Flotsam and Jetsam - Trump Wants Even Bigger Balls

And needs a bigger ballroom. At Hat Hair Beege Welborn sees Democrats Fritz on a Ballroom Blitz (I'd take umbrage, but it's too late) and Dave Strom reports Hakeem Jeffries Threatens Donors to White House Ballroom. At Twitchy, Bro, Why So VIOLENT?! Hakeem Jeffries Threatens People Paying for the WH Ballroom and WOW, That Was DUMB. Katie Jerkovich at RedState, Democrats Losing It, Issuing 'Warning' to Anyone Funding Trump's Ballroom. From NewBusters hears Jon Meacham Suggests 'Infantile' Trump's Ballroom Moves A Cause for 'Revolution'. John Podhoretz @jpodhoretz "For all you very odd and self-righteous people going bonkers over the East Wing, watch this:" Quote Right Angle News Network @Rightanglenews, "BREAKING - A 2010 CNN clip of Obama’s $376 million White House renovation, fully funded by taxpayers unlike President Trump’s $250 million ballroom he’s paying for himself, is going viral as viewers call out Democrat hypocrisy and fake outrage." At Althouse, "Putting up a tent does nothing but make people upset that they’ve come to a state dinner but they never get inside the White House. The only bathroom facilities..." ""... for a tent are porta-potties. Setting up a kitchen out there is hugely expensive. When the tent is up, the helicopter [Marine One] can’t land. And the grass dies." Said Gahl Hodges Burt, quoted in "A Pile of Rubble: After 123 Years, the East Wing Is Gone/Critics are outraged over President Trump’s demolition of the East Wing to make way for his $300 million ballroom. Others say it was time for change" (NYT)." Bob Spencer at PJM, Trump ‘White House Timeline’ Hits Back on Renovation Attacks, and It’s Glorious. Kurt Schlichter @KurtSchlichter, "In the last three days, Donald Trump has done more construction work, just at the White House and has been done in all of Pacific Palisades in nearly a year." Quote Mark Hemingway @Heminator, "If you know anything about the building and permitting process in California, it makes total sense Gavin Newsom doesn’t know what construction and renovation looks like. x.com/gavinnewsom/st…"

At the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 10.23.25, EBL:The White House East Wing Remodel and Democrat Outrage Theater, Twitchy: David Shuster Can’t Help You If You Can’t See The Difference Between Obama’s Renovations & Trump’s,

Say, did you notice the government was still shut down? I didn't get to go to band practice yesterday! Dave Strom interprets a Democratic Whip: The Shutdown Is Our Fault. Paul A. Szypula @Bubblebathgirl "Bernie Sanders complains that the government has been shut down for 18 days now. Bernie has voted 10 times to shut down the government this shutdown." Paul A. Szypula @Bubblebathgirl, "Rep. Katherine Clark (D-MA) is now trying to undo her evil statement where she admitted Democrats are using the Schumer Shutdown and suffering of the American people as leverage to get free healthcare for illegals. Clark wants you to doubt your own ears." Joe Rogan Podcast News @joeroganhq, "Commentary account "If Congress said, 'we're not going to take our paychecks until we figure this out,' that would be a step in the right direction." "Not everybody can afford to do that." "Neither can the people who aren't getting paid enough." "That's a fair point."" Abigail Jackson @ATJackson47, "Democrat shutdown messaging has devolved into: - we can’t reopen the government bc our crazy left base will be mad - families will suffer but we need them for leverage." A Larry vid at Hat Hair, Johnson Corners Schumer & Jeffries: Trillion Dollar Shutdown Scam.

PJM's Mike Cantrell sees Rosie O'Donnell's Call for 'Economic Blackout Protest' Backfires in a Huge Way "One user said, "That's so nice of you to pay my rent and car note since my check will be short a week."" At Althouse, "Now in their fury and impotence, Democrats hit the streets—projecting onto their hated nemesis, Donald Trump, their own past preferences for kingly methods." "Concludes Victor Davis Hanson, laying out the evidence, in "Who Are the Real Kings? Democrats cry 'No Kings' while wielding royal power—raiding rivals, silencing dissent, and crowning heirs without a single vote" (American Greatness)" and "I particularly like the line where you said Trumpism is seeking 'to amputate the higher elements of the human spirit — learning, compassion, science...'" "Said E.J. Dionne to David Brooks in "Trump Has a Religion. What Do Democrats Have? Mamdani might be working in Democrats’ favor. But what about 'No Kings'?" (NYT)(video of the whole conversation here, on YouTube)." Will Ricciardella @WillRicci "A lot of talk about beef lately. But no one is flat-out saying what the issue is: government. The U.S. beef market is a rigged system: 1. USDA regs crush small processors 2. Big 4 packers act as a cartel 3. Interstate rules block competition 4. Trade quotas raise prices 5. Misleading labels hide it all."

US Dept. of the Treasury, Treasury Sanctions Major Russian Oil Companies, Calls on Moscow to Immediately Agree to Ceasefire. Capt. Ed at Hat Hair reads the WSJ: Could Trump's Sanctions on Russian Oil End the War? Probably not. The National Security J thinks A ‘Fortified Freeze’ Might Be How the Ukraine War Ends. At NYPo, Biden’s cognitive decline emboldened Putin to invade Ukraine, Sen. John Kennedy tells ‘Pod Force One.’ Beege Welborn sees Trump Playing Mind Games With Maduro. Kurt Schlichter reacts to word that some generals are upset with Pete Hegseth, Fat Loser Generals Can Get Bent "Some of the flag officers— the ones with a future in a military devoted to winning wars— appreciated this refreshing dose of toxic masculinity, but far too many of them channeled Margaret Dumont and are now scrambling to the press like little weasels to leak the anonymous equivalent of, “Oh, well, I never!”"

Don Surber, on Maine Kampf "Democrats silent on Nazi running for the Senate." Joe Concha @JoeConchaTV "There’s a Democrat running for Maine senator who literally had a Nazi tattoo - yet Colbert isn’t touching that story for whatever reason…" Quote, Thomas Sowell Quotes @ThomasSowell "Stephen Colbert: "Let's reset the counter, days since last Republican Nazi thing: 0… Folks, there's no such thing as a Nazi streak. You got any Nazi in you, you a Nazi."" From Ace, Maine Kampf: Bernie Sanders Doubles Down on Nazi Endorsement as Nazi's Former Campaign Manger Spills the Beans: Of Course He Knew It Was an SS Symbol, "He literally referred to it as "Mein Totenkopf."" From the Free Bacon, 'Working Class' Graham Platner Attended Elite $75K a Year Prep School Known for Famous Government Alumni. "Platner portrays himself as a 'working class Mainer' and is backed by Bernie Sanders, who says he'll 'fight for the working class'" Big Fish @BigFish3000, "Democrats have quite a menu of candidates to choose from. A Nazi in Maine A communist in NY A Navy cheater in NJ A guy who wants to murder children in Virginia." The Babylon Bee @TheBabylonBee, "Worse And Worse: Platner Also Has A Nickelback Tattoo."

Ace likes John Fetterman: Democrats' Constant Resort to Smearing Their Enemies as "Fascists" Shows That They've "Lost the Plot," "John Fetterman's lump, "Lumpy Jack," makes a lot of sense." At RCP, Fetterman: I Knew When Kamala Harris Called Trump A Fascist, We Lost The Plot At That Point. Driscoll at Insty, TUCKER CARLSON, CANDACE OWENS, AND GRAHAM PLATNER: THE RISE OF THE NEW AGE NAZIS. Dmitri Bolt at TownHall reports Candace Owens Hits a New Low, and Accuses Trump of Assassinating Charlie Kirk. "What is it with them giving people a holiday after they kill them? Why is that a thing, you know what I mean?"

From Althouse, "Mayor Eric Adams... lashed out at Mr. Cuomo for pressuring him to leave the race, calling him 'a snake and a liar.'" "It says here in "Eric Adams Will Endorse Andrew Cuomo for Mayor/Mayor Eric Adams will endorse former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo for mayor and plans to campaign with him, in hopes of slowing the momentum of Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee" (NYT)." Wall Street Apes @WallStreetApes "Zohran Mamdani completely changes the way he talks and how he sounds depending on what country he’s in Here are clips of him - In America - In South Africa - On a Turkish podcast - During his hip-hop rapper days This is absolutely insane. He’s an actor." Althouse, Here's that crazy ad that Cuomo accidentally/"accidentally" released. "Background from The Guardian, "Cuomo condemned over racist AI ad depicting ‘criminals for Zohran Mamdani’/Official X accounts posts and then deletes AI-generated attack ad that prompts widespread denunciation." From Fox News, "Andrew Cuomo campaign walks back controversial attack ad targeting Mamdani voters/Campaign quickly removes AI-generated video after Mamdani calls it 'just disgusting.'""

This is the wildest attack ad I’ve ever seen in politics. Andrew Cuomo pulling out all the stops. pic.twitter.com/rPQ77Z3bE7

— Stephen Taylor (@stephen_taylor) October 23, 2025

A true classic in the genre of political attack ads. Who cares if he pulled it. Once something is on the internet, it never goes away.

PJM's Matt Margolis, Jay Jones Is Now Under Criminal Investigation. Not for wishing his opponents, and their families dead. That's covered by freedom of speech. Rather, the fishy sentence he got for driving 114 on the interstate. No jail, community service working on his own campaign. Take down the judge on that one too. 

I&I on Why We Don’t Like The Democratic Party "We could start with its lust for big government and all that comes with it: steep taxes, cruel regulation, appalling violations of property rights and an imperious and ever-hungry administrative state. Or we could frame our argument in terms of civil society vs. political society, with the Democrats hard in favor of the latter, which is a serial violator of liberty. Instead we’ll focus on what the Democrats want over all: a revolution." David Shane @david_shane "The Democratic Party wants, 1. A thousand rules, and more every day, micro-detailing how you must live your life or operate your business. 2. "Oh, you're a new arrival / favored group X? Do whatever the heck you want, we don't care." It cannot last." Quote Seasonal Clickfarm Worker @ClickingSeason "Migrant street vendors are the perfect synecdoche for the larger issue because the crime syndicates that run these businesses are functionally exempt from the rules that the rest of us have to live by: they have no inspections or regulations to worry about, don’t have to pay workers’ comp insurance or payroll taxes, or minimum wage, they pay no rent, they simply take command of the sidewalk in order to sell illegal goods at a cheaper price than a law abiding citizen could ever match. A race to the economic bottom. And you have politicians and everyday people READY TO GO TO THE MAT to ensure that they don’t have to follow the same rules we do, and can operate with impunity." Ace, AGAIN: Illegal Alien Allowed Into US By Biden and Given a Commercial Drivers License by Gavin Newsom Kills Three Americans in Horrific Crash. Florida Rep: Let's Let the Victims of Illegal Aliens Sue the Municipalties and Officials Who Help Kill Them "The dead family can at least take comfort in the Cultural Enrichment they experienced before they were murdered by another illegal. Oh, and he was high off his gourd on drugs, too." At the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 10.23.25 357 Magnum: Turns Out It’s a Bad Idea to Give Auto Loans to Illegal Aliens. Shooting NewsWeek, Dems Expected to Use Ongoing Urban Crime – Which They’ve Enabled – To Push for Still More Gun Control. Insty cites DAVID STROM: Blue Governments Exist to Facilitate Fraud. At Althouse, "If Democrats don’t reverse course, they may soon find themselves unable to win presidential elections." "Writes Brody Mullins, in "How Democrats Became the Party of the Well-to-Do" (NYT)(free-access link, because there are some good graphs that show how the class politics flipped)."

Dave Strom hears Scott Wiener to Challenge Nancy Pelosi for Congress. The Babylon Bee @TheBabylonBee, "Rebel Alliance Warns Obama's Presidential Library Almost Fully Operational." 

Ace reports a Federal Grand Jury Indicts Decarlos Brown Jr. for His Demonic Butchery of Iryna Zarutska, on Death-Penalty Eligible Charges "Kill him. Straight to the gallows." FRONTLINES TPUSA @FrontlinesTPUSA, "EXCLUSIVE: Federal authorities are targeting Antifa domestic terror groups across the nation and are now going after their funding sources. But investigators are also being urged to scrutinize the underground subculture where militants plan, recruit, and hide in plain sight. In this multiple-part investigation, Frontlines goes undercover to expose Oakland and Seattle's anarchist book fairs, where you get more than just a good read." Nick Arama at RedState thinks Schiff Isn't Going to Like This: Todd Blanche Pours Cold Water Over New Report About DOJ Case: Todd Blanche @DAGToddBlanche, "Breaking: @DilanianMSNBC reports on a recent meeting that never happened. Can you ask your two “sources” for more info? I’m genuinely curious. Excited to hear more about this made-up meeting! Also, unequivocally: U.S. Attorney Hayes has told me no such thing." Quote "Ken Dilanian @DilanianMSNBC, "Exclusive with @CarolLeonnig: The federal prosecutor in charge of investigating whether Sen. Adam Schiff should be charged with mortgage fraud recently told her bosses in Washington she did not think the case was strong enough to move forward, two sources familiar with the matter told MSNBC. A third person familiar with the matter said the case is continuing to be investigated. Kelly Hayes, the U.S. Attorney in Maryland, met in recent days with Todd Blanche, the deputy Attorney General, to update him on the Schiff case, the three people said. Hayes, an experienced federal prosecutor, told Blanche she did not think the case against Schiff was strong, two people said. The two said Ed Martin, a controversial senior Justice Department official, is pressing to keep the case alive."

Cathy Salgado at PJM, Letitia James Launches Portal to Dox ICE Agents. Ace, Democrat Rep. Garcia and Senator Blumenthal to Launch "Master ICE Tracker" to Doxx Agents and Tee Them Up for Antifa Assassination Attempts. "Attacks on ICE are up 1000% and we just had an antifa-connected lunatic open fire on ICE agents in Texas, and before that, we had an antifa ambush of ICE agents." Sister Toldja at RedState thinks you should Watch Pritzker Shows Us Who He Really Is in Response to Important Question on ICE Actions in Chicago. Tom Knighton at BA, LA Teacher Says ICE Isn't Only One With Guns Hours After Federal Agent Shot. Stephen Kruiser at PJM, thinks it's Too Bad ICE Agents Can't Round Up Dems Who Are Trying to Get Them Killed. At Twitchy, That Was COLD! Scott Jennings SCHOOLS Geraldo Rivera on Why ICE Agents Must Wear Masks in Public Counterpoint. The reason they’re wearing masks— which, by the way, their director, Todd Lyons, he doesn’t want them to have to wear masks, he’s against the masks!” “The reason they’re wearing them is because you have a dedicated group of people out there—and some of them, unfortunately, are Democrat political officials, who are DOXING them and their families and putting them in harm’s way!” “They face a 1,000% increase in violent attacks this year!” “These people are in harm’s way EVERY day, and they are protecting themselves and their families!” "Maybe Rivera’s dumb, or possibly just playing the role CNN brought him on the show to play." Western Lensman @WesternLensman "1996: Chuck Schumer explains “the number one reason" illegals come to the US is so they can defraud programs like Social Security — and wants to stop it. Chuck sounding very DOGE! . . . "

From NYPo, CBS News boss Bari Weiss seen with bodyguards amid heightened security concerns. T Becket Adams at And Another Thing, knows the Media love a good left-wing conspiracy, ""The truth is more important now than ever"* (*terms and conditions may apply)" Mark Judge at Hat Hair, Sleazy, Unethical Journalists Ask: Why Doesn’t Anyone Trust the Media? "To ask why Americans don’t trust the media, Harper’s interviewed three of the most untrustworthy, hackish, godawful journalists in America." Elon Musk @elonmusk "What could possibly go wrong?"

Patrick Deneen @PatrickDeneen, "It’s been often claimed that conservatives are largely non-existent in academe because they are drawn to money-making careers. Glad to see this canard utterly obliterated by the American Association of University Professors, who admit that conservatives are effectively purged from the get-go." Quote American Association of University Professors @AAUP Replying to @EmmaJanePettit @TheFIREorg and 3 others "Fascism generally doesn’t do great under peer review, but perhaps it’s the intellectual values of academia, which emphasizes critical inquiry & challenges traditional norms, that may be inherently less appealing to those with a more conservative worldview." From the College Fix, Tired of getting dinged by FIRE, some universities spurred to improve free speech policies. And at Campus Reform, Tulane University delays approval of TPUSA chapter revival, Jon Sexton hears UVA Makes a Deal with the Trump Administration "Unlike some of the other deals the administration has reached or offered, this one doesn't involve UVA paying a huge sum of money." At the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 10.23.25 357 Magnum, What’s the Opposite of Diversity? University.

VodkaPundit at PJM says You Only Think the 'Trans' Crisis Is Over.

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Fall Colors and FMJRA 2.0: Breaking Even On The Road up and garnering clicks at The Other McCain.