Fast Takes: Brazilian president’s lousy Beijing bet, Israel’s not the problem and more

Latin beat: Lula’s Lousy Beijing Bet

“Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has intensified his confrontation with the US and his reliance on Communist China — a strategy that could seriously jeopardize Brazil’s economy, security, and sovereignty,” warns Arturo McFields at The Hill. The leftist leader’s embrace of “panda bonds” and “yuan as currency” will limit Brazil’s “financial freedom to sell to countries other than the communist power.” Joint space-related ventures will enable Beijing to “improve military capabilities” in a US sphere of influence. Lula’s China ploy is high- risk: Tying Brazil’s “telecommunications, space security, trade and now bonds” to Beijing’s “economic fluctuations” will “leave Brazilian finances vulnerable.” Upshot: “Confrontation with the US is both futile and unnecessary, but dependency on Beijing puts Brazil’s economy at risk and endangers the security of the Americas.”

Mideast watch: Israel’s Not the Problem

Sam Harris won’t debate his support for Israel, the podcaster explains at his Substack, because no Jewish state’s “failings” come close to altering the facts that “the ethical difference between Israel and her enemies remains vast,” “militant Islam is 10 times worse than you think” and “the global preoccupation with the Jewish state” is “contemptible.” The world’s obsession with Israel, “and the double standards to which its people are held,” are core to the “shape-shifting moral affliction” of antsemitism. That matters, because antisemites “bring censorship, political repression, conspiracy thinking,” dehumanization and scapegoating. Decrying antisemitism isn’t “special pleading” but “a defense of the moral and institutional architecture” that free societies require.

Culture critic: The Paradox of Colorblindness

They’re welcome but “incomplete”: “Two recent Supreme Court decisions — on affirmative action and on voting rights — have clarified something profound about American public life,” explains Glenn Loury at Unherd. Since its founding, the nation has tried “simultaneously to transcend race and to manage its consequences” — and both efforts must continue. It’s “the paradox of colorblindness”: Our “endless racial accounting risks weakening common citizenship,” but a colorblind approach obscures the “realities that shape unequal outcomes.” The real challenge “isn’t simply legal,” “it is civic and developmental” — as “indifference to the roots of racial inequality is actually inconsistent with achieving colorblindness in the conduct of our public affairs.”

Fraud patrol: Corruption = Dems’ Gift to GOP

JD Vance’s “Fraud Czar” role could becomehis “biggest asset,” argues JT Young at RealClearPolitics, because “defrauding the federal government is big business,” and ought to be “an even bigger political issue.” “Overpayments” fraud alone runs $186 billion at a minimum, and the details are “alarming.” Minnesota’s “vast fraud network” stole “an estimated $9 billion,” with some cash “funneled abroad and possibly to a terrorist group.” Republicans would be smart to “run against corruption because Democrats have given them the issue,” which builds on “longstanding Republican themes” such as “reducing spending,” “cutting the deficit and debt,” “enforcing the law” and “eliminating unnecessary programs.” Fighting fraud “gives Republicans a resonant message of getting government’s house in order.”

Conservative: Judging Don’s NBC Walkout

Many news outlets reported that President Trump “abruptly ended” an interview with “Meet the Press,” when in reality he left after Kristen Welker “challenged his claims that the 2020 election . . . was ‘rigged,’” notes USAToday’s Nicole Russell. Trump fired back, “your elections are crooked and you’re crooked, and ‘Meet the Press’ is crooked,” leaving Democrats to deem him “hostile to accountability” — but the prez is hardly “alone in his skepticism.” A 2026 study found “57% of Americans have little confidence in journalists to act in the public’s best interests”; a 2025 one showed 92% of major news outlets reported negatively on Trump’s first 100 days in office. He has given “unprecedented access” to legacy news outlets, though most “approach Republicans with left-leaning bias.” To conservatives, Trump’s walkout says more about “the chasm between the press, partisan politics and the public,” than his temper.

— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board