RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.frontpagemag.com/the-re-emergence-of-american-culture/

What must Thomas Cole have seen when, in 1825, he first gazed upon the Hudson River Valley for the first time, and later as he ventured into the Adirondacks? The natural beauty is stunning, just begging to be put on canvas. Or Albert Bierstadt, upon leaving his native northern Germany and crossing the American continent, to gaze upon the Rockies and all the way to the great Sierras of California? Or Walt Whitman, who in traveling across this great land, found his heart bursting with the beauty of America and so brilliantly put it to verse?

To the first explorers, settlers, farmers, artists who arrived from Europe, America was a blank canvas begging to be put to story and verse, to be painted and built upon a style that was uniquely American. And that they did.

America was all ambition, the promised land; it was the Garden of Eden remade, the City on a Hill, biblical — almost literally — or seen that way by the early arrivals and into the 19th Century. America was truly formed in the 1800’s, from birth to tumult and war, to the Golden Age of American growth and destiny. America became itself as the 19th Century closed. All the promise, the dreams, the unrealized potential, the stunning growth of our great country is an astonishing story unlike that of any other nation or people in world history.

How this was portrayed, written, painted, designed and put to verse and song is an untold story that begs to be told. And given the attacks that American culture faces today, it desperately needs to be told.

America excelled in the areas of art, architecture, literature and poetry in a way that is at least the equal of the Europe that we came from. Just to cover one of these areas — art — gives us a glimpse of this incredible beauty that is vital to our history and of the American story.

Thomas Cole and Albert Bierstadt are just two of the world-renowned artists that painted America in the 19th Century. They, along with Frederic Edwin Church, Asher Brown Durand, and so many others majestically put to canvas the beauty of the American landscape and at their very best are at least the rival of the great English landscape artists John Constable and J.M.W. Turner. But how many of today’s students even know these names?

Cole, one of the founders of what became known as the Hudson River School movement, saw as his mission to create an “American” landscape vision and literary voice that was based on the exploration of nature – the natural world defined as a resource for spiritual renewal and as an expression of cultural and national identity.

https://amgreatness.com/2025/08/25/what-made-the-democratic-party-go-crazy/

The answer was not Trump alone.

Indeed, irony abounds when Democrats resonate with the claims of the vestigial Never Trumpers that the MAGA movement “hijacked” the Republican Party.

In characteristic projectionist fashion, the left is simply falsely attributing to their opposition the very hijacking that hit the Democratic Party.

The Republicans are still the party of conservatism and traditionalism. But in the last decade, it adopted an expansionary middle-class agenda that has led to record party registration, its first popular presidential vote victory since 2004, and control of all three branches of government.

The MAGA emphases also have accomplished what prior “moderate” Republican presidents and presidential candidates had sought but largely failed to achieve: making inroads with minorities and youth and substituting class commonalities for racial chauvinism.

Thus, in 2024, 55 percent of Hispanic men and somewhere around 25 percent of black males voted for Trump—along with a +2 advantage for Trump among young men in general (18-29).

In contrast, Joe Biden left office with below 40 percent popularity in many polls. His replacement, 2024 Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, despite a substantial advantage in funding and overwhelmingly biased, favorable media coverage, lost both the popular and Electoral College vote.

Since the election, a variety of data points show a steady erosion in Democrat Party favorability (24 percent positive polling) and voter registration (for the first time in memory, Republicans are out-registering hemorrhaging Democrats in new voter affiliations).

They are also on the losing end of a 40/60 split among voters on most issues—especially the border, energy, crime, transgenderism, and foreign policy—a truth that even the legacy media cannot disguise.

The Democratic implosion does not necessarily mean they will not win back the House in the next election. Historically, it is difficult for even an unpopular out-party not to pick up lots of House and Senate seats in an administration’s first midterm. But if Democrats capture at least the House, the vote will not be for their party’s policies or politicians as much as a reflection of their ginned-up opposition to Trump, the messenger of a radical and controversial counterrevolutionary message.

The Democratic project is bleeding out because it either does not address what the middle class is worried about, or it offers no solution to popular anger—namely over inflation, the out-of-control DEI commissariat, illegal immigration, crime, high energy prices and tyrannical Green New Deal policies, steep interest rates, unaffordable housing costs, and anemic foreign policies.

https://www.city-journal.org/article/california-colorado-washington-oregon-decline

Not long ago, Colorado, Washington, and Oregon were widely hailed as states with bright futures. For decades, they attracted scores of out-of-state migrants, turning Denver, Seattle, and Portland into celebrated urban hubs.

But that changed as these states began adopting the very policies—above all on energy, housing, and regulation—that many newcomers had fled from in California. Once politically purple, Colorado, Washington, and Oregon have turned solid blue, embracing the same agenda that even the New York Times concedes has turned “the California dream” into “a mirage.”

True, Colorado, Washington, and Oregon have yet to reach California’s levels of dysfunction. Yet each shows signs suggestive of the Golden State’s experience, including lower job growth, sluggish housing-construction rates, a deteriorating business climate, and surging domestic out-migration.

The shift in migration patterns may be the clearest sign of the three states’ Californication. Like California, these states long attracted newcomers with their remarkable natural beauty. People only began leaving California—still arguably the most beautiful state in the continental U.S., with some of the most pleasant weather on earth—when its political, economic, and cultural climate became unbearable, especially for young families.

https://issuesinsights.com/2025/08/25/despite-recent-good-news-the-public-remains-sour-on-the-economy-ii-tipp-poll-finds/

Inflation may have moderated, and the economy is showing signs of healthy growth, but the public remains deeply concerned about both, according to the latest I&I/TIPP poll.

The poll found that fully 80% of those surveyed by I&I/TIPP say they are either “very” (45%) or “somewhat” (35%) concerned about inflation. Just 17% say they are not concerned. That’s despite the fact that inflation has averaged just 2.6% this year – which is significantly lower than any year under the Biden administration – and came in lower than expected in July.

And while the economy grew a healthy 3% in the second quarter – which was better than expected – only 38% say the economy is improving, and more than three quarters (76%) say they are concerned about an economic slowdown or recession in the next 12 months.

The latest I&I/TIPP poll asked a series of questions to gauge the public’s views about whether the economy is in a recession, if it’s improving, concerns about inflation, whether their wages are keeping pace with prices, and the top three economic issues facing the economy. The national online I&I/TIPP Poll was taken by 1,362 voters from July 30-Aug. 1, and has a margin of error of is +/-2.7 percentage points.

The results show that most Americans remain highly troubled about the cost of living and are concerned about the near-term trajectory of the economy.

Concerns about inflation, for example, cross all ideological and demographic boundaries. While 90% of Democrats say they are concerned about inflation over the next 12 months, so are 71% of Republicans and 79% of independents. In fact, concern about inflation topped 70% in every one of the dozen demographic categories the I&I/TIPP Poll tracks.