'The United States needs to up its game'

'A world without reliable U.S. leadership would be a world of authoritarian predators'

Robert M. Gates in Foreign Affairs

America faces "graver threats to its security than it has in decades, perhaps ever," says Robert M. Gates in Foreign Affairs. China has more "economic, scientific, technological, and military power" than any adversary in memory. Russia is belligerent and prone to dangerous miscalculations. But "Congress has descended into bickering, incivility, and brinkmanship," and successive presidents have let America's global leadership suffer. Washington must fix its "political dysfunction" to ensure its "democratic values" prevail.

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'The GOP wants to trick Americans into believing they're somehow softening on abortion'

Jessica Valenti in The New York Times

Republicans are twisting themselves into knots to make their "anti-abortion policies sound less extreme," Jessica Valenti opines in The New York Times. "With post-Roe outrage showing no sign of waning," they're dumping the term "ban" — something Americans "overwhelmingly oppose" — and "pushing for a 15-week 'standard' on abortion — which, to be clear, would be a ban." But "changing the way Americans talk about abortions" won't change how they feel, "which is, right now, very pro-choice." 

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'Biden is deeply unpopular, in part due to his response to migration'

Lee Fang at UnHerd

The "American Left" attacked Donald Trump's immigration policy for four years, says Lee Fang at UnHerd. Those were the days of “hipsters with 'Abolish ICE' T-shirts," and Democratic lawmakers protesting "alleged fascism" at detention centers. But "their zeal appears to have backfired." America faces a "record surge in migration" that has pushed El Paso to the "breaking point," according to its mayor, and President Biden faces a bipartisan backlash magnified by the attention his party focused on the border.

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'Should I expect men to pay on dates as a form of reparations for generational harm?'

Jean Guerrero in the Los Angeles Times

Splitting the bill on first dates seems a good way to break "bad generational patterns" by affirming that men and women are equals, writes Jean Guerrero in the Los Angeles Times. But many women consider it "properly feminist to expect men to pay." Call it "reparations" for the gender wage gap. The math isn't universal, though. As feminist writer Rebecca Solnit noted, overall pay inequality doesn't mean a "carpenter has to pay for lunch with the corporate lawyer." 

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