Rip's Power List #3

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Today’s Power List

Compiled by Jim Reynolds

Thursday, June 25

Note: The Power List is for readers who simply want a clean, curated collection of the best political and cultural articles from top authors and trusted publications.

For most readers, the 12–15 articles featured each week in Rip’s long-running Newsletter will be more than enough. The Power List is for those who want broader coverage and a deeper dive into the day’s most important stories.

The long-term plan is to offer the Power List as a benefit for paid subscribers. For now, however, as we continue onboarding the rest of our thousands of subscribers, I’m making it available free a couple of times each week.

Simply put, the Power List is a lean, curated list of the day’s top 25 political and cultural stories. Each selection includes a concise summary in the familiar voice you’ve come to expect, so you can stay informed in minutes instead of spending hours sorting through the news yourself.

We do the sorting. You save time. That’s our motto.

Laissez les bons temps rouler.

From London’s Tennis Courts to California, Aggressive Taxes Always Disappoint Veronique de Rugy, Townhall

This one knows the game: tax the goose, then act shocked when it flies off. Clean argument, good receipts, and the tennis angle gives it some snap instead of the usual spreadsheet coma. Could use a little more bite, but the point lands: people don’t stay put to be milked.

SCOTUS: Hawaii’s Concealed Carry Restriction Is Unconstitutional Shawn Fleetwood, Federalist

This one’s simple: the Court swatted down a bureaucratic booby trap and called it what it was. The ‘vampire rule’ sounds like something dreamed up by a committee that hates ordinary people and loves paperwork. Good news, but the real story is how long these little rights-eating schemes get to live before somebody with a robe and a spine kills them.

Can Washington’s Home Be Saved From Rogue Judges By July 4? Jeffrey H Anderson, Federalist

This one knows exactly where the knife goes. Rogue judge, activist museum, taxpayer nonsense — clean target, clean shot. Could use a little more sting, but it gets the job done without wandering off to admire its own shoes.

Brazil Backs Up Pro-Censorship Judge In Vendetta Against Rumble Margot Cleveland, Federalist

Here’s the modern trick: foreign censors, domestic courts, and everybody pretending it’s normal. The piece lays out the racket in plain English, which is rarer than it should be. Not a sermon. A paper trail with teeth.

☕️ LAW, ORDER, AND MEN IN BLACK☙ Thursday, June 25, 2026 ☙ C&C NEWS 🦠 Jeff Childers, Substack

This one has a pulse. It moves fast, throws elbows, and remembers the part where the media pretends the obvious never happened. A little carnival bark, sure, but the receipts are there and the contempt is earned.

SCOTUS: No, Illegals Don’t ‘Arrive’ In U.S. When They’re In Mexico Shawn Fleetwood, Federalist

This one does the job. Clean point, clean target, no fog machine. The Court says what common sense already knew: you don’t ‘arrive’ somewhere while you’re still standing in Mexico. Nice to see the law briefly remember geography.

Turkey: Hamas’s Safe Haven and the West’s Dangerous Blind Spot Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone

Turkey with the mask off. That’s the whole story, and it’s a nasty one. The West keeps calling this a partner while Hamas uses Turkish soil like a rented garage. Solid warning shot, though it could hit harder if it stopped bowing to the diplomatic fairy tale.

LA County Proposes to Seize Houses and Turn Them Over to Political Allies Daniel Greenfield, Frontpage

This one smells like old-fashioned machine politics wearing a homeless halo. The trick is simple: take property, hand it to the friends, call it compassion, and hope nobody notices the grift. They always say it’s about helping people. Funny how it keeps helping the same people twice.

Democrats Trying To Repeat History With FDR Court-Packing Ruse Sen Chuck Grassley, Federalist

This is the old con in a fresh suit. The history lesson is solid, and the warning is real: when the rules don’t help, the other side reaches for a crowbar. It’s a little too dutiful in spots, but the smell test is right where it should be.

This Is How You Know the Biden-Era Fentanyl Scandal Is Bad Cameron Arcand, Townhall

This one has a body count, not a talking point. The scandal is plain: the feds played roulette with poison and called it strategy. Good outrage, but it reads more like a news blast than a knife fight. Still, the receipt is there, and it stinks.

New: Long Island School Clerk Busted Destroying Ballots to Rig Election Ward Clark, RedState

This one’s simple: ballots in the trash, trust in the gutter. No fog, no fancy footwork — just the old election magic trick where the wrong people keep finding the right envelopes. Good reminder that the system doesn’t fail all at once. It gets nibbled to death by clerks with a favorite candidate and a dead conscience.

What the Reflecting Pool Reflects About America Daniel Greenfield, Frontpage

Now this has a pulse. It takes a stupid media obsession and shows you the machine behind it: what gets inflated, what gets buried, and who benefits from the distraction. That’s the game — algae in the pool, blood in Nigeria, and the press acting like the puddle is the crisis. Solid piece. Mean enough to matter, sharp enough to remember.

Why an “Unrepentant Terrorist” Got A Ringside Seat at Obama Opening Jack Cashill, Substack

Cashill brings the old receipts and doesn’t pretend the swamp forgot on accident. The Ayers-Obama thread is the kind of thing the press would rather bury under a pile of tasteful adjectives. Strong moral memory here. A little more tightening would help, but the stink trail is real and he follows it.

5 Killer Quotes From Alito’s Takedown Of Hawaii’s Gun Control Law Shawn Fleetwood, Federalist

It’s a quote roundup, so the lift is limited from the start. Still, the bones are solid: Hawaii tries to dress up a ban as ‘safety,’ and Alito swats it down with the Constitution. Not a revolution. Just the law showing up for work for once.

Border Win: SCOTUS Rules Migrants in Mexico Haven’t ‘Arrived’ in the US for Asylum Purposes Ben Smith, RedState

This is what happens when the law remembers what words mean. A migrant in Mexico is not magically in America because a lawyer waved a clipboard and said so. Clean win, solid ruling, but it’s still the same circus: common sense has to go to court to get a fair hearing.

Don’t Forget the Broader Context of the Iranian Memorandum Victor Davis Hanson, Townhall

Hanson does what the smart ones do: he yanks the camera back when everybody else is screaming at the close-up. The piece has backbone and memory, which is rare enough these days to qualify as a public service. It could tighten the middle, but the message is simple: don’t let the usual suspects turn every move into a moral panic before the dust even settles.

Trump: The Greater Risk Was Waiting Larry Elder, Townhall

This one knows where it’s going. The case is plain: waiting is how you get boxed in, and Iran wasn’t exactly knitting sweaters in the basement. It’s solid, but it leans on familiar Trump-defense rails when a sharper knife would’ve made the point stick harder.

If 340B is helping patients, why are hospitals fighting transparency? Joe Grogan, RCP Web

Good clean hit. The scam is simple: discount for the patient, markup for the hospital, and a fog machine for everybody else. Could use more bite, because this is exactly the kind of racket that survives when nobody asks, ‘Where did the money go?’

Calm Down About JD Vance Kurt Schlichter, Townhall

This has a spine. It doesn’t pretend the deal is pretty, just explains why the adults in the room are swallowing glass for now. The mullahs are still the mullahs, and nobody should confuse a pause with peace. Strong voice, but it leans on familiar war-talk when a sharper angle could’ve made the bruise last longer.

Socialist Primary Wins Prove Mass Migration Remakes America Brianna Lyman, Federalist

This is the part they always swore was impossible. Move the people, change the politics. Funny how the map keeps confessing what the experts denied with a straight face. Could hit harder if it stopped tiptoeing around the obvious and just said the quiet part out loud.

Senate GOP Ignores Trump’s Political Instincts On The SAVE Act M D Kittle, RCP Web

This has a clean target: Senate Republicans doing the usual surrender dance while Trump yanks the leash. That part lands. It’s got the right smell of swamp water and fake concern. Could use a sharper knife, but the receipt is there and the bill is overdue.

Former Disney CEO Iger Finally Admits What Everyone Knew About Jimmy Kimmel’s Toxic Charlie Kirk Rant Bob Hoge, RedState

This one’s a clean little mugging of the official story. Iger finally says the quiet part out loud: it wasn’t censorship theater, it was bad taste and a bad joke at a bad time. Not exactly a profile in courage, but it does leave a bruise on the people who spent months pretending the network was under siege by fascists.

Sorry, Mr. President, but the SAVE Act Isn’t Happening This Year Derek Hunter, Townhall

This one knows the score and says it plain: nice bill, wrong calendar. That’s the kind of reality check Washington hates, because reality doesn’t care about press releases or presidential moods. Could use a little more bite, but the point lands: if you can’t pass it, don’t sell it like it’s already in the bag.

Despite the 54th Anniversary of Title IX, Men Are Still Competing in Women’s Sports Macy Charles, Townhall

This one knows the scandal and names the players. Good. But it reads like a press release with a pulse. The facts are doing the heavy lifting while the prose stands there in sensible shoes. The outrage is real. The bite could be meaner.

Herding the GOP Cats Nate Jackson, Patriot Post

This is the kind of political babysitting America pays for. The point is clear: Trump’s using the bill like a cattle prod, and the Senate’s acting like it lost the remote. Solid read, but it plays a little too neat — like the circus can be managed if everybody just behaves. That’s cute. Washington doesn’t behave. It invoices.