Extra, Extra
Getting a D in Economics Day: “‘The rhetoric was ferocious, but the punch less so,’ said Daniel Fried, a former U.S. diplomat now at the Atlantic Council. ‘Dealing a crippling blow to Iran’s economy would probably require taking on big Chinese firms and banks.” WSJ (Gift Article): U.S. Squeezes Iran but Avoids Targeting Its Biggest Lifeline: China. Meanwhile, “President Trump’s war on Iran has been a welcome revelation for China, which absorbed one of the most severe oil-supply disruptions of the modern era, demonstrating that years of preparation had mitigated a huge vulnerability and potential source of U.S. leverage over Beijing in a geopolitical confrontation.” The Iran War Shows China’s Energy Strategy Is Working.
+ SCOTUS Goes Postal: “The decision means the administration can move ahead with planning for restricting the use of mail ballots even as a lower court continues to weigh the legality of Mr. Trump’s executive order. But with a little more than two months until Election Day — and considerably less time before early voting begins in many states — it remains unclear whether the White House’s rules will be in effect for a midterm election in which control of both chambers is at stake. Additional legal action is a near certainty with the plan’s fate not yet final.” Court Allows Trump to Pursue Mail Voting Limits, for Now. (The decision may not be enough to do away with mail-in voting, but it will be enough to create the election chaos and doubt that Trump wants.) Meanwhile, Trump Quietly Asserts Control Over Postal Service Amid Plans to Overhaul Voting.
+ Penn Pain: “Both people were unvaccinated. They are the first such deaths in the U.S. this year, and the first in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 35 years.” Two unvaccinated people die of measles in Pennsylvania outbreak.
+ The Guile High Club: “Even some Qatari leaders were surprised by the president’s gall. But they did what they’ve always done when an American official has asked them for something dubious—politically, ethically, or even legally. They said yes.” The Atlantic (Gift Article): The Qataris Gave Trump an Airplane. He Crippled Their Country in Return.
+ Take Me to Your Leader: “Not even Mojtaba’s close friends and relatives have seen him. Fewer than five people have met with Mojtaba since his ascent to power, Mohammad Hossein Khoshvaght, a former official and a relative of Mojtaba’s told me, ‘due to security precautions.’ The rationale is not implausible.” But neither are the rumors that he might not be alive. Is Mojtaba Khamenei Dead? (Maybe we could get him and Mitch McConnell on a Zoom?)
