‘The mark’s significance is psychological, if that’

‘The Dow just broke 50,000. Here’s what that means.’

Michael Hiltzik at the Los Angeles Times

The Dow Jones “crossed 50,000 points for the first time, but that doesn’t mean the economy is healthy,” says Michael Hiltzik. The Dow “doesn’t rank as a reliable picture of the U.S. economy” and “doesn’t rank as a picture of the stock market as a whole.” As for “whether it’s possible to read conclusions about the economy in the Dow Industrial figures, it’s hard to discern.” The Dow had a “very nice day. That doesn’t mean the euphoria will last.”

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‘A foreign policy worse than regime change’

John Bolton at The Atlantic

President Donald Trump “campaigned in 2024 saying he would begin ‘no new wars,’ ‘regime change’ and ‘nation building,’ and generally prioritize domestic policy over foreign affairs,” says former National Security Adviser John Bolton. But Trump “has instead opted for global buccaneering: attacking Islamic terrorists in Nigeria, launching pinprick swipes at Yemen’s Houthis, and seeking a massive, elusive trade deal with China.” He has “done so inconsistently and incoherently,” and “this is much worse as a policy model than ‘regime change’ ever was.”

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‘On Ukraine, “liberal” war hawks make the far right look like peacemakers’

Leonid Ragozin at Al Jazeera

Ukraine is “stuck between two kinds of Western populism,” says Leonid Ragozin. One is “that of Donald Trump and his European far-right equivalents, who don’t care much about either Ukraine or the rules-based order.” The “other one is that of the anti-Russian (and anti-Trump) hawks who tend to wrap the cynical interests of the military-industrial complex in phony liberal rhetoric.” Claims “misinterpreting Russia’s motives and intentions are an integral part of jingoistic populism, which has been fueling this conflict.”

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‘America won’t be easily forgiven — even after Trump is gone’

Alaric DeArment at The New Republic

President Donald Trump’s “worst offenses pale in comparison to Nazi crimes, and invoking the Holocaust to make political points is never acceptable,” says Alaric DeArment. But “when a nation breaks the world’s trust, forgiveness does not come quickly or easily,” and that’s a “hard lesson that Americans, even the liberals and progressives who might absolve themselves of contributing to Trumpian misrule, will have to learn as we grapple with the damage Trump has done to our international standing.”

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