Issue: Foreign Affairs

We are rarely treated to oratory as magnificent as the speech Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered yesterday at the Acropolis.  

Rubio’s remarks were nothing short of call to the West to “revive itself by recalling its historic virtues and ambition,” according to a Wall Street Journal editorial headlined “Marco Rubio Gets to the Heart of the Matter“:

It’s the speech of the year by our lights. …

Here, in Athens, we found the first full realization of all the essential traits that would come to define the West,” Mr. Rubio said: “fierce individuality and relentless ambition; daring exploration and invention; a yearning for discovery, for adventure, risk and glory. An insatiable curiosity about the world and the principles by which it operates, a hunger to know the mysteries of nature and grasp the secrets of the cosmos.”

He then connected those traits to the West’s achievements. “This was the foundation of the Western mind: our math, our science, our medicine. Our philosophy, ethics, and religion. . . . It was the foundation of the riches of Christian theology—of Augustine and Aquinas, and the whole tradition of natural law.”

It isn’t often these days that you hear a politician speak of “the West,” much less make the essential connection between our own day and our inheritance from Athens and Jerusalem. Would that we heard it more.

The New York Post reprinted Rubio’s remarks under the headline “We Must Fight to Defend Western Civilization.”  Rubio’s Stunning Athens Speech Stops Washington Cold,” trumpets a Washington Examiner headline:

Do secretaries of state with no political ambition give sunset speeches in the most jaw-dropping settings imaginable, stirring the soul to defend civilization?

That’s the question all of Washington is asking itself today.

In a way, it’s unfortunate that the Examiner injected presidential politics into a speech that can be savored for its merits alone.

New York’s Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s oratory yesterday was a different matter. Mamdani chose yesterday, Oct. 7, the third anniversary of the deadliest day in history for Jews since the Holocaust, to post a message described as “rooted in antisemitism and hatred.” He accused Israel of “ongoing genocide” (how many times must this be debunked?).

The Free Press’ Eli Lake writes that in his October 7 smear, Mamdani “showed his true colors.” A New York Post editorial says that Mamdani “chose to play Hamas’ spokesman on Oct. 7 anniversary.” A Wall Street Journal editorial (“Celebrating Hamas on Oct. 7”) noted the “basic dishonesty” of Mamdani’s words. 

Even so, it wasn’t enough: Mamdani was “booed and berated” at an evening anti-Israel gathering. Meanwhile, a Free Expression story on Mamdani’s “fake battle against antisemitism” notices that a Mamdani plan “funnels money to organizations that preach hatred of Jews.”

Alert to all beleaguered recyclers. “Most Recycling Is a Waste,” the latest Wall Street Journal op-ed by Bjorn Lomborg, is an eye-opener. Lomborg acknowledges that “metals and some plastics are worth separating, but the rest of it is costly and can hurt the environment.” Lomborg explains:

Almost anything can be recycled if you throw enough money and energy at it. But are the benefits worth the cost?…

Yet governments have increasingly pushed citizens to recycle paper, glass and plastics worth less than the cost of collecting and processing them. Sometimes the environmental benefits made up the difference. But over time the means became the end.

A new study from Denmark’s Environmental Protection Agency shows the trade-off. Mechanical post-sorting of household trash nationwide would lift Denmark’s recycling rate by almost 5 percentage points toward EU requirements. By the usual scoreboard, that is a win.

But the costs far exceed the benefits. Each ton of carbon dioxide avoided would cost nearly €4,000. That’s almost 50 times the European carbon price, meaning emissions can be cut far more cheaply elsewhere….

Recycle what is worth recycling. Then throw away the idea that more recycling is always better.

Ms. Must is certain that Massachusetts’ Democratic Governor Maura Healey is an avid recycler. But she does seem to have had one change of heart. Healey now “pleads for more natural gas, quick. What changed her mind?” is the tease on a Wall Street Journal editorial headlined “Climate Reality Hits Massachusetts.”

“Republicans Pray for a Polling Failure” is the headline on Karl Rove’s politics column. Rove thinks that campaigns are reaching the lock-in point. Rove writes:

What about the polls? Republicans believe they are biased in favor of Democrats. One of the best GOP polling minds, Patrick Ruffini, examined this question, studying 3,312 polls from the last four elections. He found 73% of these overstated Democratic performance compared with the actual results….

If this pattern holds this year, then virtually every battleground Senate race is within the margin of error today, exaggerating the current strength of Democratic candidates. Some who look today like possible winners will lose if the pattern holds. Still, how this plays out is up in the air. “Each cycle has the potential to behave differently,” Mr. Ruffini acknowledges. Maybe this is that cycle. Or maybe not….

It’s nail-biting time for everyone, especially Republicans.

Barton Swaim astonishingly suggests that South Carolina could go blue and reiterates his view that there were better options for the GOP than Senator Darlene Graham: “Democrat Annie Andrews is showing up. Darline Graham is nowhere to be found.” Speaker Mike Johnson, meanwhile, has raised a whopping $156 million for the House GOP.

“Military ordered to be ready for possible Iran strikes as Trump weighs timing,” is an Axios headline. According to Axios, U.S. and Israeli sources say it could happen before the U.S. midterm elections and possibly the Israeli elections a week earlier. Oil prices are jumping and the Dow futures are sliding on Middle East worries.

“Here Comes the Plague Again.” No, not the headline we want to be reading. “Maybe SARS-CoV-2 was just a warm-up for Yersinia pestis,” suggests Matthew Hennessey. Yikes. But there would be differences:

At least there are no bats in this story. If people start dropping dead from plague we’ll know for sure it came from the Irkutsk Research Anti-Plague Institute. It’s a relief to think we won’t have to play the blame game this time around….

It wouldn’t take much to send society back to the edge. You know it’s true….

The only difference between this time will be the number of people willing to fight. Many—maybe most—are in no mood to get fooled again. Maybe this time it’s no foolin’. What if SARS-CoV-2 was just a warmup for Yersinia pestis? Things will get ugly fast.

“’Honey Please’: Kimberly Guilfoyle Pushed Donor to Wire $100,000 to Her Amex Account” is the attention-grabbing headline on the Wall Street Journal’s explosive story on the U.S. Ambassador to Greece. It’s a shocker:

For months, Guilfoyle had been chatting with Eric Deters, a former congressional candidate in Kentucky who was seeking her help in getting the attention of the new Trump administration on some personal tax and legal issues—and had promised payments of as much as $1 million if she was successful.

As Donald Trump Jr.’s former fiancée, Guilfoyle offered to use her sway, according to Deters and messages reviewed by the Journal. She forwarded Deters the messages she’d sent to the new Internal Revenue Service chief and updated him on her efforts to lobby the Justice Department on his behalf. 

But her confirmation was coming up, and she needed her card balance paid down before then, she said.

“Honey please I need you to get this done for me today,” she texted Deters, adding a prayer hands emoji and a PDF with bill payment instructions from American Express. “You could just send it here,” she wrote on July 3, 2025, just days before her July 9 confirmation hearing. 

Deters didn’t ultimately make the payment, telling Guilfoyle it would cost him his marriage….

Readers with a long memory will recall that Guilfoyle was formerly married to Gavin Newsom.

In other news, newly revealed FBI documents reveal that now White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles was heavily monitored in a probe launched by former FBI head Christopher Wray and Biden AG Merrick Garland. … And a Minnesota man named Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud was arrested yesterday in connection with his alleged plans for a terrorist attack on the Mall of America. Quiz: Which of the two FBI probes better served the public?

On the third anniversary of October 7, the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust, “SOULLESS” anti-Israel protestors plan to march on the streets of New York in support of Hamas terrorists.

New York Post columnist Michael Goodwin responds to the celebrations planned in honor of the atrocities of Oct. 7:

Groups calling themselves “anti-Zionists” say they will mark the event with rallies in Gotham and many other cities around the world.

In effect, they aim to turn Oct. 7 into an international day of joyful celebration of the butchers who carried out the initial attack, and hail their ultimate cause of eliminating the Jewish state.

“Glory to the martyrs, victory to the resistance,” say some flyers for the rallies. Some display a figure wearing a keffiyeh and an upside-down triangle, a symbol often used to signify Hamas.

Goodwin rightly calls these remorseless supporters of horror, inhumanity and savagery “monsters.”

Meanwhile, “The Israelis Who Never Left October 7 Behind” at The Free Press observes: “Three years after October 7, survivors and their families are still learning how to live with what happened.” Polina Fradkin writes:

Lihi shouted [her brother] Bar’s name, thinking he’d fallen asleep there—it was a place he regularly visited—but he didn’t answer. He had shot himself in the heart. He was 30.

“I think about the day I found him a lot,” Lihi told me. “Finding the person you know and love, a person who is so happy. . . and you’re calling his name and he’s not answering.”

“We couldn’t even cry,” she said. “We were too shocked.”

The Free Press publishes an exclusive excerpt from the new memoir of Avinatan Or, kidnapped from the Nova music festival on October 7, and subsequently held hostage in the tunnels under Gaza for 738 days. “Avinatan’s attention to detail in captivity was extraordinary; his will to live, even more so,” the editors write.

Eli Lake writes that we’re “still drowning in myths about the Gaza War,” while Brendan O’Neill of Spiked Online calls Gaza “the most liked about war in history.” Spiked also notes the U.K.’s Green Party’s embrace of antisemitism. Former Prime Minister Tony Blair writes at TFP that “Britain’s fastest-growing party has a Jewish problem.” “If you care about the future of the UK and the future of the Holy Land: Pay attention,” urges Sir Tony. What should be done with the site of the kibbutzim Hamas attacked three years ago?

The French are still rioting. A Wall Street Journal editorial refers to “France’s Bonfire of Inanities.” The problem in a nutshell: “Leftists riot in defense of a welfare state the country can no longer afford.” The editors write:

It’s easy to scoff at French rioting as its national pastime, but what’s unfolding now is different. France is approaching its most serious crisis in decades, and the disorder in the streets may be only the start.

Ostensibly the destructive rioting of the past few days is a student protest against underfunded schools. If you believe that, we have a pont over the Seine to sell you. The riots have been encouraged by politicians on the left, as Dominic Green recently reported on the Journal’s Free Expression newsletter….

The violence obscures the related crisis engulfing public finances. France doesn’t have more money to spend on schools because it doesn’t have more money to spend on anything….

France’s main problem isn’t math. It’s slow growth. The right fiscal reforms, such as tax cuts and welfare and pension reforms that encourage work and investment, would create new opportunities for prosperity. Young people would be the biggest beneficiaries. The alternative is what’s happening in the streets.

Americans can’t afford to gloat from the sidelines. U.S. debt is 100% of GDP, and its politicians can be as feckless as the French. At least the U.S. economy is growing at a healthy clip, but that could change in a hurry with the wrong mix of regulation and a ham-handed attempt to tax our way out of our fiscal hole.

The Muslim element of the French riots cannot be ignored. Brendan O’Neill calls the riots an intifada in the heart of Europe. Matt Vespa’s take: “‘From the River to the Sea’ Isn’t So Fun When It’s the Seine to the Mediterranean, Huh?“

Cornell University President Michael Kotlikoff is in the hot seat as a result of the Cornell rape allegations. Kotlikoff is now talking about “body autonomy.” Ira Stoll of the Free Beacon argues that Kotlikoff is “missing the point—in a telling way”:

It’s an illuminating message nonetheless as Kotlikoff, or his speechwriters, struggle for language to explain to themselves and the community why the events alleged by Jane Doe are wrong. The word “wrong” doesn’t appear in the statement. Maybe he doesn’t want to prejudge what happened, but given that the university already conducted a Title IX investigation and expelled two students, it seems a little late on that. It’s hard to draw moral judgment without any framework of shared moral values.

In “How the Sexual Revolution Led to Cornell,” Emma Camp of Free Expression poses an argument: “The rebels of 1968 sought ‘freedom’ from traditional attitudes. But the trade-off may be the occasional shocking failure of modern sexual culture.” A snippet:

For this is what we ask of the young people at a frat party in the post-1968 world. Both the boys and the girls are encouraged to have sex, including with strangers, including while inebriated. The only rule is that everyone must consent at all times, which sounds simple enough.

But, for a young man, this simple rule demands fine-tuned social judgment. His libido urges him to seek out as much sex as possible, as do his frat brothers, and the young male mind is addled when he is part of a pack. He must seek out certain proof of consent from young women whose signals he can’t reliably read. Is this woman he’s never met before too drunk, or just drunk enough? Does that body language indicate a “no,” even if she hasn’t said as much?

Will the Senate flip? Byron York writes that it is likely to do so, starting with the Dems taking North Carolina. Here are the Washington Examiner’s high points of the debate featuring Maine’s moderate GOP Senator Susan Collins and progressive challenger Troy Jackson. Former President Barack Obama is on the campaign trail, most notably for Senate hopeful Abdul E-Sayed. Powerline’s John Hinderaker doesn’t mince words:

The fact that Obama is willing to campaign with the radioactive El-Sayed illustrates the fact that there is no division between moderate Democrats and far-left Democrats. They are all far-left. The only division in the Democratic Party is between those who think that their constituencies are far enough left that they can come out as socialists–Communists by the ballot–and those who think that the American people are not yet “ready” for socialism/Communism, so progress toward that goal should be more gradual.

We are informed that Christa Pike, the death row inmate who survived a botched execution, is “conscious and speaking” after the ordeal. Charles Fain Lehman helpfully recalls Pike’s victim and the obscenely horrible manner in which she died. Don’t Miss. “Preparing to Fire“: The Wall Street Journal this morning publishes fascinating transcripts of audio recordings of months of warnings, confusion, and attacks in the blockade on Iranian oil exports. Iran is increasing attacks on ships, but the flow of oil and gas is also increasing. Welcome news: “Reports about taking out Los Angeles and San Diego are greatly exaggerated.”

What is the takeaway from the thwarting of what might have been Israel’s September 11?  

“The lesson of Flydubai? Don’t mess with Zionists.” That’s the Spiked Online headline for Brendan O’Neill, who was at the Tel Aviv airport as news of the attempted terror incident broke. O’Neill writes about the passengers who fought back:

This was a revolt worthy of the history books. A people’s fightback against the violent narcissism of either a suicidal freak or a murderous Jew-hater (or possibly both). This man may have craved death, and possibly loved it, but he came up against a swarm of people who far prefer life. That’s the civilisational divide distilled: worshippers of death vs lovers of life. There is something profoundly moving about the clip in which the passengers chant ‘Am Yisrael Chai’ as the plane safely lands. ‘The people of Israel live’ – in a time of untrammeled Jew hate, it’s the most defiant, life-giving cry you can make. It fortifies the hearts of those of us who love civilisation, and breaks the spirit of civilisation’s enemies.

There was humility with the bravery. …

UK foreign secretary Ed Miliband said he was ‘deeply concerned about the incident’, which was only stopped by ‘the actions of those on board’. Oh Ed, would it kill you to say something nice about Israelis?

You might also like The Washington Free Beacon’s “’A Nation Like a Lion’—Israeli Airline Passenger Heroics Avert Jihadist Terrorist Attack.” The near catastrophe exposed a gaping hole in Dubai’s airport security. Meanwhile, “Flydubai Terrorist Identified as Radical Muslim with Bizarre Practice in Front of Women.”

The New York Post gave convicted murderer Christa Pike, who survived a botched execution in Tennessee, the full tab treatment on this morning’s cover: “Die Another Day.” Pike is in critical condition with her prognosis unknown. Predictably, the accident has triggered calls to end the death penalty.

In “Am I Lying to Myself About the Death Penalty?” Charles C. W. Cooke, who (unlike Ms. Must) had not previously supported the death penalty, has a counterintuitive reaction to the failed execution—he now wonders if the death penalty is right:

The truth is that I think that Pike should be dead, and I am not at all upset that Tennessee tried to kill her. I wish it had succeeded, and I feel no qualms about this. I have read what she was convicted of — what she confessed to — which was this:

Later that night, Pike went to Iloilo’s room and told Iloilo that she had just killed Slemmer and that she had brought back a piece of the victim’s skull as a souvenir. Pike showed Iloilo the piece of skull and told her that she had cut the victim’s throat six times, beaten her, and thrown asphalt at the victim’s head. Pike told Iloilo that the victim had begged “them” to stop cutting and beating her, but Pike ….

Melanie MacDonogh writes in the London Spectator that Pike should be allowed to live. At this point, Ms. Must doesn’t disagree. The authorities indulged Pike’s wish for an all-female execution team. What kind of statement was this supposed to be? Isn’t the last meal of favorite dishes sufficient? Babylon Bee has the best take.

“Cornell brings back #MeToo” is a headline in the London Spectator. That’s not the only unwelcome returnee. New York Governor Kathy Hochul has appointed state AG Letitia James to take over the investigation of the Cornell allegations.

Does pornography help explain the Cornell assault? “Where else would young guys get the idea that women want group sex with strange men?” asks Emma Camp of Free Expression. Camp makes a good case:

In the middle of it all, I’m left wondering how this could have happened in the first place. Sexual entitlement and drug-loosened inhibitions are for sure part of the story. But there’s another likely factor that’s so far gone unmentioned in public discussion of the case: pornography.

It’s unfashionable to ask if endemic pornography use among young men contributes to some sex crimes. It’s a sign of moralist hysteria—akin to thinking videogames cause school shootings or heavy metal is turning the kids into Satan worshipers. Porn is presumed harmless, and anyone who suggests otherwise is consigned to whatever cultural trash heap Tipper Gore and the Church Lady now reside in. …

Watch enough porn, and you’ll think it’s perfectly normal for a woman to want group sex with strange men. Watch enough porn, and you’ll think it’s perfectly normal to strike a woman while you’re having sex with her.

Republican voters are panicking at the prospect of a blue wave, even as the President Donald Trump receives two plaudits from the Wall Street Journal editorial pages. The first is “Trump Has the Right Instincts on AI.” Trump knows the risks if China is left to dominate AI. The second is “The Battle of Hormuz Is Turning“:

Did you notice the sudden media realization that the oil export pressure is now working against Iran? New reports from tanker-tracking groups confirm what the Trump Administration has been saying: Adm. Brad Cooper and the forces of U.S. Central Command have turned around the battle of the Strait of Hormuz.

Data from Kpler indicate that the seven-day average for oil clearing the Strait is 14.19 million barrels a day, approaching the prewar baseline of 17.13 million. Most of what’s missing are Iranian oil exports stopped by the U.S. blockade. The recent resumption of oil flowing through the Saudi bypass pipeline, followed by accelerating loadings at the port of Yanbu to transit the Red Sea, will unlock more exports….

This is what progress looks like: Iran’s oil is blocked while the world’s oil increasingly gets through. The effect is to reduce pressure on the West and its Gulf allies while Iran must scrounge for money. The regime is rapidly running out of oil already on the sea from before or between blockades, though payments will have a longer lag. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent estimates the Iranians will deliver the last of this oil to China in mid-October.

Even The American Conservative (TAC)—steadfast opponent of the Iran war—sees “glimmers of hope in Hormuz” but with tons of caveats.

Annals of Not Free Speech. “I Questioned Transgender Ideology. Now I’m Facing Prison in France,” by Dora Moutot at The Free Press. The 411:

I went on television to debate what makes a woman a woman. Four years later, I have a criminal conviction and face new charges that could put me in prison.

Fox has a follow-up to Ms. Rachel, who has built a sprawling media empire contributing to radical causes. This is not free speech; it is indoctrinating small children behind their parents’ backs.

This Just In: President Trump reveals a possible change in what we must tell IRS that might help prevent illegal immigration. Usual suspects are apoplectic.

The Company He Keeps. Zohran Mamdani is being honored by a group that apparently has close ties with Iran. City Journal has the scoop:

But critics have long questioned NIAC’s relationship with Tehran. In a 2020 letter, Senators Tom Cotton, Ted Cruz, and Mike Braun called on then-Attorney General William Barr to launch a Justice Department investigation against NIAC and NIAC Action (its sister organization) for possible violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, identifying a pattern of what they called “troubling behavior.”

The senators pointed to a 2019 internal memo in which NIAC blamed the United States for an Iranian militia’s attack on a military base that killed an American civilian contractor and wounded several others. Kata’ib Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militia that carried out the attack, later stormed a U.S. embassy in Baghdad. The senators also highlighted tweets from NIAC and NIAC Action staffers pushing “conspiracy theories deflecting blame from the Iranian regime for shooting down a Ukrainian civilian airliner, killing 176 individuals.” (NIAC called the accusations “slanderous.”)

Religion News. Scientists are claiming to have discovered Noah’s Ark. The Duchess of Sussex is marketing a new chocolate-filled Advent calendar for a mere 112 pounds. Perfect. As ever, Ms. Must.