Flotsam and Jetsam - The Third Time was Not the Charm

Two whole days, and we're still discussing the most recent attempt by a hard left-wing fanatic to kill President Trump and members of his administration. Althouse noticed it's even pushed Iran out of top billing at the NYT, The Iran war drops from the top screen of the NYT home page. Sundance at CTH hosts Sunday Talks – Acting AG Todd Blanche Discussing the WHCA Assassination Attempt – Suspect Was Targeting Administration and Attempted Assassin – Cole Tomas Allen’s Manifesto Revealed. "And I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes." Dave Strom at Hat Hair, Manifesto Released: He Believed All the Lies the Democrats Now Claim They Never Said. Sauron's Eye, has a bunch of Live Updates including White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting suspect wrote that he planned to target Trump admin. officials. Althouse, "Turning the other cheek is for when you yourself are oppressed. I’m not the person raped in a detention camp. I’m not the fisherman executed without trial." ""I’m not a schoolkid blown up or a child starved or a teenage girl abused by the many criminals in this administration. Turning the other cheek when *someone else* is oppressed is not Christian behavior; it is complicity in the oppressor’s crimes." From the tweets of Cole Tomas Allen, quoted in "WHCD shooting suspect Cole Allen flooded social media with anti-Trump fury: 'you are f–king damned'" (NY Post)." At Twitchy, Jonathan Turley Shares the Truth: The Left Called It a False Flag — Then the Shooter’s Ties Flooded Out. KanekoaTheGreat @KanekoaTheGreat, "10. The scary part: Cole Allen looks like he came from a good family. Caltech graduate. Master’s in computer science. His beliefs mirrored mainstream Democrat talking points. Yet he charged a Secret Service checkpoint with a shotgun—willing to die for a shot at the President. This is why the left constantly calls Trump "Hitler," ICE the "Gestapo," and us "fascists." That rhetoric is how violence gets justified against Trump, Charlie, or any of us. And it’s escalating. The “luigi left” is growing. Even Caltech grads from good families, repeating mainstream Democrat talking points, are willing to die for a shot at the President." Will Ricciardella @WillRicci, "The WHCA alleged shooter wasn’t some nut job lurking on the fringes of society, forgotten by the system. He was well-educated, credentialed, employed, and institutionally formed. That’s what makes this so disturbing. At first glance, this doesn’t look like a breakdown of the system, it looks more like a product of it. Academia, media, and politics helped build the moral permission structure. Let that sink in." Cynical Publius @CynicalPublius, "Cole Allen is the Dunning-Kruger Assassin. Allen is not some random nut job from the fringes of society. He’s a very articulate graduate of Caltech, which means he has a high degree of native intelligence. He’s in the education profession. He is on BlueSky. He goes to No Kings protests. He’s your basic rank-and-file Democrat. But it’s that high native intellect that led him astray..." Andrew Follett @AndrewCFollett, "It the Divine Right of College Degrees! Leftist elite aspirants like the shooter get violent because society doesnt give them the status they think theyre entitled to." Rob Henderson@robkhenderson, "Relative to Americans with a high school education, Americans with graduate degrees are twice as likely to support political violence. More education = higher support for political violence. It couldn't be otherwise." Vince Langman @LangmanVince, "If you read Cole Allen's manifesto without knowing who wrote it, you would think it was written by one of the following: Hakeem Jeffries Kamala Harris Tim Walz Gavin Newsom MTG Nancy Pelosi Adam Schiff Candace Owens Jimmy Kimmel Rachel Maddow Jamie Raskin." C3 @C_3C_3, "Want some truth? Cole Allen isn’t a radical. He’s a mainstream Democrat in 2026. That’s how far Left the Democrat Party has shifted." Benjamin Domenech @bdomenech, "Remember that Rutgers study that found more than half of left of center respondents said it would be at least somewhat justified to murder Donald Trump? Maybe we should believe the left when they declare who they want to kill." Northern Barbarian @xnoesbueno, "Yeah, they're not going to do that. Too invested. Alienate their base. Some things to too false but true to be acknowledged as false. You're asking pathological liars to admit they are pathological liars. Not gonna happen." Quote Karol Markowicz @karol, ""I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes." This would be a great time for Democrats to admit Trump is not actually a pedophile, rapist or traitor. Just telling the truth would go a long way to reducing the insanity." Shipwreckedcrew @shipwreckedcrew, "So a public school teacher in Calif. travels to DC with a collection of weapons. He has booked a room at the hotel where a highly publicized event is taking place with the POTUS as guest of honor. He has a large presence on social media, and he has written manifesto concerning his views. And absolutely no one in his circle of friends or fellow travelers knows anything about it????? Not likely. This could get interesting."

 Mike LaChance at LI notes the WHCA Dinner Shooting Occurred as DHS and Secret Service Have Been Unfunded for More Than 70 Days “a lapse driven by Democrats blocking funding bills and rejecting multiple GOP-backed proposals to reopen the department” Mark Steyn say The Secret Service Makes Me Nervous "If I were Donald J Trump, I wouldn't want these guys anywhere near me. But then again he has no choice in the matter"

Sundance hosts Sunday Talks – President Trump Fox News Interview Following Assassination Attempt at White House Correspondent’s Dinner. Tim O'Brien at PJM, Something’s Changed: Trump Explains Why People Want to Kill Him, Some Journalists Discover He’s Human. From Twitchy, Trump Obliterates Norah O’Donnell: 'You’re Disgraceful' After She Tries Smearing Him With Assassin’s Lies. Althouse wonders Was Donald Trump too mean to Norah O'Donnell on "60 Minutes" last night? I'll argue both sides. "Maybe you've noticed there's a big uproar over this part of the show." No, and why should we care about her feelings? Western Lensman @WesternLensman, "Bash: You and many Democrats have used some heated rhetoric against the president. Do you think twice about that when something like this happens? Raskin: What rhetoric?" Richard Grenell @RichardGrenell, "You encourage the mentally unstable to take action against Trump every night. Be self-reflective. Are you encouraging this violence, Jake? Do you have TDS?" Quote Jake Tapper @jaketapper, "President Trump releases photos and a video of the security event tonight at the WHCA Dinner. Grateful the president and all other attendees are OK. Thanks to the US Secret Service and law enforcement for their quick actions tonight’s " Robby Starbuck @robbystarbuck, "After both the Butler assassination attempt AND tonight, the @washingtonpost ran with headlines that made it sound like Trump fled from ‘loud noises’. They’ll do anything to minimize leftist violence. @JeffBezos has more people to fire." Nick Arama at RedState sees Hell Freezes Over As Media Reveals Remarkable Actions Trump Took After WHCD Shooting. Rapid Response 47 @RapidResponse47, "@jonkarl says @POTUS called him shortly after 7AM: "He was calling to see if I was ok with what happened last night...he reiterated many of the things he said in his press conference last night, emphasizing the unity he felt in that moment...and he was quite firm about this: 'That dinner must be rescheduled.'" Scott McLallen at TownHall, You Won't Believe Who the Left Blames for Last Night's Assassination Attempt. Of course I will: Daily Wire @realDailyWire, "Immediately after a gunman opened fire at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, Lincoln Project co-founder @SteveSchmidtSES blamed President Trump for "poisoning the rhetoric" in America: "He is a vile and disgusting man."" From Twitchy, Apology Lasted Hours: Jvnior Promises to Stop Lying, Immediately Posts Bogus IDF Shirt on Trump Shooter.

PJM's Scott Pinsker predicts Political Fallout of Yet Another Assassination Attempt: Danger for the Dems! Scott Johnson at Power Line The fire this time. Brittany Bernstein’s NR story quotes the president notes from his press conference. He said the dinner guests were “totally unified” by the evening’s events. “This was an event dedicated to freedom of speech that was supposed to bring together members of both parties with members of the press and in a certain way it did,” he said. He later added: “In light of this evening’s events, I ask that all Americans recommit with their hearts in resolving our differences peacefully. We have to resolve our differences.” Well, that’s not going to happen. It might be sufficient unto the day if we renounced political violence as a means to an end in our republic." Matt Vespa at TownHall sees The Left Were Absolute Psychopaths Following the Attack on the WHCA Dinner. Auron MacIntyre @AuronMacintyre, "Now is a good time to familiarize yourself with the prelude to the Spanish Civil War Because if the right doesn’t learn that particular lesson of history very quickly we’re about to repeat it" Quote Jesse Kelly @JesseKellyDC, "Communists are demonic and violent. Democrats are communists. No rhetoric will change or be “toned down.” That has never happened one time in the history of communism. Toning them down is utterly destroying their institutions. All else is cope." Christian Heiens @ChristianHeiens, "After the Spanish Right won the 1933 elections, Communists in Asturias launched a revolution, killing thousands before the army was deployed to finally put an end to the chaos. They did the same thing in Catalonia, and when that too was quelled, they engaged in a low-level terrorist campaign all over the country, planting bombs, sabotaging infrastructure, assassinating newspaper editors and political figures, and staging general strikes all over Spain. They kept doing this until they finally won the 1936 election, at which point the Left went full mask-off and began unleashing thousands of criminals into the streets, ransacking businesses, dragging conservatives out of their homes to beat them, and going into the countryside to expropriate private property. The entire country descended into a state of near-total anarchy in a matter of months..." Batya Ungar-Sargon @bungarsargon, "The week we learned Charlottesville was funded by the Left and NYT published an interview justifying murder, President Trump survives a third assassination attempt. We don't have a political violence problem in America. We have a Left-wing political violence problem in America." Savanah Hernandez @Savsays, "Never forget how immediately after Charlie Kirk’s assassination, Destiny stated that “we need conservatives to be afraid of getting killed when they go to events” The left consistently calls for us to be killed/hurt and then cheer when we’re killed. Wake up to where we’re at." Quote Will Chamberlain @willchamberlain, "Reminder that Hasan Piker publicly advocated for President Trump’s assassination Perhaps one of his lunatic followers decided to give it a shot." Rothmus @Rothmus, "“The right think guns are used for hunting and protection, because that’s what the right uses them for. The left think guns are used for murder, because that’s what the left uses them for.” (Matt Tabor) Few statements capture the divide between right and left on guns more truthfully than this." Quote Mostly Peaceful Memes @MostlyPeaceful. "“Who had gay black school teacher?” 

PJM's Sarah Anderson says Let's Hear It for the (Trump Administration) Men! Sergeant News Network @sgtnewsnetwork, "HEROIC: Footage shows Stephen Miller shielding his pregnant wife during the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner Stephen Miller is the BEST Husband & Dad." Bethany S. Mandel @bethanyshondark, "You can tell a lot about a man about how they instinctively respond when it hits the fan. In this photo, Stephen Miller moves on top of his pregnant wife to protect her. Pete Hegseth stands over his wife, surveying the scene while leaning over, protecting her." From Suzy Weiss at the Freep, My Takeaway from the WHCD? Dudes Rock. Victory Girls, WHCD: Displays of Normal American Masculinity Triggers The Left. To be fair, what doesn't?

Behind the Black, Trump fires the entire governing board of the National Science Foundation "The article at the link, from the journal Science, takes the typical one-sided propaganda press anti-Trump view, interviewing only those who oppose Trump and spending most of its time screaming “He’s destroying science!” A wider view would ask this: Is there a reason that the president of the United States, elected by the American people, might have reasons to question the management of this board? At the moment the federal government is running a deficit that is back-breaking, and this board publicly criticized Trump’s effort to rein in spending when he proposed a 55% cut in NSF’s budget. If they are not going to cooperate with their boss, then maybe they should leave, and not let the door hit them as they head out." I'm just going to speculate that they continued their DEI and Global Warming emphasis. At the RCP, The Left ‘Lost’ on DEI Then They Did What They Always Do "They dropped the letters but kept the levers."

At 1945, I Have Seen the Ukraine War Up-close: Don’t Declare Russia the Winner Just Yet

Cam at Bearing Arms is not happy with Virginia, but is pleased to report Virginia House Democrats Deny Spanberger's Gun Ban Amendment ***UPDATED*** Leslie Eastman at LI on How California Swapped Gold for Grift:“Affordable Housing” and “Green Energy” Became NGO Slush Funds. "Programs sold as compassion function as taxpayer‑funded lifelines for the very political machine that hollowed the state out in the first place."

The Victory Girls, decry Shoplifting Socialists: Protesting Capitalism One Lemon At A Time. Too bad Noah Smith has to explain Why shoplifting is bad, "It may feel like a small act of rebellion, but it hurts a lot of people who don't deserve it."

Libs of TikTok @libsoftiktok, "In case anyone was wondering why Democrat Rep Dave Min is scootering to work and not driving his car…. It’s because he was arrested for drunk driving and was sentenced to three years probation." Quote Cassie Semyon @casssemyon, "It’s hard to miss @CongressMin on Capitol Hill — he’s the one riding the electric scooter. Now’s he’s turning his love for the speedy method of transportation into bipartisan legislation to create federal standards for e-bikes and other micro-mobility methods." Heh!

Sundance thinks It’s Time for a National Conversation About The CIA "Against revelations about the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) funding violent domestic extremist groups, consider this graphic" Bill Otis at Ringside of the Reckoning looks at The Southern Poverty Law Center indictment "It looks like deserved karma for race-huckstering grifters, but is it a legitimate fraud case?" He seems to think its a tough case to make, but I believe it's worth the trouble.

Hat Hair's Josh Hammer wonders Does the Right Still Believe in 'No More Souters'? Of course we believe it. But that doesn't mean it couldn't happen.

Guy Benson @guypbenson, "Buried many paragraphs deep: The dad in this Egyptian family is the jihadist who firebombed Jews in Boulder CO during a vigil for Israeli hostages. Dad murdered a Holocaust survivor." Quote Texas Tribune @TexasTribune "Breaking: An Egyptian family of six believed to be the longest held at the controversial South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley were redetained Saturday after federal judges this week ordered their release. They are being sent to Egypt on a private plane, according to one of the family’s lawyers."

At Hat Hair Larry Elder still remembers On CNN, Democrat 'Election Deniers' Get a Pass.

David Bernstein @ProfDBernstein, "Every time a leftist professor defends students disrupting an event on campus as "free speech" or "no big deal," there should be an action squad that shows up to that professor's next class and disrupts it in similar fashion."

The Monday Morning Stimulus

The Peacock, Brewing Trader Joe's controversy: Customers allege they were misled about coffee's low caffeine

Several coffee drinkers from around the country have filed a lawsuit on Thursday against grocery giant Trader Joe’s, alleging their store-branded French Roast Low Acid whole bean coffee has significantly less caffeine than customers are led to believe.

Tests on the coffee, plaintiffs say in the lawsuit, shows the product “contains half of the caffeine as a regular coffee blend.” They cite testing from competitors of Trade Joe’s that shows that the “Low Acid” coffee only has 51% of the caffeine of Trader Joe’s Dark French Roast coffee and 45% of the caffeine of Trader Joe’s House Blend coffee.

But because there is nothing on the label that indicates the lower caffeine levels, the suit says, “consumers purchase the Product believing that it is fully caffeinated when it is not.”

Don't cheat me out of my caffeine! I don't have to worry, though. The nearest Trader Joe's is 40 miles away, and we don't buy low acid coffee. 

Flotsam and Jetsam - So President Trump Went to the White House Correspondents Dinner...

And a man, later identified as Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, California, reportedly armed with a shotgun and a pistol, charged a magnetometer security station outside the ballroom where the dinner was taking place. He was engaged by Secret Service and police, and reportedly exchanged fire. One Secret Service agent was struck by a bullet, and saved from serious harm by his protective vest. The "suspect" was taken alive, apparently without being shot. Early reports had the assailant killed, or had two, but as the evening sorted out, there appears to be only one person overtly involved and he is in custody generally undamaged. As usual, the 48 hour rule applies. Stacy McCain says Yet Another Democrat Has Failed to Assassinate President Donald Trump.  From Insty, SO MUCH POLITICAL VIOLENCE FROM THE LEFT: "Shots Fired at Correspondents Dinner, Shooter Neutralized, Trump Evacuated. “The shooter who fired off multiple rounds at the White House correspondents’ dinner Saturday evening is reportedly dead, and Secret Service agents successfully took President Donald Trump off the stage to safety." Driscoll at Insty, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS’ DINNER LIVE UPDATES: Shots fired at White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Trump evacuated as Secret Service yells ‘he’s down!’ after gunman taken out. Dave Strom, SHOOTER AT WHCD Alive? Trump: Let the Show Go On; SECRET SERVICE: Not on Our Watch. At LI, Ben Smith Trump Evacuated to a Holding Room After Shots Fired at White House Correspondents Association Dinner "“Quite an evening in D.C. Secret Service and Law Enforcement did a fantastic job. They acted quickly and bravely. The shooter has been apprehended,” and Update: Gunman Stopped Before Reaching WHCA Dinner Named, "The shooter has been identified as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, two law enforcement officials told the AP." NRO, Secret Service Agent Shot at White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Suspect Apprehended in Chaotic Scene. Bob Hoge at RedState, The Show Will Not Go On: WH Correspondents' Dinner to Be Rescheduled After Chaotic Night at the Gala. Trump seriously wanted it to continue. The SS told him no way. Ace, Another Democrat Inspired Assassin Attempts to Kill Trump; Trump And All Innocents Appear Safe and Unharmed, and the Left-Wing Assassin Apprehended "ANOTHER LEFT WING ASSASSIN ATTEMPTS TO KILL TRUMP." Didn't even get red font, let alone the trademark flaming skull. I guess it's become so common. 

Dave Strom What We Know About WHCD Shooting So Far; Shooter Identified? UPDATE: Video of His Charge. Registered as a No Party Preference voter in L.A. County, CalTech grad, donated 25 bucks to ActBlue, which doesn't mean much since ActBlue has been credibly accused of hiding donations under the names of people who didn't actually donate. At Althouse "We see them every day and we just say hi and they’re very nice. They’re peaceful people, they don’t make any noise and when they see you they say hi.", "Said a neighbor of Cole Tomas Allen, quoted in "Who is Cole Tomas Allen? White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting suspect in custody/The suspect in the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting was identified as California man Cole Tomas Allen" (Independent). What's with the awkward "they" pronouns? "They’re peaceful people," etc. Maybe that's just the way they talk in California."

Blake Neff @BlakeSNeff "Friend at WHCD sent me a photo as she walked out of demonstrators waving signs that say “Death to tyrants” and “Death to all of them,” just in case you’re wondering if an actual attempted shooting would make them feel any shame." Dustin Grage @GrageDustin, "This brewery in Wisconsin is gushing over the assassination attempt. These people want us dead." Dustin Grage @GrageDustin, "The owner of this brewery is running for office as a Democrat." Insty, THE LEFT’S ASSASSINATION CULTURE HAS MAINSTREAM ENABLERS WHO SHOULD BE HELD STRICTLY ACCOUNTABLE: Northern Barbarian @xnoesbueno, "OK, how many assassination attempts now? He must hold the record, or is getting close to it. And by Monday, this story will be over. Just like all the other ones. They'll have found some new faux outrage to posture about." Quote Election Wizard @ElectionWiz, "Most of the people in that Washington Hilton ballroom tonight are morally responsible for what just happened. For over 10 years they’ve pushed the most hateful, vile conspiracies: Trump is a threat to democracy, a dictator, literally Hitler 2.0. They demonized him nonstop, normalized violence in their rhetoric, then acted shocked when the inevitable keeps occurring." Matt Van Swol @mattvanswol, "They don't kill you because you're a Nazi. They call you a Nazi so they can kill you." Twitchy, Self-Proclaimed Boss Babes Blame Trump for Their Meltdown: 'It's Not Me, It's the Orange Man'.

Althouse hosts Trump's public statement after the events, "This was an event dedicated to freedom of speech that was supposed to bring together members of both parties with members of the press. And in a certain way it did..." ""I saw a room that was totally unified. It was in one way very beautiful — a very beautiful thing to see." Said President Trump, in an impromptu press conference at the White House, 2 hours after the incident at the Correspondents' Dinner." United? They were all under the same tables. Capt. Ed in Saturday's Final Word finds Western Lensman @WesternLensman, "Paul Begala goes on rant about Trump censoring journalists and attacking the First Amendment. @ScottJenningsKY issued a simple challenge to which Begala had no answer: “Name a single journalist who right now is incapable of speaking negatively about Donald Trump.""

Northern Barbarian @xnoesbueno, "It's really tempting to applaud that. I'd rather have 84,000 US troops already forward deployed in Europistan, for when we need them there. Because sooner or later, we will. I'd say make nice with Europe. Don't even charge them, keep going. Just harden up the bases. Make sure every soldier, every base commander, understands they are already behind enemy lines. What was that Nicholson line? "I eat breakfast three hundred yards away from four thousand Mohammedans who are trained to kill me." OK, that's not exactly what he said. Works though." Quote Shipwreckedcrew @shipwreckedcrew, "GREAT NEWS. We are all for it. Should have been done 3 decades ago with the collapse of the Soviet Union." SaltyGoat @SaltyGoat17, "Everyone cool with us pulling ALL of our troops from Europe and NEVER sending them another dime?"

Jon Gabriel @exjon, "This "clown" entered the Navy enlisted and earned a commission as a Special Operations Officer from Annapolis. As EOD Officer, he led threat missions for Special Warfare & Special Forces in Iraq, Afghanistan & Somalia. He retired from active duty as Captain in 2021. He then was VP at CACI Intl., fielding EW packages, counter-drone tech, optical comm, & photonics. Hung Cao is a decorated combat veteran, a qualified Navy Special Operations, EOD & Diving Officer, Naval Parachutist, and Surface Warfare Officer. He has a bachelor’s in Ocean Engineering, a master’s in Applied Physics, & was a Fellow with MIT Seminar XXI & Harvard's Kennedy School." Quote Democrats @TheDemocrats, "Trump dragged our country to war and now this clown is in charge." FactPost @factpostnews, "Trump has fired Navy Secretary John Phelan, replacing him with failed VA Senate candidate Hung Cao who: — Asked for a KKK hood with "slits" as eye holes instead of circles so he could see better — Falsely claimed to have been injured in combat — Warned that a wave of "witchcraft" was taking over America — Argued he is African American because he once lived in Africa." Safing Sector @Gplavallee72, "Bitch please..."

From NYPo, Trump cancels US delegation’s Pakistan trip as Iran peace talks stall: ‘They can call us anytime they want’. Capt. Ed, So Much For Islamabad II: Taqiyya Boogaloo? UPDATE: Trump Cancels Witkoff, Kushner Trip. At Am Great the Great Victor Davis Hanson expounds on How Iran Committed Suicide, "Iran’s decades-long bluff—built on terror proxies, nuclear brinkmanship, and Western appeasement—collapsed the moment it faced direct force and a changed geopolitical landscape." Beege Welborn reports Reza Pahlavi Went to Berlin. "Operation Epic Fury had distinct parameters for the security of the world and the United States, and not one of them was returning a Pahlavi to the throne. The last thing Trump would need, especially in the middle of all this nutzoid Democratic squawking about losing, is being accused of installing a king. Nope, nope, nope." At 1945, American History Teaches That Operation Epic Fury Is Not Another ‘Forever War’.

At AMAC, Democrats’ Virginia Gerrymander is GOP’s Sign to Play Hardball. Shipwreckedcrew explains Why Washington State's "Climate Commitment Act" Should Worry the Rest of the Country. "The state's budget is so bad that state parks will can't open due to an inability to pay needed maintenance -- but if you want to grow food in a Seattle roof-top garden, NGOs have millions to help."

Althouse finds "There’s one thing that’s stealing when you are a teenager and you want the adrenaline rush. And part of it is about testing the rules..." ""... and getting away with something. But what I’m seeing on TikTok and social media is people saying that they’re stealing from Whole Foods not just for the thrill of it, but out of a feeling of anger and moral justification. Because the rich don’t play by the rules, so why should I? And Jeff Bezos has too much money — he’s a billionaire — so why should I have to pay for organic avocados? My friends and I have started calling this microlooting, because it has a slight political valence to theft, as opposed to just the thrill of getting away with something. Have you noticed this around you online? Have you noticed more people talking about stealing in this way?" Says NYT writer Nadja Spiegelman on an episode of the NYT "Opinions" podcast, "'The Rich Don’t Play by the Rules. So Why Should I?'Why petty theft might be the new political protest."" Northern Barbarian @xnoesbueno, "In fairness, Piker self-weaponized. The right noticed. Promoting political assassination, car theft, shoplifting. Hardly benign speech. I suppose, given the SPLC indictment, we now have to consider the possibility that Piker is a conservative op. But I doubt it. He's just stating outright what the others have been broadly hinting at." Quote Charlie Sykes @SykesCharlie, "Not surprisingly, Piker has turned out to be a massive gift to the GOP, which is weaponizing Piker’s commentary. You may not have seen them, but his latest comments have gone viral on right-wing media. Tens of millions of dollars of GOP ads are being written as we speak." Walter Curt at TownHall notes They Can’t Even Flip Burgers. Bonchie @bonchieredstate, "You can literally smoke crack, get caught in an FBI sting, go to prison, commit tax fraud, be a stalker, make racist remarks, and turn your city into a crime-infested hellhole, and Democrats *will still* build a statue of you." Quote Katie Pavlich @KatiePavlich "LOL of course there’s a Marion Barry statute outside of the DC Mayor’s office." Tom Knighton at TAW notices Reality is what the left wants to believe it is.

The Week in Pictures:
Frauds All the Way Down - Power Line

Jonathan Turley considers the question about The SPLC Indictment: Can Public Interest Groups Run Alleged Black-Bag Jobs and Confidential Informants? "The government has a tough case, with the alleged fraud used to produce evidence submitted to state and federal prosecutors. In addition, if this case extends into a new administration, a Democratic Justice Department could scuttle the case as did the Biden Administration. Once again, it is remarkable to read the extent to which the Center acted like a mini-FBI in running its own confidential informants and allegedly conducting a “black bag job.” The unfolding prosecution is likely to shine a light on the tactics used by the Center. It could also further define the constitutional protections for such organizations in using such novel and controversial means." A video at Hat Hair, BUSTED: "Anti-Hate" Group Gets Caught Funding Hate. Shipwreckedcrew @shipwreckedcrew, "If the SPLC's payments of millions of dollars to individuals involved with racist hate groups wasn't controversial, why did the SPLC take active steps to conceal what it was doing? If donors would have been fine with what they were doing, why the need for bank accounts in the name of fictitious companies?" T. Becket Adams @BecketAdams, "So ... the SPLC revived a dead neo-Nazi group?" Quote Sarah Bedford @sarahcbedford, "New: The SPLC paid more than $1 million to a neo-Nazi gorup that it had declared effectively dead years earlier. At the same time, the neo-Nazi group was fighting in court for $160k it said was vital to its survival." Dr. Interracial @billysandytodd, "Makes me wonder if the SPLC fire bombed their own office in 1983." Quote Tyler O'Neil @Tyler2ONeil, Replying to @Tyler2ONeil, "While the KKK firebombed the SPLC’s offices in 1983, the indictment covers 2014-2023. During that time, SPLC exaggerated hate by putting mainstream conservatives and Christians on a “hate map” with Klan chapters." Elon Musk @elonmusk, "SPLC got better returns than Nancy Pelosi and inverse Cramer combined!" Quote David Sacks @DavidSacks, "SPLC invested $270k in Charlottesville and got $81 million in additional donations. Extraordinary returns." Rothmus @Rothmus, "I know Elon isn’t a Nazi because he wasn’t funded by the SPLC." Quote Joe Rogan Podcast News @joeroganhq, "Joe Rogan to Elon Musk: "What is it like to buy a company for $44B and then people call you a Nazi on that same thing that you bought?"

AJ Christopher at PJM looks at The United States of America v. John Roberts.

Matt Vespa at TownHall celebrates how January 6 Star Witness Cassidy Hutchinson Is in the DOJ's Crosshairs.

At Da Wire, America’s Most Conservative State Just Gave Property Owners The Right To Shoot Invaders, Tennessee.

Matt Van Swol @mattvanswol, "The fact that ICE found HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of migrant children in 2025, many of whom were in forced labor on a farms, is somehow NOT the biggest story in America... ...tells you everything you need to know about the media It's totally insane." Shipwreckedcrew @shipwreckedcrew, "Success!" Quote The Calvin Coolidge Project @TheCalvinCooli1 "Report: The desire to move to the U.S. has dropped to an all-time low Via: The Hill"

From the Free Bacon, New York Times Puts Elise Stefanik Third on Best Sellers List Despite Sales Data Showing She Had Top-Selling Title, "The Times has not reviewed or covered Stefanik's book, 'Poisoned Ivies,' as New York Republican accuses outlet of refusing to 'acknowledge the crisis of antisemitism'" Bonchie @bonchieredstate, "He's accusing others of anti-free speech...while threatening to destroy companies with government power for saying things he doesn't like. Perfect. Just perfect." Quote Chris Murphy @ChrisMurphyCT, "Ellison and the information oligarchs should enjoy it while they can because when Democrats win power we are going to break these anti-consumer, anti-free speech media conglomerates into pieces."

NYPo reports Trans substitute teacher, 19, allegedly plotted chilling ‘murder spree’ at a Virginia school. "Dollery worked as a “non-licensed” substitute teacher for the 2025-26 school year but was later scrubbed from the district’s list after being thrown behind bars, the outlet reported. The long-haired suspect, seen grinning in their mugshot, was charged with threats of bodily harm and is now being held without bond at the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center, cops said.The deranged teen — who identifies as a trans woman — was booked as a male and is reportedly being housed alone, WJLA reported."

Campus Reform, Harvard students call grading reform ‘racist’ in petition.

Varad Mehta @varadmehta, ""I will not thank Rufo for anything as long as his rhetoric salts the earth for rebuilding trust with the left." IMO this is backwards. It is the left that needs to rebuild trust with us. The onus is on it, at least as far as academia is concerned. Rufo is not the problem there." Quote Kevin Vallier @kvallier, "I want to clearly state where I think @christopherrufo has been harmful for American civic life. He has certainly done some good. My concern is that his tactics are a kind of civic poison. They salt the social earth, making trust hard to rebuild and polarization hard to reduce. x.com/christopherruf…"

Palm Sunday

 With Georgiana Rosas:

Man saved from clutches of man-eating palm. At NYPo, Dramatic footage shows daring aerial rescue of worker stranded atop towering palm tree.

An unconscious tree trimmer stranded high above a San Jose neighborhood was dramatically airlifted to safety Friday after suffering a medical emergency while working roughly 75 feet up a palm tree. Emergency crews rushed to the 2900 block of Sunburst Drive around 10 a.m., where the worker had become incapacitated while cutting the tree, according to the San Jose Fire Department.