During the 2019 election period we were having lunch with friends, and the subject of the presidential election came up. Our friends are not political, but the wife stated “in no uncertain terms” that they would not vote for the current president because she did not care for his demeanor nor the manner he presented himself.

The Second Amendment, addressing the right of American citizens to bear arms, is a touchy subject these days, but its effect on our daily lives cannot be overstated. Being able to protect ourselves in a world that is becoming more dangerous by the day is essential to survival. The right to arm oneself, whether the weapon is concealed or not, has become more important than ever.

Acouple of weeks ago, the New York Times published a photo of what I had reason to believe was an elementary school classroom. I couldn’t help but notice a big, colorful sign in the classroom that read, “The World Is A Better Place With You In It.”

We are now more than seven months removed from Vladimir Putin’s incursion into eastern Ukraine and Crimea. Despite that elapsed time and all the various developments since then, the United States’ formal position on the conflict has changed little. That overly simplified position is one of Ukrainian maximalism: Putin is evil, Volodymyr Zelensky is noble, and -- here is the big leap -- the United States will thus support the Ukrainian effort to retake every square inch of territory in the Donbas and Crimea from its nuclear-armed adversary, no matter the cost to the U.S. taxpayer.

The U.S. Supreme Court begins hearing cases for its new term this week, after its customary summer recess. If this court term is anything like the most recent one, conservatives and constitutionalists will rejoice.

Not all open-borders subversives hide behind black bandanas and hurl Molotov cocktails. Sometimes, they wear three-piece suits or silk dresses. Most insidiously, the saboteurs of American justice wear black robes, wield gavels and enlist other officers of the court to help them perpetrate crimes instead of punish them.

EDITOR ’S NOTE: Terence Jeffrey is off this week. We hope readers will enjoy the following guest column by Oliver North and David Goetsch.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has done it again. In using already-appropriated government funds to fly 48 illegal alien Venezuelan migrants from San Antonio, Texas, to the tony blue enclave of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, DeSantis has once again demonstrated his mastery of the political game.

All the world’s a stage, especially two heated months before Election Day. So you’ll have to forgive me for not joining the theatrical media frenzy over Martha’s Vineyard being overrun by illegal aliens. It’s just another open-borders exhibition by both political parties that makes a miserable mockery of our country’s immigration policies.

The money earned by American households has grown enormously since 1967, when President Lyndon Baines Johnson was in office and the hippie generation was celebrating its so-called Summer of Love. The median household income in the United States that year was $50,803 in constant 2021 dollars, according to the Census Bureau’s newly released annual income report.