Father Henry Stephan is one of the heroes of "Communion," the new book from Vice President J.D. Vance. Father Stephan was integral to the Vice President’s journey into the welcoming pews of the Catholic Church.

Even if you don’t buy "Communion," if you pass it displayed in an airport shop or find yourself in our dwindling number of actual bookstores, turn to page 163 and read the good Father’s additional explanation to the statement that "for most of us, grace is not something that happens in a moment."

"You don’t feel God’s presence and then change in an instant," begins Father Stephan’s longer explanation. But to quote him further would be to rob you of some of the surprising clarity of his explanation of "the road map to God." More of Father Stephan’s full reflection on grace might discourage you from actually reading the whole of Communion — which is actually four stories, artfully woven into one book.

'THE VIEW' CO-HOST WARNS AGAINST VANCE INTERVIEW BECOMING 'FREE-FOR-ALL' TO SELL BOOKS

The first story, and the one which stretches across all of its pages, is the Vice President’s lifelong quest to either accept or reject the idea of God and, having accepted it, the further account of how he landed in the Roman Catholic Church. Mass-attending "cradle Catholics" are likely to know at least a few converts, and their stories are often unique and uplifting. This one is most definitely that.

The second story is simply a love story. The Vice President recounts in loving detail how he fell — hard — for his wife Usha and how the beer-drinking Marine/Ohio State Buckeye-turned-Yale Law School hyper-ambitious-striver tricked the future clerk to Chief Justice John Roberts into moving to Cincinnati and marrying him.

There is also a third portion, a short but disquieting sharp meditation (at least to this Boomer because the VP may be right) on how Boomers may be overly attached to the assumptions about the West they were born into and have long believed and defended.

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That vision of the West actually succeeded in its long contest with the Soviet Union. That the principles and assumptions behind that success may now be an unconscious burden a that older generation, is a disquieting thought. The Boomer generation is well represented in the Senate from which the Vice President came, even after the sad passing of Senator Lindsey Graham. The Vice President suggests we ought to at least consider the cost of over-valuing the prized "the rules-based world order", which may in fact be gone and not coming back. A reader doesn’t have to be persuaded by that mediation to at least give it some much-needed consideration.

The Vice President’s succinct critique of what may be the sunk costs weighing on my generation may actually stop and oblige some "Reagan conservatives" to wonder for the first time about that possibility. That clutch of pages punches hard.

Most of my generation was indeed blind to what the global economy was doing to America’s heartland even as it super-charged China’s totalitarian quasi-empire expanded its power and unveiled its ambitions. The battle with the Soviet bloc was indeed existential, but it was also conclusively won.

VANCE CALLS SCOTUS BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP RULING A 'MAJOR MISTAKE,' WARNS OF MORE BIRTH TOURISM

The collective sigh of relief and joy over the liberation of tens of millions when the Wall came down in 1989 and the USSR dissolved in 1991 may have, indeed, blinded those in the front rank of the fight as well as those at the tail end that the struggle to preserve "Western Christian civilization" had not ended with the fall of the wall, and that the rules of that long twilight battle may have changed if not evaporated. The recent and ongoing battle with Iran’s fanatical theocrats is a sharp reminder of the never-ending effort to preserve that treasury of that civilization unique to the West, one anchored in the Judeo-Christian worldview, but the threats it and its senior partners, China and Russia, are at least different in degree and maybe in kind.

Then there are occasional political riffs effortlessly woven into the book, each of which is integral to the story, but could each stand alone as the proposition for an Oxford Union debate, e.g. "Resolved: Western Civilization’s embrace of unrestricted immigration may have been, if not suicidal, then at least deeply and recklessly dangerous to its foundations." These are more reflections of a Catholic Christian than of a Republican politician, as is the brief but essential reflection on the widespread substitution of economic theory in the places where faith traditions once provided worldviews.

"One of the jobs of a Christian statesman," the Vice President writes, "is to preserve the social cohesion that makes charity and generosity possible." That is not the rhetoric of a stump speech, but the sort of conclusion one would expect from contemporary Christian essayists Rod Dreher or Ross Douthat, who are featured in the book.

As are St. Augustine, G.K. Chesterton, Rene Girard, and Pope Leo XIII. Who knew that a symposium on "Theology and Falsification" between Anthony Flew, R. M. Hare, and Basil Mitchell would challenge the reader to slow down and take a few passes over the text (and to look up and bookmark for later the transcript)?

This book is not the work of ghostwriters on a campaign timeline, but a spiritual biography that could actually spur many in the Vice President’s generation to actually articulate and grapple with the problems of meaning in an achievement-driven world, one that is changing at a pace so dizzyingly fast that young parents especially can be excused the raft of genuinely new fears that are additions to those fears felt by every generation of young parents. (You don’t actually have to have taken an 18 hour plane flight with three smalls to understand the Veep’s quip that there are more modern descriptions of Hell than a "lake of fire.")

For many recent decades, the heavy lifting of accessible writing about faith and public life has come from Douthat, Dreher, Ryan Anderson, Fran Maier, George Weigel and especially the now retired Archbishop of Philadelphia Charles Chaput.

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Before Archbishop Chaput and these elegant writers, there was Michael Novak and before him there was even the extraordinarily successful, in hindsight, Bishop Fulton Sheen’s television program. Pope (now Saint) John Paul II and Pope Benedict launched a thousand essays with their book-length works and their encyclicals inspired a new generation of vocations. Vice President Vance does not for a moment consider himself a theologian, but he is in the tradition of writers about faith who spur others to consider that, just perhaps, they ought to look further into this particular world.

(The Vice President, it is important to note, does not shy away from the horror of the Church’s awful scandal of the sexual abuse of children by priests but is rightfully outraged by it and persuasively condemnatory of those complicit in it and its cover-up. Good for him.)

Throughout the book, though, there is a much-needed reminder that the marriages, children and multi-generational families that most likely to flourish in this wildly spinning world are those deeply rooted in the traditional Christian practice that has long defined America. And might yet again. Especially if more public figures thought as deeply and wrote as honestly about Jesus and the Church as does the Vice President.

The Vice President’s book tour did not often even pause on the substance of the book and the eternal questions of the purpose of man. For the benefit of would-be readers: "Communion" is not a book about political platforms or policy prescriptions. It is for Catholics, the Catholic-curious, or anyone interested in what comes after this one. If only to understand how such a search can unfold, "Communion" is an excellent addition to your nightstand.

Hugh Hewitt is a Fox News contributor and host of "The Hugh Hewitt Show" heard weekday afternoons from 3 PM to 6 PM ET on the Salem Radio Network, and simulcast on Salem News Channel. Hugh drives Americans home on the East Coast and to lunch on the West Coast on over 400 affiliates nationwide, and on all the streaming platforms where SNC can be seen. He is a frequent guest on the Fox News Channel’s news roundtable, hosted by Bret Baier weekdays at 6pm ET. A son of Ohio and a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Michigan Law School, Hewitt has been a Professor of Law at Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law since 1996 where he teaches Constitutional Law. Hewitt launched his eponymous radio show from Los Angeles in 1990. Hewitt has frequently appeared on every major national news television network, hosted television shows for PBS and MSNBC, written for every major American paper, has authored a dozen books and moderated a score of Republican candidate debates, most recently the November 2023 Republican presidential debate in Miami and four Republican presidential debates in the 2015-16 cycle. Hewitt focuses his radio show and his column on the Constitution, national security, American politics and the Cleveland Browns and Guardians. Hewitt has interviewed tens of thousands of guests from Democrats Hillary Clinton and John Kerry to Republican Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump over his 40 years in broadcasting. This column previews the lead story that will drive his radio/ TV show today.

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A 42-year-old illegal immigrant convicted of repeatedly raping a child was awarded a pardon by Gov. Tim Walz’s board of pardons after the state’s clemency commission recommended it be granted to him due to "immigration concerns."

Fox News Digital reviewed documents from the Minnesota Clemency Review Commission, which voted four to two to grant a pardon to Laotian national Tue Lue Vang following his conviction for criminal sexual conduct. Vang admitted to repeatedly raping a girl over a multi-year period beginning when she was 10 years old. While the two board members who voted against granting a pardon noted the serious nature of Vang’s offenses, the four members recommending a pardon each listed concern about him being deported.

One commissioner, Zach Linstrom, who voted in favor of granting the pardon, wrote in his recommendation, "Very tough case but the kids not having a father is not in the best interest of society," referring to Vang’s six children. Artika Roller, another commissioner who voted in favor of the pardon, wrote, "The applicant stated the need for clemency related to immigration issues."

Following the commission’s recommendation, the Minnesota Board of Pardons, which consists of Walz, state Attorney General Keith Ellison and Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Natalie Hudson, awarded Vang a full pardon on June 10, essentially giving him a clean slate as he was set to be deported.

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At the time of the pardon, Homeland Security Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis remarked that "Governor Tim Walz's decision to pardon an illegal alien convicted child rapist so he can remain in our country is disgusting."

"These are the criminal illegal aliens he and his Minnesota sanctuary politicians are protecting," she said.

Vang entered the U.S. through California in 1994 and was granted legal status by the Clinton administration. Between 2002 and 2004, when Vang was between 18 and 20 years old, he had sexual intercourse with the victim four to six times. The abuse took place in St. Paul, Minnesota, in Ramsey County. The first rape took place when the victim was in fourth grade.

Documents reviewed by Fox News Digital reveal that the victim "did not understand what Vang was doing, so she let him." As time went on, the document notes that the victim began to tell her friends about the abuse, who testified that she was "angry and sad" about it. At one time, the document said that Vang offered the victim $10 to keep quiet about the abuse.

While Ramsey County District Court Judge Sara Grewing did not take a position on Vang’s pardon, Ramsey County Assistant Attorney Tami McConkey recommended against granting it.

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In her formal opposition statement, McConkey noted that her office had offered a dispositional departure to Vang because the then-12-year-old victim experienced pressure from her family not to cooperate with law enforcement after his arrest.

Vang was sentenced to 12 years in prison following his conviction. However, the sentence was stayed in favor of 30 years of supervised probation, which included one year of local confinement. Ultimately, he served eight months at the county correctional workhouse. He was discharged from probation early in 2019.

McConkey noted that there were several additional aggravating factors in the case, including Vang abusing the victim over an extended period of time, in one instance even driving her to his home to abuse her, and not using sexual protection.

A criminal complaint shared with Fox News Digital states that upon his arrest, Vang told police, "I made a mistake, but this is a minor thing. It is a cultural thing in Thailand to marry and have sex with girls as young as 12." The complaint also notes that "Vang stated [the victim] should be arrested also because she was as much at fault."

McConkey noted that "while Mr. Vang expresses shame and regret about what his children experience when then [sic] learn of the offense, he does not share any thoughts or insight about what the victim must have gone through."

Despite this, several commissioners noted that the victim supported a pardon for Vang in their reasons for their recommendation.

Commissioner Nadine Graves wrote, "The victim supports this pardon. His [Vang’s] wife stayed and has forgiven. He also [has] immigration concerns. He has remorse and was discharged from probation."

Graves noted Vang’s early discharge from probation and wrote that "he retracted his prior statement about this being a result of culture. He admits this was wrong then and will always be wrong."

Lindstrom likewise noted, "applicant’s wife supports" and "victim supports" a pardon.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SOCCER COACH WHO USED ALCOHOL AND DRUGS TO SEXUALLY ABUSE KIDS LEARNS FATE

Commissioner Perry Moriearty wrote, "Despite the extraordinary severity of the underlying offense, there is substantial evidence of rehabilitation, remorse and acceptance of responsibility." He also noted in his reasons that Vang "is facing deportation" and "victim supports."

In his application for a pardon, Vang wrote, "I carry deep shame and regret for the harm I caused." He noted that he was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in December and was facing a final order of removal. He expressed worry that, because he arrived in the U.S. as a child, if he were deported he "would be sent to a place entirely unfamiliar to me, with no family, no home, and no future."

Vang wrote, "My fear is that, if deported, my children will grow up without a father, like I did" and "I will do all that I can to be here and to protect them from the outcomes of my deportation."

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None of this stopped the Trump administration from taking action against Vang. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Friday that he had stepped in to terminate Vang's legal status in the U.S. and that he had been removed to his home country of Laos.

Rubio told Fox News Digital, "Americans should never have to live in fear that foreign sex predators — shielded from deportation by their own elected officials — could endanger them or their children."

"That's why I terminated his legal status in the United States," he continued. "Vang has now been removed from our country and will never pose a threat to any American ever again."

Prince Harry is back in the U.K. to mark the one-year countdown to the 2027 Invictus Games, with a royal expert saying the event showcases the "best" of the Duke of Sussex.

Harry founded the Invictus Games, an international adaptive sporting competition for wounded, injured and sick military service members and veterans, in 2014. Harry served 10 years in the British Army, including two deployments to Afghanistan.

Meredith Constant, royal commentator, told Fox News Digital that Harry's Invictus Games only shows the royal family the "asset" they lost when Harry and Meghan Markle stepped down as senior royals.

PRINCE HARRY'S UK TRIP OFF TO ROCKY START AFTER FIRST MAJOR SETBACK

"The Invictus Games highlight the best of Prince Harry and the assets the British royal family lost when the Sussexes exited working royal life," she began. "The Invictus Games have played a massive role in bringing veterans from all over the world together to heal and celebrate community, including Harry. He shared in his book, ‘Spare,’ the PTSD he experiences, so the Invictus Games have probably helped his own healing as well."

Constant went on to share that the Invictus Games show how much Harry actually does love his country.

"Invictus Games also show the love he has for his home country. The games are named after a poem by William Ernest Henley that most British people know, particularly the line 'I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul,'" she said.

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PRINCE WILLIAM 'NO LONGER RECOGNIZES' PRINCE HARRY AS SECURITY BATTLE LEAVES DUKE 'CLOSE TO TEARS': EXPERT

"Harry took control of his own fate when he and Meghan moved their family overseas. Harry continues charitable endeavors, like the Invictus Games, that take him to the U.K., because he loves it and loves his country. He does despite the overwhelming press coverage and scrutiny his visits inevitably bring," Constant continued.

Hilary Fordwich, British royal expert, told Fox News Digital that the Invictus Games are so special because they are purely from Harry's heart.

"What sets Invictus apart is that it is based on something so genuine, from his heart and his previous military experiences. H conceived the idea after watching the ’13 Warrior Games, then built Invictus into an international sporting movement for wounded, injured and sick prior service personnel directly linked to his own identity. Via the games, he has been able to inspire recovery, rehabilitation and to garner broader respect for those who have served," Fordwich said.

Fordwich said until Markle got involved in the event, it was an opportunity for Harry "to showcase his true heart."

"Watching his interactions with the athletes, particularly in the wheelchair rugby match, but also the families and support teams, one can see he has genuinely invested heart and soul into the cause. Birmingham ‘27 countdown is particularly significant since, with sponsors quitting, this is mission critical for his being about to sustain the event in the future," she concluded.

According to Richard Fitzwilliams, royal expert, there is "little doubt that Invictus is uniquely valuable."

"It helps veterans and serving soldiers with physical injuries and mental health conditions. Harry was behind a much-praised, though little-watched five-part series on Netflix which contained stories of the courageous men and women the Games help. Its 10th anniversary was rightly celebrated with a service at St Paul’s which Harry attended solo," Fitzwilliams said.

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The Invictus Games are held every two years and bring together competitors from countries around the world to compete in adaptive sports such as wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby, sitting volleyball, swimming, indoor rowing, cycling, athletics and archery.

More recent editions have also added winter sports like alpine skiing, snowboarding, skeleton and wheelchair curling. While medals are awarded, the focus is less on winning and more on rehabilitation, resilience and building community among veterans and active-duty service members recovering from physical injuries, illnesses or psychological trauma such as PTSD.

The Games have become one of the defining charitable initiatives of his public life, continuing even after he stepped back as a senior working royal. The next Invictus Games are scheduled to take place in Birmingham, England, in July 2027, marking the first time the event has returned to the U.K. since the inaugural Games in London in 2014.

A bipartisan housing bill became law Saturday at midnight after President Donald Trump declined to sign it, capping a weeks-long saga over whether the president would veto the measure amid frustrations with Congress over his stalled agenda.

Trump refused to sign the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act — legislation aimed at expanding the nation’s housing stock and lowering costs — in an attempt to pressure Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, despite the housing bill clearing both chambers with overwhelming majorities.

"I will not sign the Housing Bill, which has been fully approved by Congress and sent to the White House, in PROTEST over the fact that the United States Senate is not capable of passing THE SAVE AMERICA ACT, which is polling at 97% with the Republican Party, and very high with the non-politician Dumocrats," he declared on Truth Social Friday morning. 

The Trump-backed election measure, which would require proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections and impose voter ID requirements, has struggled to overcome the Senate’s 60-vote threshold. 

Meanwhile, the House has not passed a version of the bill that includes the president’s proposed crackdown on mail-in voting and banning men from women’s sports.

HOUSE CONSERVATIVES DERAIL GOP AGENDA IN SAVE AMERICA ACT SHOWDOWN

Under the U.S. Constitution, Trump had 10 days, not including Sundays, to sign or veto the housing measure after the House formally transmitted the legislation to the White House in late June. The president ultimately chose neither option, allowing the measure to become law without his signature.

Though Trump declined to veto the legislation, he sharply criticized elements of the bill and argued it should not have been a legislative priority in recent weeks.

"It's so unimportant … compared to the SAVE America Act," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office in late June. "I think the SAVE America Act is exactly what it says. It's saving America from crooked elections."

Trump went on to call the housing bill "a yawn," adding, "compared to the SAVE America Act, just about everything is a big yawn."

It would have taken a two-thirds majority in both chambers to override a veto — a margin the House and Senate exceeded when they passed the legislation. However, it remains unclear whether so many Republicans would have defied the president had he vetoed the bill.

Trump also appeared to criticize the bill over a provision restricting Wall Street investors from purchasing single-family homes — a policy he first proposed during his January State of the Union address and later urged Congress to pass. Trump previously argued the investor ban would give individual homebuyers a leg up against private equity firms in the housing market.

"I don't want to hurt people that own houses, too," Trump later told reporters, appearing to reference the provision. "These people, for the first time in their lives, they have valuable houses. They've become rich. I don't want to hurt them either. What you want to do is what's good for everyone, get the interest rates down."

The law also aims to boost housing supply by streamlining federal environmental reviews, loosening rules around the construction of factory-built homes, and incentivizing local governments to modify their zoning laws to allow more housing, among roughly 60 provisions.

Trump’s souring on the legislation created headaches for Republicans, who touted the bill as an affordability win as voters grapple with high housing costs.

"It’s irresponsible to postpone signing the Housing bill due to the SAVE Act," Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., a retiring lawmaker who lost re-election to a Trump-backed challenger, wrote on social media. "We need to start delivering relief to people for the high cost of housing ASAP!!"

WARREN TELLS TRUMP TO 'SIGN THE DAMN BILL' AS BIPARTISAN HOUSING PACKAGE REMAINS STALLED IN WASHINGTON

Trump abruptly canceled a signing ceremony for the legislation at the U.S. Capitol in June with GOP leaders. The stage had already been set, with at least one senior Republican arriving unaware the president had called off the event shortly before it was scheduled to begin.

The president then declared he would not sign the legislation until Congress passed the SAVE America Act, despite Senate GOP leaders insisting the votes do not exist to advance the measure.

Trump has also expressed frustration with the Republican-controlled Senate for declining to weaken the legislative filibuster, which requires 60 votes to advance most legislation in the upper chamber.

"GET SMART REPUBLICANS, IF YOU DON’T, YOU WON’T BE IN OFFICE FOR LONG!" Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Sunday.

Before Trump came out against the bill, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called it "one of the most significant pieces of housing affordability legislation in American history" and said it included an array of policies "long championed" by Trump.

Meanwhile, Trump political operative James Blair touted the legislation for including the president’s Wall Street investor ban, which he referred to as a "signature commitment."

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has argued that Republicans will still promote the landmark housing bill ahead of November.

"We'll still celebrate it, but he's trying to make a point, and I think he's making it very effectively," the speaker recently told reporters, referring to Trump. "And the fact that you all ask me every three steps down the hallway illustrates that he has achieved the desired objective, and that is to make SAVE America the number one thing, because if we don't get that right, everybody's concerned about what happens next."

Russian missiles and Iranian-supplied drones continue to slam into Ukrainian hospitals and apartment blocks with regularity. These are not precision strikes aimed at military targets; they are clumsy, often wildly inaccurate terror attacks designed to break the will of the Ukrainian people.

In this, they echo the Nazi V-1 and V-2 "vengeance weapons" of 1944-45. Those terror weapons killed thousands of civilians in London and Antwerp, but achieved little militarily. They also mirror the Luftwaffe’s Blitz on British cities in 1940. The bombs fell — but British resolve only hardened.

The same dynamic is playing out now in Ukraine. Every Russian strike on civilians strengthens Ukrainian determination to fight on.

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Meanwhile, Ukraine has seized the initiative with a weapon the Russians has yet to counter: massed, AI-enabled drones and long-range cruise missiles produced at scale and employed with laser-like focus for operational and strategic effect.

Operationally, Ukrainian strikes have methodically dismantled Russian logistics across the southern theater from the Donbas approaches all the way to Crimea. Drone strikes on fuel convoys, ammunition trucks, rail hubs and bridges have created chronic shortages of fuel, water, ammunition and food for Russian troops.

Reports from occupied Crimea and the southern land corridor document rationing, long lines at gas stations and mounting chaos. Ukrainian strikes have effectively placed large portions of the Russian southern front under a logistics lockdown.

DRONE OFFENSIVE HITS RUSSIAN OIL TANKERS AND REFINERIES AT 'INDUSTRIAL SCALE' AS MOSCOW BANS DIESEL EXPORTS

With supply lines under constant interdiction, half or more of Russia’s southern grouping now operates under severe strain — a situation that risks localized collapse if the pressure continues. This, while Russian territorial gains have slowed to a crawl — and even reversed.

Strategically, Ukraine has accomplished something extraordinary. Its sustained campaign of long-range drone and missile strikes against Russian oil refineries and energy infrastructure intensified dramatically in the last month. Kyiv has inflicted damage on Russia’s fuel production capacity that took the U.S. Army Air Forces two full years of strategic bombing to achieve against Nazi Germany in World War II.

Major refineries from Moscow to the south have been hit repeatedly. Processing capacity has been slashed by more than a third. Russia now faces a genuine fuel crisis: lines at pumps, regional shortages and emergency measures. Putin himself has acknowledged the "difficult period."

The cruel arithmetic is now unavoidable. Who gets the remaining fuel? Front-line troops? The Russian military’s broader needs? Civilian motorists? Trucks and trains hauling food and goods? Farmers trying to bring in the harvest? A food crisis looms as transport and agriculture feel the squeeze.

Ukraine has gone further. Long-range strikes have also targeted Russian military electronics plants and missile production facilities. In June, Ukrainian forces hit a key electronics plant in Voronezh that produces components for Iskander missiles and other systems. When new Russian missiles emerge from damaged factories, they will fly with inferior avionics. Accuracy will suffer. The terror weapons aimed at Ukrainian apartments and hospitals may soon struggle to even hit a city center.

Ukrainian drones have not stopped at Russia’s borders. Naval and aerial drones have ranged far into the Black Sea and beyond, striking Russia’s shadow fleet of tankers used to evade sanctions and fund the war. Attacks have occurred off Turkey’s coast and even in the Mediterranean — vessels hit hundreds or thousands of miles from Ukrainian territory. This campaign degrades Moscow’s ability to export oil and generate war revenue.

All of this flows from Ukraine’s rapid mastery of drone technology and its decentralized, innovative military culture. Ukrainian industry has scaled production of AI-enhanced drones and cruise missiles at a pace that Russia’s legacy, Soviet-style, rigid, top-down systems cannot match.

There is a painful lesson here for the United States.

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Much of our Navy — aircraft carriers and submarines alike — remains vulnerable to massed drone attacks, both by air and sea, when at port. Air bases, power grids and other critical infrastructure also sit exposed. Adversaries could launch similar drone swarms from Cuba or Mexico, or from Chinese merchant vessels loitering off our coasts. We have seen what cheap, massed drones, some with warheads larger than a ton, can do when employed with imagination and industrial scale.

America must absorb these lessons quickly. President Donald Trump’s Department of War has called for urgent investment in layered counter-drone and missile defenses — the Golden Dome initiative — as well as hardened infrastructure and our own rapid innovation in unmanned systems. It’s up to Congress to fund it. We must reward decentralized initiative and speed rather than bureaucratic caution. The alternative is to learn these truths the hard way.

Russia’s terror campaign has failed to break Ukraine, while Ukraine’s precision campaign is systematically degrading Russia’s ability to wage war. Fortunately, war’s harsh lessons are plainly displayed for America to see — as we strive to deter adversaries.

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FIRST ON FOX: CHESTER, N.J. – The husband of Brooke Hanlon, who was found stabbed to death inside her Chester, New Jersey home, has obtained a lawyer, authorities confirmed to Fox News Digital.

Investigators with the Morris County Prosecutor's Office Major Crimes Unit confirmed to Fox News Digital that Conor Hanlon has been communicating with investigators following his wife’s killing.

The new mother was found dead on June 6 with "multiple sharp force injuries" confirmed by the medical examiner the Morris County Prosecutor's Office said.

'THAT WAS THE LAST I HEARD FROM HIM': SLAIN NJ THERAPIST’S NEIGHBOR RECALLS LAST CONTACT WITH HUSBAND

The agency said it has been in touch with "several" family members throughout the investigation.

When asked whether Hanlon has been cooperative throughout the probe, authorities chose not to comment.

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Fox News Digital obtained a Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) log of a 911 call made at the home on June 6 that was initially reported as a "Cardiac or Respiratory Arrest."

SLAIN NEW JERSEY THERAPIST'S SISTER SAYS FAMILY IS LIVING A 'NIGHTMARE' ONE MONTH LATER

According to the log, the 911 call came in at 4:29 p.m., and within 13 minutes at approximately 4:42 p.m., a dispatcher enters the note "suspicious death" to the log.

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Within the hour, Major Crimes Unit detectives were notified.

The log also indicates several days of investigative activity at the home following the initial call.

SLAIN NEW JERSEY THERAPIST'S SISTER SAYS FAMILY IS LIVING A 'NIGHTMARE' ONE MONTH LATER

Detectives, investigators and the medical examiner, among others, were recorded on the log from June 6 through June 12, when the log was officially closed out.

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It was not immediately clear who Hanlon's lawyer is. Hanlon has not been accused of any crime or wrongdoing.

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Fox News Digital previously made calls to Hanlon that were not returned.

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The investigation is active and ongoing.

Two days after President Donald Trump's Fourth of July address, attendees at the Great American State Fair told Fox News Digital they saw the speech as patriotic, not partisan.

"He's talking about taking down communism," David from New Jersey said.

"That's the definition of our whole country. Built on capitalism, that's our whole country. If that's what he was talking about, I don't think that's political at all. It's just about the freedom that we have here. If it wasn't for that, we wouldn't be here."

Thousands of Americans packed the National Mall on Saturday to celebrate the nation's 250th anniversary, touring exhibits from all 50 states despite sweltering heat and severe thunderstorms that temporarily paused celebrations.

TRUMP SET TO DELIVER 'HISTORIC' SPEECH CELEBRATING AMERICA'S 250TH ANNIVERSARY

Hours later, President Donald Trump delivered his 37-minute address, honoring veterans and the nation's founding while declaring that "no dream in history is bigger" than the American experiment and adding, "We don't want communists in our country," before a record-setting fireworks display.

Despite hitting on major historical themes and railing against communism, critics quickly accused Trump of being divisive and delivering a partisan July 4 speech over the weekend.

Matt from Florida said that while others may have disliked Trump's speech, he saw it as a tribute to veterans and Medal of Honor recipients.

"It's really nice to see him share the stage instead of just giving a speech and going away like most presidents do," he said. "It was just nice to actually see him treat the whole thing as a giant event as opposed to just a limelight on himself."

MEDIA ATTACKS DONALD TRUMP'S FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION, CLAIMING IT 'SULLIED' AMERICA 250

Ed and Linda from Ohio said they missed Trump's speech while waiting for the fireworks, but Ed said he supports the president "100 percent," while Linda added, "You should be able to rise above your political opinion and still enjoy the country's Fourth of July."

Doug and Karen from Texas said they approved of President Trump's message.

"It wasn't too political, it was what we needed to hear," Doug said.

"It was good," Karen added. "People need to hear it."

LEE GREENWOOD SAYS HE'S 'VERY PROUD' TO STAND NEXT TO TRUMP DURING AMERICA'S 250TH CELEBRATION

Kim from Michigan called July 4 "a political holiday," saying people will always find something to criticize.

"Throughout our history, it's been about our politics and what we stand for as a people, and what we believe in and what we're willing to fight for," she said.

Priya from California said politics naturally belongs in a Fourth of July speech, adding that America must change course "from a very negative direction that the country has gone."

"I think there's an intricate part that politics play obviously in the 250 years that we have been a nation," she said. "For it to last another 250 and hopefully beyond, we have to pay attention to that. We have to understand the political climate and what it's going to take for this nation to last and be prosperous."