'Diversity and excellence go hand in hand'

'Elite universities have not sacrificed excellence for diversity'

Christopher L. Eisgruber in The Atlantic

The claim that pursuing diversity at "elite universities" has set back "scholarly excellence" is "a noxious and surprisingly commonplace myth," says Christopher L. Eisgruber, Princeton University's president. "Much the reverse is true." Embracing diversity has made the nation's great research universities better. They haven't "forsaken merit" but found it in more places. "If you want excellence, you need to find, attract, and support talent from every sector of society, not just from privileged groups and social classes."

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'An infuriating poll finding about Trump should galvanize Democrats'

Greg Sargent in The New Republic

For an ex-president, Donald Trump "wields unprecedented influence over his party," says Greg Sargent. Trump "explicitly and repeatedly" pressured his fellow Republicans to kill the bipartisan border security bill last week. But a new ABC News-Ipsos survey found "Trump gets substantially less blame" than anybody else. Democrats, who supported the bill, should take this as a call to "do more to communicate that Republicans are sabotaging the country because Trump told them to."

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'A vote for President Kamala Harris'

The Wall Street Journal editorial board

President Joe Biden's "evident mental decline" means a vote for him "is also really a vote for President Harris," says The Wall Street Journal editorial board. Vice President Kamala Harris is "reassuring everyone that she's up to the job of succeeding her boss if the moment arrives," but many voters aren't convinced. The possibility Biden, 81, wouldn't finish his term "might scare more swing voters" than his frailty or "Donald Trump's daily diatribes." 

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'Trump may keep the US in NATO, but the damage is done'

Marc Champion at Bloomberg

Donald Trump might never really try to pull the United States out of NATO, says Marc Champion. But his rhetoric could kill it from within. He claims he once told a European leader he would let Russia do "whatever the hell they want" to a NATO member not spending enough on defense, effectively neutralizing NATO's Article 5 collective defense clause. "Threatening to abandon Article 5 undermines its deterrent value, without having to actually do anything." 

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