Flotsam and Jetsam - Iran Used Trash Bags to Simulate Mines in the Gulf of Hormuz

Capt. Ed at Hat Hair cites Axios: Trump Has the Upper Hand in Hormuz. VodkaPundit at PJM, hears Iran Mined the Strait of Hormuz With… Trash Bags? "According to reporting cited by CNBC's Brian Sullivan, shipowners said many suspected mines were decoys, including inflated trash bags," the IW post continued. "Separate reporting citing U.S. officials said more than 200 mine-like objects were cleared from the main shipping lane, but only around 11 were actual mines." Such deceptions have a long history in warfare. I reluctantly award them points for creativity. At Twitchy, People Are LOVING the Faces a CNN Panel Makes As Scott Jennings Explains Trump's WIN in Iran. Scott Jennings @ScottJenningsKY, "By any meaningful metric, we have won this war. Now it's time for the president to formally announce it to the American people." It's sad to see the CNN panel sad to hear America is winning." Insty, TRUMP IS CRUSHING IRAN WITH ALMOST NO (U.S.) CASUALTIES, AND PEOPLE ARE BITCHING: Kurt Schlichter @KurtSchlichter, "FACT CHECK: True." Quote Marc Thiessen @marcthiessen, "Trump’s attack on Iran was not a blunder; it was the bravest foreign policy decision any president has done in my lifetime. He is the first president to take the words of our enemy seriously — and act before they were able to kill millions."

Sundance at CTH is happy to say Goodbye Canadian Oil – President Trump Announces “Biggest Oil Deal in World” with Venezuela. Trump: "The United States of America has just entered into an Agreement with the Country of Venezuela on, THE BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY! At my direction, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, working closely with Highly Respected Interim President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodriguez, and, through a partnership with private business, have secured majority U.S. control of more than 65 BILLION BARRELS of proven Oil Reserves in Venezuela, at no cost to the American Taxpayer."" OilPrice, U.S. In Talks To Take Direct Ownership Of Venezuelan Oil Fields. Northern Barbarian @xnoesbueno, "It’s the Venezuelan dividend. Take out the brutal dictator who turned a prosperous nation that pumped money out of the ground into a wretched impoverished third world hellhole. Welcome Venezuela back. Cut China and Cuba off from a cheap oil source. The other part. No accident this happened months before Iran. The IRGC had a presence in Venezuela. Supplied Venezuela with weapons, patrol craft. You want that in striking range of the southern coast of America?"

Sundance reports Russia Begins Targeting Dual Use Infrastructure in Kyiv, Tens of Thousands Flee the Region. Begins?

Don Surber predicts the Saudis will build nuclear reactors, "The only question is if they are build by Westinghouse or Red China. Democrats don’t want Westinghouse to land the contract." From Resp State, Trump wants to stabilize Libya. Militants have other plans. Of course they do.

From Space.com, 'It's going to be beautiful': President Trump signs order to create US Space Academy. "It'll attract, train and graduate the very, very best of our nation." Sundance, President Trump Announces the United States Space Academy. At Insty, VodkaPundit quips "It’s a shame the name Starfleet Academy is sullied."

Kurt Schlichter @KurtSchlichter, "Caring about Donald Trump's idiosyncrasies is a waste of time. I care that the border is shut. That DEI is dying. That we're rebuilding our military. If he wants to say he's renaming a lake to freak out the squares, that's a bargain." Quote Emily Zanotti @emzanotti, "Just...just one shred of dignity. One. Please. x.com/Republicans/st…" The Appalachian Podcast @GetOnTap, "#BREAKING President Trump just announced that his administration is moving to allow farmers the ability process their own meat. This is huge for farmers, the economy, and for rural Americans who should be able to get meat from their neighbors. Long overdue, but these are the decisions we were hoping to see." Heather Champion @winningatmylife, "It was easy for Trump to walk right in and take over the Republican Party bc they were all false fronts. Kristol, Tucker. I resent this tremendously." Quote Bill Kristol @BillKristol, Replying to @BillKristol, "MAGA is a Red Scare, a Race Scare, and a Gender Scare all at once." To be fair, he was the man who put "neo" in neocon. Dave Hoile at Am Great says The International Criminal Court Is a Woke NGO. Shut It Down. "Secretary Rubio’s pledge to dismantle the ICC brick by brick will be easier to execute than many may think."

At Twitchy, Trump Blasts NYT's Maggie Haberman for ‘Sources Say’ 9/11 Smear, CNN’s Jake Tapper Rushes to Rescue "Maggot Hagerman, the Fake Reporter from The Failing New York Times, an unattractive person both inside and out, and who knows less about me than most reporters on the beat (She’s a SCAMMER!), made up a story that on September 11th, I’m not going to the World Trade Center, in New York City, because they won’t let me make a speech, and I’m going to the Pentagon in D.C., because I’m a featured speaker." "This is more Corrupt News, I’ve been to New York many times over the years, and no one ever speaks, it’s a “solemn ceremony!” I never even thought of what Maggot made up, and besides, I would love not to speak, because I’m speaking all the time, and this is a day to remember the victims, and their beautiful family members."" Insty says YOUR TERMS ARE ACCEPTABLE: Jelly Roll Dares Trump Fans to Stop Listening After Playing Court Jester for Jimmy Kimmel.

Matt Vespa at TownHall, That PA Measles Story Just Took a Wild Turn, At Hair Dave Strom looks at The Lie Buried in the Truth of Measles 'Associated' Deaths. A newborn died of a broken spleen, tested positive for measles. Commissioner Josh Parsons @CommissionerJP, "Correct. This is a point I have been making. The PA Sec of Health says she "thoroughly" reviewed the two cases. At the press conference they emphasized the two individuals were "unvaccinated." The underlying assertion was that this status was by choice. We later learned that one case was the infant who died at birth. The infant obviously had no opportunity to be vaccinated. A thorough review of the case by the PA Secretary of Health would obviously reveal this. Thus, stating it the way they did is an attempt to deceive the public. If there is one attempt to deceive the public in this matter, it is fair to ask if there are other attempts." Quote Madhava Setty @Madhava_Setty, "Replying to @AboutPediatrics @CommissionerJP and @SecKennedy You do realize that if the death was in a newborn calling it an unvaccinated death is ridiculous." Cary Kelly @CaryKelly11, "Blaming measles for a death a coroner said was caused by a lacerated spleen is stupid. Community notes, where are ya?" Quote Geraldo Rivera @GeraldoRivera, "Kids dying because they weren't vaccinated for measles is stupid." Also at Hat Hair, Beege Welborn on The Mystery Measles of Lancaster County", Unless someone coughs up a red, spotty corpse pretty quickly, power-mad Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro is going to have some serious 'splainin' to do." Secretary Kennedy @SecKennedy, "Governor Shapiro's unseemly rush to Lancaster County to convene a national press conference and his giddy delight in announcing two measles deaths was a morose commentary on the contemporary political dialogue. The performance was a replay of the Democrats' COVID playbook: fearmongering, misinformation, finger-pointing, and the weaponization of infectious disease fears for political gain..."

At Am Mind, John C. Eastman stares down The $40 Trillion Hole "Time to revisit the Constitution’s Spending Clause limits." Politicians just can't control their urge to give away taxpayers money.

Dmitri Bolt is happy to hear Scott Bessent Is Coming for Soros, CAIR, the SPLC, and the Left’s Tax-Exempt Empire. It's time to get rid of tax-free NGOs entirely, left, right or center. Make them part of the regular economy.

Ace wakes up to the realization, from the X Safety Team: We Have Uncovered 200,000 Bots and Fake Accounts Created by Chinese Intelligence to Propagandize Against Data Farms, "...so that China can win the AI race because the US just quit it." It almost worked with nuclear power. AG @AGHamilton29, "Keep this in mind when you see posts with tens of thousands of likes that happen to fit with the information war positions of certain adversaries. You think this is the only CCP bot farm? Any idea how many Iranian/Pakistani/Russian active bot farms currently exist on here and other platforms?"

Susie Crabtree at RCP reports the Secret Service Spokesman, Two Others Suspended Amid Leak Probe  "All three employees are based in the communications office. Placing Secret Service agents or officials on administrative leave and suspending security clearances is standard practice during an investigation and not a confirmation of wrongdoing."

Dave Strom, Abdul El-Sayed Will Save Jews From Global Warming! Jarvis @jarvis_best, "I was pleasantly caught off guard by the argument of former journalist Peter Beinart who responded to a group of Michigan Jewish Dems who were uncomfortable with El Sayed by telling them that El Sayed will stop global warming and global warming will be Bad For Jews." Capt. Ed, Piker Melts Down As Michigan's Jewish Dems Fight Back. Dave Strom again, Yes, It Matters Who You Embrace and Campaign With. Insty says NO. NEXT QUESTION? "Can Abdul el Sayed be trusted with intelligence community secrets?  To be fair, these days I’m not sure the intelligence community can be trusted with that stuff."A Hat Hair vid claims to know The Bloc of Michigan Voters the GOP Must Win Over. Am Con calls Alaska The Sleeper Race That Could Decide Senate Control, "Name confusion and the Last Frontier’s ranked-choice system may spell trouble for Republicans." CDM @CDM_PRESS, "NYT Killed A Story That Exposed How Democratic Spam PACs Drain Elderly Donors — And A Stanford Professor Had To Publish It Himself. A surprisingly concentrated group of elderly donors are responsible for the lion’s share of money raised by these groups. Full story in comments..."

At AMAC, Blue-City Blackouts Expose the Left’s Race Hustle. "In response to power outages in two blue cities, some liberal activists are blaming "racism" for delays in getting the lights back on. But there is one glaring problem with that theory." Black looters shooting at repairment and Blacks run the system from top to bottom. Being Democrats, you can be sure the system is being looted at the expense of maintenance. 

West Coast, Messed Coast™– Califraudia's Protection Act for Billion-Dollar Robber Barons. Bob Hoge at RedState sees Nick Shirley Leave a NYTimes Reporter Sputtering As He Educates Her on CA's 1st Amendment Assault. If I understand the law correctly, he should immediately file a complaint against her, and any other "unfriendly" new reporter that seeks to interview him, just as a lesson.

Matt Vespa reports  A Top FBI Official's Remarks About Running a Secret Government Are Now More Chilling. Tyler O'Neil at Da Signal says the FBI Followed Catholic Priests, Continued Richmond Memo Work After Removal Order: DOJ Report Finds.

Yashar Ali @yashar, "BREAKING via TMZ Milo Yiannopolous has been apprehended by ICE and is currently in a detention center." From Not The Bee, Former Trump supporter Milo Yiannopoulos has been arrested and detained by ICE. Sundance provides some details, ICE Arrests Milo Yiannopoulos for Overstaying Visa Pending Deportation and Removal. "Yiannopoulos legally entered the country on May 14, 2019, through New York City, New York. He chose to overstay his welcome in violation of our nation’s laws.   Yiannopoulos was issued a final order of removal by an Immigration Judge on July 22, after failing to show up for his immigration hearing. He will remain in ICE custody pending removal." Dave Strom says  This Is Pretty Funny, Actually...  MILO @Nero, "California needs ICE checkpoints at supermarket entrances, gas stations, strip malls, intersections and government buildings, with on the spot deportation for anyone who can’t prove they are in the US legally."

From Ace, Rubio Suspends All H-1B Visa Processing, "Rubio tried to ban visas for citizens of countries who tend to abuse our welfare system. A Biden judge named Jeanette Vargas, get this, blocked this necessary measure." Mike Letts at PJM sees Minnesota Just Got Handed a Loss Following Its Absurd Request Over ICE Agent Christian Castro. "a federal judge who delivered the latest blow to the state of Minnesota, calling them out on the same insanity that Abbott saw. U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. rejected Minnesota’s requests for a temporary restraining order, allowing Castro to walk free. That’s not to say he won’t face the charges down the road, but this is a step in the right direction."

From the College Fix, Trump’s loan limits prompt UPenn to help graduates find jobs. Campus Reform finds University of Pittsburgh curriculum features several classes on Marxism, including class on ‘racialized police violence’ and racial capitalism. At the Wash Stand, Trump Banned Federal DEI Programs, but Thrift Savings Plan Contracts Ignore the Order. Buck Throckmorton at Ace's  MORNING RANT: “Polite conservatism” didn’t put woke corporations on the defensive - conservative activists did; This time the target is the Big Four Accounting Firms.

NiohBerg @NiohBerg, "Reminder that in both Libya, Syria and Iraq, the moment civil war broke out and the ruling regimes lost control over entire regions, the locals immediately reopened slave markets. As if it was the most natural thing to do. Not all cultures are equal." Bob Spencer at PJM, Trump Says He’d ‘Absolutely’ Ban Sharia. From NYPo, CAIR blamed 9/11 on US support for Israel, recommended bin Laden’s writings in back-to-school guide: ‘Evil propaganda.’  Kyle Becker @kylenabecker, "Any “feminists” care to comment? Or is “feminism” just a Marxist scam to poison sexual relations and attack Western culture? It’s interesting what radicals attack and don’t attack. Because it exposes them all as frauds." Quote Faraz Pervaiz @FarazPervaiz3, "Canadian Islamic scholar Dr. Shabir Ally says: “A Muslim man can have 4 wives and an unlimited number of female sex slaves (concubines). The four wives are also slaves, but with higher status.”" At Hat Hair, Mark Judge writes on Jews, Literacy, and American Freedom.

James McGee at Am Spec looks at Iryna Zarutska, Lindsay Clancy, and the Politics of Who Gets Mourned. "Our culture has its victims and villains backward." Our culture doesn't. The left does. 

Capt. Ed, Nihilists, Man: WPATH Goes the Full Lebowski. "Now that it faces action from the Federal Trade Commission for fraud, however, WPATH suddenly wants to wrap itself in the First Amendment. All of those claims about a scientific basis for chemical and surgical sex changes on children? That was just their opinion, man! Call it the Full Lebowski." ripx4nutmeg @ripx4nutmeg, "At least four women's golf tournaments in Canada have been won by men this summer." Well, Cana Duh. 

Even more at the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 08.28.26! Linked at the Pirate's Cove in the weekly Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup and links. Linked at The Pirate's Cove in the weekly Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup and links. 

Flotsam and Jetsam - Just Another Sunday in the South

And the pickens are kinda slim. And I'm OK with that.

From Twitchy, Hypocrite 'Eat the Rich' DSA Leader Caught Lying and Living Off Mom & Dad’s Manhattan Money. The Manhattan Contrarian is outrages Democratic Socialists Commemorate Fidel Castro's 100th Birthday. The Free Bacon reports the El-Sayed Campaign Gets a $175,000 Boost From CAIR, Whose Leader Was 'Happy' About Oct. 7, After Alleging Primary Opponent's AIPAC Support Constituted 'Foreign' Intervention in Election. At the JPo, Mohammed El-Kurd laments not being allowed to hijack planes in protest "Last month, El-Kurd called on pro-Palestinian supporters to 'Normalize the massacres as the status quo' at a rally in London.." Mohammed El-Kurd @m7mdkurd, "You can’t protest peacefully. You can’t boycott. You can’t hunger strike. You can’t hijack planes. You can’t block traffic. You can’t throw Molotovs. You can’t self-immolate. You can’t heckle politicians. You can’t march. You can’t riot. You can’t dissent. You just can’t be." NYPo Opines on Why the DSA’s Medicare-for-All dream threatens us with a real-life nightmare. At Althouse, "The rollout could’ve been better. Absolutely, I said the rollout has to be cleaned up and fixed." "Said Governor Kathy Hochul, quoted in "How New York’s Second-Home Tax Turned Into a Headache for Mamdani/The bumpy rollout of the tax created an opportunity for Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s opponents to fight him in court and in the City Council" (NYT gift link)." "I did finally watch the whole minute. From the transcript: "This pied-a-terre tax is specifically designed for the richest of the rich, those who store their wealth in New York City real estate, but who don't actually live here.... This is a fundamentally unfair system that hurts working New Yorkers." What's "fundamentally unfair"? It's a child's reasoning: If someone has something that he's not using, it should be mine."

Hat Hair's Beege Welborn, sees Desperate Measures for Desperate Times: Dem Primaries Magically Become a Blue Wave. Democrats @TheDemocrats, "The blue wave is here—and these wins prove it." Queen Velvet @TMIWITW, "Democrats won Democrat primaries. Are democrats voters actually this stupid or do you just treat them as if they are?"

Joe Chalfant at TownHall rejoices that Elon Musk Just Gave Republicans Unbelievable News Heading Into the Midterms. "Elon Musk, who briefly became the world’s first trillionaire after SpaceX went public in June, is expected to spend up to $200 million on boosting the electoral prospects of Republicans across the country." He just looked between the cushions on the couches. 

Tweets that didn't age well: Dr. Richard Harambe @Richard_Harambe, "Happy two year anniversary of Joe Biden challenging Trump to a debate for those who celebrate." Quote Joe Biden @JoeBiden, "Donald Trump lost two debates to me in 2020. Since then, he hasn’t shown up for a debate. Now he’s acting like he wants to debate me again."

From Breitbart Bus Dig, The Sky Isn't Falling in the U.S. Treasury Market. News Wax notices Newsom Touts Trump Accounts for California Families. Matt Vespa at TownHall heard Trump Went Nuclear on Some Familiar Names Last Night. Here's What He Said. "President Trump seems to have had it with Tucker Carlson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Thomas Massie."

ZitoSalena @ZitoSalena, "It's impossible to have a nuanced, conversation about data power centers on social media; the politics right now is to demonize them, call them predators rather than show there are also examples of good industry stewards. Few have the courage to raise the consequences of that. Except Fetterman." Quote U.S. Senator John Fetterman @SenFettermanPA, "AI supremacy and energy dominance underpins our national security. China continues to fuel and benefit from our overreaction. I reject the political pandering and hyperbole over data centers or AI." Steve Moore at Hat Hair, Net Zero Is Dead and Gone. "Much of this never made sense given that AI and data center energy needs will double or triple our electric power demands over the next two decades. That will require an all-of-the above approach to meet those needs and to keep power affordable for our businesses and families."

At Althouse, "[T]his relationship is pathological, and a source of great irritation among other courtiers. It is Trump distilled to his essence..." "... cult leader and his most rabid follower, narcissist and his most flattering mirror. The daughter of a devoutly Christian real estate broker who died by suicide during the pandemic, [Natalie] Harp idolizes Trump with a rare fervor.... ... Trump told his staff that Harp was the only one who loved him as much as his wife and kids did. 'She’ll never leave me,' he would tell other staffers.... It’s a perfect (taxpayer-funded) relationship. She thinks he’s amazing. And he agrees." Writes Maureen Dowd, in "Natalie’s Magnificent Obsession" (NYT gift link)." She's so jealous! Eric Florack at PJM sees the The '34 Felony Convictions' Mantra Just Disintegrated as President Trump makes peace with Michael Cohen. "President Trump was interviewed by his former attorney, Michael Cohen, the star witness in the hush money case, which verdict is under appeal. Trump said Cohen was weaponized against him by the Justice Department. Cohen agrees, adding that he felt coerced by the Feds. The case stems from the president's effort to pay adult film star Stormy Daniels $130,000 during the 2016 election."

1945 notes US Navy Nuclear Aircraft Carriers Were Not Needed to Bomb Iran. They Were Needed to Blockade It. "A B-2 flying from Missouri and a Tomahawk launched from a destroyer two hundred miles offshore can both hit a target that once required a carrier. An F-35C off a flight deck does roughly what an F-35A does from a Gulf air base. The blockade was different: no target list to exhaust, only a duration set by Tehran." Mike Lee @BasedMikeLee, "MSM spin narrative incoming." Quote New York Post@nypost, "Traffic in the Strait of Hormuz skyrockets nearly 400%, as analysts say Iran's grip on critical waterway weakens https://trib.al/ZwiB1KE." 

News Wax reports US Imposes Tariffs on $20 Billion of Canadian Products as Canada fails to come to terms with Trump. Sundance at CTH, Trade Talks Collapse – Prime Minister Carney Talking Alot, President Trump Remains Quiet "Canada wants unlimited and unrestricted access to the U.S. market as if they were a 51st state. However, Canada will not permit unlimited and unrestricted access to their market for U.S. companies. This, Carney says, compromises the sovereignty of Canada."

From Twitchy, Julie Kelly Spots Telling Info in New DOJ Filing in the Comey '8647' Case (Backfiring Stunt Alert!) Julie Kelly @julie_kelly2, "Some hilarious stuff in latest DOJ filing in Jim Comey seashell case. It appears Jim and his wife, Patrice (who had attended the Women's March in DC with their daughters after Trump was inaugurated in 2017) set up the entire stunt. She even Googled the slang definition for "86" to make sure his post would be accurate." At Da Fed The Magnificent Margot Cleveland reports Round River Docs Suggest FBI Misclassified Information To Hide Biden Family Crimes. RedState's Kyle Becker has The Backstory on Bill Gates' Secret 'Q' Clearance — And It Is Chilling.

News Wax notes Trump Asks Supreme Court to Revive CNN Lawsuit "Trump said in the lawsuit that CNN defamed him through reports that said he had no evidence to support his claims of improprieties in the 2020 presidential election and repeatedly characterized his claims as the "Big Lie," a phrase Trump said was intended to link him to Hitler and Nazi propaganda."

C3 @C_3C_3, "It’s been a year since DeCarlos Brown murdered Iryna Zarutska and he hasn’t even had a trial yet. Shiloh Hendrix has already been tried, found guilty and sentenced for saying a word. I never want to hear about white privilege ever again." To be fair, murder trials tend to take a long time. 

Wall Street Apes @WallStreetApes, "WOAH Oakland Democrats PASSED legislation banning citizenship checks for police jobs and city jobs City Employees and Oakland Police will be prohibited from asking about a person’s immigration and legal status when applying for jobs The Public Safety Committee passed the ordinance unanimously Democrats want to arm illegals in the police force against American citizens Everything that passed - Restricts collection of immigration status on applications - Ban on asking about legal status and sharing info with ICE agents - Officers prohibited from enforcing federal immigration rules - ICE agents blocked from entering non-public areas of city buildings without a warrant." At State of the Day, the State of Thursday: THE GREAT BETRAYAL. "News broke Tuesday night that a woman had been fatally stabbed near Great Falls national park. By Wednesday, our suspicions had been confirmed. “The killer was an illegal alien,” my wife said, even as I was still carrying my kids through the door."

At Hat Hair Dave Strom says Nuke Academia From Orbit. It Is the Only Way to Be Sure. "Critical Theory, I keep reminding you, does not seek to communicate anything we understand as "truth" or "reality." It is about asserting power. The goal here is to intimidate everybody with an accusation of racism. To call you a Nazi. To make you quail in terror at the thought that you will face social opprobrium." Melissa Chen @MsMelChen, "You guys realize that the leftist reaction to the Jason Arday case is going to incentivize more and more people to just "self-ID" as autistic or neurodivergent right? Why? Because it instantly unlocks two-tier judgment. There will be massive upside to identify as "neurodivergent" and no downside. It's a choose-your-own-adventure but this time you're just choosing your own alibi. No one challenges the claim, and you might even score an endorsement from figures like autism expert Simon Baron-Cohen. The same excesses that distorted the trans movement will now come for "neurodivergence." Increasingly, mental health status is treated as a moral free pass - permission to act like an asshole or commit crimes (see the Lindsay Clancy case)." Kamel Amin Thaabet @K_AminThaabet, "Israel is murdering children!!!! Now excuse me, I have to go to the rally for Lindsay Clancy." Hat Hair's John Stossel on Racist Tests. At NYPo, Hofstra professor facing possible termination over discrimination claim for saying ‘word salad’, because "racism" of course. From the College Fix, Judge dismisses pro-Hamas professor’s discrimination lawsuit against Columbia. “I’m with Hamas and Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad,” he said on social media." A Driscolly post at Insty starts with CHRISTIAN TOTO: Pop Culture Puts Antisemitism on Blast (Finally).

At the Chronic, Ian Smith offers A Novel Explanation for Woke Culture. "My colleagues would rather I not say this, but I will: As access to mental health care has expanded, so have rates of mental illness. And this isn’t simply a matter of greater awareness leading to more diagnoses. The more therapy people get, the more fragile, anxious, and dysfunctional they seem to become. This isn’t just an individual crisis—it’s a societal one. Which raises an uncomfortable but urgent question: Is modern therapy not only failing patients, but making them—and the culture at large—sicker?"

Insty, I THINK THE WNBA IS A PSYOP DESIGNED TO CONVINCE NORMALS THAT BLACK WOMEN AND LESBIANS HATE AMERICA:

Sophie Cunningham is once again the only player on the court to put her hand above her heart for the singing of the US national anthem pic.twitter.com/c6grxtZMzm

— Wesley Yang (@wesyang) August 22, 2026

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: More Coffee, Please and FMJRA 2.0: Embracing The Suck up on time and under budget at The Other McCain (if you count Megan).

Flotsam and Jetsam - Francesca Hong Out to Dry

Yesterday was primary day in a few states. The big one to watch, of course, was Wisconsin's Democrat primary, where Francesca Hong, the DSA candidate too radical for Bernie and AOC, was contending with a "normal" Democrat, David Crowley, for Governor. Hong had been polling as the almost prohibitive favorite, by as much as 20 points. At Twitchy, IT'S A BIGGUN! Live Election Results on Twitchy! Primary Night for SC, WI, MN, VT, AL and CT (Shew!). Hat Hair's Capt. Ed sees Panic at the Wisco: Dems Realizing Hong Might Cost Them Midterms. Dan McLaughlin @baseballcrank, ""I started off as a sports journalist and ended up a Communist" has turned out to be a depressingly common career arc." Quote Tiffany War Room @TiffanyWarRoom, "HONG: "I was actually trying to become a sports journalist when I first went to college so I learned you sometimes have bad takes on Twitter." Francesca Hong was a full grown adult and member of the Wisconsin Assembly when she said she wanted to abolish the police and prisons." Amy Curtis at TownHall hears David Crowley Says Francesca Hong Is a Liability on Eve of Wisconsin Primary. AG @AGHamilton29, "Just incredible that I hadn’t even heard about this yet. She voted against a bill that criminalized adults trying to sexually pursue children. Dems have themselves a real winner with the DSA candidate in Wisconsin." Quote Swann Marcus @SwannMarcus89, "I am now unironically likely R on the Wisconsin gubernatorial race. 7 months ago Francesca Hong voted against a bill that made it illegal for teachers to groom their students for sexual purposes Here’s what happened: A 30-year-old teacher messaged a 13-year-old..." At Althouse, The race was close, but Francesca Hong has conceded and the risk of a democratic socialist Governor for Wisconsin is over., "At least this time around. Here's the NYT report (gift link):" "Why were the polls so bad?! The final Marquette poll, from July 22–27, released July 29, had Hong at 38% and Crowley at 7%."

Dave Strom at Hat Hair, 'I Was Just a Kid' Is the Excuse for Being Insane the Last Few Years. Sean Hannity @seanhannity, "Nothing says "principled stance" like needing two different answers six years apart. AOC vs. AOC on defunding the police, side by side." Hat Hair's Scott Pinsker sort of admires The Cunning Genius of AOC’s ‘Woke’ Reboot. At UnHerd, Ryan Zickgraf claims ‘Woke One’ derailed my life, "AOC can’t laugh off its excesses." Robby Soave at Reason begs us Don't Let AOC Retcon Her Starring Role in 'Woke 1' "Would President AOC eschew wokeness? I doubt it." The Babylon Bee @TheBabylonBee, "Democrats Announce You Aren't Allowed To Remember What They Did A Few Years Ago." Ian Haworth @ighaworth, "I love the way we’re talking about 2020 like it’s 1920, and 1619 like it’s 2025." Quote ABC News @ABC, "Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on her support for defunding the police in 2020: “During lockdown, of course, rhetoric in that time is not rhetoric that we would use today.” Enguerrand VII de Coucy @ingelramdecoucy, "By the way, AOC is being very public about getting her eggs frozen for future use because she thinks it’ll allow her to take on the mantle of “motherhood”, having a stake in the game of being concerned for the future for the sake of her children, without having to actually deal with the raising children part. Cynical? Perhaps, but I’m pretty sure that’s the idea here."

Capt. Ed cites El-Sayed: Let Me Tell You Why July 4 Fireworks 'S**k'. At Twitchy, Scott Jennings Says Holiday Hatred Is Window Into Souls of Dem Party’s Anti-American Candidates “I think these are windows into the souls of these anti-American, radical communists.” “If you hate Thanksgiving and you hate the 4th of July, what you’re really saying is I hate some of the pillars that undergird American culture.” “And how are you going to have a conversation with a voter about affordability or public safety or anything else, if you’re trying to get rid of Thanksgiving and the 4th of July?” Hat Hair's Dave Strom heaars Hasan Piker Says It Out Loud: DSA Practicing Taqiyya. Max @MaxNordau, "Abdul El-Sayed surrogate Hasan Piker explains the importance of lying to voters: "I think our politicians, whether they be AOC or anybody else, they're not running away from progress." "So their pragmatism isn't to moderate on their policies. Their pragmatism is to moderate on their comms, on their communication." He admits that El-Sayed's true beliefs are "electoral poison": "You got to moderate your message, even if you don't want to temper your movement, in order to sell it to the public."" Michael Goodwin at NYPo opines the Michigan Senate race displays the radical ‘shift’ the Democratic Party has taken. Jim Geraghty at NRO observes The DSA Has Slogans, but Isn’t Interested in Policies. Northern Barbarian @xnoesbueno, "It's kind of a domestic Death to America theme." Quote Sarah Huckabee Sanders @SarahHuckabee "Democrats’ top candidate in Texas won’t eat meat, their leading nominee in Wisconsin hates Thanksgiving, and now their guy in Michigan is coming out against football. Banner year, guys." Dave Strom sees They're Spoiled Brats: DSA Bigwigs Not Doing Well Under the Klieg Lights. At PJM, VodkaPundit cites DSA on Illegals: 'You Don’t Have to Have Papers to Have Power.' Spencer Pratt @spencerpratt, "Nithya Raman's partner at DSA LA says their goal is to completely abolish police & prisons. When asked what happens if a girl gets raped? Her answer? "I want to talk about street lights." These communists are insane. Crazy slovenly malcontents." Christopher F. Rufo @christopherrufo, "The most notable statistical outcome of the George Floyd Revolution was a significant increase in the black homicide death rate. That is the actual legacy of BLM.." Quote Rotimi Adeoye @_rotimia "The anti-racism book boom made a handful of authors rich. The struggle sessions gave wealthy academic elites a new industry. Meanwhile, did any core data point move? Black life expectancy, the wealth gap, homeownership. Where’s the change? Is the country’s consciousness raised?" At Hat Hair, Mark Judge cites Henry Rollins: 'Communist Countries Suck.'

Dana Loesch @DLoesch, "The terror-loving nepo baby who VERBATIM demanded the NYPD be defunded NOW demands that the same officers risk their lives by traveling with his selfie-obsessed wife so she can make a personal visit to a country for which the US maintains a Level 4: do not travel advisory." Quote New York Post @nypost, "Mamdani blames his staff after NYPD denies NYC's first lady a police escort to the Middle East." Beege Welborn at Hat Hair hears Mrs. Mamdani Won't Get to Take New York's Finest to Syria With Her. wretchardthecat @wretchardthecat, "The very word "Pied-à-Terre" provides a glimpse into Mamdani's world that few ordinary people are familiar with. It goes back to a world before motels, air BNBs and time share. In that world the well-to-do person had a country house and primary residence. Then he had a town house or pied-à-terre as a private urban foothold for the family or individual during the Season. ... Perhaps Mamdami still sees the world in terms of the top-hatted, tuxedo wearing, diamond tie pin garbed, pied-a-terre dwelling capitalist elite which it is his moral duty to tax. But I think the world has changed."

Amy Curtis at Town Hall hears Republicans for Talarico Disbands After We Learned It Was a Really Just a Bunch of Democrats. Enguerrand VII de Coucy @ingelramdecoucy, "I ran into a “Republicans for Talarico” type lady here once, came into my replies talking about how she was a lifelong conservative Republican voter who’d been forced to support Democrats because of how radical the Republican Party had become, so I searched her history and found stuff with her talking about how she’d left the Republican Party because it was too radical… in 2008. Because John McCain was too radical for her." Quote Zach Kraft @ZachKraft7 "RIP "Republicans for Talarico" The Talarico campaign is now officially distancing themselves from the failed group after it was exposed to be made up of lifelong Democrats."

Owen Gregorian @OwenGregorian, "Remember this when someone says voting doesn’t matter." Quote Benny Johnson @bennyjohnson, "WOW: Recount In The Indiana State Senate Race FLIPS Seat to Trump-Rndorsed Paula Copenhaver By THREE Votes She unseated State Senator Spencer Deery, who OPPOSED redistricting." ThePersistence @ScottPresler, "BREAKING NEWS I can’t believe they reported this — they just told on themselves." “Allegheny County Elections Division Manager David Voye said Allegheny County does not have a system to verify citizenship for voters.”The second-largest county in Pennsylvania DOES NOT verify the citizenship of the voters it registers to vote. This is a constitutional crisis." I'll bet that is widely true across the US, especially in blue areas. Althouse finds
"... a blast from the past! The New York Times hasn’t pulled out the infamous 'beer test' for a political candidate since May 22, 2015..." ""... when it ran ['Finding a Candidate You’d Like to Have a Beer With.'] The 'beer test' was once a massively overused campaign reporting cliché. It grew out of a Sam Adams ad campaign in the 2000 race, and from Bush-Gore through the 2016 cycle it was nearly impossible to escape 'beer test' coverage. Then Donald Trump won the 2016 beer test by default — it was hard to imagine Hillary Clinton having a beer at all — leading even Slate to pronounce 'there has never been and perhaps never will be a candidate you’d be more eager to have a beer with than Donald Trump.' That's Matt Taibbi, in "Cliché Alert: Return of the 'Beer Test'/The New York Times reverts to old form, thanks to a blue-party schism" (Racket)."

Amy Curtis hears Virginians Are Turning on Abigail Spanberger. Jason Miyares @JasonMiyaresVA, "Governor Spanberger booed in Galax. Turns out when you break your campaign promise, attempt a Leftist power grab pushing an unconstitutional gerrymandering effort In order to silence rural Virginia voices, coupled with massive tax increases, it results in a frosty reception…." To be fair is wasn't in North by God Virginia.

Hey, Did You Know That the Hunter Biden Laptop Was a Jewish Conspiracy? from Dave Strom. John Sexton hears Paramount CEO Threatens to Exit California after "a group of blue state attorneys general led by California's Rob Bonta sued to block the Paramount/Warner Bros. merger."

At the Breitbart Bus Dig, The Trump Manufacturing Jobs Revival Is Accelerating. Sundance at CTH reports President Trump Announces Release of Robert Gilman from Russian Jail. Buzz Patterson @BuzzPatterson, "You want to know why @realDonaldTrump is focused on Greenland? He’s always one step ahead." Quote Polymarket @Polymarket, "JUST IN: China launches new “Ice Silk Road,” connecting China to the U.K. through the Arctic & cutting the journey roughly in half." Bob Hoge at RedState, British Royal Navy Discovers Spy Cams on K3 Scout Vessels — Data Was Going Straight to China. I wouldn't be shocked at all to hear that's happening here too. 

Eric Daugherty @EricLDaugh, "IT'S OFFICIAL: By the stroke of pen and flanked by RFK Jr., President Trump establishes a new US vaccine schedule that decreases the number of jabs from 72 to 11 — and spreads them out over multiple visits, rather than pumping the child all at once "That's a big one in my book!" MAHA is alive and well!"

Frank Miele at RCP has  A Modest Proposal: Performance Reviews for Senators. Good luck with that!

Larry, in a Hat Hair vid, sees CNN Hosts Triggered by Trump's Escape From Iranian Threat. Doug Powers @ThePowersThatBe, "The story: Iran had a serious plot to kill the president. The headlines: OMG Secret Service protected the president and not every asshole in the media." Quote Jake Tapper @jaketapper, "So the USSS thought the threat against the president was strong enough to surreptitiously remove him from AF1. And then proceeded to let the plane full of White House staffers and reporters take off and fly back to the US." Cathy Salgado at PJM cites an Iranian Media Official: No More Negotiations With Trump. It's not like they negotiate in good faith. 

UK Defense J confirms American warship downs drones with laser weapon, only a test.

Jonathan Turley sees Sam Alito is Locked and Loaded . . . and He is Not Going Anywhere. Jeffrey Rosen discusses America on the Docket: The 2026 Supreme Court at great length.

From Sundance at CTH, The Safety and Efficacy of the COVID-19 Vaccination was Based on Scientific Theories and Medical Speculation. Beege Welborn insists Fauci's Phone Proves 'for the Children' Just Another Fascist Oppression Tool.

Sarah Anderson at PJM says Wait, Rubio Revoked How Many Visas? Just Wait Until You See Why. From NewsWeek, Map Shows H-1B Visa Filings in Democratic and Republican Districts, blue uses more, but it's a bipartisan boondoggle.

Beege Welborn thinks Stopping UK Migrant Inflow Going Swimmingly — 'Swimming' Being Operative Word. The Babylon Bee @TheBabylonBee, "Elon Musk Buys The United Kingdom To Establish Free Speech There From babylonbee.com" Elon Musk @elonmusk, "How much is it?"

From Althouse, "Zuckerberg acknowledged 'a risk that an imbalance of power between individuals and government leads to a loss of freedom or totalitarian state.'", ""His solution was to create superintelligence which ensured that users were responsible for deciding the model’s values, not the developer. He said there should be 'a fully private mode for personal agents where even Meta or any other service provider cannot see or grant access to your information.'"From "Five key takeaways from Mark Zuckerberg’s AI manifesto/The Meta founder outlines a vision of free superintelligent personal AI agents, smaller workforce teams and expanded open-source tech across the nation" (London Times)."

Sundance sees Police and Federal Govt use of Flock Cameras Under Scrutiny. 

At Complete Colorado, Colorado’s one-party rulers enjoy a progressive press pass. 

C Brad Thompson, the Redneck Intellectual, calls The Jason Arday Story The Worst Academic Scandal in 817 Years! Donna-Louise @NoLongerTheFuzz, "Cambridge University: first the Jason Arday disaster, now this. They’ve appointed Farah Ahmed as Assistant Professor of Education — a woman who called Western education a “threat” to Muslims, democracy a “corrupt tradition,” and literacy plus qualifications un-Islamic. She attacked English literature as damaging, condemned treating Islam as just one religion among others, and criticised schools for teaching that child marriage is wrong. Same faculty. Same total collapse of standards. Shocking doesn’t begin to cover it." Rod Dreher @roddreher, "Conquest's Third Law Of Politics: "The simplest way to explain the behavior of any bureaucratic organization is to assume that it is controlled by a cabal of its enemies." You really don't need more than that to explain why Cambridge University does the things it does." Quote The Spectator @spectator, "We can reveal that a former supporter of Hizb ut-Tahrir, now banned as a terror group, has been appointed assistant research professor of education at Cambridge, in the same faculty as Arday.
Farah Ahmed has explicitly attacked 'western education' as a 'threat' to..." Tyler Austin Harper @Tyler_A_Harper, "This is a story about a college lost down the rabbit hole of performative progressivism. But at its heart, it’s about labor exploitation, the hell we put contingent profs through, and how the collapse of the tenure-system paved the way for cowardice and pseudo-radical groupthink." Quote The Atlantic @TheAtlantic, "@Tyler_A_Harper landed his dream job, a tenure-track position at an elite liberal-arts college—but he found himself “being treated like a racial prop rather than a professor.” Read more in our newest cover story: https://theatln.tc/uAlYLOai." John Sexton says Tyler Austin Harper's Take on Woke Campus Life is Worth a Read. From the Slantic,Tyler Austin Harper on Why I Quit the Tenure Track, "The insufferable hypocrisy of elite academia." 

Melissa Chen @MsMelChen, "“Grandpa, I just don’t understand. How was it that given how powerful the United States was, China was able to overtake us and dominate the world?” “Well.. it all started when they examined the whiteness of physics"" Quote David Decosimo @DavidDecosimo, "Never forget that the NSF gave half a million dollars for a ‘critical whiteness studies’ project claiming physics was racist because of its objectivity, meritocracy, & use of whiteboards. Their data were a few videos of in class group work using dry erase boards. Just incredible. x.com/daviddecosimo/…"

From TOI, UK probes major Muslim charity after director charged with funneling aid to Hamas. "FBI alleges Al-Khair Foundation head worked with senior Hamas leader to transfer cash and divert humanitarian supplies to terror group while concealing that it was the beneficiary." Seth Mandel at Commentary, How ‘Israeli’ Came to Mean ‘Jewish’ in the American Press.

Lola @thefempire50, "You’re going to have to explain the difference between a man saying he’s a woman and a man saying he’s a woman." Quote Melanie D'Arrigo @DarrigoMelanie, "Saying “identifies as transgender for the purpose of playing professional basketball,” is admitting that you’re only doing this as a stunt to mock trans women, which makes you a bigot. x.com/foxnews/status…" John Sexton hears from WPATH: Our Standards of Care Are Just an Opinion, you don't say... Vodkapundit at PJM sees Trans Rep Sarah McBride Has a Sad but Can't Stop Laughing "“Support on individual issues facing the trans community, on individual policies around trans rights, by every objective metric, is worse today than it was five years ago,” McBride said."

And more at the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 08.11.26 (Evening Edition). The Wombat has FMJRA 2.0: Another Rough Start up on time and under budget at The Other McCain.

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…"