Flotsam and Jetsam - Ukraine Russia Still Fighting, France Still Burning

WaEx reports Blaze at St. Petersburg oil sites as Kyiv launches more than 1,000 drones at Russia. Jen Kavanaugh at Am Con proposes A Long-Term Plan to Secure Peace for Ukraine, "The brutal, yearslong war might end in 2027—if the White House plays its cards right." Ace looks at The Cognitive Dissonance Of The Pro-Ukraine/Anti-Russia Commentariat. "There is a default assumption among the vast majority of the media, both the mass-market variety and the supposedly high-minded elites who comment on everything, no matter their expertise. Ukraine GOOD! Russia BAD! That sums it up nicely. And they are half correct! What they seem to miss is that Ukraine is a kleptocratic cesspool of corruption, and their only saving grace is that they were attacked by Putin's Russia, and not by Poland or Belarus, which would have elicited a giant yawn in western capitals. And they also miss the provocation from the West that probably began with Bush senior, when Russia was still the Soviet Union. They were promised that NATO had no plans to expand east, so the buffer between western Europe and mother Russia that the Soviet Union had created wasn't necessary." And Sundance at CTH, well, sundance has Sunday Talks – Treasury Secretary Bessent: “Zelenskyy Needs to be Very Careful About Making Statements That are Not True”…, Zelenskyy is Lying – Secretary Marco Rubio Responds to False Claims About Ukraine, Starlink and Starshield, President Trump Points Out Zelenskyy’s Financial Motivation to Keep War Going and Mike Steger Interprets President Trump Ukraine and Russia Policy Objectives. The Babylon Bee @TheBabylonBee, "Man Frustrated By Gas Prices Votes To Start Castrating Kids Again."

Also at CTH, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney Confirms 4 Dead, Several Dozens Injured, During Military Live-Fire Exercise, live fire hit a natural gas wellhead, started a wildfire in a drought with high winds. What the...? Did they hire Karen Bass to advise?

At Da Wire Trump Lays Out Why He’s Canceling Plans To Live-Stream Terrorist Execution, "The decision came after days of speculation on whether the administration would follow through on Secretary of War Pete Hegseth's announcement." Don Surber explains How Trump got Hasan’s execution accepted, "Cartoonist Scott Adams saw him as a wizard who got people to think through the sale. Trump did." He starts by asking for the moon and stars, and settles for the moon.

Dave Strom sees Radicals Burning France Down. From Driscoll at Insty, IS PARIS SCUFFLING? Government Buildings Torched As French Riots Reach the ‘Point of No Return.’ "Related: Very fine people on both sides..." EuroNews reports a Euronews' crew assaulted by masked individuals while covering protests in Paris. At Althouse just Paris. Visegrád 24 @visegrad24, "Galeries Lafayette in Paris is being looted tonight. It’s the French equivalent of Harrods in London or Bergdorf Goodman in NYC," and BREAKING: The looters in Marseille have started targeting private homes villas in affluent areas. They are breaking into large villas in the 7th arrondissement of Marseille." Cathy Salgado at PJM hears a Report: Marseille Rioters Burned Jewish-Owned Shops, Left Muslim-Owned Ones Untouched. Nick Arama at RedState, Macron Faces Fury When It's Revealed What He Was Doing As Riots Escalated in France; "Macron and his wife, Brigitte, were spotted at Dion’s concert at the Plenitude Arena in Nanterre, west of Paris, according to French media reports. The couple reportedly arrived and left discreetly and were among roughly 35,000 spectators at the performance." From sundance, During National Address to France President Macron Says He “Doesn’t Know What is Going On” but He’s Sure President Trump is to Blame. At the Telegraph, Trump blames France violence on immigration, "US president urges country to ‘close your borders and take control’ as cost-of-living demonstrations turn violent."

From the Manhattan Contrarian, France Is The Future Of The Progressive Project. Geiger Capital @Geiger_Capital, "Europe gives them free healthcare, free housing, free education, every social program, and a quality of life they could never have back home… yet they will still loot and destroy the West into the third-world. There is no magic soil. A nation is simply it’s people." Twitchy finds @IsraelWarRoom Has Some Interesting Suggestions on How France Should Address Its Riots (LOL). Israel War Room @IsraelWarRoom, "We call on France to exercise restraint when dispersing the freedom fighters on the streets of Paris. These brave warriors for justice must receive immediate humanitarian aid, and their safety must be guaranteed in accordance with international law. Failure to comply will leave us no choice but to bring a case before the ICJ, in close cooperation with that renowned champion of human rights, Afghanistan."

Hat Hair's Josh Hammer calls Abdul El-Sayed A Muslim Brotherhood Puppet and a Grave National Security Threat. Sister Toldja at RedState hears 'No': Mike Rogers Shuts Down Reporter's TDS in Exchange on El-Sayed's Muslim Brotherhood Ties. From the Crimson Hub, Profiting from Socialism: Meet the DSA lobbyists set to make bank if DSA-dominated Dems win big next month. At Althouse, "The D.S.A.’s rise is at once a story of party-blobification and of a revolt against it. Like the conservatives of the 1970s..." "... the group frankly views the party it occupies as a host for an ideological movement rather than as a partner...." From "Is Anyone Actually in Charge of the Democratic Party? And Does It Matter? This year’s midterm elections are a test of whether a party can be a success and a failure at the same time" (NYT)." Nicolle Russell at USA Today warns Texas, don't let James Talarico's charm fool you. "Like former President Barack Obama, Texas state Rep. James Talarico sells unity to cloud his progressive record. Conservatives who believed Obama know how that ends." 

At Am Think Monica Showalter thinks about Is Rep. Ilhan Omar a U.S. citizen? "So, not Somali-American anymore, just Somali?" From Twitchy, Welp, This Tidbit About the Ilhan Omar Raid BLOWS the Left's Trump Targeting Claims Out of the WATER. Fox News Politics @foxnewspolitics, "The judge who signed the warrant to raid Rep. Ilhan Omar's DC home is a Hillary Clinton donor who clerked for an Obama appointee. That fact alone demolishes the left's claim that this is some Trump-orchestrated political hit job. Mike Davis argues the opposite is true: the evidence against Omar must be so overwhelming that even a judge with deep leftist ties couldn't refuse to sign off. The Fourth Amendment requires probable cause of at least one federal crime inside that home, and U.S. Magistrate Judge Matthew Sharbaugh — appointed by a bench dominated by Obama and Biden picks — found it was there...." Joe Chalfant thinks Obama's Comments on the Ilhan Omar Situation Are Absolutely Insane. Will Ricciardella @WillRicci, "FLASHBACK: Obama’s IRS singled out Tea Party and other conservative groups for heightened scrutiny based on their names and political positions, delayed tax-exempt applications for years and demanded unnecessary donor information. The IRS ultimately admitted wrongdoing and apologized. Obama insisted there was “not even a smidgen of corruption.” Quote Barack Obama @BarackObama, "It is a basic principle of American democracy that the government can’t selectively target individuals simply because of their political beliefs or what they say. But that’s exactly what the Trump Administration is doing to Congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota."

Atop Da Hill, Read this before you buy the ‘blue tsunami’ hype, "4 reasons why we should treat midterm polls with caution." Eric S. Raymond @esrtweet, "We've seen this movie before, it's a very common attempt to manipulate the voter pool. Phase 1: Bogus polls put the Democrat way ahead during most of the run-up in an attempt to demoralize Republican voters. Phase 2: Bogus polls are allowed to tighten to a very narrow D lead just before the election. An honest poll would show a huge R lead. Phase 3: Ballot fraud steals the election. The purpose of the bogus polls was to supply top cover for the fraud. It's a tale as old as time." Quote Kostas Moros @MorosKostas, "Texas polls converging on much smaller Talarico leads than they showed a month ago. From 5-7 point leads down to just 1-3 points. Either the massive Paxton rescue effort is working, or the Talarico leads were always BS." Commonplace urges Confidence, Not Faith, in the Ballot Box, "An election system should provide something that transcends disagreements: a process that can be examined."

DataRepublican (small r) @DataRepublican, "The past few days, I got my hands on thousands of new transcripts and hundreds of recordings, thanks to leads from @SKDoubleDub33 and @iamlisalogan . You've heard that the DSA is proposing structural reforms to America, including abolishing the Senate and imposing term limits. What you not have heard is - there is an operational plan to put it all into action. If the Democratic Party sweeps 2026, then DSA will become "foot soldiers" in constant clashes with the administration to cross a "red line" or invoke a "doomsday scenario" - meaning, President Trump invokes the Insurrection Act, probably sometime in 2027...." ((( Charlottesville ))) @CvilleBubble, "Heads Up, Virginia: AG Jay Jones’ 10-page election directive is the DataRepublican blueprint in real time. @DataRepublican laid it out: coordinated clashes with the federal government to delegitimize it and hand legitimacy to Democratic state officials -- specifically governors & AGs Virginia’s AG just ordered election officials to: • Deny ordinary DOJ monitors access to polls • Tell federal agents to leave and call local police • Document badges, weapons, vehicles & movements • Challenge federal subpoenas • While eliminating Election Day voter eligibility challenges. No specific unlawful federal operation identified—just preemptive resistance that sets up the “red line” showdown and shifts authority to the state and transfers legitimacy and control to Democratic state officials -- in Virginia's case, leftwing extremists Governor Abigail Spanberger and Attorney General Jay Jones --This is an operational plan, not theory. The conditions for escalation are being set in advance. SHARE with your friends. VOTE REPUBLICAN..."

There were a veritable plethora of responses to Elissa Slotkins stated plan of going after Republican youth to discourage them from supporting Trump. PJM's Matt Margolis, Democrats Just Cranked Their Government Weaponization Agenda Up to 11. Hat Hair's Dave Strom, Elissa Slotkin to Young Republicans: We Are Coming for You. Insty collected a number of tweets, Cynical Publius @CynicalPublius, "I honestly do not understand how any American who is not already a literal Communist or a literal Jihadist could vote Democrat after hearing what Slotkin said below. This is LITERALLY totalitarianism. It's not the fake "fascism" the Left likes to accuse the Right of, it is the REAL THING. Undeniably. Irrefutably. This is a sitting member of Congress who was in the CIA saying that dissent from what she believes will result in imprisonment. ..." Karol Markowicz @karol, "They told me the US was heading toward fascism and they were right," Quote New York Post @nypost, "Sen. Slotkin urges Dems to use prosecution to make young people afraid to serve in Trump admin." Hon. Vickie Paladino @VickieforNYC, "It’s a very short jump from here to reeducation camps, gulags, and mass graves." Quote The Chicago Thinker @ThinkerChicago, "ON UCHICAGO CAMPUS: U.S. Senator from Michigan Elissa Slotkin hopes planned political prosecutions of republican leaders will scare young conservatives from getting involved in politics." Amy Curtis @RantyAmyCurtis, "Really looking forward to the David French column about how Slotkin is right."

Dan McLaughlin @baseballcrank, "Make no mistake: this sort of conspiratorial hyperbole, utterly disconnected from the actual written Constitution & aiming at its marginalization, is agitprop aimed at the destruction of our constitutional order." Quote Josh Marshall @joshtpm, Replying to @joshtpm, "2/ Supreme Court in American history with the possible exception of the Roger Taney's Dred Scott court. The Roberts Court has spent the last 15 years tearing up the constitutional order and the last seven or eight years being little more than an extra-constitutional veto for ..."

Greg Lukianoff at The Eternally Radical Idea declares FIRE victory in NJ! Deplatformings hit all-time high! The impending (and ongoing) ‘Academic Filibuster’! & more! From The Telegraph (UK) Mother referred to Prevent for ‘over-identifying with Israel’ Coming to New York soon, I expect. 

Charles Murray @charlesmurray, "Starting with the Coleman Report in 1966, continuing with studies of prison rehabilitation, job training programs, causes of poverty, race differences in IQ, and causes of sex differences in occupational preferences. To name a few." Quote Steve Sailer @Steve_Sailer Replying to @ArtemisConsort, "Almost nobody realizes that just about every liberal feel-good nostrum has been tested by liberal social scientists over the last 60 years, with practically none of them turning out true. That was already fairly well established when I started reading social science in 1972."

At Althouse, "If sexual misconduct prevents a victim from taking full advantage of her education, then the institution has to address it." ""That responsibility is an awkward fit in some ways, but it reflects the reality that colleges are not just classrooms; they are a very particular kind of community in which all members have a duty of care toward one another. The Cornell case shows how hard it can be for universities to enforce Title IX well and also why they have to keep trying...." Writes Emily Bazelon, in "This Is One of the Saddest Facts About the Cornell Rape Case" (NYT). The sad fact in question is that Jane Doe dropped out, and she did not complete her degree elsewhere. Her education — her path to a career — was disrupted." By actions she initiated and participated in willingly. One of the commenters suggested OnlyFans.