| | | | Today's read: 4 min 40 sec | Good morning! We missed sending out an email for the Fourth of July, but I wanted to share a quick thought after the long weekend: | America is the most important country in the world, not for its military, economic output, or cultural impact, but for the value of freedom that the founders deeply ingrained in it. | This freedom allows Americans to thrive, whether they've been here for generations or just arrived with hope and a willingness to work. | I'm grateful every day for the opportunities this land has provided to my family and community since my parents arrived here with nothing but a dream. Without this country, I would have been born somewhere where building a news outlet freely would have been impossible. | Through the work of Upward News and our small team of young, passionate Americans, we strive to help America stay true to the vision it was founded upon. | |
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| | | First time here? I'm Ari, and this is Upward News. Every day, we scour 100s of sources to bring you need-to-know news and insights you won't see in the MSM. Sign up here. |
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| | | WHAT WE'RE WATCHING | | 💥 President Biden said he's not going anywhere. The president declared on Friday, "Let me say this as clearly as I can: I'm the sitting President of the United States. I'm the nominee of the Democratic party. I'm staying in the race." Biden's intention to stay in the race is igniting sparks between himself and a growing number of Democrats who are urging him to step down. | 💰 Democratic donors pledged millions if Biden steps down. A group of wealthy Democratic donors has pledged $2 million to fund new debates among potential presidential candidates if Biden steps aside. This move is intended to have the Democratic base weigh into the decision and avoid a scenario where V.P. Kamala Harris is automatically chosen in an open convention. | 🗳 Democrats are banding together to prevent proof of citizenship to vote. House Democrats are unifying to oppose a Republican-backed SAVE Act that mandates proof of citizenship for voters in federal elections. Democrats claim to be opposing the bill to shore up election integrity because "there has been zero evidence of the widespread fraud that this bill purports to target." | 🇫🇷 The French far-left rallied to defeat the right. President Emmanuel Macron's center-left party joined forces with the far-left to create the New Popular Front, successfully preventing the right from winning an absolute majority in Parliament. However, the right-wing National Rally party secured an impressive 140 seats, which party leader Marine Le Pen declared a victory. |
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| | | WHAT WE'RE HEARING | Two radio stations confirmed they received questions from President Biden's campaign to ask him during their interviews. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) announced that he supports access to the abortion pill Mifepristone, aligning with President Trump's position. More senior Democrats are demanding President Biden step down including Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY).
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| | | IN THE LOOP | House Oversight Chair Rep. James Comer (R-KY) called on President Biden's doctor to publicly answer questions about the president's health and allegedly corrupt business schemes. The New Republic magazine's latest cover image is of President Trump made to resemble Adolf Hitler, comparing his 2024 campaign to the Nazi's fascist takeover. French leftists broke out into violent riots to celebrate their election wins. Nearly 100 people were shot in Chicago over the July 4 weekend, 17 fatally. Conservatives faced defeat in U.K. elections, but the populist-right achieved its own milestone. (Member-only) The most clicked link in our last newsletter was a CNN journalist allegedly praising terrorists and taking a picture with a senior Hamas leader.
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| | | GEOPOLITICS | How Hezbollah is igniting the Middle East | | Tensions are growing between Israel and Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based terror group After months of rocket attacks from Lebanon into Israel, the latter is preparing a wide-scale invasion of its northern neighbor A full-scale war between the two could reverberate throughout the entire region
| The story | The Israel-Hamas war has been, until now, mostly confined to Israel proper and Gaza. However, if recent reports are accurate, a new front may soon open in Lebanon through a potential conflict with the terrorist organization Hezbollah. | While Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, has fired rockets at Israel over the Lebanese border since Hamas's October 7 attack, tensions have ratcheted up in recent months to the degree that Western nations recently felt compelled to urge Hezbollah back from the proverbial ledge. | To understand how things got here, it's essential to understand the story of Hezbollah. Americans who have only casually followed events in Israel may still be somewhat familiar with the name, as the group has a long history; most famously for Americans, it was Hezbollah that oversaw the killing of nearly 300 U.S. Marines in Beirut in 1982. | The group is often portrayed as one of Iran's many octopus-like tentacles. The Shiite group was founded in the early 1980s amid Israel's occupation of parts of Lebanon by those loyal to Iran's clerical government and still receives funding from them — one U.S. estimate puts their yearly tab at around $700 million. | What makes Hezbollah fairly unique is that it is also a legitimate and active political party in Lebanon. Lebanon's government is a political balancing act, with power legally divided between Christians, who get the presidency; Sunni Muslims, who get the prime ministership; and Shiite Muslims, who get the parliamentary speakership. But while Hezbollah has worked with these groups since the early 1990s, it also has acted as a "state-within-a-state," providing its voters with social services. | But it also has a rather large militia, having about 50,000 soldiers at its disposal. It is also well-armed and has been responsible for firing rockets into Israel these past few months in claimed solidarity with Hamas. Ever since its formation, this militia and Israel have clashed repeatedly in open warfare, most recently in 2006 when Israel invaded Lebanon in retaliation for the kidnapping of two IDF soldiers. | Amid continued missile attacks from Hezbollah, Israel's government has approved plans for an invasion of Lebanon, though no wide-scale attack has yet been carried out. | The politics | Israel's left and right are united on opposing Hezbollah and would likely remain united if an expansion of the war was deemed necessary. Benny Gantz, a former defense minister and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's main rival, recently said Israel could "return the southern and northern residents back to their homes, even at the price of escalation." | Netanyahu swore to "restore security" to Israel's northern regions, which Hezbollah has been persistently attacking. His national security minister, firebrand Ben Gvir, openly called for war with Hezbollah, saying, "All Hezbollah strongholds should be burned." | Beyond the headlines | The mainstream media often follows a predictable pattern when violence breaks out around Israel. When Israel is initially attacked, as it was on October 7, the media offers its sympathy. However, once Israel counterstrikes, the devastating impact of the original attack is typically forgotten. | This pattern has already begun regarding Hezbollah, which, it bears repeating, has been striking Israel's north for months. After these strikes had continued for some time, a senior Hamas official — called one of the "architects" of the October 7 attack — was killed in Beirut, with Hamas blaming Israel. For this extremely targeted killing, The Guardian decided to blame the victim by declaring, "Israel is pushing Hezbollah to its limits." | This should seem bizarre to readers; the man killed was not a member of Hezbollah — he had overseen massacres of Israeli civilians, and the Israeli strike resulted in no civilian casualties. Yet, the attack is still portrayed as Israel being the cause of the problem. | Similarly, the United States has not been attacked directly by Mexico's cartels, yet almost every major GOP candidate for president wanted to wage war in Mexico. If the United States was actually being attacked with missiles, there would be no question as to how it would respond. Israel is held to higher standards by the international press. | Why it matters | The last time Israel attacked Hezbollah, in 2006, the entire war was finished in just over a month. This time, with both sides having prepared and grown in strength, the war could be significantly larger and potentially even involve Iran. With the entire Middle East on the brink of a regional conflict, tact and calculated decision-making will be essential as tensions run hot. | And though the United States has pledged to fully back Israel in the event of war, it has failed to do so in the past — and with President Biden facing a tough re-election bid, it is unlikely that the United States would commit to engaging in a widespread conflict. |
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| | Paid members can join the discussion | | | OUR QUESTION TO YOU | Should Israel de-escalate or wipe out Hezbollah?Poll results will be in tomorrow's newsletter. | | | POLL RESULTS FROM WEDNESDAY | Is the media's freakout over Biden overblown? | 🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 👍 Yes (149) | 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 👎 No (587) | ⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🤔 Unsure (32) | 👍 Yes: "It's fake. They knew all along and provided cover." — Pam 👎 No: "Not overblown, just way, way to little too late." — Charles 🤔 Unsure: "As the media is primarily responsible for creating the situation, playing "Chicken Little" at this point is disingenuous, at best. It appears to be nothing more than an attempt at damage control for their sullied reputations... But, it's too late. People are finally seeing how they've been blatantly lied to." — Andrew | | | | 768 votes |
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|  | See you tomorrow |
| Today's newsletter was written by Brandon Goldman, Anthony Constantini, and Ari David. | |
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