Barack Obama, in a 430-word essay:

It is a basic principle of American democracy that the government can’t selectively target individuals simply because of their political beliefs or what they say. But that’s exactly what the Trump Administration is doing to Congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota. [...]

The fact that any president, or any administration, is willing to engage in such transparent efforts to intimidate someone should outrage all Americans, regardless of how they feel about Congresswoman Omar’s political views. Because if this becomes the new normal, there’s no reason to believe it will stop with her — or that future presidents, in either party, won’t do the same.

Thoughtful, sharp, and eloquent as ever.

But Obama posted this essay on X, which, I have been told in the past week, shows that he in fact is a Nazi sympathizer, a fascist, a pedophile, and unconcerned about racism. As surprised as I was to learn those things about myself, I’m equally surprised to learn them about President Obama, whom I heretofore considered a thoughtful statesman and moral compass.

"In the country I'm from, we have a saying: 'Free cheese can only be found in a mousetrap.' And it couldn't be more accurate. Please remember this if you plan to vote for a party that promises you 'free' stuff."

~ Ira P.

In the past 16 months I have published these four books. “Aristotle Versus Religion”, published in June 2025, is a collection of my finest essays, mostly published in “The Objective Standard.” “The Adventurer’s Club” was published in December 2025 and is my latest collection of short stories featuring various adventurous souls in Brooklyn New York […]

Stop Calling It Capitalism When It’s Government Favoritism

 

Every so often the @ClaremontInst Review of Books has an essay or two hinting at deviation from its Straussian/Jaffaite roots. So does its American Mind sister site. Call it an occasional softening toward Old Right/Paleo traditions, and a slight but detectable distancing from Con. Inc. This is also evident in the numerous Claremont alums active in the Trump administration– a fact not escaping the ire of National Review types. In short, Claremont has at least attempted to update its operating system in light of an entirely new landscape.

But then… a new edition of CRB arrives at my doorstep full of relapses into the worst Boomer constitutionalism and silly hagiography to some founding Father. Throw in another dose of Lincoln idolatry and anti-Southern animus, or another tired ode to Churchill, and the issue is a complete bust. Not even a reflection on Fowler’s Modern English Usage at 100 can save it.

I credit Christopher Caldwell mightily for attacking the most sacred cow in his Age of Entitlement book, and there are some very good voices in the CRB bullpen (Michael Anton, @ToryAnarchist). But the inertia may be too strong. It’s hard to ally with people who want to write about China or Ben Franklin at this very late stage of what they themselves contend is a propositional American experiment.

The Right needs serious, erudite publications for lay audiences, and Claremont Review is the closest thing. But we need populist, pragmatic, anti-interventionist organs of the same magnitude, perhaps expanding on @ChroniclesMag. This requires actually paying writers real sums of money for serious articles, something almost totally lost in the digital age.

— Jeff Deist (@jeffdeist) August 9, 2026

Every so often the  @ClaremontInst Review of Books has an essay or two hinting at deviation from its Straussian/Jaffaite roots. So does its American Mind sister site. Call it an occasional softening toward Old Right/Paleo traditions, and a slight but detectable distancing from Con. Inc. This is also evident in the numerous Claremont alums active in the Trump administration– a fact not escaping the ire of National Review types. In short, Claremont has at least attempted to update its operating system in light of an entirely new landscape.

But then… a new edition of CRB arrives at my doorstep full of relapses into the worst Boomer constitutionalism and silly hagiography to some founding Father. Throw in another dose of Lincoln idolatry and anti-Southern animus, or another tired ode to Churchill, and the issue is a complete bust. Not even a reflection on Fowler’s Modern English Usage at 100 can save it.

I credit Christopher Caldwell mightily for attacking the most sacred cow in his Age of Entitlement book, and there are some very good voices in the CRB bullpen (Michael Anton,  @ToryAnarchist). But the inertia may be too strong. It’s hard to ally with people who want to write about China or Ben Franklin at this very late stage of what they themselves contend is a propositional American experiment.

The Right needs serious, erudite publications for lay audiences, and Claremont Review is the closest thing. But we need populist, pragmatic, anti-interventionist organs of the same magnitude, perhaps expanding on @ChroniclesMag. This requires actually paying writers real sums of money for serious articles, something almost totally lost in the digital age.

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