Flotsam and Jetsam - Reflections on the Reflecting Pool

Dr. Clayton Forrester @DrClaytonForre1, "Trump hired a bunch of chuds to restore the Reflecting Pool, which they did on time and on budget. Liberals are absolutely furious because they don't want voters to see that you can just fix things." Quote The White House @WhiteHouse, "“Our Great ‘Warriors’ who fixed and rebuilt the Reflecting Pool!” - President Donald J. Trump." richard wolf @RawdogDMonkey, "Wait, you can fix things without a $452m study to determine if we should perform a $36m environmental impact study before awarding a $875m contract to do what some pool guys did for $3m?" At Althouse, Live feed of the filling of the Reflecting Pool, and a poll, Can we all just say it looks beautiful? Pick the answer closest to what you think. 1) Never. It looks like Trump. That's all I see and that's always ugly. 2) Let's be empathetic to those who are so deeply troubled by Trump that they can't see what is true. 3) It's objectively beautiful, and everyone ought to acknowledge what is true.

Imagine being angry about this https://t.co/GfBt1FVWvq

— Marc Thiessen (@marcthiessen) June 6, 2026

Breccan Theis at Da Fed approve of how Rubio, Bessent Show Obsequious GOP How To Give No Quarter To Propagandists. They won't be polite, or give you the benefit of the doubt, so show them no weakness or mercy and stand your ground. A vid at Hat Hair, Border Security Funded, Family Values Defended: Conservatives Deliver on Capitol Hill. 

Sundance at CTH hosts Secretary of War Pete Hegseth Delivers Remarks Honoring D-Day Anniversary. Cynical Publius @CynicalPublius, "He paid his own way so that he could honor our war dead and teach his children the accurate lessons of history leftist filth like you would deny them in the classroom. Just when I think the so-called profession of "journalism" could not stoop any lower, you surprise me." Quote John Hudson @John_Hudson, "Hegseth takes six of his children to France on official trip, reports @taracopp https://washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/06/05/hegseth-takes-six-his-kids-france-official-trip/"

Andrew Breitbart and Lyndsey Fifield

Stacy McCain sings the praises of The Unexpected Heroine Lyndsey Fifield. "When the story broke Thursday, I was stunned. The ex-girlfriend of Graham Platner featured in the lengthy New York Times story was someone I’ve known since 2010. I spent most of the afternoon calling and texting friends who also knew her, and they were similarly surprised." Atop Da Hill Jonathan Turley observes that 8 years after Kavanaugh, Democrats have stopped believing all women. They never really did; it was always selective. Althouse finds Dirtbagism. "I'm reading "Graham Platner and the Rise of the ‘Dirtbag’ Democrat/And what the Maine candidate reveals about politics today" in the NYT." At Hat Hair, Mark Judge observes The Left Covers for Graham Platner and Dave Strom sees The Irony of Graham Platner's Campaign. Chuck Ross @ChuckRossDC, "The guy who divorced his wife when she was 9 months pregnant has some thoughts on Graham Platner’s sexts," Quote Sahil Kapur @sahilkapur, "Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., on Platner: “We know that Graham has lived not your typical political experience. He's been very clear and open with his wife, and they worked through whatever they worked through. At the end of the day, this man has had 60 more town halls than Susan." Liz Mair @LizMair, "My grandfather never physically injured my grandmother in the course of an altercation. He served in WWII. My father-in-law is also not a wife-beater; he ran logistics for the British Army during the Falklands War, in theater." Quote David Weigel @daveweigel, Replying to @daveweigel, "Khanna says that Democrats should respect the women who came forward to talk about Platner while understanding that he changed and that veterans were “broken” in stupid wars." 

Matt Whitlock @MattWhitlock, "This is a really valuable read to understand how Graham Platner rose - it wasn't some organic populist surge. It was a well-funded op - including glowing NYT and GQ profiles BEFORE he even announced, promoting a very specific curated message intended to get libs online buzzing." Quote Jim Geraghty @jimgeraghty, "So… it was, and is, “an op.” The right Democratic political consulting and media firm created an artificial buzz and persuaded all of these publications that Grähäm Plätner was The Next Big Thing™. You see, that company is called “Good Influence” because it helps Democrats." Coddled Affluent Professional @feelsdesperate, "The Chapo guys (except the one who had the stroke), AOC, Mamdani, Platner, ‘Claire Valdez,’ etc. - they all have the same bios: They come from affluent backgrounds and have educated and/ or wealthy parents but are downwardly mobile, they fail to launch and then find a foothold in leftist politics." Quote Corey Walker @CoreyWriting, "Graham Platner is a trust fund kid that attended elite private schools. Stop pretending like he's some everyman. x.com/musepwt/status…" From Twitchy, He MAD! Graham Platner’s Antisemitic RANT at John Fetterman for Calling Him Out As a Creeper Is DAMNING. New York Post @nypost, "Fetterman vows to ditch hoodie for suit if Graham Platner proves he didn't send 'd-k pics' to minors https://trib.al/vM0kJRk." Graham Platner for Senate @grahamformaine, "John Fetterman seems to genuinely think that the reason no one likes him is because he refuses to wear a suit. It's not the hoodie, dude. It's because you've become a stooge for AIPAC and the Republican party." Joe Chalfant at TownHall wonders Why Are Democrats Siccing Staffers on People Asking Questions?

Stephen L. Miller @redsteeze, "It's not that hard. The left lets institutions and communities break down to a point of total degradation to prove why more government and non profits are the answer. The goal is to purposely not solve problems and make life and safety worse. See the entire defund the police movement and homelessness nonprofits in California. Gavin Newson promised to end homelessness and instead it ballooned on purpose. This is why there was such enormous flip out over Trump renovating the reflecting pool or spencer Pratt's campaign. Once people realize that things can be improved a lot of nonprofits and public union/money dries up. ... Because once an AI is programmed to tell people that boys can become girls it's the death of truth. Data centers being built isn't the problem, the data in those data centers is." Quote David Sacks @DavidSacks "While I’m no fan of socialism or arbitrary confiscations of wealth, I can see why Bernie Sanders’ proposal (for the government to take a 50% stake in AI companies) resonates, including with many on the right. The CEOs of the leading AI labs have told us repeatedly that they will cause massive job loss. This is not a story that I believe, nor does the data bear it out, but this is what they have told us. Similarly, they have hyped the risks of AI without putting an equal or greater emphasis on the benefits or readily available mitigations... From NewsWeek, China Backs U.S. Social Media Opposing AI Data Centers. It's shaping up to be a big topic in our county, and our socials are full of anti-data center propaganda.

Matt Vespa at TownHall asks Is This Why It's Taking California So Long to Count Its Ballots? "In Los Angeles, the election nerve center has rows of empty seats and plenty of space, despite having a $330+ million budget (via NY Post)." At AOL, Thieves swipe Bay Area mail-in ballots as questions swirl about vote count. Susie Crabtree at RCP observes Newsom’s Gerrymander Power Play Fizzles. "With early primary returns now in, the grand gerrymandering plan looks like it’s unraveling – or at the very least, won’t deliver the sweeping seat eliminations Newsom and Democrats had hoped for in California where Republicans previously held only nine of the state’s 52 seats." Wait, they're not through manufacturing votes.

California Globe @CaliforniaGlobe, "California Dethroned: Fortune 500 Crown Goes to Texas. This isn’t “California Derangement Syndrome” as Gov. Gavin Newsom claims. This is the economic reality by businesses to California’s toxic business climate, and as the Billionaire Tax threat looms large. @CaliforniaGlobe" USA Today, Bye, Chicago! Bears announce major step toward Indiana stadium. I can't imagine why?

NYPo, Bill Maher says artists quitting America 250 concert makes it look like Dems ‘don’t love America’ "Maher argued that the performers made a mistake by abandoning the event celebrating America’s 250th birthday and said their exit only turned it into a full-blown “MAGA rally.”" Nick Arama at Red State sees Police Bring Down the Fire When Radical Activists Create Chaos at TPUSA Women's Summit in TX. From Twitchy, Lefty Thug Trying to Block Vehicles at ICE Detention Center Gets Introduced to the Pavement. Dave Strom, Police Leaving Newark ICE Facility Exposed to Riots Tonight.

Driscoll at Insty hears JENNIFER LOPEZ: “You have to be born in New York to be a New Yorker!” Bonchie @bonchieredstate, "Do you think she realizes the broader implications of what she’s saying? Or nah?"

API whines about the FBI firing several analysts tied to disputed ‘Catholic ideology’ memo. Disputed? Even Wray and Garland turned their backs on it when they were caught en flagrante. At Da Fed Bryanna Lyman thinks Bolton’s Guilty Plea Makes Media Attacks On Trump DOJ Look Even More Ridiculous. The Wash Stand, Feds to Probe Criminal Fraudsters Who Boast of Their Success on Social Media and Tell Others How to Do It. Shooting News Week, hears so-called ‘Experts’ are Troubled the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division is Now Working to Protect Civil Rights Guaranteed by the Second Amendment. At Da Caller, FBI Docs Reveal Trump’s Would Be Assassin Contacted Butler Officials Before The Attack "The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was forced to release heavily redacted documents that revealed Thomas Matthew Crooks, one of President Donald Trump’s would-be assassins, had exchanged emails with a Butler County Sheriff’s deputy prior to his attack on July 13, 2024 ... The file indicates that a deputy had “checked her emails and records and only had two email communications” from Crooks. The nature of the communication was redacted, and the unnamed deputy said she had not had any “personal interaction” with Crooks."

NYPo opines that the Self-righteous mutiny at ‘60 Minutes’ isn’t about saving the show — it’s about sabotage and being a martyr for the rotting left. At Althouse "Do you think Bari Weiss needs to be removed?"/"Oh, gosh, yes. Look, she’s a lovely person. And her Free Press organization that she founded has been very successful. But television’s not her thing." ""This is like somebody walking up to me and saying, 'There’s a 747, there are 400 people on it, we need you to fly it to Paris.' I’m going to decline because I don’t have a clue. And it would have been so much better if Bari Weiss had been offered this job and said, 'Oh, that’s not for me, I don’t know how to do that.'"That's Scott Pelley, answering a question in "The Interview/Scott Pelley on the Bari Weiss Era and His Last Days at '60 Minutes'" (NYT)."

Keir Starmer kneeling to BLM

Also at Althouse An intervention. "I'm reading, in the London Times, "Why JD Vance is so critical of Keir Starmer’s Britain/Having intervened on the murder of Henry Nowak, the US vice-president was accused of trying to ‘stir up division’ by the put-out prime minister." Vance "intervened"? Vance published a statement. He said something. (We talked about it here, yesterday.)" Dave Strom exposes How Britain Treats Actual Hate Crimes Committed By the 'Right' People. The British Patriot @TheBritLad, "BREAKING: Multiple reports are coming in that Britain citizens are kneeling inside local police stations across the country." Conrad Black at the Brussels Signal, What killed Nowak: One murderer and all the malignancy of collective self-hate. The Telegraph worries How bad will white rage get?

Andrew Sullivan explains The TQ+ Threat To LGB Rights, "The return to the narrative of gays as queers, freaks, and child-obsessed is dangerous."