Supreme Court Allows White House Ballroom to Continue

It was a 5-4 Decision. Many were hoping the Chief Justice would side with the conservative majority. He did not. The decision does not rule on the on whether the project itself is legal. Amy Howe at SCOTUSblog: In an eight-page, unsigned opinion, the majority emphasized that it was not deciding whether the project was legal. Instead, it stressed, the plaintiff likely lacks a legal right, known as standing, to challenge the project at all. The court’s decision came 10 days after Chief Justice John Roberts issued a temporary order, known as an administrative stay, that put the lower court’s ruling on hold to give the justices more time to consider the government’s plea. On Monday, Roberts joined the court’s three Democratic appointees in dissenting. In their view, the construction “is likely unlawful,” and the majority’s decision was “no victory for the separation of powers.” … (SCOTUSblog). From the decision: We grant the requested stay. The government has established that it is likely to succeed on the merits of a significant legal question, that it would likely suffer irreparable harm without a stay, and that the balance of equities tips in its favor (Supreme Court).

Republicans Advance Resolution Denouncing Socialism ‘in all its forms’

A deft political move from Colorado Republican Jeff Crank. Democrat after Democrat has tried to thread the needle—not supporting DSA radicalism while stating that the Democrats are a “big tent” party. Fair enough. Go on record and vote against this resolution. Fox News: Rep. Jeff Crank, R-Colo., introduced a measure Thursday condemning socialism in all its forms, telling Fox News Digital he wants to use the vote to force moderate House Democrats to take a more public stance against the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). “I keep hearing people like Hakeem Jeffries and others in the Congress saying that they oppose the DSA. Let’s see if they’re willing to vote for a resolution that would oppose them,” Crank told Fox News Digital in an interview Friday…. A recent Brookings Institution analysis found that, as of Aug. 12, 123 candidates endorsed or recommended by national, state or local DSA chapters had won primaries this cycle. Most were running for local or state-level office (Fox News). From the opening statement of Rep. Bryan Steil (R-WI): We believe American elections are for American citizens only. We’re focused on making it easy to vote and hard to cheat. Our goal is to strengthen election integrity by passing common sense reforms like the Save America Act to require photo ID to vote and ensure that only US citizens are voting in our elections. Not surprisingly, the DSA opposes these commonsense ideas because they have fundamentally opposed securing our elections. It’s often said that socialism is easy to elect, but nearly impossible to remove. That’s because socialist ideology concentrates power in a way that has led to totalitarian rule time and time again (House).

El-Sayed Is Sorry You Felt Offended

In March, you will remember, there was an attack on Temple Israel in West Bloomfield outside of Detroit. It could have been horrific, were it not for the formidable security that the temple employs. Abdul El-Sayed said, “Hurt people hurt people” (You Tube). The attacker, FBI confirmed the suspect was “Hezbollah-inspired” (JTA). With Michigan voters and national media paying fresh attention to El-Sayed and his antisemitism, the candidate issued a carefully constructed non-apology: To anybody who feels like my comments might have been hurtful, I’m really sorry, that was not my intention. We condemned that terrorist attack. We condemned it outright. What I was trying to do is offer context for why it happened, but it wasn’t the time for context, and you don’t ever want to trample somebody’s pain (Daugherty). So: He feels simply terrible that you were offended. He doesn’t feel terrible for what he said.

Socialist Watch: Michigan DSA Nominee William Lawrence Chuckles About ‘destroying the American way of life’

The Socialist William Lawrence secured the nomination in the Democrats’ primary for Michigan’s 7^th Congressional district—including Lansing. He’ll be facing incumbent Republican Tom Barrett (Barrett). Chuck Ross with the Free Beacon: William Lawrence (D.), a Hasan Piker superfan running for a competitive House seat in Michigan, called for “destroying the American way of life” and a cessation of all oil and gas drilling during a podcast discussion with Marxist activists. Lawrence, a far-left former member of the Democratic Socialists of America, made the remarks during a January 2024 episode of the Hegomonicon podcast he hosts for Convergence, a publication that describes itself as a “magazine for radical insights.” Lawrence and his guests, a self-avowed Marxist activist and the host of a “Marxist coded” podcast, discussed American consumerism and economic “abundance” and its purported contribution to climate change. “I’m wondering how we can inspire a sense of abundance for people in the United States, while frankly, destroying the American way of life and the negative connotations and material realities that has come to mean,” chuckled Lawrence, who described himself as “an organizer and social movement strategist” on the podcast’s internet page. On the podcast, he asserted that Americans “work longer, spend more time in our cars, live shorter, die sooner” despite economic abundance (Free Beacon).

Iran Is Losing Leverage in the Strait; Act IV Favors the US

Brett McGurk of the Atlantic Council: A conventional wisdom has begun to settle over the war with Iran: Iran won. The argument is straightforward. The US and Israel bombed Iran for weeks, inflicted enormous damage, and demanded major concessions. Iran refused to surrender. Its government remains in power. Its missiles remain a threat across the region. And most important, Tehran still has the ability to disrupt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, imposing higher energy costs on the US and much of the world. Over the summer, Trump warned of a global depression if the Strait remained shut. That’s a strong argument. But it may have proved premature. Wars are contests of leverage and endurance. And the contest now looks very different from even a few months ago. The arc of this six-month conflict has proceeded in four acts…. The earlier acts in this war were mired from the US side by shifting and ill-defined objectives, widely careening positions, and inconsistent statements. But Act Four seems different. The US military has a clear objective as outlined this week by the commander of CENTCOM, Admiral Brad Cooper. It is enforcing the blockade on Iran and facilitating the movement of commercial traffic. The objective for the US should be similarly well-defined. Iran must abandon claims on the Strait and give up the nuclear enrichment program. Until then, this will be the new status quo. And that status quo — perhaps for the first time since the war began — now favors Washington, not Tehran (CNN).

‘Iran's defeated. There's just a little bit of a time lapse until it actually collapses’

That’s the summary assessment of Yechiel Leiter—Israel’s ambassador to the United States. Leiter was a guest of Scott Jennings—who was broadcasting live from the Republican Jewish coalition event in Las Vegas. Leiter: I think Iran’s defeated. There’s just a little bit of a time lapse until it actually collapses. It’s on the road there. Nobody assessed—if we took out the articles of National Interest in the 1980s, all the experts, political signs quarterly—nobody  said the Soviet Union is about to collapse. But Ronald Reagan saw it coming. He knew that it was the end of that evil empire. It was just a matter of time. So, I think we’re on the right road. President Trump has led an incredible effort to bring this regime down. I think it’s going to happen soon (Salem Podcast Network).

‘Son of Hamas’ at Republican Jewish Coalition: ‘No room for Islam dominance’ in United States

The Republican Jewish Coalition has been meeting in Las Vegas (RJC).  Mosab Hassan Yousef is the son of Hamas co-founder Sheikh Hassan Yousef. Mosab was dubbed “The Green Prince” as he served the IDF as an informant. He’s also the author of the book, “Son of Hamas” (Amazon). He is—understandably—particularly bold. After he converted from Islam, his life has been repeatedly threatened. From the RJC event: We are in 21st century. You are in the 7th century Arabia. The distance is vast—and there is no room for Islam dominance, especially here in the United States. Let me be very clear about this. I personally, I, as an American, I as a taxpayer, I don’t want Muslims in America. Get the ____ out of the United States, go back to the ____ holes where you came from and reform your own countries. This country is perfect and it’s much better without your Islamic belief system. Do I need to be more clear than this? (Saad).

Israel Signs Defense Pact With Greece

Notable in light of the recent defense agreement of Turkey, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia and their Mecca Joint Defense Agreement (BBC). The Israel-Greece agreement has been named, “Achilles Shield.” From the Israeli Ministry of Defense: An approximately €3 billion deal: Israel and Greece have signed the massive “Achilles Shield” agreement, under which Israel will build Greece a multi-layered air defense array based on Israeli systems architecture – including David’s Sling and SPYDER, manufactured by Rafael, and the BARAK MX system, manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).  This is the largest defense export deal in the history of Israel-Greece relations, and one of the largest in the history of the State of Israel (MoD). Amit Segal: An alliance against Erdoğan? A massive deal worth more than NIS 10 billion has been signed between Israel and Greece. Israel’s Ministry of Defense will establish a multi-layered defense system in Greece against ballistic missiles, air attacks, drones, and other threats (Segal). New York Sun: The agreement comes as Turkey ratchets up its anti-Israel invective and moves toward an offensive posture in Syria. In response, earlier this month Israel struck the Abu al-Duhur airbase at Idlib, in northwestern Syria (New York Sun).

Finland Unveils 10-Year Extension Defense Agreement With Israel

It was actually agreed to in 2024, but was only announced last week. Presumably, the dynamics after theyOctober 7 attack argued for a discreet agreement. Jerusalem Post: Finland and Israel have extended a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for defense cooperation over the next decade that will include research and development (R&D), cooperation, and procurement of defense equipment. Finland’s public broadcaster YLE reported that the MoU was approved by Finnish Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen in early 2024, despite strong criticism due to the ongoing war in Gaza. The agreement, set to last until 2034, was not made public until the report by YLE. According to the report, the MoU was drawn up in 2013, but with its validity about to expire, Helsinki proposed to Israel that the protocol be extended in early 2024. Finland proposed extending the agreement to 10 years rather than the previous five years, which Maj.-Gen. (res.) Amir Baram, director general of Israel’s Defense Ministry, agreed to (Jerusalem Post).

Today: A New CEO at Apple

Tim Cook is out. He’ll become Executive Chairman for the company. Cook will be succeeded by John Ternus. Cook’s legacy was huge for the company on margins, less so on innovation. Financial Times: Success for Cook, who will become executive chair, has been built on wringing more money out of users on Apple’s billions of devices, fine-tuning its supply chain to maintain high margins and exercising tight control of its ecosystem in the name of privacy. Yet Cook’s tendency to play it safe, and rely on manufacturing in China, has looked more precarious in recent years. Apple has come under attack from politicians and global regulators, while its reputation as an innovator has faltered in the AI era…. Arguably, Cook’s most significant legacy in hardware is invisible. By designing its own silicon, dumping third-party chips such as Intel’s, Cook has helped grow Apple’s already impressive margins, from about 40 per cent in 2011 to close to 50 per cent today (Financial Times). David Price of Macworld: What was the last truly exciting product of the Cook era? The Apple Watch came out in 2015, the AirPods in 2016 and the iPhone X in 2017. Even the first Apple silicon Macs came out in 2020. It’s cruel in some ways that the iPhone Ultra will arrive a few days after Cook leaves office, but that is typical of the man’s selflessness. He wants to give Ternus a head start (Macworld). More on Ternus: (Apple).