Straight Up Summaries 07-31-25
This is where it all starts — every day
Straight Up Summaries 07-31-25
Hi there,
I'm Jim Reynolds, the author behind hundreds of essays and dozens of Hailstones and Torch & Crow daily digests. Each day, we begin our process with straightforward, mostly unbiased summaries of the day’s news. This gives the team (Bob included) a clean foundation to form our takeaways and deliver sharp, informed commentary. Our readers are smart, experienced conservatives—so are we. That’s why our tone is plainspoken, direct, and occasionally wry: we’re on your side, and we’re just as tired as you are of legacy media distortion. We call those lies out daily.
You know by now we don’t waste words. We believe in clarity, compression, and velocity. That’s the DNA of every Hailstone: a crisp 2-3 sentence summary, two quick takes, and a clear "Leans" signal. Then you're free to dig into the full article on RCP if you want the whole story.
But I started wondering: maybe you'd like to see the same raw summaries we use internally to build the daily editions? We already generate them automatically with scripts I've written, so sharing them is effortless on our end. They come fast (less than a minute), and two-paragraph summaries seem to give just enough meat without the fat.
So I’m sending these out today as a test. If you find them useful, we can make it a regular thing. If not, no harm done—just skip it. Either way, drop a quick comment and let me know what you think.
Thanks for reading,
Jim Reynolds
www.reynolds.com
Heading to Midterms, Democrats Not Up Off the Floor
Michael Barone surveys the political wreckage for Democrats as the 2026 midterms approach. With voter enthusiasm in the gutter, policy fatigue setting in, and cultural overreach backfiring, the party struggles to stand. Biden may be gone, but his legacy—both legislative and symbolic—remains an albatross.
What’s left is a fractured base and no coherent rallying cry. Barone points to abortion as the last reliable lever, but even that issue is losing potency as independents grow wary of extremism. The Democrats’ problem isn’t just their record—it’s the perception that they’ve run out of ideas.
Leans Right
Has Trump Ended Free Trade?
Kim & Reinsch take the long view, arguing that Trump's confrontational trade policy hasn't killed free trade—it’s redefined it. Tariffs, once taboo, are now tools of leverage. The multilateral ideal of the past is giving way to bilateral realpolitik.
They warn, however, that embracing protectionism may backfire unless grounded in strategy. Trump may have cracked the WTO façade, but what replaces it depends on whether Republicans pursue reform or just revenge.
Leans Left
Trump Nails Trade Deal, Proves Everyone Wrong--Again
Miranda Devine contrasts media hysteria with actual results. While the usual suspects predicted collapse, Trump’s India trade agreement proved yet again that tariffs were never the goal—they were leverage.
Devine credits Trump with reintroducing the concept of reciprocity in trade and forcing elites to confront their own dogma. The economy, it turns out, didn’t implode. It pivoted.
Leans Right
The Power of a Single-Issue Group
Matthew Yglesias highlights the outsized influence that single-issue voter blocs can wield—especially on polarizing topics like immigration, guns, or abortion. When one group cares intensely and votes consistently, it can warp the political landscape.
He warns that Democrats ignore these blocs at their peril, while Republicans often court them to great effect. Identity politics may have splintered the Left, but conviction politics still animates the Right.
Leans Center-Left
SCOTUS Killed Universal Injunctions in Name Only
Ben Weingarten explains how the Supreme Court’s supposed curb on nationwide injunctions hasn’t changed much in practice. Lower courts continue to issue sweeping rulings, daring the high court to intervene.
The result is a slow-motion jurisdictional tug-of-war where legal clarity is sacrificed on the altar of ideological expedience. Weingarten suggests it’s not just the law being gamed—but public trust.
Leans Right
Obama Can't Really Be Indicted, Can He?
Michael Tomasky grapples with a question once considered unthinkable. As revelations continue about the Intelligence Community Assessment and pre-election shenanigans, the shield of untouchability thins.
Tomasky’s answer is still no—politically, culturally, and practically. But the fact that the question is being asked at all suggests a seismic shift in narrative control. Yesterday’s tinfoil is today’s headline.
Leans Left
Whistleblower Threatened for Not Approving Bogus ICA
Margot Cleveland presents another piece of the Russiagate puzzle. A whistleblower claims retaliation after refusing to sign off on a fraudulent intelligence consensus—one allegedly crafted to damage Trump.
The story suggests not just malfeasance, but a coordinated effort to retroactively justify a partisan operation. If true, it raises stakes that make Watergate look like a frat prank.
Leans Right
Harris Will Not Run for California Governor in 2026
CNN reports that Kamala Harris will not seek California’s governorship, closing a door many assumed she’d walk through if national politics soured. Her brand, tarnished and tepid, doesn’t carry the local luster it once did.
The announcement signals more than personal retreat—it’s an admission that Harris' political capital is spent, and her future in elective office likely depends on appointments, not ballots.
Leans Center-Left
Cincinnati Needs and Deserves Change Regarding Crime
Sen. Bernie Moreno calls for a hard reset on crime policy in Cincinnati, citing surging violence and plummeting public confidence. His message is blunt: platitudes don’t stop bullets.
Moreno outlines reforms focused on prosecution, deterrence, and community partnerships—not ideological posturing. It's a call to restore order without apology.
Leans Right
Senate Spartacus Returns
Bevan, Cannon & Walworth chronicle the reemergence of Sen. Cory Booker’s theatrical style—complete with moral monologues and grand gestures. His media-friendly bluster has returned, aimed at reviving progressive enthusiasm.
But behind the spotlight, his legislative results remain thin. Booker’s performance may rally base emotion, but the electorate now demands receipts.
Leans Center
End National Endowment for Democracy Once and for All
Roger Kimball argues for scrapping the National Endowment for Democracy, citing its track record of ideological meddling abroad. Far from promoting liberal values, he claims, it funds chaos under the banner of virtue.
For Kimball, it's a Cold War relic turned neocon slush fund—a taxpayer-subsidized NGO network that interferes where it should observe. Time to pull the plug.
Leans Right
How Gaza's Hunger Crisis Reached Its 'Worst-Case Scenario'
Joshua Keating traces the humanitarian collapse in Gaza to both Israeli blockade policies and internal Hamas mismanagement. The situation has reached what aid officials describe as near-famine levels.
Keating’s account is empathetic but avoids absolutes—pointing instead to the brutal arithmetic of war, politics, and narrative weaponization.
Leans Left
Gaza Starvation Photos Tell a Thousand Lies
Eitan Fischberger offers a corrective to viral images of Gaza’s suffering, showing how photojournalism can distort more than it reveals. Context is often cropped.
His critique isn’t denialist but forensic. When public opinion rests on pixels, he warns, propaganda becomes a form of charity—and truth becomes collateral damage.
Leans Right
AI Has Entered the Chat
Brian Athey reports on the deepening presence of AI in media and policymaking. From ghostwritten op-eds to algorithmic bias in newsfeeds, artificial intelligence is quietly reshaping perception.
Athey warns that tech is now both the lens and the voice. Without transparency, our debates may already be scripted by machines.
Leans Center
A Jeans Ad Triggers the Oppressive Left
Ingrid Jacques skewers the outrage that erupted over a simple jeans ad featuring a gender-conforming couple. The ad's crime? Not checking enough DEI boxes.
Jacques uses the episode to illustrate how progressive gatekeeping now targets even neutrality. Sometimes, a pair of jeans is just a pair of jeans—until it's not.
Leans Right
Tom Lehrer and Mort Mintz, RIP
Robert Kuttner pays tribute to two giants—satirist Tom Lehrer and investigative journalist Mort Mintz. Both wielded truth like a scalpel, carving open hypocrisy with wit and precision.
Their deaths mark the fading of an era when intelligence was weaponized not to manipulate, but to expose. We could use their voices now more than ever.
Leans Left
The Kaaba at Ground Zero
David Samuels pens a provocative thought piece imagining a Middle Eastern religious shrine at the heart of 9/11’s scar. It’s less literal proposal than metaphorical provocation.
Samuels uses the image to challenge America’s memory, mercy, and moral clarity. What symbols we elevate, and where, speaks volumes about who we think we are.
Leans Center