It’s hard to imagine that the armed forces can focus on such a major strategic reorientation when they are dealing with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s destabilizing political purges and his retrograde demands for increasing testosterone counts. Many of the topflight officers being cashiered by Hegseth, for no good reasons, are the very ones the armed forces need to adjust to the massive changes in the American way of war being necessitated by the drone revolution. wapo.st/4jsqNEo

Iran damaged US bases in the Mideast. Now imagine what China could do to U.S. bases in Japan, South Korea, Australia, the Philippines, Guam, even Hawaii. If most of those bases were knocked out of commission, even temporarily, it would cripple the U.S. ability to defend Taiwan. wapo.st/4jsqNEo

Because the Bahrain port was knocked out by Iran, the Navy had to rely on its base at Diego Garcia, 2,200 miles away, to supply the U.S. fleet in the Middle East. That increased the cost, and decreased the frequency, of supplies reaching the ships, while also making port calls too dangerous to contemplate. The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln spent a backbreaking nine months at sea. wapo.st/4jsqNEo

Reminds me of the apocryphal Lenin quote: "The capitalists will sell us the rope with which we will hang them."

I would have had “The Wire,” not “Breaking Bad,” as No 1 but No 2 ain’t shabby. The real injustice of this list is that “The Bureau” is No 54! It should be in the top 5. One of the greatest series ever! The explanation isn’t exactly convincing: “This crackerjack thriller about the lives of secret agents deserves to be higher on this list, but it’s French, so c’est la vie.” Why downgrade a series for being French??? And by the way why was the delightful “Call My Agent,” another French series, left off the list altogether? Sacre bleu! nytimes.com/interactive/2026…

Great overview of China’s manufacturing juggernaut: “Only Britain at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution and the United States following World War II have so dominated the global production of goods. China now accounts for 32 percent of global manufacturing value added, twice its share in 2010, and more than the combined total of the next four biggest manufacturing powers — the United States, Germany, Japan and South Korea — according to the U.N. Industrial Development Organization.” washingtonpost.com/business/…

As I wrote a few days ago in @PostOpinions, Trump doesn’t seem to notice that the bromance is entirely one-sided; Xi didn’t greet Trump at the airport when Trump went to Beijing. Yet, as a token of his unrequited friendship, Trump gave China access to powerful AI chips, paused a $14 billion arms sales to Taiwan, and offered excuses for China providing satellite imagery that enables Iran to target U.S. bases. wapo.st/4rwZif1

Why bother with the rule of law when you can just kill alleged criminals instead? No evidence needed.

As with Kim Jong Un, Trump doesn’t seem to notice that the bromance is entirely one-sided; Xi said nothing about being Trump’s pal. Yet, as a token of his unrequited friendship, Trump gave China access to Nvidia's 2nd most powerful AI chips and paused a $14 billion arms sales to Taiwan. Now he offers excuses for China (along with Russia) providing satellite imagery that enables Iran to target U.S. bases. wapo.st/4rwZif1