Flotsam and Jetsam - Happy 250th Birthday America!

Rep. Eric Davanzo

Althouse cites Donald Trump and hosts his speech at Mt. Rushmore, "These are very, very special times. And this is a very special place. You live in a very special place. Congratulations everybody." "Those were the very very very special words of our President, Donald J. Trump, speaking at Mount Rushmore, on the eve of the 250th anniversary of the 4th of July." Oh no! He was mean to the communists! Also from sundance at CTH, Freedom 250 from Mount Rushmore – Livestream Links. Don Surber is Defining MAGA, "Been around 250 years. We will be around another 250." ZitoSalena @ZitoSalena, "Line to get into the Pennsylvania booth at the Great American State Fair out the door! Pavilion is filled with displays from businesses all across the state. PLACE matters--that's what drove people & businesses to step up with pride; no way were they going to let this go empty." At Hat Hair, Dave Strom, America at 250: When You Get Ordinary Americans Away From the Noise, We Still Agree on the Basics, John Sexton hears a SoCal HOA Bans Display of the U.S. Flag and Capt. Ed finds Politico Party Pooper: Trump's America 250 Celebration Will Pollute DC, You Know "Politico even tried complaining to the EPA, whose spokesperson laughed in its face." From NYPo, Pennsylvania state Rep. Eric Davanzo says he was kicked off House floor over ‘patriotic’ suit ahead of America 250. Streiff at RedState thinks the Rogue USAF Major's Speech Garners Progressive Praise, but I Don't Think They've Thought This Through.

Fox News@FoxNews "JUST IN: NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani used America’s 250th anniversary to sharply criticize the country, accusing the U.S. of allowing children to go hungry while billionaires and “oligarchs” gain more power. He said America’s wealth was built by working people with “calloused, dirt-streaked hands" while accusing the country of allowing the wealth built by workers to be concentrated in “the soft hands of a precious few.” Mary Chastain at LI sees Mamdani Trashes America, Trump in Speech Marking Country’s 250th Birthday. Like the nepo-baby has ever had a job that gave him callouses. Bob Spencer at PJM says Mamdani Gives 250th Anniversary Speech, and Boy, Does This Guy Hate America. L A R R Y @LarryOConnor, "He’s been trained by his political handlers to smile almost incessantly. It’s an obvious forced smile to make his odious policies seem reasonable and safe. Here, he’s lost the smile. The result? He and his message convey their inherent hostility." Matt Taibbi, Listen to This Article: Zohran Mamdani and the Nitwit Revolution, "New York’s Mayor proved he’s a generational political talent this week, re-shaping the Democratic Party and setting America up for a referendum on its founding principles." Joel Pollak @joelpollak, "We heard this trash from Obama and it was bad enough the first time. Nobody who loves America talks this way." Quote Gerald Posner @geraldposner, "One year ago today, reports revealed that @NYCMayor checked both “Asian” and “Black or African American” on his 2009 Columbia application (he wrote in “Ugandan” and later said he doesn’t consider himself Black or African American — just an American born in Africa — because the forms had no box for “Indian-Ugandan”). ... When Mamdani gets to the “enslaved Africans” section, that might be the perfect moment to mention how he tried to check the African American box himself back when it could have helped tip the university admissions scale." Bonchie @bonchieredstate, "Eloquent? He trashed the country and then insisted it belongs to non-Americans while making a mockery of George Washington." Quote David Axelrod @davidaxelrod, "These eloquent words speak to me as the grateful son of a refugee who arrived here with his family, carrying little more than their hopes and dreams of freedom and a better life." Northern Barbarian @xnoesbueno, "In fairness, he doesn't know how free markets, capitalism, socialism, communism and New York City work, so I'd have to say the desk is either the least of everyone's concerns. Or a tell." Quote Kate Hyde @KateHydeNY, "Are we as offended by Mamdani using George Washington's desk to make a speech once we realize he doesn't even know how a desk works?"

Hat Hair's Beege Welborn has Hot Child in the City: Commie Mamdani Expects Mommies and Families to Fry At Twitchy, Ben Ferguson Pointed Out CNN Wasn't Complying With Mamdani's A/C Rule and the Host Was NOT Happy. Alexis Wilkins @AlexisWilkins, "Attn: New York Liberals If you don’t like getting told what temperature to set your thermostat, you probably won’t like socialism." PM sees Mamdani's rent freeze affects 1 million apts—nearly 50% are occupied by foreigners. 44 percent of all homes that are rent-stabilized in the city were occupied by people born outside of the US, which would translate to around 440,000 residences. From the Free Bacon, Darializa Avila Chevalier Dating Mamdani Lawyer Who Repped Al Qaeda Terrorists, Including 'Close Associate' of Bin Laden. "The pair met outside of an 'ICE detention facility,' according to Chevalier." Love at first protest!

At Am Great the Great Victor Davis Hanson pens The New Socialists: Elite, Ungrateful, and Toxic as Ever "The new socialist movement believes it can remake America—but its growing radicalism may prove the very thing that drives voters away and fuels a counterrevolution." Dan Greenfield at Front Page worries Hamas Rioters Get Their Own Members of Congress, "Democrats welcome their first “Death to America” congresswoman." From RCP, Legacy Versus Reality: America’s Jews and the Democrat Party. Dave Strom sees Democrats Are Now Debating Who Is 'Too Jewish'. Driscoll at Insty, “PROGRESSIVE” LEFT GOES BACK TO THE FUTURE: "Did a CNN Anchor Really Just Say This About Jewish Democrats?" Andrew Kolvet @AndrewKolvet, "Donny Deutsch, on MSNOW, just gave us an inside sneak peek at establishment Democrats’ panic about the rise of extremist DSA candidates: "Well, Democrats have gone off the rails... Democrats right now are focused on two things:" • "Antisemitism." • "Socialism." ..." Chaskel Bennett @ChaskelBennett, "Israel sent search-and-rescue teams to Venezuela. That's a documented fact. The @nytimes reported on the international response while omitting Israel's rescue mission. Other major media outlets did the same. That's not a typo. It's not a factual dispute. It's an editorial choice. When the facts don't fit the narrative, the facts disappear. That's why nobody trusts todays activist media especially when they report on Israel." Mitch Berg at Hat Hair VIP has the "We've Never Tried 'Real Social Housing'" Hall Of Eternal Shame. At AMAC, a New Documentary Sheds Light on Shocking Radicalism of Minnesota Gov. Walz.

From NYPo news that the FBI infiltrated Gavin Newsom’s inner circle by convincing governor’s ally to wear a wire. Sundance, Lisa Monaco and Merrick Garland Organized Wire Recording Surveillance of Gavin Newsom in June of 2024. "Newsom was under political surveillance prior to Biden’s withdrawal. This puts context on the plan to replace Biden with then VP Kamala Harris. What does then Deputy AG Lisa Monaco and then VP Kamala Harris have in common? They were both key figures within the Barack Obama operation." Chef Andrew Gruel @ChefGruel, "This is nuts!! Voters chose @realSonjaShaw for State Superintendent in the primary, but instead of respecting the fact she may win, Newsom is fast-tracking legislation to shift key powers from the independently elected Superintendent of Public Instruction to a governor-appointed official. That’s an end run around the voters." Quote California Post @californiapost "Gavin Newsom passes 'biggest power grab in California history' over State Superintendent role." PJM's Vicky Taft sees the West Coast, Messed Coast™ States Give Serfs a Huge America 250 'Gift', gas tax increases.

The Center Square, reports GOP hardliners vow to blockade must-pass bills unless voter ID demands met. TownHall's Dmitri Bolt hears This Republican Has a Wild Idea for Fixing Housing Prices: Let the Market Actually Work. "Stop all of the subsidies," Rep. McClintock told Newsmax, Thursday. "That thing is chock full with subsidies and grants. All those do is force up the price of housing for everybody while hiding it for those that are lucky enough to qualify for the subsidies." Real capitalism hasn't been tried either. Mark Tapscott at Insty says TIME FOR REHAB FOR BOTH DEMS, GOP: "Tomorrow is a great day, the 250th commemoration of the proclamation on July 4, 1776, of America’s Declaration of Independence. But on July 5, 2026, we better get honest with each other and our leaders about the approaching fiscal calamity. Read all about it here with my latest Substack column:" Democrats and Republicans MUST Stop Lying About Their Deficit Spending and Debt, Beginning July 5, 2026, if America is to Survive "There is no more kicking the can down the road to delay starting the admittedly painful rehabilitation treatment of our Federal Spending Addiction (FSA)."

Sundance hosts Two Politically Pretentious Canadians Interview U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra and U.S Trade Representative Jamieson Greer Discusses Economy and USMCA.

AG @AGHamilton29, "Qatar is an actual slave state with just a few hundred thousand citizens and a clear record of funding terrorism. The fact that we have somehow allowed them to buy their way into influencing so much of America's ME policy and dictating information flow is still crazy to me."

News Wax reports Hormuz Ship Transits Quadruple as Trump Plan Works.

Sundance dances at a REPORT: Acting DNI Bill Pulte Fires Dozens of ODNI Staff for Politicizing Intelligence, Insubordination, Gross Misconduct and Former DNI Tulsi Gabbard Outlines the Mechanics of the Deep State. From Fox, DeSantis announces plans to use new state law to target dozens of alleged terrorist groups. "CAIR filed a lawsuit to challenge the Florida governor's 'baseless attacks'."

At Da Wire, Mark Krikorian looks at the Citizenship Follies, "Are we going to just have to bar the admission of women from abroad?" John Eastman at Am Mind, reminds us of 1776, Not 1608: What the Supreme Court Got Wrong on Birthright Citizenship. At the Chronic, Mark Judge looks at Justice Kavanaugh’s Transgender Ruling and the Misogyny of the Left.

PJM's Stephen Kruiser tells Dear Europoors: I'm Setting My Thermostat to 1776 for Independence Day. Max @minordissent, "Europoors: if we stop using AC we will solve climate change China: 1M sq ft indoor ski resort that has 10 MW of refrigeration running 365 days a year." Allan @UnrealAllan, "This isn’t so much “third world” as just plainly irrational. A high-capacity public escalator uses about the same energy in 24 hours as that needed to cool 1,500 square feet of living space for 24 hours. What can’t be ignored though is our *energy infrastructure* has been far outstripped by *energy demand*. It would be nice if people were able to analyze and discuss these issues rationally without the insta-default to political histrionics, hysteria, and irrationality." Quote End Wokeness @EndWokeness, "Escalators in NY are now being turned off to "conserve energy" Welcome to the 3rd world." Try shutting of the elevators in government buildings, I dare you.At YouTube, The World Cup is Destroying the Anti-America Narrative.

Alice Smith @TheAliceSmith, "The UK is what happens when career public sector middle-managers get into power." James Lindsay, anti-Communist @ConceptualJames, :2002, "Quote Basil the Great @BasilTheGreat, "A leaked internal home office report from 2002 shows the UK Government had planned to change what "British-ness" meant through mass immigration It was always the goal to erase our identity and replace us.

Jennifer Sey @JenniferSey, "This is hilarious. Dude, we’ve been telling you. They hate the gays. Like really hate. Not like in a fun way." Quote Sunny @sunnyright, "When progressives actually meet Islam, part 6,512"

More at the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 07.03.26. Linked at The Pirate's Cove in the weekly Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup and links. The Wombat has FMJRA 2.0: Slowly I Turn up and garnering clicks at The Other McCain.

Flotsam and Jetsam - Iryna Zarutska's Final Moments in Focus

Yes, we're still talking about Iryna Zarutska's brutal murder in Charlotte NC by schizophrenic with multiple arrests, and still out on no cash bail.  Matt Margolis at PJM, Disturbing New Video Emerges of Iryna Zarutska’s Final Moments on Charlotte Train. Tough to watch. She cowers in fear after being stabbed, and then looses consciousness and dies from blood loss. From News Wax, Stabbing Suspect Accused of Murder: 'I Got That White Girl'. Frank McCormick @CBHeresy "People are shocked but having taught in a largely “minority” school I can tell you that Black people have had decades of pro-Black racial programming that frames them as victims of an oppressive caste or evil White. It’s present in churches, community social justice groups, and most notably, public education, where we pay for White Leftist teachers to indoctrinate kids into this garbage way of thinking because it makes them feel good (“I’m on the side of the oppressed!”)" And crazy ones internalize it. PJM's Cathy Salgado, Innocent Blood Is ‘Dripping’: Trump Mourns Ukrainian Girl’s Murder by Career Criminal, thereby instantly making liberals loath to decry it. Driscoll at Insty, THE WHITE HOUSE PULLS NO PUNCHES: Gunther Eagleman™ @GuntherEagleman, "BREAKING: Karoline Leavitt just spoke for over 5-minutes about the horrific murder of Iryna Zarutska: She finished it off by DECIMATING legacy media. "Perhaps most shamefully of all is the media, many outlets in this room, decided that her murder was not worth reporting on originally because it does not fit a preferred narrative." "Many of the journalists spilled plenty of ink trying to smear Daniel Penny." And, JOURNALISTS POUNCE ON REPUBLICANS FOR NOTICING CRIME: "The New York Times finally deigned to cover the Zarutska stabbing today. Naturally, they go with the “Republicans Pounce” angle that the DNC-MSM have all triangulated on, if they’re going to report on this story at all: A Gruesome Murder in North Carolina Ignites a Firestorm on the Right." David M. McIntosh @DavidMMcintosh, "Axios, in an absolute race to the bottom, becomes one of the first left leaning outlets to write a story about the brutal murder of Iryna Zarutska - and they blame CCTV cameras and conservatives." Quote Axios @axios "The gruesome video of the fatal knife attack on Iryna Zarutska on a light-rail car in Charlotte is drawing attention from MAGA influencers seeking to elevate the issue of violent urban crime — and accuse mainstream media of under-covering shocking cases." NewsBusters, Ghoulish: Media Turn Charlotte Stabbing into Another ‘Republicans Pounce’ Story "First, let’s address this idiotic comment by CNN’s Abby Phillip on Monday: “People are murdered every single day…but this particular one, I’m trying to understand why this has become such a flashpoint on the right.”" Twitchy, Charlie Kirk BLISTERS Van Jones for Accusing Him of Racial Hate Mongering with Charlotte Murder. Victoria Byrne @Thevictoria76, "Ben Shapiro drops a TRUTH BOMB: The media buries stories when the narrative doesn’t fit. If the races were reversed, it would dominate headlines for months." Insty at his NYPo gig writes Iryna Zarutska’s murder exposes the left’s utter incoherence on crime. The Babylon Bee@TheBabylonBee, "Dems Warn Surveillance Videos Perpetuate Stereotypes By Accurately Depicting Events."

Althouse finds "The truth is that Iryna had no real choice. If she avoided the seat in front of the Black man, she might look like a racist." "Writes Sasha Stone, in "The Girl on the Train/She escaped war in Ukraine only to find herself in the middle of a different kind of war in the United States."" Kat Rosenfeld at the Freep, cited by Insty, names The Taboo That Killed Iryna Zarutska "Then, as now, there was a sense that it was in bad taste—if not outright racist—to acknowledge that men like Brown and Neely are a familiar presence in American urban public spaces, and that this presence is not a good thing. Then, as now, the progressive party line was that it’s “real corny” and “a mark of low moral character” to admit that you are discomfited by encountering people on public transit who behave in ways that telegraph the imminent possibility of violence, or confrontation, or the lower-grade-but-still-unpleasant spectacle of seeing someone evacuate his bowels onto the seat where, but for your instinctive choice to herd your family down the car, your 3-year-old toddler would still have been sitting." Secretary Sean Duffy @SecDuffy, "Liberals want you to ride public transportation. They hate cars, they hate airplanes. So wouldn’t it make sense to then make it safe? But they disregard the working men and women and instead they fight for the crime and homelessness that reside on these trains. @POTUS has it right: when you put cops on the streets and subways you protect the American people and that is what @USDOT and the Trump administration are fighting hard to do." Hat Hair's Dave Strom thinks The Daniel Penny Effect Is Destroying Blue Cities.

DC_Draino @DC_Draino, "And there it is MacArthur Foundation gave Mecklenburg county $3.3 million to empty out their prisons This is why Charlotte is so dangerous now." Quote Megan Basham @megbasham, "Another factor in the death of Iryna Zarutska on Charlotte's light rail--the left-wing MacArthur Foundation giving Mecklenburg county a $3.3 million grant to reduce the jail population. Specifically as part of "racial equity aims. Like Soros' Open Society, the MacArthur Foundation incentivizes local municipalities to make residents less safe by leaving threats like Decarlos Brown on the streets." Beege Welborn at Hat Hair, Charlotte's Web - Guess What City Has a Mayoral Primary Today? Matt Van Swol @matt_vanswol, "This seems like as good a time as any to remind everyone that on a Charlotte NC city bus in March of this year... ...a white 64-year-old Navy Veteran was beaten and paralyzed by a Black man who broke his neck, The veteran is a quadriplegic now. ZERO mainstream media coverage." Fox, DOJ hits train stabbing suspect with federal charge as FBI investigates on-camera attack, "Decarlos Brown Jr. had 14 arrests before allegedly stabbing Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska to death." Cathy Salgado, DOJ Steps in With Federal Charge for Heinous Charlotte Murderer. The Peacock admits a Retired Auburn professor killed during robbery at Alabama park, prosecutors say. "A suspect was charged with capital murder in connection with the weekend killing, according to court records. The victim was identified as Julie Gard Schnuelle." WAKA, NEW DETAILS: Suspect in death of retired Auburn University professor has criminal history, Harold Rashad Dabney III. NYPo, Horrific details reveal ex-Auburn vet professor’s last moments as prosecutors seek death penalty for accused murderer. Insty, THE BACKLASH IS REAL: Megyn Kelly @megynkelly, "Fuck BLM, its bullshit DEI/criminal justice “reforms,” the knee-bending candy-ass judges/DAs/pols who went along with the lies about racist policing and who created the revolving door for criminals arrested dozens of times and for the clearly mentally ill & dangerous - all at unspeakable costs to the innocent young women of America. F. THEM. ALL."

John Sexton at Hat Hair watches CNN: Crime in DC is Down But... whines "DC crime falls, but tourism takes a hit too as Trump’s federal surge reaches one-month mark." Misty Severi at JTN reports Trump unexpectedly dines out in Washington to promote effects of crime crackdown "The president was spotted at Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab restaurant, located approximately a block from the White House, along with Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth." OK, but I'm sure there was a healthy Secret Security detail about.

At ET "Sugar" Scott Bessent Calls for Curb on Fed Authority, Accuses It of Distorting Economy, "The treasury secretary called for ‘an honest, independent, nonpartisan review’ of the Federal Reserve," and
Lower US Tariffs Will Take Effect by Sept. 16: Japan "The new tariff rates take effect retroactively, dating back to Aug. 7." At Am Great, The Great Victor Davis Hanson looks at Trump’s New War Production Board? "Trump is enlisting tech titans to secure U.S. dominance in AI, biotech, and national security—reviving a modern-day War Production Board for the 21st century." Finding useful model in FDR. Sarah Arnold at TownHall is shocked by Biden’s Economic Mirage: Nearly a Million Phantom Jobs Disappear "The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) just announced that job creation in the 12 months through March 2025 was overstated by a staggering 911,000 jobs — the most significant downward revision on record. The economy, it turns out, wasn’t growing early as fast as Biden’s team led Americans to believe."

Capt. Ed at Hat Hair, Israel Hits Hamas Meeting -- In Qatar; UPDATE: Trump Green-Lit Op? UPDATE: Qataris 'Condemn'. "Negotiations, one might presume, have been concluded." Ace, Israel Attacks Hamas Leadership In Qatar, Killing the Terror Leaders Who Have Long Enjoyed Sanctuary In That Terror-Supporting State "Tucker Carlson sad!" They claim 4 higher up may be gone, but of course, at this point it's not clear.

Bob Hoge at RedState celebrates Operation Pacific Viper: Coast Guard Vaporizes Drug Boat, Seizes Tons of Cocaine. Homeland Security @DHSgov "ASMR: @USCG captures, burns, and sinks a drug boat. Over the weekend, as part of Operation Pacific Viper, the @USCG Cutter Stone conducted three interdictions in a single night—seizing nearly 13,000 pounds of cocaine and apprehending seven suspected drug smugglers." They could have at least salvaged the motors!

Breitbart cites James Comer: Biden Autopen Pardons ‘Can Be Easily’ Made ‘Null and Void’. I doubt if it's easy. Nothing is. Washington Free Beacon @FreeBeacon, "BIDEN MEMO: When Joe Biden's pardon of his son Hunter prompted political backlash, the White House "began pushing to find more people to grant clemency to" in an attempt to flood the zone, Alex Thompson of Axios scooped. The Justice Department largely did not vet the hundreds of pardons Biden issued thereafter. A December 2024 White House memo to Biden, written like it’s meant for someone with special needs, boasts that "YOUR historic action to grant clemency to over 1,500 Americans" generated "significant positive press coverage."" Dan McCarthy at NYPo thinks Biden’s autopen scandal is nothing short of a coup — and the culprits need to be held accountable. VodkaPundit at Insty thinks CONGRESS NEED TO PASS A BIG BEAUTIFUL NATIONAL DO-OVER BILL, ZEROING OUT EVERYTHING CONGRESS DID DURING THE FIRST HALF OF BIDEN’S TERM… Stephen L. Miller @redsteeze "An actual constitutional crisis and media refusing to report this is just another example that they didn't just miss the story." Quote Guy Benson @guypbenson, "He wasn’t in charge & they were setting criminals free with his autopen to distract from the scandal of the president pardoning his criminal son, which they’d repeatedly sworn he’d never do."

Da Blaze claims an Exclusive interview with the Biden assault accuser expands $100M lawsuit to include Jill and Hunter. Remember how Tara Reade claimed Biden raped her, and the press yawned? 

Dave Strom hears Mamdani: We Need to Empty Out New York's Jails. The Post Millennial @TPostMillennial, "Zohran Mamdani says he would try to convince NYC's top earners to stay "in part by showing them that asking them to pay more in taxes would increase even their quality of life.""

Matt Margolis, Here's How Badly Democrats Messed up Their Redistricting Gamble. "Red states across the map are flexing their redistricting muscles thanks to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s flex. Indiana, Ohio, and Missouri are all redrawing their congressional boundaries in ways that will favor Republicans. While Democrats clutch their pearls about the unfairness of it all, Republican strategists are doing exactly what they should be doing by fighting back against years of Democrats rigging maps in their favor." St. Louis NPR whines Missouri Republicans advance plan to draw Rep. Cleaver into Republican-leaning seat. Amy Curtis at TownHall, Undermining Democracy: Wisconsin's Dane County Board Proposes Ending Special Elections.

CNN whines that the Supreme Court takes up fast-moving appeal over Trump’s tariffs. Chris Queen at PJM, SCOTUS Chief Justice Hands Trump Admin a Temporary Victory on Foreign Aid. Ben Whedon at JTN reports the Supreme Court stays judge order requiring Trump to spend foreign aid, "The case will now proceed through the courts and is likely to reach the top bench." CBS sourly reports Appeals court rejects states' challenge to mass firings of probationary workers. PJMs Stephen Kruiser is Grateful Every Day That We're Not Dealing With Hillary's SCOTUS At Althouse, "A Michigan judge dismissed criminal charges Tuesday against a group of people who were accused of attempting to falsely certifying President Donald Trump as the winner of the 2020 election..." ""... in the battleground state, a major blow to prosecutors as similar cases in four other states have been muddied with setbacks. District Court Judge Kristen D. Simmons... said she saw no intent to commit fraud in the defendants’ actions. Whether they were 'right, wrong or indifferent,' they 'seriously believed' there were problems with the election, the judge said. 'I believe they were executing their constitutional right to seek redress,' Simmons said." And, "The wheels of justice turn slowly, but weak cases can do grave damage in the meantime." "Look no further than the collapse on Tuesday of Michigan’s 'fake electors' prosecution against supporters of President Donald Trump for their actions after the 2020 election...." So says The Editorial Board of The Washington Post, in "The collapse of Democratic lawfare in Michigan/Dismissal of 'fake electors' charges bodes ill for cases in Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin and Georgia."" Gateway Pundit, BREAKING: In a STUNNING Decision, Governor Whitmer-Appointed Judge Dismisses Outrageous Case Against 15 Michigan Alternate 2020 Trump Electors, Matt Vespa, More Judicial Coup Antics Were Hurled Against the Trump White House Tonight, "Judicial Coup: Judge Blocks Trump's Effort to Remove Fed Governor." Da Signal, Obama Judge Who Blocked Planned Parenthood Defunding Takes Aim at Laken Riley Act. "The Laken Riley Act, the first bill President Donald Trump signed into law in his second term, requires Immigration and Customs Enforcement to arrest and detain illegal aliens who “commit theft offenses” and also gives states the authority to sue federal officials who refuse to enforce immigration laws." Roger Kimball at Spec World, Trump’s battle against the tyranny of lawfare. "The President has to be one of the most punished people in American history." Peter Navaro at Da Fed says Democrat Lawfare Came For Me, And It Can Come For You Too. From Breitbart, Alan Dershowitz Offers to Sue Rosie O’Donnell for Smearing Trump as ‘Serial Pedophile Rapist.’

Ben Whedon at JTN claims the Senate to confirm 48 Trump nominees next week "The move comes as Republicans have grown frustrated with Democrats refusing to allow confirmation by voice vote or unanimous consent for non-controversial nominees."

At JTN John Solomon reports the FBI probing whether its own agents obstructed or interfered with politically sensitive cases, (there's simply no doubt) and Misty, FBI Director Kash Patel to testify in front of Senate Judiciary Committee next week. PJM's Cathy Salgado hears the FBI Settles With Biden-Era Whistleblowers. Fox, reports the IRS issues termination notice to top aide linked to Obama-era Tea Party targeting scandal. "Sources say Holly Paz was given a notice of proposed removal by her IRS supervisor Monday after being placed on administrative leave." Did they catch her up to her old tricks?

Sarah Hoyt at Insty, HOUSE REPUBLICANS OPT TO REOPEN INVESTIGATION INTO JAN. 6 RIOTS, HOUSE DEMS OPT TO TURN COMMITTEE INTO CIRCUS CLOWN SHOW: We’re Back to This Stuff Again? "With the current democrats it’s always dumpster fire day."

RedState's Bonchie wants you to Watch Tom Homan Absolutely Cooks Mika Brzezinski Over Boston Immigration Raids. From Da Caller, Local Leaders Go To War With Colorado’s Sanctuary Law After Cop Who Helped ICE Resigns. From Twitchy, Illegals Barricade Rooftop to Evade Border Patrol as Cronies Slash CBP Tires in Brazen Lawbreaker Support. Francis Sempa at Am Spec spins A Horror Story Stephen King Would Never Write. "His liberal ideology and TDS wouldn’t stand for an accurate portrayal of horrors committed by some illegal aliens."

From Ace, CBS "News" Hires Right-Leaning Ombudsman to Reply to Public Criticism Over Its Reportage; Leftwing Propagandists Are Scandalized That Someone Who Leans Right Is Allowed a Job in Their Totally-Nonpartisan "News" Rooms, "Maybe Paramount's new non-woke owners are serious about reforming the dogshit communist "news" outfit." Capt. Ed says The WSJ Front Page Is Everything Wrong With the Protection Racket Media "I've seen enough. I'm flagging my subscription to end its auto-renewal status after many years of readership. I thought they were better than this, and at one time, they were." Mark Judge (remember him?) at WaEx spans From Alger Hiss to Russiagate: Seven decades of media lies.

At the TN Star, Transgender Covenant School Killer Audrey Hale Included President Donald Trump in ‘Fantasy Murder List’. Dream big. Ace has More From Nashville Trans Terrorist School Shooter's Notebook Released; Documents Hidden by Biden's FBI Show That Trans Killer Declared Herself the "Devil's Apprentice." "But you weren't allowed to know this. See, if you know how the world really is, you might make decisions based upon how the world really is, rather than based on the fake Propaganda World the Regime has made for you." Across da pond that Telegraph has a good laugh at Trans women at risk of female genital mutilation, claims College of Policing "Inclusion of biological males in new guidance branded as ‘insulting to real victims’" The Texas Trib reports a Video of clash over gender-identity content in Texas A&M children’s lit class leads to firing, removals, "After the video fueled outrage, a professor was fired and two college leaders removed from their administrative roles for approving content inconsistent with the course’s description." From Da Signal, a DEEP STATE ACTOR? LGBTQ Activist Remains at State Department Under Trump. It takes a while to stomp all the roaches.

The College Fix reports the Ed Dept ends ‘abusive’ Biden policy that funded left-wing work-study election jobs, eg. "Penn State University listed a job requiring a commitment to “equity and inclusion” and “anti-racist practices” with the progressive League of Women Voters. The university took down the job post following The Fix’s initial coverage of the situation."

The Wombat has posted FMJRA 2.0: Cramming For The Draft at the usual time and place.

Flotsam and Jetsam - Snippets of Hur Tapes Released

Somebody, presumably in the Democrat camp, has released portions of the recordings Special Counsel Robert Hur made with President Biden during his investigation of the boxes of secret documents, some dating back to Biden's Senate years, found in his garage in Delaware (and elsewhere), and they're everything you've come to expect, a maundering old man without a clue. From the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 05.16.25 Twitchy, BREAKING: Portions of Biden’s Forgetful Interview With Robert Hur Has Been Released (LISTEN). Matt Vespa, Portions of the Tapes Between Biden and Special Counsel Robert Hur Have Been Released. They’re Brutal. Insty cites NRO, TRUNALIMUNUMAPRZURE! Newly Released Biden-Hur Audio Captures Former President’s Stumbles from Special Counsel Interview. Capt. Ed at Hat Hair, Hur Tapes Released -- And It's Worse Than You Imagined; UPDATE: Receipts -- And a Question, "One has to wonder whether Hur himself or his investigators might have grown tired of the Democrats' attempts to claim that they never saw Biden slow down until the June 2024 debate. But why wait until a Friday afternoon to do so? There doesn't seem to be a good fit for the circumstances among any of the parties involved. Still, the only people with access to these tapes would presumably be the DoJ, Hur's team, and the Bidens' attorneys, at most. Hmmmm." Guy Benson @guypbenson, "Just made my way through this & other clips. They sound worse than they read. POTUS was constantly befuddled/disoriented. He came across precisely as Hur described him. They called Hur a liar. This was the same Joe Biden as the debate Biden, but a year earlier. Huge scandal and they’re still lying." Guy Benson @guypbenson, "100% exoneration of Hur. Every person around Biden KNEW Hur was correct and they attacked & impugned his integrity anyway, entirely due to politics. Go read their quotes at the time, then listen to the audio. The discrepancy PERMANENTLY impeaches their veracity & credibility." Anxious anxiously admits Prosecutor's audio shows Biden's memory lapses. Nick Arama at RedState takes note of the Tense Moment in Hur Interview When Attorney Intervenes After Biden Was Asked About Classified Memo. Matt Vespa again, Here Are Some of the People Who Owe Special Counsel Robert Hur an Apology. Mike Benz @MikeBenzCyber "The scandal is MUCH worse than the Biden WH not releasing the tape. The so-called “independent” Merrick Garland crooked Justice Dept was SUBPOENAED by Congress to release it, he defied that subpoena after jailing Steve Bannon for defying one, then DOJ refused to jail Garland."

Joe Concha at WaEx, Jake Tapper’s ‘bombshell’ book on Biden’s decline is a laughable attempt to rewrite history. NYPo, Jake Tapper’s bombshell book on Biden mental decline could be made into a movie "A high-stakes bidding war is brewing in Hollywood over the rights to the upcoming political exposé by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios reporter Alex Thompson detailing the decline of Joe Biden, according to a report." Glenn Greenwald @ggreenwald "Jake Tapper's book tour is the most brazenly fraudulent scam. Tapper today denounces Democrats as "disgraceful" for their "smear campaign" against "heroic" WSJ reporters who reported on Biden's cognitive decline. See video below: it was *Tapper* who smeared the WSJ for that!" Quote Mediaite @Mediaite, "Jake Tapper Rips Democrats for 'Smear Campaign' Against 'Heroic' WSJ Reporters: 'Disgraceful' https://mediaite.com/tv/jake-tapper." Western Lensman @WesternLensman "After the Biden/Clooney fundraiser video emerged, CNN’s Brian Stelter excitedly jumped in to run the “cheap fake” narrative for the White House. “The White House used the phrase “cheap fakes”…let me explain what that is…." We now know Biden didn't even recognize Clooney that day. CNN and Jake Tapper expect people to forget all of this — as they act like they were duped on the Biden decline coverup — instead of the active participants that they really were." Drew Berquist, Former Biden Aide Gets Triggered By Scott Jennings Repeating What China Said About Joe [WATCH] “During the Biden Administration the Chinese officials said, ‘Yeah, we knew we could ignore Biden. We could ignore whatever agreements we had because he was too weak and would never, ever stand up to us or stop us.’” From the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 05.15.25 (Evening Edition) Da Fed, NY Times Publisher Laughably Claims His Paper ‘Reported Deeply’ On Biden’s Decline. Althouse finds "Plenty of Democrats are annoyed that 'Original Sin' has catapulted the issue of Biden’s enfeeblement back into the news..." ""... threatening to distract voters from Donald Trump’s rococo corruption. I think, though, that Tapper and Thompson have done the party a favor. . . Some sort of reckoning is due for the disastrous missteps that paved the way for Trump’s return.... Writes Michelle Goldberg, in "How Did So Many Elected Democrats Miss Biden’s Infirmity?" (NYT)". Some wishful thinking from PJM's Matt Margolis, Biden's Autopen Pardons May Just Get Invalidated "Ed Martin, the new DOJ pardon attorney and head of the Weaponization Working Group, isn’t wasting time. This week, he announced a review of the shady “autopen” pardons Joe Biden’s team rushed through in its final days. “These deserve some scrutiny,” he said." Capt. Ed reads Politico: Democrats Realizing Their Biden Nightmare Is Just Beginning. "For some reason, Democrats apparently never considered what a cover-up on the Joe Biden scale would do to their reputations." PJM's Scott Pinkser thinks Liberals Are on the Verge of a Major PR Pivot. And Their Next Target Will NOT Be Trump. "Over the past two weeks, there’s been a national PR shift: The Democratic Party has turned on Joe Biden. The one-two combination of Biden’s incoherent media appearances on the BBC and “The View,” plus the shocking allegations in the book, “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again,” have pushed the party’s base from denial to anger. But not just at Biden: The party’s base is furious with all the politicians who lied to them about Biden’s condition. Over the past week, there have been so many anti-Biden articles in the mainstream media — why, you would’ve thought he was a conservative." 

President Trump is back from his whirlwind tour of Arabia. Don Surber insists Trump triumphs in Saudi Arabia, "Again." At Da Mail, CNN black sheep's very surprising response to Trump Qatar plane freebie that's angered liberals and conservatives "'I mean, Scott would be calling it the Barack Hussein plane,' . . .'No,' Jennings simply stated. 'Barack "Huplane" Obama,' he quickly followed up, offering a pun - and some much-needed levity - in the otherwise austere debate." Matt Margolis, Here's What The Left Won't Tell You About the Qatar Plane Deal. “What no one’s talking to you about,” Mullin revealed, “is this same 747 has been in negotiations for a year. The Biden administration is the one that started these conversations. It didn’t start under the Trump administration. Why? Because we need a backup for Air Force 1. Because right now, the president of the United States is flying around on a 40-year-old plane, and there is no backup for it. The backup we had, the airframe started having structural issues.” Insurrection Barbie @DefiyantlyFree "So let me get this straight the plane that was a gift from Qatar was actually a conversation that was started a year ago by the Biden administration with the Qataris? You literally can’t make this stuff up."

At Am Think, John Di Leo thinks about What’s the Real Story on Trump’s ‘Deal’ with China? "This is more like a negotiated ceasefire in a long war, while the serious peace talks get underway." VodkaPundit at Insty, OH, CANADA: ‘If we’re going to play the independence game, we play to win’: Derek Fildebrandt on Alberta separatism. "On last night’s episode of The Ezra Levant Show, Derek Fildebrandt from the Western Standard discussed Alberta’s rising independence movement as separatist sentiment heats up following another Liberal victory in the federal election." Sarah Anderson at PJM, Rubio and Trump: This Is the 'Only Way' to End the War in Ukraine "Rubio went on to explain that he believes the only way the Russia-Ukraine War will finally come to an end is if Trump and Putin sit down at a table together, face-to-face, and talk."

At Breitbart Business Digest, PPI Reports Shows U.S. Consumers Are Not Paying the Trump Tariffs. "If the tarifflation alarmists were right, we should have seen the proof by now." From Fox, Handful of Republicans sink Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' in key House committee, "The bill failed to pass the House Budget Committee on Friday." Republicans . . . NewsWeek is proud to report US Completely Loses Perfect Credit Rating for First Time in Over a Century. "Moody's Ratings downgraded the U.S. government's credit rating on Friday, citing repeated failures by successive administrations to control the country's growing debt. The agency lowered the rating from its highest grade, Aaa, to Aa1, noting that while the U.S. still benefits from key strengths—such as a dynamic economy and the global dominance of the U.S. dollar—its fiscal outlook has significantly deteriorated." I suspect this is enemy action on the part of the credit agencies. From the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 05.15.25 (Evening Edition), The Federalist, The Media Kept Rooting For A Tariff-Driven Recession. The Data Keep Disappointing Them, Cafe Hayek: Americans Have No “Consumption Addiction”, Oren Cass Continues to Be Mistaken, Yes to Market-Driven Foreign Investment; No to Protectionist-Driven Foreign Investment, The Triumph of Economic Freedom, and The Economic-Understanding Deficit Grows. From the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 05.16.25 Louder With Crowder, Trump’s new approval ratings are in, and CNN’s polling guru was forced to report news his network is gonna HATE.

It was a tough day in the court room for the Trump administration. Sarah Arnold at TownHall reports SCOTUS Sides With Illegal Alien Criminals in Alien Enemies Act Case. "In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court approved a request from Venezuelan nationals for an injunction to prevent their removal from the United States under the Alien Enemies Act. The Supreme Court contended that the Trump administration failed to provide the detainees with sufficient time or proper resources to contest their deportations." ET has 5 Takeaways From Supreme Court Hearing on Nationwide Injunctions, Birthright Citizenship. "The case could affect how judges can block future policies." Josh Blackmun at the Volokh Conspiracy, SCOTUS to CASA to A.A.R.P.: In Case Of (Perceived) Emergency, Ignore The Rules, And Make Stuff Up. At Da Caller, Supreme Court Justice Proves She’s Totally Clueless Yet Again. Jack Poso @JackPosobiec "No way Ketanji Brown Jackson is actually this clueless But she is..." At WaEx, DC Circuit panel skeptical of Trump administration ability to fire independent officials. Atop Da Hill, Judge says DOJ’s explanation for state secrets privilege in Abrego Garcia case ‘insufficient’. OTP, Federal Judge Says He’s Cool With Illegal Aliens Wandering In Military Zone. However, Tyler O'Neil at Da Signal reports a Judge Strikes Down EEOC’s Attempt to Force Businesses to ‘Deny Biological Truth’.

Stephen Kruiser notes James Comey Has Crawled Out of His Hole to Stink Up the Place. Benny Johnson @bennyjohnson, "BREAKING: Former FBI Director James Comey is reportedly under Secret Service escort to the Washington Field Office for questioning by investigators." Misty Severi at JTN reports Noem confirms DHS, Secret Service are investigating Comey social media post targeting Trump, "The social media post, which Comey shared on Instagram but has since removed, showed the numbers "8647" etched in the sand at a beach. The numbers are perceived as a call to "86" the 47th president, which is used as a call sign for murder." Althouse, "James Comey purports not to have known that 86 means to get rid of (after he posted a picture of rocks in the form 8647 (47 being easily read as a reference to Trump)). Is Comey credible?" "For the annals of Things I Asked Grok." Benny Johnson @bennyjohnson "BREAKING: President Trump goes scorched earth on James Comey for the assassination threat, says he knew exactly what “8647” meant: “You're the FBI director.. You know that meant assassination. He wasn't very competent, but he’s competent enough to know what that meant..”" Benny Johnson @bennyjohnson "BREAKING: Associate Deputy AG Ed Martin says James Comey is going to prison over Trump assassination threat — Either lie to the jury or admit he knew what "8647" meant: “He knew… He’s got a problem. Perjury traps are next. Going to jail on one or the other.”" Gavin M. Wax @GavinWax "The entire federal bureaucracy in DC was built to elevate unimpressive but impeccably credentialed sociopaths like Comey. These are products of elite institutions who mistake conformity for wisdom & status for merit. The system is rigged to exclude those with courage, conviction, & a genuine desire to serve the national interest." Charlie Martin at PJM says Let's 86 the 86 Thing, M'kay? I disagree. I doubt anything will really happen to him, but in the meantime I hope he enjoys the process he took joy in inflicting on Trump and his guys.

At Da Caller, Ed Martin Teases Potential Target For His DOJ Weaponization Group’s Microscope. “The bar associations exist with a sort of monopoly, but they also exist at the discretion of the courts,” he said, noting they mostly target conservatives. “I’ve seen the impact on the legal system, not only advocates like myself who are targeted, but rank and file prosecutors who are abused by the system because the left wants to have sort of lawlessness.” At Althouse, "Are you admitting that the case against Trump in New York was part of the organized Democratic Party resistance?" Scott Jennings@ScottJenningsKY, "I can't believe it. They finally admitted it on live TV: The prosecution of President Trump was an organized effort by the Democratic Party "resistance." Lawfare is real. The justice system was weaponized against President Trump."

Benny Johnson@bennyjohnson, "BREAKING: The DOJ set to announce charges against Democrat Rep. LaMonica McIver as early as today for assaulting law enforcement at a New Jersey ICE facility, according to New Jersey Globe." New Jersey Globe, McIver set to be charged over Delaney Hall incident. "Habba going after Newark Democrat for her role in May 9 immigrant detention center scrum."

Amanda Heat at JTN reports FBI Director Patel confirms agents to vacate Hoover building. "Moving agents out of the so-called “swamp” could help decentralize establishment power and bring agents closer to the Americans they serve and protect." "Look, the FBI is 38,000 when we're fully manned, which we're not. In the national capital region, in the 50-mile radius around Washington, D.C., there were 11,000 FBI employees," he said. "That's like a third of the workforce. A third of the crime doesn't happen here, so we're taking 1,500 of those folks and moving them out." To be fair, a lot of high level crime occurs in DC. PM, Kash Patel to shut down FBI HQ, move 1500 agents out of DC. Hat Hair's Beege Welborn, Kash Patel Says They're Movin' on Out. Move the central office to Fargo, ND.

PJM's Rick Moran asserts The 175,000 Pages of Federal Regulations Make a Mockery of the Term 'Rule of Law'. "The "Code of Federal Regulations" contains 48,000 sections spanning 175,000 pages. Each and every one of those regulations is backed by the full force of law. An estimated (because no one wants to spend their life calculating it) 300,000 federal regulations carry criminal penalties for violating them." We need a friendly District Court god judge to say they're null and void because nobody can keep track of it all.

At OTP, DOGE Stymied In Bid To Sink Its Teeth Into Government Accounting Office, In Bow To DOGE, Fed Chief Plans 10% Staff Reduction and Voice Of America Lays Off A Third Of Its Staff – 600 Employees. Tapscott at Insty, WHAT’S REALLY AT STAKE IN TRUMP’S CIVIL SERVICE REFORMS: "Dr. Donald Devine was “Reagan’s Terrible Swift Sword” back in the 1980s and he accomplished more to make government work more efficiently in five years as Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director than all the rest of the individuals who ever held the position. . ." She's baaaack! DataRepublican (small r) @DataRepublican, "EXPOSED: Soros, the Deep State & the Shadow Network Today, I launched a powerful new tool that indexes the National Endowment for Democracy journal... and here's what it uncovers: Dozen-plus Open Society Foundation staff, funded by George Soros, are writing in a U.S. government-backed journal. That journal is part of our taxpayer-funded National Endowment for Democracy, a quasi-government operation tied to foreign "democracy" missions- and Congress sits on its board. No conspiracy theories. This is hard data. This proves Soros and our intelligence apparatus are deeply intertwined."

From TNP, Soros Foundation Director Admits Progressive NGOs Use Lawfare to Protect Illegals Against Public Wishes. From Fox, Progressive (Soros funded?) prosecutor lets illegal immigrant teen off easy after 90-mph crash that killed 24-year-old woman "The father of 24-year-old Kaitlyn Weaver condemned a progressive DA's lenient probation-only sentence after deadly T-bone collision." From the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 05.16.25. At Louder with Crowder, Watch: Migrant Tells English Reporter Why He's Come To The UK, And It's Worse Than You Think.

Dave Strom at Hat Hair says NYT's 'Fascism' Narrative Is So Tiresome It Has Become Self-Parody. From the Free Bacon, ‘We Occasionally Misjudge’: Pulitzer Board Told Me I Was out of Line When I Asked Why the Organization Gave an Award to Palestinian ‘Poet’ Who Made Hateful Comments About Israeli Hostages "The board, and its overseers at Columbia University, don’t want to answer questions about whether they vetted Hamas apologist Mosab Abu Toha before giving him the coveted Pulitzer Prize for Commentary." From the College Fix, Racial slur charges dropped against Yale conservative leader – ‘cannot be proven’ “The allegations were never true,” Noble told the Yale Daily News. “Video evidence that existed from day one fully exonerated me, just as I said from the very beginning. The fact that it took nearly a year and exorbitant legal fees to get to this outcome is inexcusable.”

From Campus Reform, College presidents defend school policies at hearing as lawmakers slam responses to campus anti-Semitism. Christopher F. Rufo @realchrisrufo "Harvard officials now fear that their discrimination machine might expose them to criminal liability. Justice is coming." Quote Steve McGuire @sfmcguire79, "People inside Harvard realize “they are in an untenable crisis.” Some worry they could face “full-blown criminal inquiries.” They’re going to have to make a deal."

J@The_Feminist_TM "A lot of being “trans” has to do with males wishing they were the objects of sexual desire, and females wishing they weren’t."

There are still plenty of unused links at the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 05.15.25 (Evening Edition) and Wombat's In The Mailbox: 05.16.25. Linked at the Pirate's Cove in the weekly Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup and links. The Wombat has FMJRA 2.0: Indians Scalped! up on time and under budget.

-rips-democrats-for-smear-campaign-against-heroic-wsj-reporters-disgraceful/