by Susan Del Percio | Jul 5, 2026 | Opinion, Supreme Court
Last week, the Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship, an issue so important to the president that he attended oral arguments in person back in April.
Despite the court’s conservative majority, the ruling should not have surprised the president — not really. For one thing, his order had been rejected by every lower court that had considered it. Because, as many, many legal scholars had pointed out, it seemed to clearly run counter to the citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment.
Following oral argument, the consensus among legal scholars was that a majority of justices did not buy the government’s argument. They were correct, as Chief Justice John Roberts’ majority opinion made clear. Roberts, appointed by President George W. Bush, in 2005, has remained a solidly conservative jurist. But it was Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s vote in favor of the majority which took some court watchers by surprise. And it was also Barrett’s vote which seems to have enraged conservatives in a specific, and perhaps specifically revealing, way.
It was also Barrett’s vote which seems to have enraged conservatives in a specific, and perhaps specifically revealing, way.
Following the ruling Trump called on Congress to take action on social media. “Congress should start TODAY to work on ending expensive and unfair to our Country, Birthright Citizenship.”
Right on cue, his sycophants picked up the chorus. Never mind the inconvenient reality that experts across the political spectrum widely believe the issue settled, or that changing the 14th Amendment would require a supermajority vote in both the House and Senate (or an even less likely constitutional convention), and ratification by
by Robyn Autry | Jul 5, 2026 | culture, Opinion, Politics
Victor Willis, a lead singer for the Village People who died Tuesday, insisted that the 1978 hit “YMCA,” the group’s most famous song, was not a gay anthem. Never mind its innuendo — its description of the YMCA as a place that has “everything for young men to enjoy/You can hang out with all the boys” and “do whatever you feel.”
Jacques Morali, the openly gay French music producer who helped create the group, said he did so after thinking to himself that “gay people have no group,” but Willis, who was the straight frontman dressed as a police officer surrounded by gay costumed bandmates, said “YMCA” was merely about young men having a place to clear their minds at the gym in the comfpany of other men. He said the songs “Macho Man” and “In the Navy” weren’t about gay life, either.
Willis said “YMCA” was merely about young men having a place to clear their minds at the gym.
Maybe that’s what Willis needed to tell himself to justify becoming a closing act at MAGA rallies. Willis performed “YMCA” the night before President Donald Trump’s second inauguration alongside a new group of band members, as Trump twisted at the waist and pumped his fists instead of doing the simple hand motions fans created to spell out the letters. To many people, Willis aligning himself with MAGA, including his performance at the inauguration, felt like a betrayal, but Willis maintained the month before that performance that “YMCA” was for everyone and that after he decided to entertain MAGA “the financial benefits have been great.”
Willis was right about one thing. Like the cultural institution
by Hayes Brown | Jul 5, 2026 | Opinion
The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the 14th Amendment’s birthright citizenship clause does, in fact, apply to all people born in the United States. Only five justices reached that conclusion — a much closer decision than it should have been. (The sixth, Brett Kavanaugh, joined the majority on purely statutory grounds.) The primary dissent from Justice Clarence Thomas accused his colleagues of expanding the meaning of a clause narrowly tailored to help newly emancipated Black Americans.
The dissent was yet another bit of ahistorical storytelling from Thomas, which Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was simply not willing to abide. Though Jackson joined Chief Justice John Robert’s majority opinion defending the constitutionality of universal birthright citizenship, she also filed her own concurring opinion on the case. In 20 pages, the most junior justice on the bench provided a tour de force of narrative history to counter her oldest colleague’s claims.
The dissent was yet another bit of ahistorical storytelling from Thomas, which Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was simply not willing to abide.
Jackson has long used the history and context behind the drafting of the Constitution and its amendments as an intellectual counterweight to so-called “originalist” legal scholars. From their standpoint, laws must only be interpreted as their drafters intended.
Soon after her confirmation in 2022, Jackson explained during a hearing on a case involving the Voting Rights Act that, counter to her conservative colleagues’ claims, there was no justification for reading the Reconstruction Amendments, ratified after the Civil War, as being blind to race. As she explained at the time: “[W]hen I drilled down to that level of analysis, it became clear to me that
by Ryan Teague Beckwith | Jul 4, 2026 | Opinion
Washington, D.C., makes a great movie set: the imposing Lincoln Memorial, the instantly recognizable White House, the obligatory cutaway shot of the Potomac River.
That may be why President Donald Trump is so interested in using it as a backdrop to his increasingly grandiose spectacles.
So far in his second term, he’s staged a military parade through its streets, hosted a UFC fight on the White House South Lawn, driven his motorcade across the drained Reflecting Pool, delivered a political speech at a Freedom 250 celebration on the National Mall and increased the frequency of military flyovers.
His latest stunt is an unprecedented 40-minute pyrotechnics show that aims to break the Guinness World Record.
His latest stunt is an unprecedented 40-minute pyrotechnics show that aims to break the Guinness World Record. Organizers aim to launch more than 850,000 fireworks — compared to the 7,000 at the 2025 show.
Look, I love fireworks, but this is excessive. Large pyrotechnic displays already leave behind air pollution, scatter debris through parks and waterways, stress pets and wildlife and trigger veterans with PTSD. Those costs are real but manageable. This display, however, magnifies them on a staggering scale — and it was announced at the last minute and is overseen by the administration that couldn’t even paint a pool blue.
I understand this is part of the trade-off of living in the nation’s capital. In the 18 years I have lived here, I have never complained when I got stuck in traffic thanks to a presidential motorcade or when the streets around my office were closed for an inauguration or State of the Union.
But Trump doesn’t just use D.C. as a
by Maximillian Alvarez | Jul 4, 2026 | Article, Democracy, Opinion, Politics and Movements: US, Trump
by Richard Westmoreland, Lt. Col. Marine Corps (Ret.) | Jul 4, 2026 | Opinion, Politics
This piece is part of “America in the balance: The fight for our history and future,” a special series from MS NOW that explores where we are as a nation as we commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
When I flew over countries like Iraq and the former Yugoslavia as a Marine Corps F/A-18 pilot, I often wondered how they came to be ruled by authoritarians. During our conflicts with those countries, I read every book I could to help me understand the culture, history and more recent events that led up to the U.S. military darkening their skies.
I spent 20 years of my life as a Marine Corp fighter pilot, and I savored every minute of my time wearing my nation’s uniform. The memories of my service still fill me with pride. Not only was I honored to help defend our nation’s ideals, but I enjoyed the camaraderie of educated, confident and highly driven individuals who were honored to do the same.
I spent 20 years of my life as a Marine Corp fighter pilot, and I savored every minute of my time wearing my nation’s uniform.
If you had asked me before I retired in 2005 how I’d feel on July 4, 2026, the 250th anniversary, I would have imagined I’d be feeling every bit of the pride I felt when I was in international skies defending our country, but the creeping authoritarianism of the last decade, and the willingness of so many Americans to accept it, has me worried.
More than five years ago, after insurrectionists (including some with military training) stormed the Capitol, I wrote a column expressing
