Opinion - Leland Vittert's War Notes: True Power

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NewsNation Chief Washington Anchor and On Balance host Leland Vittert was a foreign correspondent for four years in Jerusalem. He gives you an early look at tonight's 9 pm ET show. Subscribe to War Notes here.
No irony! Not to be outdone by his 'Sparticus' moment, Senator Cory Booker, D-N.J., is comparing his marathon Senate speech to Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech — his book 'Stand' is out in November.
Check out the cover of his new book about his marathon (without using the facilities) 'Stand,' and you'll understand what I mean.
Watch tonight: Famed entertainer and businessman Ice Cube joins us tonight.
Arthur C. Brooks writes in The Atlantic about why young people are so unhappy these days.
There is a rural versus urban divide here that comes into play.
Ice Cube will tell us how to help the least privileged among us focus on what matters to find happiness.
Role model: Ice Cube has been married to his wife for 33 happy years. Maybe he is onto something.
The president of the United States is often referred to as the most powerful man in the world.
How powerful? Well, remember all those pictures of Elon Musk at the Resolute Desk, the talk of a co-president and more?
Where is Musk now? He's on 'CBS Sunday Morning' and talking to the Washington Post, grasping for relevance and redemption.
'I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it,' he said to CBS.
'DOGE is just becoming the whipping boy for everything,' he told The Washington Post.
The liberal crew who loved Tesla still trash his cars — literally.
His SpaceX rocket exploded last night — many Americans rejoiced.
Trump and MAGA remain unchecked
Intrigue: Musk reportedly tried to kill a data center deal with the United Arab Emirates because his company wasn't included
Is that why Musk is suddenly so talkative?
It's not all bad — Tesla stock, the main source of his wealth, is up 101% in the last year.
But, he's not riding on Air Force One anymore, or staring in Oval Office press conferences.
We have not heard reports of his own cabin at Bedminster.
The world no longer hangs on his every word.
Like many who thought Trump needed them or were indispensable and irreplaceable, Musk is now grasping for relevance and redemption.
And for those keeping score, Trump is more powerful than ever.
Former President George W. Bush coined the phrase 'soft bigotry of low expectations' (OK, maybe it was his speech writer Michael Gerson), but now, 20 years late,r the city of San Francisco just went all in.
Public schools in San Francisco are considering 'grading for equity.'
Homework and class participation won't impact grade
Students can retake the final exam
Students can turn in assignments late
Attendance won't impact grade
Students can pass with a 'C' for grades 41% and up
Points for creativity: Even a 4th-grade Leland inventing his dream school couldn't have come up with this.
But seriously: Even if we assume good intentions by the most progressive, the real victims are the kids.
If underprivileged kids are taught that standards don't matter, how will they ever excel outside of the 'woke' world?
Common sense: Late today, the San Francisco Unified School District Superintendent issued a statement following the backlash against this policy, 'I have decided not to pursue this strategy for next year to ensure we have time to meaningfully engage the community. Right now we need to continue to focus on balancing our budget, stabilizing the district, and rebuilding trust.'
The San Francisco proposal joins the Seattle anti-Christian riot as one more big city disaster that Democrats will have to answer for.
I listen to a lot of news and read a lot too — have for decades. I just never understood how important Harvard is — especially its foreign students.
Things I have learned:
Without government-funded medical research at Harvard, everybody is going to die
All the international students will go to Beijing, and China will take over the world
A $53 billion endowment isn't that much — they really need federal money
Without foreign students paying full tuition, Harvard won't be able to function
Without academic freedom at Harvard, we may never know about important things like critical race theory
Without Harvard researchers figuring it out:
Normal folks won't know how privileged they are
We will never fully realize how feminist poetry contributed to oppressing lesbians in the 1970s
You get the idea.
Lots of powerful people went to Harvard, and many of their kids go to Harvard
But it's weird — all their powerfu,l rich alumni are on TV screaming about how important Harvard is, but I haven't heard any of them willing to open their wallets to 'save' the school
What I never ever realized is how good Harvard is at PR. They should stop reading their own press releases — they are not indispensable (just like Elon Musk).
Moreover, Harvard loves the fight with Trump as much as Trump loves the fight with them.
What they don't realize is that they will lose.
After all, Harvard is mostly just PR.
Tune into 'On Balance with Leland Vittert' weeknights at 9/8 CT on NewsNation. Find your channel here.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of NewsNation.
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