Free Republic

What is a good way of reducing plane crashes? Obviously do not fire air safety experts and instil paranoia in those who remain. Yet that is what Elon Musk is doing to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), three weeks after America’s deadliest air collision in years. His team is moving fast to break things, as though Washington were an app. Other than China’s cultural revolution, history offers few parallels to the so-called Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) assault on the state. Musk’s declared aim is to slash US deficits by rooting out waste, fraud and abuse. His model is the...

Lack of cold war-style checks between Washington and Beijing means there is scope for miscalculation, says the Financial Times’ Edward Luce.The most worrying aspect about talk of a new cold war is that it breeds complacency. The first one ended peacefully in 1991 when the Soviet Union folded its tent. The US-USSR ideological contest implied that one side could triumph if the other’s system failed, which is what happened. Cold war 2.0 offers a different spectre — escalating geopolitical rivalry between the world’s two largest powers with no clear exit ramp.

It was the loudest and most prolonged cheer since Barack Obama appeared on the podium last week in Denver. Very few people had heard of Sarah Palin when Mr Obama delivered his acceptance speech eight days ago. One vice-presidential announcement, several news cycles and countless debates about sexism later, Ms Palin had been catapulted into starring role at a rejuvenated Republican Convention. Given the fluid nature of this presidential race, most analysts say it is much too early to pronounce whether Ms Palin's widely praised acceptance speech was the "game changer" that some Republicans claimed on Wednesday night. But in...