Insights
Join 450+ former national security and intelligence officials as they break down today's most complex issues. Bound by a shared oath to defend the Constitution, The Steady State provides the expert commentary you need to navigate uncertain times.
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Civic Witness Series - Questions from the Attic
What Does Healthy Patriotism Actually Look Like in 2026?
“According to the Lawyers”
When the people charged with enforcing the rules become the people finding ways around them.
We Built It for 80 Years. We’re Dismantling It in Months.
Diplomatic power took generations to build. The damage being done now could take generations to repair.
Kill the Courier. Pardon the Kingpin
Seventy strikes, 234 dead, billions spent—and a drug war that is neither working nor following the law.
Civic Witness Series - Questions from the Attic
What patterns are quietly keeping you up at night right now?
Ban the Critics. Feed the Loyalists.
Trump's fight with the press is something bigger than a media feud.
Hold Fast: The Power and Dangers of Emergency Authority
Seven questions voters should ask about presidential emergency power.
Democracy Doesn’t Die When Strongmen Take Power. It Dies When We Accept Them.
The warning from Paraguay is not about one protest. It is about what happens when power becomes more important than institutions.
The Post Came Down. The Message Didn’t.
What a deleted DHS post reveals about how the government speaks—and whom it tells us to fear.
Crisis is the key test of leadership
When the stakes are highest, character matters more than rhetoric, bravado or blame.
The Troops Aren’t Supposed to Be There
The Constitution, federal law, and military tradition all draw a line between protecting the country and policing the ballot box.
The Enemy Next Door
Canada has been America’s neighbor, trading partner, and military ally for generations. So why the hostility now?
Twelve Years of Warnings. Now Iran.
America saw the threats coming. It failed to build the arsenal needed. And we attacked Iran anyway
Civic Witness Series - Questions from the Attic
What patterns are quietly keeping you up at night right now?
It wasn’t meant to be like this
After 9/11, America built institutions to make us safer without sacrificing the freedoms we were defending. Twenty-five years later, those lessons are being forgotten.
Hold Fast: Political Corruption
Charles A. Ray, and Kishla Askins
Political influence becomes a national-security concern when relationships, financial interests, and foreign connections become difficult to see.
I Had Time to Be Angry
What happened after 9/11 taught me something about loneliness, belonging, and the power of an open door.
Not So Fast
The Supreme Court puts the brakes on a last-minute overhaul of mail-in voting before the 2026 midterms.