Flotsam and Jetsam - Is the Ice Breaking on the 'Simoleans for Somalians' Scandal?

I have to credit some Althouse commenter for that name. Unfortunately, I can't find it again. The growing scandal of literally billions of dollars in ."Minnesota on fraudulent businesses largely headed by Somali immigrants is starting to draw a lot of attention, most of it on Twitter. These are, of course, federal programs being administered by the state. Mainstream liberal outlets are currently avoiding it like it might hurt Democrats or something. From Fox, of course, Misspelled learning center, no children inside: Emmer presses Walz over Minnesota daycare tied to $4M "House Majority Whip Tom Emmer demands answers after viral video shows Quality 'Learing' Center with no activity." From Twitchy, 'You Should Be Thanking Us': Somali Community Demands Praise Amid Massive Minnesota Fraud Scandal. They see it as harvesting ripe fruit. Shipwreckedcrew, A Lawsplainer -- The Somali Fraud Edition "It's a tale as old as time and I've seen in play out a dozen times with a dozen different immigrant nationality groups -- steal what you can get away with is an ethos to live by in the Third World." arctotherium @arctotherium42, "Somalis really are the reductio ad absurdum of the lib position on immigration. Highest welfare use and lowest incomes and horrifying cultural practices (FGM) and openly hate America and funnel money to overseas terrorists on top of the billions of dollars in fraud." James O'Keefe @JamesOKeefeIII, "Besides tweet, write letters and raise money, what are the Republicans going to do about what @nickshirleyy exposed in Minnesota?" Quote JD Vance @JDVance, "What's happening in Minnesota is a microcosm of the immigriation fraud in our system. Politicans like it because they get power. Welfare cheats like it because they get rich. But it's a zero sum game, and they're stealing both money and political power from Minnesotans."John Lund @AttilaTheLund, "Just like with voter fraud, we know medicare and childcare fraud isn't happening, because it would be a FELONY if people did it, and convictions for this type of fraud are extremely rare."

Hans Mahncke @HansMahncke. "It is striking how many people fixate on fraud enforcement while missing the forest for the trees. When you engage in mass migration from low-trust societies into high-trust ones, you inevitably produce corruption and industrial-scale abuse of public systems. You cannot have state-funded welfare without a high-trust culture, and you cannot preserve that culture while importing large numbers of people who do not share its basic assumptions. No amount of audits or enforcement surges will fix that." Benny Johnson @bennyjohnson, "33,000 homeless US veterans living on the streets. Politicians say there are no resources to help them Same politicians funnel billions in tax dollars to criminal Somalis who fund the same Islamic terrorists the homeless veterans fought Mass deportation is the moderate position." PJM's Matt Margolis wonders, How Long Before Tim Walz Faces Indictment? I predict never. Don Keith @RealDonKeith, "Remember how shocked everyone was when Kamala Harris strangely chose quirky Tim Waltz as her VP running mate? What if it wasn’t a strange decision at all and a calculation based on access to billions of dollars of Somali fraud money that could be funneled to her Presidential campaign or personal finances? Nick Shirley and the FBI have uncovered what may be the largest theft of tax payer dollars in U.S. history and I predict, when we examine other states, we’ll find that this is just the tip of the iceberg." 

Tom Bevan @TomBevanRCP, "Not a peep about fraud, but a big story on Tim Walz building his influencer army" at the Minnesota Star Trib. Stephen L. Miller @redsteeze, "One kid with an iPhone vs thousands of corporate uninterested paid journalists. Incredible." Quote Nick shirley @nickshirleyy, "Here is the full 42 minutes of my crew and I exposing Minnesota fraud, this might be my most important work yet. We uncovered over $110,000,000 in ONE day. Like it and share it around like wildfire! Its time to hold these corrupt politicians and fraudsters accountable." Jim in MN @HuskersMN, After 3 straight days of ground breaking reporting by Nick, a 22 yr old YouTuber, in what is the now the biggest story in the country, today’s state’s newspapers have ZERO mention of it. This is a key part of the how the corruption works here-it gets total safety from the MN media." Dustin Grage @GrageDustin, "Minnesota’s largest paper just released its Year in Review. Not a single mention of the fraud consuming our state. This is how the fraud was able to balloon into what it is today." Western Lensman @WesternLensman, "Very Serious Journalist Jake Tapper takes time to post his Very Serious Concerns about 𝕏 posts showing people yelling stuff at Tim Walz Meanwhile, zero posts from Jake about the viral posts all over 𝕏 reporting on the fraud in Tim Walz’ state." Western Lensman @WesternLensma, "Here’s what a CNN anchor said about protestors outside Supreme Court Justices’ homes in 2022: "A conversation about ‘civility’ feels like it misses the mark." The Justices have security and people are angry, so what’s the big deal?" Drew Holden @DrewHolden360, "THREAD The legacy media didn’t miss the Minnesota Somalian fraud story. They actively dismissed it as made up, racist, or xenophobic. Before the stories are quietly edited, I’ve got screenshots." The Babylon Bee Would Like To Inform Tim Walz We Are Now A Functioning Daycare In Minnesota. "Mr. Walz can make out the check from the state government to cover those expenses to Seth Dillon, proud owner and operator of Lil' Bees. The check will need to be mailed to a Florida address, which is standard operating procedure for Minnesota daycares."

Dale Stark @DaleStarkA10 "So what percentage of the federal budget is being laundered directly to democrat client groups? If some Gen Z YouTuber can uncover over $100 million in an afternoon the full scope has to be mind bending." Fugitive Caesar @ThomBrady5, "$2 trillion per year, so about a fourth of the annual budget, is going straight to Leftists." Coddled Affluent Professional @feelsdesperate, "I’m at a point where I just don’t think progressive technocracy can do anything, Say you allocated $100 million to fix potholes. I could see connected NGOs manufacturing potholes to fill and gobbling $80 million to no net benefit. I could see the academic/ expert class gobbling $10 million to study the ‘root causes’ of potholes. And then I could see whatever is left over to actually fill potholes being tied up in red tape and regulatory obstacles. And this would even be considered money well spent. They’d feel good and pat themselves on the back for it."

Congresswoman Sarah McBride @Rep_McBride, "I'm wishing all in Delaware who are celebrating today a blessed Kwanzaa, centered on culture, family, and community. May this time be one of reflection, unity, and hope." Business Tactical @Bacon_Is_King , "The irony of a guy pretending to be a woman while pandering to a group who made up a holiday is not lost on us." Ted Cruz @tedcruz "I have no doubt that young Gavin—in his cravat, reclining at his winery—has celebrated Kwanzaa his entire life! #Authenticity" Quote Governor Gavin Newsom @CAgovernor, "As families come together to light the kinara, Jen and I wish all those celebrating a joyful Kwanzaa. May the seven principles of Kwanzaa, in particular community, purpose, and unity, guide our way toward a better future." Even the NYT admits A Wealth Tax Floated in California Has Billionaires Thinking of Leaving.

At TrashPanda see how Joe Rogan Reacts to Georgia’s Confession in 2020 Election Fraud Scandal “Weird, that 36 out of 37 that have unsigned tapes are strong democratic, and that there’s 315,000 votes that aren’t supposed to be there,” Rogan said. “They didn’t sign for the but it’s okay. Don’t worry about it. We just forgot to tally.” Hat Hair VIP's Walt Hudson explains Why Ranked-Choice Voting Delivers More Radicals, Not Moderation.

From Fox, Nigeria says it shared intelligence to support US strikes on ISIS "Trump warned terrorists there would be 'hell to pay' if slaughter of Christians continued in Nigeria." Althouse finds "The Islamic State’s history shows that when the group establishes a stable presence, it’s only a matter of time before it looks to wreak havoc around the world." ""It’s tempting to want to pretend that the chaos in West Africa isn’t an American problem, but the world isn’t that simple...." Writes the Washington Post Editorial Board, in "Why West Africa is worth worrying about/Strikes on ISIS targets in Nigeria are welcome but insufficient" (gift link)." At LifeZette, Trump’s Venezuela Tactics Upset Russia, China, Iran, Narco-Terrorists and Democrats. From Am Mind Sen. Jim Banks says America’s Military Is Back. 

The Brussels Signal says The EU just had its battle of Adrianople, expect some change. "In the early hours of December 19, a historic battle has been fought in the halls of the EU’s ivory tower. Leaders of the European consensus, representing the Empire had taken up arms against outsiders, the barbarians. The barbarians won. . . . The battle of Adrianople in ancient Thrace in 378 A.D. proved to be a definitive turning point in the history of the Roman Empire, the clearest military turning point which demonstrated that Roman infantry could be decisively beaten by “barbarian” forces."

The Great Victor Davis Hanson at Da Signal notes The Left Framed Trump on ‘Affordability’ Crisis. Here’s What Trump Must Do Now. "no one is saying, “You should care about affordability. You made America unaffordable every year you were in power and we’re undoing your mess.” But we haven’t had that message, and I hope we will very soon." Rusty Weiss at RedState predicts the ‘Turnout Machine’ Trump to Go Full-Throttle in 2026 Midterm Blitz. NYPo, Newly unearthed Jeffrey Epstein documents reveal long list of potential prosecutions. At Hat Hair, Josh Hammer asks a good question, What, Exactly, Does the Right Stand For?

According to Susie Moore at TownHall We Now Know the Accused J5 Pipebomber's Motive... A pox on both houses? 

From NYPo, Watchdog group demands answers after ‘unbelievable security lapse’ by Trump’s Secret Service team "The Secret Service continues to endanger the president’s life with lax security, and the government is sitting on information that might expose recent failures which allowed President Trump to get shouted down by Code Pink protesters during a recent outing to a Washington DC restaurant, advocates fear. . . .The watchdog group has been trying for three months to get information on how the protesters got advance notice about Trump’s closely-held movements — at an event intended to demonstrate that the city was thriving under new federal security protection."

From Da Caller, FBI Caught Hillary Clinton Discussing Donations With Foreign Felon. "A recorded conversation between Clinton and Indian hotel magnate Sant Singh Chatwal in which Clinton discussed donations to the foundation and her remaining 2008 campaign debt. The new documents confirm that FBI had at one time been “intercepting individuals associated with the Clinton Foundation.”

The Free Bacon reports Brown Lawyers Up After Bungled Response to Mass Shooting, Retaining Former US Attorney "Security lapses have drawn scrutiny as Brown faces mounting questions over its response to the attack." Nicole Wizman at Tablet, The Maccabees of Bondi Beach "On Hanukkah night, amid terror and confusion, the true story was written by Jews who ran toward danger to protect one another."

Teri Christoph at RedState, Of Course: Another Obama Judge Steps in to Save Illegal ‘Maryland Man’ As Human Smuggling Trial Is Axed "Crenshaw wrote, "The burden-shifting framework controls the Court's analysis. Specifically, once a defendant establishes a prima facie showing of vindictiveness, 'a presumption arises in defendant's favor.' The Court has already found that Abrego has made such a showing, entitling him to discovery and an evidentiary hearing on why the government is prosecuting him."" Tricia McLaughlin @TriciaOhio, "So we, at @DHSgov, are under gag order by an activist judge and Kilmar Abrego Garcia is making TikToks. American justice ceases to function when its arbiters silence law enforcement and give megaphones to those who oppose our legal system." Quote Benny Johnson @bennyjohnson, "MS-13 terrorist Kilmar Abrego Garcia was released by a rogue judge and is now making TikToks." At RVM, CNN Now Admitting Trump’s Border is a ‘Story of Accomplishment’ with Stunning Graphic.

AG @AGHamilton29, "The UK PM bragging about his top priorities including getting an openly pro-terrorist, pro-violence, anti-White, anti-British, anti-police, racist, anti-Semitic extremist to be freed into the UK is certainly a choice. Not one any sensible leader would make, but a choice."

TownHall's Matt Vespa reports Of Course, the Trump White House Issuing This Statement Triggered a Meltdown in Liberal America. From NewsBusters, PBS-Like British Channel Lets Jimmy Kimmel Vomit in 'Alternative Christmas Message'.