, there's a concerted effort going on in the U.K. to end the challenge that the Reform Party poses to the political establishment by decapitating the movement.  This means, of course, destroying the reputation of Nigel Farage...and if at all possible jailing him via lawfare.  Farage is trying his best to wriggle out of this assault, but it won't be easy, because the forces arrayed against him are formidable.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cn0v9l9x0g8t 

 

In other news, the bombs and missiles are flying once again in Iran and the Strait of Hormuz, as Iranian forces (that may or may not be controlled by the central government) attack ships in the Gulf, and the U.S. responds with strong punitive strikes.  Meanwhile, the price of oil was up only marginally.  Good!

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwykq59jwpvo 

 

Finally, the Democratic Party establishment is pulling a Sleepy Joe on Graham Platner, their candidate for U.S. Senate in Maine.  In other words, those dastardly Dems don't much care that the voters chose Platner.  They fear he will lose, which means he must be driven off the ballot come what may.  La Famille Biden can no doubt relate!

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm2004nx8v9o 

Not Dead Yet!

 

Friends, a funny thing happened on the way to America's 250th birthday: arguably a majority of Americans forgot to celebrate, or even to care.  This coincides with a steady rise in pessimism throughout our great land, but especially among leftists and Democrats, that threatens to choke off our patrimony and our potential.  Today, therefore, is a time to be ecstatic, yes, but also a time to be...soberly concerned.  A real patriot, after all, can be both!

 

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/07/04/trump-directs-4th-of-july-celebration-on-national-mall-to-reopen-doors-address-slated-for-1100-p-m/ 

 

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2026/07/02/as_america_turns_250_national_pride_becomes_more_partisan.html 

Flying High

 

Friends, the new (which is to say, slightly used) Air Force One is now fully operational, and it includes many enhacements over the planes it's replacing.  What's more, it was "free" -- it was a gift from the government of Qatar, and we only had to refurbish it.  Naturally, this arrangement outrages the Democrats.  They'd much prefer that we spent billions of taxpayer dollars.  Of course, everything outrages the Democrats, so all their fulminations are equally compelling, which is to say: not much.  In any case, I wish President Trump many a bon voyage!

 

https://www.wsj.com/us-news/air-force-one-qatari-maiden-flight-16bbff04?st=KX9tvq