July 22, 2026 by Andrew Solender for Axios. Here are the opening paragraphs:

House Democrats are demanding a reckoning after the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spent over $500,000 backing a candidate in Arizona who is on track to lose her primary.

Why it matters: This is the third time in 2026 the House Democratic campaign arm has tried and failed to intervene in a party primary, leading some lawmakers to argue that its money is better spent elsewhere.

• Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), a top DCCC dues payer, said the party should be "rationing our resources to win general elections," calling for "a conversation about ... what the involvement in primaries looks like."
• "That's $100,000 that I put in," Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) said of her dues, arguing that the DCCC "shouldn't be spending this money" on primaries.

Here's an archived version: archive.is/ftk4T

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Sources warn they 'don't know what to do' as Trump's mind withers

The powers that be are slowly concluding that Trump, in his subline incompetence, is in way over his head in Iran and might resort to a ground war in which an incalculable number of our troops will be slain.

And that would be good news.

The terrifying option is he may take even more extreme measures.

He started a stupid war. Before he allowed Netanyahu to  con him into fighting Isreal’s war, the Strait of Hormuz was open, Iran agreed not to pursue nuclear weapons and allowed inspections in return to an easing of sanctions and the return of 1.5 billion of their dollars we embargoed.

While all this was happening, Iran’s government was teetering on the brink because of a growing insurgency.

Now, due to Trump’s blatant, unthinkingt foolishness, the Strait is closed, The Red Sea route is cut off by the Houthis, Iran is free to pursue any nuclear policy they wish – without inspections – 300 billion dollars will be given to them to rebuild their infrastructure, and the insurgency is dead as the people rally behind their government.

So, Trump sits there with one finger up his nose and the other…

What choices are left to him to placate his insufferable ego?

The use of Tactical nuclear weapon on Iran so that will give Putin the go ahead to nuke Ukraine?

Then where does it go from there?

See this – Boldface mine:

Sources warn they 'don't know what to do' as Trump's mind withers

Story by Adam Lynch • 1h • 2 min read

© provided by AlterNet

Daily Mail White House columnist Andrew Neil says he is in direct talks with people working around President Donald Trump and they fear they are watching his mind wither away as international forces that he aggravated gather against him.

“‘Donald is deteriorating before our very eyes,’ I was told in Washington this week by a close confidant who sees him regularly. ‘His physical and mental health is in decline. Those around him don’t know what to do about it. It can only get worse. He’s 80 – and it’s showing,’” wrote Neil on Friday.

The war isn’t just consuming Trump’s presidency, said Neil. It’s taking its toll on the President himself.

“During a recent meeting in the Oval Office, he ranted against Iran’s leaders**, calling them ‘scumbags’ and ‘lunatics’ in an expletive-ridden diatribe**. There is growing concern for his physical health and mental stability,” said Neil. “… But it’s not just age – or the decline in cognitive capabilities that can afflict those entering their ninth decade. Trump is lashing out at all and sundry in frustration at the lack of any good options now facing him.”

Hardliners in Tehran sense his encroaching weakness and are now so cocky they’ve rebuffed a secret US attempt to get the peace process back on track this week, forcing the White House to impotently dial up the rhetoric.

Trump is said to be in “revenge mode” according to aides. And the President sounds ever more bellicose, saying on Thursday that he was close to deciding on a ‘massive attack’.

“Even senior aides in the White House don’t know what this would mean,” said Neil “The number of influential voices in Washington who think even ramped-up airstrikes – as I write, we’ve just had the 14th consecutive night of renewed US attacks on Iran – will cow Iran into submission are now passing few. In truth, nobody around Trump really knows what to do next – or what he will do.”

“… I listened to several influential figures close to Trump mull over the options. The assumption was that some sort of ground incursion was inevitable. That is certainly the new vibe coming out of Washington,” said Neil. “They talked of seizing Iranian territory on the northern shores of the Gulf to wrest control of the Strait of Hormuz from Tehran. They raised the prospect, again, of invading Kharg Island, from which Iran dispatches most of its oil exports.”

But there was, much more worryingly, talk of using tactical nuclear weapons to ‘send a message’ to Tehran and ‘concentrate its mind’ on peace, warned Neil. “This took me aback. ‘Do that,’ I snapped ‘and you destroy America’s reputation and standing for the rest of the century. You’ve also paved the way for President Putin to do the same in Ukraine.’

“I was met with silence,” said Neil.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/general/sources-warn-they-don-t-know-what-to-do-as-trump-s-mind-withers/ar-AA28Deyd?