Wednesday Morning Briefing

A little of this, a little of that, including Thomas Aquinas on hot dogs.

• Like most sensible people, I’m watching the market meltdown with a mix of anxiety and opportunism. I’ve actually been buying the last few days. Like Warren Buffett the last 18 months, I’ve been a net seller, keeping cash in short t-bills and waiting for a market pullback. I even has some S&P puts, but I sold them a couple weeks ago at a decent profit, but missed out on the mayhem of this last week, which is what they were designed for.

But I spotted an article in Barron’s yesterday that brought fresh anxiety: “Trump Is Wrecking U.S. Energy Dominance.” This would be a bad thing if true. The article begins:

Less than 100 days into his second term, President Donald Trump has managed to do what the U.S. competitors never could: unilaterally crush our energy advantage.

But then I checked the author byline: “Carolyn Kissane is the associate dean of the NYU-School of Professional Studies Center for Global Affairs, and the founding director of the SPS Energy, Climate Justice and Sustainability Lab.”

Yep—a green Kool Aid drinker; no one need take such a person seriously.

• Thomas Aquinas weighs in on the question of whether the hot dog is a sandwich:

• Europe is close to the point of no return:

“Far right.”

• If was Chuck Schumer—well, I’d be a miserable human being, but besides the obvious—I’d be worried about this:

If I were the Democratic Party—well, I’d be insane, but besides this—I’d be worried that AOC is going to be the George McGovern of 2028:the unstoppable force that grabs the Dem nomination for president. Bernie is clearly trying to pass the torch.

A few smart Democrats understand this. See “The False Promise of AOC” at the Liberal Patriot Substack.

• Well this is certainly embarrassing:

• And finally, some fresh memes to get you through your day: