The Daily Briefing highlights the news of the day and research that reveals the spirit of the day.
The Daily Briefing is a newsletter sent straight to your inbox every morning that provides biblical insight on today's news.
Top News
6. MAGA candidate Paxton trounces Senate stalwart Cornyn in Texas primary (WaPo)
“Four-term Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who once came close to becoming majority leader in the Senate, lost a primary challenge to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Tuesday, ending a bitter race driven by a MAGA insurgency that ballooned into the most expensive Senate primary in history. Cornyn became the second Republican senator to lose his seat in less than two weeks after President Donald Trump endorsed against him. Before Sen. Bill Cassidy (R) lost in the Louisiana primary earlier this month, no senator in either party had lost a primary since 2017.
“Cornyn’s defeat ends a storied career in Texas and national politics. He was nearly elected Senate majority leader in 2024, was a close confidant to former Republican leader Mitch McConnell (Kentucky) and had never lost an election in his state before Tuesday. Paxton, however, had been leading in public polling for months, capturing the state’s Republican base by accusing Cornyn of being a “Republican in Name Only.” He secured a major boost when Trump endorsed him over Cornyn a week before the runoff.”
What does Pres. Trump, Taylor Swift, and Ken Paxton have in common? One researcher likened supporters of the president to the fans of the current mother of pop. Similar to Swift fans, Trump supporters exhibit collective effervescence, which was coined by Émile Durkheim to describe how a community comes together to communicate shared thoughts and behave in a similar manner. With Swift, that means singing songs, purchasing merchandise, and attending concerts. Relative to Mr. Trump, that includes attending rallies, advocating for him in the public square, and voting for the candidates he endorses… like Mr. Paxton.
Are there limits to loyalty? Ken Paxton has a problematic past, but according to research out of Princeton, his past lapses may not merit present defections. The study found that while partisan loyalty is strong, it is finite. As long as the candidate doesn’t deviate on 4 or more issues, the average voter will support the candidate.
Be careful with leadership selection… From the anger of Moses to the lack of a moral compass with Saul, the Scriptures are littered with imperfect leaders. The heaviness of leadership often causes ethical lapses, which is why Jethro told Moses to be careful in selecting leaders. He advised Moses to select individuals who were capable, trustworthy, and spurn ill-gotten gain. In this highly partisan era when loyalty often trumps integrity, the character of a potential leader isn’t everything, but it should still mean something. (Ex. 18)
5. Iran threatens to retaliate after US strikes on launch sites and boats (CNN)
“The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps threatened to retaliate after the US carried out what it described as “self-defense strikes” on Iranian missile launch sites and boats around the Strait of Hormuz. The IRGC also claimed that 25 vessels, including oil tankers, transited Hormuz during the “last day and night.”
“The US and Iran are working toward a memorandum of understanding, but disputes over language concerning Iran’s nuclear program and sanctions have held up a deal… Internet activity in Iran has been partially restored following a monthslong blackout, according to watchdog NetBlocks.
“Israeli airstrikes killed 31 people in Lebanon on Tuesday, Lebanon’s health ministry said, marking one of the deadliest days since the ceasefire in the country took effect in April. It comes as Israel began ground operations north of its self-declared military security zone in southern Lebanon, an Israeli military official said.”
Nelly Furtado is Like A Bird, but what kind? Karim Sadjadpour of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace compares Iran to a vulture, in that it thrives on chaos, “finding opportunity not in success but in conflict and on the carcasses of failing states.” The UAE and other countries in the region have positioned themselves as falcons, known for their vision and precision. For the past 5 decades, they have tried to govern like a falcon, “building soaring companies, skyscrapers, and cities at a breakneck pace.”
In such a world, which bird ends up on top? “Ultimately, the war’s legacy in the Middle East will not be settled by what Iran signs or what Trump declares. It will be judged by which vision prevails: a forward-looking model of economic dynamism, or a backward-looking obsession with ideological grievance. Trump’s war has thus far generated the instability on which the Islamic Republic feeds, and imperiled the stability on which the UAE depends.”
Falcons, Vultures, and Eagles, oh my... In the Scriptures, God is compared to an eagle, a source of strength and deliverance. And for some Iranian Christians, this is proving to be true. Earlier this week, an Iranian Christian shared with CT how he announced his faith in Christ to his family years ago, but they threatened to inform the police on him. His uncle went further by saying he would watch his eventual hanging in person. However, since the attacks, the uncle has called and said he wants to learn more about Jesus. “We do not see this as a war, but as a rescue operation.” It is impossible to predict if the falcon or the vulture triumphs in this war, but we do know that we can trust the eagles’ wings. (Ex. 19, Is. 40)
4. South Carolina Senate rejects Trump's call to redraw congressional map (CBS News)
“As early in-person voting began Tuesday in South Carolina's primaries, the state Senate rejected a Republican plan to cancel those congressional votes and instead schedule a new primary under revised districts designed to help the GOP oust a longtime Democrat. Some senators said it was simply too late to make a change. "South Carolina citizens are going to the polls today. And neither my conscience or common sense is going to let me stop an election that is already underway," GOP state Sen. Richard Cash said.
“The political drama in South Carolina is part of a Republican strategy — propelled by Mr. Trump — to redraw voting districts to the GOP's advantage in an attempt to hold on to a slim House majority in the midterm elections. Republicans have been moving quickly to try to leverage a recent Supreme Court ruling that weakened minority protections under the federal Voting Rights Act.”
Before Pres. Trump, there was then Pres. Woodrow Wilson. Back in 1908, Wilson attempted to influence the states toward his preferred ends. He noted: “It cannot, indeed, be settled by the opinion of any one generation, because it is a question of growth, and every successive stage of our political and economic development gives it a new aspect, makes it a new question."
Resistance has been a core feature of this experiment since the founding. In Federalist No. 46, James Madison noted how “the federal and State governments are in fact but different agents and trustees of the people, constituted with different powers, and designed for different purposes." In Federalist No. 51, he shared how this division of powers is a "double security,” intended to protect the “rights of the people.” Later on, Calvin Coolidge opined that “unless bureaucracy is constantly resisted, it breaks down representative government and overwhelms democracy.”
Life is a series of choices that eventually write our biography. David chose comfort and fell; Ruth chose commitment and rose; Rehoboam chose bad advice and collapsed. While it only takes a moment to make a decision, as the South Carolina Senate has done, it often takes a while to see its impact. As Robert Louis Stevenson noted: "Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant." (2 Sam. 11, Ruth 1, 1 Kings 12)
Cultural News
3. Typing Is Being Replaced by Whispering—and It’s Way More Annoying (WSJ)
“What was once a sacred nightly routine—putting the toddler to bed, collapsing onto the couch and opening their laptops to finish their work in peace—had become anything but peaceful. Instead of typing quietly, Amkraut Mueller started to hold down the function key and talk in hushed tones to her computer.
“Amkraut Mueller, who runs her own artificial-intelligence business in Seattle, is hooked on Wispr Flow, a dictation app that users are pairing with coding tools like Claude Code and Codex to turn rambling, stream-of-consciousness prompts into coherent, usable text in seconds. Efficient, yes. Annoying, you bet.
“Dictation isn’t new technology, but until recently it hardly worked well enough to fulfill basic tasks. Apps like Wispr can now edit text in near real time, improving grammar and tone… Those features have helped earn it a cult following. LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, a power user, has called himself “voicepilled.”
Talk To Me? More like whisper at me, Stevie Nicks. Interestingly enough, a study found that artificially-intelligent digital assistants are not making adult humans ruder to other humans… yet. The researchers suggested that this could be due to their current form, which is not personified enough by adult users to affect human-to-human interactions.
According to a recent study, 69 percent of Gen Zers say "please" and "thank you" when speaking to ChatGPT. However, every word sent to the AI requires computing power to process and respond to, including names. According to a Goldman Sachs report on data center power, a Google search consumes 0.3 watt-hours of electricity; one ChatGPT search consumes 2.9 watt-hours. Another study estimated that a ChatGPT question consumed about 5 times more electricity than a quick web search.
We find ourselves in a disruptive age, when we are using greater amounts of energy to talk to computers more and people less. In such a time, while technology has changed, our command to love and be considerate of our neighbor hasn't. In this instance, whispering can be annoying, making love challenging. However, as Bob Goff rightly noted: “The kind of love that God created and demonstrated is a costly one because it involves sacrifice and presence. It's a love that operates more like a sign language than being spoken outright.” (1 Jn. 3, Phil. 2)
News You Can Use
2. You Finally Understand Why Dad Was Always Grumpy
Watch it here. “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” (Mt. 22:21)
1. Topeka students make grand prom entrance in Wienermobile
Watch it here. “Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.” (Pro. 22:29)
