Flotsam and Jetsam - Happy Birthday President Trump!

It looks like you had a hell of a party for your 80th birthday. Insty, IF THIS DOESN’T LOOK AT LEAST A LITTLE FUN, YOU MIGHT NOT BE AMERICAN: Marc Thiessen @marcthiessen, "I’ve never been to a UFC fight, but I once went to a monster truck/motocross rally in rural Maine and saw a part of America I’d never experienced before. Trump is opening the White House to those Americans and it’s awesome. If you’re offended by that you may be an elitist snob." And PRETTY MUCH -> At Althouse, Deploying the TR precedent to promote fighting at the White House and Those who like to call out Trump for his narcissism got a big disappointment last night as the supposed birthday party was not a birthday party at all. "The event was called UFC Freedom 250, and, true to that name, it turned out to be about the UFC and the United States of America. 3 days before his birthday, Trump had said — quoted at USA Today — "You don't have to wish me happy birthday because I'm not happy about that birthday that I'm having. That's a number that I never thought really too much about. It's not a number I like, but I'm here, nevertheless."" Derek Hunter @derekahunter, "Kennedy fucked every willing chick in the White House and some who weren't. This is no big thing to @DavidBrooks224, who left his first wife for his married assistant. Please, Dave, lecture us on cultural decline." Quote Alex Christy @alexchristy17, "David Brooks reacts to the upcoming UFC fight at the White House, "I first thought of, like, who are the artists John F. Kennedy brought to the White House? It was like W.H. Auden, Robert Frost, Jerome Robbins, Leonard Bernstein. And now we have got cage fighting. Don't anybody say America's in cultural decline." Jonathan Capehart adds "talk about degrading the culture. This is degrading the White House, degrading the people's house. And it's just unconscionable that this has happened." From News Wax, Putin Calls Trump on 80th Birthday, Talks Ukraine, Iran and U.S.-Russia Ties. Sarah at Insty, HILARY CLINTON OPENS HER WHORE MOUTH: Remember, during today’s literal cage match on the White House grounds: No matter what, it’s not his house. It’s our house. "Reminder this is the woman who bragged of “funky, down to earth decorations” which were made by blue-ribbon art schools across the country… which included a lot of dicks and similar ‘humor’ (which we are now to take as debunked, because it was just reported by eye-witnesses since the time in the early days of the internet): FLASHBACK: FLOTUS Hillary’s X-Rated Deviant White House Christmas Tree Ornaments."

Of course the big birthday gift was the signing of the MOU with Iran, potentially ending the conflict with Iran. Scott McLallen at TownHall, BREAKING: Trump Announces US-Iran Peace Deal Complete. Matt Margolis at PJM, Trump Announces Peace Deal with Iran Is Complete. Capt. Ed at Hat Hair, Iran, Trump Announce Deal … For Now. Sundance at CTH, President Trump Announces Iran Deal is Complete – Strait of Hormuz Open for Transit and REPORTS: President Trump Frustrated with Additional Israeli Attacks into Lebanon. At Althouse, "The Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete. Congratulations to all!" ""I hereby fully authorize the toll free opening of the Strait of Hormuz, and, simultaneously herewith, authorize the immediate removal of the United States Naval blockade. Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow! President DONALD J. TRUMP" Writes Trump, at Truth Social." wretchardthecat @wretchardthecat, "The SOH blockade ends with the USN taking or diverting 152 Iranian ships -- for now. By comparison Europe has physically stopped, boarded, detained, or redirected around 10–15 well-documented Russian Dark Fleet ships as of mid-2026—despite sanctioning hundreds..." Sarah Hoyt at Insty, I’M NOT HAPPY WITH THE IRAN PEACE BEFORE MAKING THE IRG PASTE, AND THIS IS A REASON WHY: Iran’s Remaining Forces: On French Radio, Hamas and Hezbollah Are Characterized as “Delocalized Iranian Armies”.

More from sundance, Sunday Talks – Secretary Pete Hegseth -vs- Dramatic Acting Margaret Brennan and Facing Domestic Military Embarrassment, British PM Starmer Orders Capture of Russian ‘Shadow Fleet’ Tanker. Scott McLallen again, 'You Will Not Escape': DOJ Warns Ghost Fleet Operators After Tanker Captain's Guilty Plea . From the Brussels Signal, Dreams of an EU army just crashed. "For years, European Union federalists have hoped that one particular project would take flight: A Franco-German jet fighter. The ambitious project, planned between two major companies – Airbus, on Germany’s (and Spain’s) side, and Dassault Aviation on France’s – would have been a proof-in-concept approach to a European Union army. Those dreams crashed to the ground this week when it was revealed that Airbus and Dassault Aviation could not come to an agreement on who would lead the project and who would follow. In 2017, French President Emmanuel Macron declared the plan “a revolution”; last week, he met with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and confirmed that the project was not moving forward."

Hat Hair's Stephen Moore insists Trump's Critics are Dead Wrong (Again) on the Economy. They generally are, having about the same success rate a fortune tellers. The Victory Girls are pissed that John Cornyn Decides To Pick Fights And Play Sore Loser.

Amy Curtis at TownHall hears Scott Jennings Hammers CNN Panel Over Elon Musk Trillionaire Status. "Call me when you're made about Soros." Andrew Wilkow @WilkowMajority, "The people who created 40 Trillion in debt are angry that Elon Musk created 1 Trillion in wealth." YouTube, Former SpaceX welder becomes millionaire with IPO launch: “I was always taught just to work hard.”

Insty, I’M EXPECTING AN L.A.-SHATTERING KABOOM: And maybe not just L.A. Spencer Pratt @spencerpratt, "Saving LA - Phase III." Ian Miles Cheong @ianmiles, "Holy hell, man. Turn this into a national movement." From NYPo, Spencer Pratt says fire at his Pacific Palisades crystals office ‘not an accident’ as investigation launched. “I will wait for the investigators to make public the details, but this was no accident, and the timing of this…on the heels of all of the contentious election tomfoolery of the last two weeks, it is very suspect, indeed.”

At RCP, The Platner Problem: When Principles Meet Power. From Twitchy, 'Cute Speech. CONGRATS': Mark Cuban Shuts Ro Khanna DOWN in SURPRISING Back and Forth About Capitalism. Dave Manney at PJM hears Jeffries Just Told America What Democrats Will Do if They Win the House, impeach Trump, of course. Larry Elder at TownHall notes Trump Goes to the NBA Finals -- Look Who Attacked Him. "U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said: "It's not clear to me that Donald Trump is a big Knicks fan. I mean, does this guy even know the difference between Karl Rove and Karl Anthony Towns? I don't think so. He's just injecting himself." But NBA Commissioner Adam Silver called Trump a lifelong fan, saying Trump "was a fixture at Madison Square Garden. He was here all the time. He's a genuine Knicks fan." Matt Margolis at PJM sees A New Study Just Confirmed the Left's Worst-Kept Secret, they're nuts. Paul Vallas at John Kass finds Mayor Johnson Is Making Chicago’s Affordable Housing Crisis Worse, of course. Socialist remedies generally do. RCP notices The Real Victims of Gerrymandering are Independent Voters.

GregGutfeld @greggutfeld, "i came to the conclusion that this story is so awful that we have no way to punish it. to commit to an appropriate measure of justice is beyond our willingness to do it." Quote Jeffrey A Tucker @jeffreytucker, "The revelations six years later are pouring out so quickly that it is impossible to keep up much less mentally process all this: * The Director of National Intelligence has documented 120 US-funded/owned biolabs in 30 countries many of which are manufacturing and manipulating infectious diseases..." Sundance finds it Interesting – SSCI Vice Chairman Says He Conducts Secret Back Channel Discussions with Intelligence Operatives and Foreign Government Intel Officials About Keeping Intelligence From DNI. So, basically a traitor. 

From I&I, ICYMI: The Dems’ Anti-ICE Campaign Was An Epic Fail. From a legislative perspective. But they sure managed to generate a lot of civil disorder, and caused a few deaths.

Stacy McCain identifies The Worst Journalist, Ever, Juan Thompson. Insty adds a Correction: The worst journalist ever so far. Mediaite, Trump DOJ Approves Paramount’s Acquisition of Warner Bros, raising the possibility of Bari Weiss taking control over CNN too.

Josh Hammer at Hat Hair notices Belfast Is Burning, and the Media Won't Say Why. Trent Telenko @TrentTelenko, "Fearless prediction: N. Ireland will be 90%(+) migrant free in 3 months. It is now clear to me that what we are seeing in N. Ireland is a sectarian pogrom. One which will in 3 months be utterly successful in driving out 90%(+)... N.I. "Troubles Pogrom" 1/" David Shaw @David90shaw, "THE MASK HAS COMPLETELY SLIPPED. Keir Starmer is banning social media for teenagers, but guess which app is magically exempt? Bluesky. They are blocking every platform that allows independent free speech, while leaving the ultimate left wing echo chamber wide open. This was never about child safety. It is a highly coordinated plot to trap your kids in a digital bubble and brainwash them with pure establishment propaganda. They want total control over what the next generation is allowed to think. RT if you refuse to let the Labour elite indoctrinate our children!" Bournebrook Mag discourses on The Tragedy of John Cleese ""He was a Progressive, Liberal degenerate in 1960s uber-white uber-polite Britain. He could take the p*** out of the people he saw as uptight and repressed while enjoying the clean, safe streets and quiet little hamlets full of those same uptight, repressed, polite-to-a-fault, helpful, white Christian Englishmen." Sarah at Insty, THEY’VE BEEN LIED TO. I TOLD YOU SO: Europeans in the US for the World Cup Are Celebrating American Culture—Specifically, Red America’s Culture. I couldn’t help but notice that all these Europeans driving around being charmed by the U.S. are celebrating the very things that Leftists have the most contempt for. But if liberals have their way, they'll enshitiffiy America like they did Europe.

The Wombat has FMJRA 2.0: Checking Out The Free Agents up on time and under budget at The Other McCain.

Flotsam and Jetsam - Dems Goring the Musk Ox

With the IPO of SpaceX, Elon Musk just became the first trillionaire, on paper, and Democrats, Democratic Socialists, Communists and the media (but I redund) are mad as hell. Although I don't own stock in Spacex (that I know of) own a Tesla, or subscribe to StarLink (although I'm considering the later, Comcast sucks), I, for one, have not noticed my life has diminished in any way. Eric at Security and Cigars extolls Elon's accomplishments in It's Elon's World Now. Jessica @JessicaTetreau, "Is she actually lecturing us about rich people from the back of a limousine?" Quote Elizabeth Warren @ewarren, "Elon Musk just became the world's first trillionaire. This needs to be a wake up call." At Insty, IT’S CERTAINLY AMONG THE BEST: Konstantin Kisin @KonstantinKisin, "I think possibly the best thing about Elon Musk becoming a trillionaire is how angry it makes a bunch of losers who've never built a thing in their lives." Northern Barbarian @xnoesbueno, "What an idiot." Quote Marco Foster @MarcoFoster_, "Hasan Piker: “Elon Musk is a fucking failure and yet in spite of his failures, because he happened to be at the right place at the right time, he has failed upwards with his endless wealth. He’s a horrible person, an unbelievably insecure person, and yet he’s the richest person." At Althouse, Jimmy Kimmel finds it "unsettling" that "our first trillionaire, the richest man in the world, is also one of the weirdest people we've ever seen on this planet." Did he really expect a person with so many accomplishments to be "normal" which is just a synonym for average? Erik Voorhees @ErikVoorhees, "If the socialists had their way, Elon would have had his paypal profits taken and redistributed for the greater good. The world would never have seen Tesla, nor SpaceX. And the world wouldn't know it, because they were uncreated, and thus unseen. Imagine the companies that don't exist, because Washington destroyed them before they were born." Sierra @Sierra_rak, "Why is there so much hate for Elon Musk right now? He just became the world’s first trillionaire… And suddenly everyone’s furious. But this is the same guy creating thousands of jobs, building electric cars, reusable rockets, and pushing technology forward. What exactly is the crime? Succeeding? Innovating? Creating value? I genuinely don’t understand the level of hate." Eric S. Raymond @esrtweet, "He broke the woke/Communist censorship lock. They will never forgive him for this." TMK @themagaking, "Elon Musk's companies employ roughly 170,000 people. AOC drove Amazon out of New York, killing 40,000 jobs. One creates. The other destroys. They are not the same." Bonchie @bonchieredstate, "When you realize DSA members are just a bunch of people who failed at everything, refused to get real jobs, and then decided leeching off taxpayers was the next best thing, their entire ideology starts to make more sense." Quote Claire Valdez @claireforny, "Art can't be a luxury made by and for the few. But the cost of living has made it impossible for so many New Yorkers to create the culture that makes this city beautiful. I joined Mayor @ZohranKMamdani at MoMA PS1 to talk about my journey in the arts and keeping NYC vibrant." Kurt Schlichter @KurtSchlichter, "Wait, isn’t our current health insurance system Obamacare?" Quote Brian Krassenstein @krassenstein, "People can’t afford health insurance, inflation is through the roof, gas prices are soaring and immigrant children are locked in prison camps, but sure let’s do motorcycle flips on the lawn of the WH to celebrate an egotistical president‘s birthday." It's not a fair comment; Obamacare was designed to fail. John Sexton at Hat Hair on Monkeys Hoarding Bananas: The Economic Confusion on X is Not Abating. bug girl @buggirl, "in nature if a monkey hoarded 1 trillion bananas the other monkeys would beat that monkey to death and take his bananas." So, you're saying leftists are like monkeys? Matt Van Swol @mattvanswol, "Cute theory, let's play it out. A monkey hoards a trillion bananas. The troop, enraged, beats him to death. They gather around the pile to feast at last. But... oh wait, there is no pile. It turns out the "bananas" were shares in a banana-launching company the dead monkey founded. The shares were worth a trillion because he was alive to run it. Now he is dead and the stock is worth $0. The retarded monkeys have clubbed their way into a recession. But it gets worse. Half the "bananas" were tied up in a rocket that supplies bananas to monkeys on the far mountain who had no bananas at all. Another chunk was tied up in a little satellite dish that beamed banana coordinates to the troop after a flood took out their trees. So now they realized they beat to death the only monkey who knew how the dish worked. So the monkeys sit there. No bananas. No rockets. No coordinates to get more banananas. Just a dead body and a powerful sense of fairness as they all now became infinitely poorer. OH And somewhere a smaller monkey watches the whole thing and quietly decides he will never build anything in front of these animals again."

Driscoll at Insty, NO, I THINK IT CAN STILL GET WORSE: Just When You Thought the Platner Tattoo Scandal Couldn’t Get Worse…: Charles C. W. Cooke @charlescwcooke, "“Let’s make sure we get no more PayPals, Teslas, SpaceXs, Neuralinks, Starlinks . . .” Just illiterate, destructive, sclerotic nonsense." Quote Graham Platner for Senate @grahamformaine, "Elon Musk just became the world’s first trillionaire. Let’s make sure he’s also the last." Althouse finds "I think Platner is probably worse than Newsom but he reminds me more of Fetterman, who I originally liked. That may be why I have never liked Platner." ""I am intimately acquainted with the genre of New England failsons, being as I am a faildaughter of that sort of edge of aristocracy myself. He has no principles as far as I can tell and no real experience in much of anything but arrogance. He’s bad news through and through, and I suspect a Dino if you will. Even without the nazi tattoos and the extremely believable and coherent accusations of sexual wrongdoing and quite possibly assault, this is not someone we need in the Senate." Writes someone called mygothlaundry in a Metafilter discussion based on a Liberal Currents article titled "Graham Platner and the Class Politics of Impunity/Solidarity with working class women never seems to enter into it."" Matt Vespa at TownHall, And Here's Where Even Bill Maher's Audience Gasped When Talking About Graham Platner... and Wait, Did the NYT's 'Me Too' Reporter Really Say That About Graham Platner's Domestic Abuse Allegations? Joe Concha @JoeConchaTV, "Congrats @jodikantor!" Quote "Curtis Houck @CurtisHouck, "WATCH: New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor – who wrote many of the #MeToo stories – DEFENDS Graham Platner and DISMISSES the allegations against him by @LyndseyFifield and other ex-girlfriends because they were not “abuse” and women saying they just “did not like what” they saw from him..." Justin @JustinUSA, "Tucker Carlson comes out in support of Graham Platner He says that he “appreciates” Platner’s views on foreign policy and leaves the door open to having him on his show. Absolutely disgraceful."

The Week In Pictures: California
Nightmare Edition - Power Line

LA Times whines a Trump prosecutor in L.A. pushing unusual public search for voter fraud before count is in.

The AP whines the Trump administration blocks federal homelessness funds in Los Angeles. From the Free Bacon, Kathy Hochul Faces Heat Over Ties to Democratic Payroll Vendor Accused of ‘Borderline Barbaric’ Parental Leave Policies "Rep Mike Lawler wants to know if Hochul conducted any due diligence on Rippling before doling out tax breaks to the $16 billion firm." Presumably she made sure a suitable percentage would make it back into Democrat party hands.

At the Milwaukee J Sent, Wisconsin Democrats make udder mistake with National Dairy Month post. You might not appreciate the "milk" you get from bulls.

Libs of TikTok @libsoftiktok, "New study shows Conservatives are happier than Liberals “Mental illness is emerging as its own political identity and is most heavily aligned with leftist political ideology and causes”"

Mark Tapscott at Insty, reports TRUMP EXTENDS TAIWAN’S LIFE 30-40 YEARS: "It’s not getting the measure of national media attention it deserves, but President Donald Trump’s massive aid package to Taiwan should have China’s full attention. By making the latest available defensive strike missiles and related launch, mobility and guidance capabilities, Trump is enabling Taiwan to destroy most of a PRC invasion force before it reaches the island. According to Rod Martin, here’s why this matters tremendously..." From Twitchy, Couch Potato Aaron Rupar Mocks Pete Hegseth's 'Seizure-Like' Workout by Deceivingly Cutting Video. At Althouse, "Everything about 'the Claw' feels tawdry, especially when they turn on the lights, which send bolts of blue and white illumination down the 154-foot interlocking steel arches...." "I'm reading "Joe Rogan called the White House UFC event ‘so America.’ He’s right. The 'Claw' bursting out of the White House grounds is the perfect metaphor for the moment, injecting bloody spectacle into the country’s birthday celebration" in the Washington Post." And, "The marble front remained shrouded in white- and blue-striped tarps, with no clear answer on when they would be removed." "I'm reading "At the Kennedy Center, a Name Change Shrouded in Uncertainty/President Trump’s name was removed from the arts institution’s facade overnight on Saturday. Many questions remain, including whether or not it stays off" (NYT)." Defund it.

While we wait to find out if the pact with Iran is signed today, Oil Price reports More LNG Tankers Slip Through the Strait of Hormuz.

AJ Christopher at PJM discourses on The Karmelo Anthony Problem. "How are we supposed to understand how someone as seemingly normal as Karmelo Anthony was willing, in a manner of seconds, to destroy the lives of others, not to mention his own life, over such a petty argument?" Young and stupid, and fed years of racial grievance by the press. Dimitri @thedimitri, "In a study on race and juror decision-making, participants evaluated an identical defendant whose name was either Bradley Schwartz or Jamal Gaines. Black respondents were significantly more likely to convict and more harshly sentence the white-named defendant, while white respondents showed no statistically significant bias in either direction," and "It's insane how it's just sorta accepted that having a black person on the jury is a get out of jail free card for black people."

Pope Respecter @poperespecter1, "Pope Leo's views on immigration should be completely non-controversial. He says he is against open borders. Countries have a right to decide who enters. Mass immigration is a problem to be solved. People should stay in their own countries. But that if people do come, they should be treated like human beings with dignity. He also says if they come, they should learn the language and respect the laws. But because people's brains are broken by American politics they cannot understand this nuance." I still think it was a bad move for the Catholic church to elect a Chicago pol as Pope. But they probably had worse candidates.

Media Research Center @theMRC, "Scott Pelley wasn't the only reason CBS's 60 Minutes was nothing more than leftist propaganda! From Mike Wallace to Lesley Stahl the network's flagship news program has been far-left from the start. Here are the Worst Moments of 60 Minutes..." News Busters finds CNN Is Surprised The South Is Welcoming Foreign World Cup Tourists. At Twitchy, NYT: With the US Under a Microscope for Hosting the World Cup, 'They're Making Fun of Us Overseas'. Capt. Ed at Hat Hair asks Today's Deep Question: Where Is CNN's Fact-Checker on Trump? Last seen being carried away in a straightjacket? Andy Ngo @MrAndyNgo, "Leftist publication The Intercept blamed Donald Trump and his supporters for multiple bomb threats on Jewish institutions in February 2017. It turned out the threats came from one of The Intercept's staff reporters, Juan Thompson. He was convicted and sentenced to 60 months in prison."

Jonathan Turley is shocked, shocked that Merkel Receives the First European Order of Merit and Repeats Call for Crackdown on Free Speech.

Hat Hair's Beege Welborn thinks The Little Girl With Knife and Axe Just Gave the System a Final Whack while Dave Strom notes Of Course Britain Detains Tommy Robinson Again. "It is coming to the point where you are more likely to be detained and prosecuted in the United Kingdom for just noticing that many migrants commit horrendous crimes than the migrants themselves." Bob Spencer at PJM reports an Italian Woman Beheaded as Attacker Recites Passages From a Book. Yeah, THAT Book. No, not the Bible or even the Book of Mormon. Roger Kimball at Am Great discourses on The Hyphen and the Melting Pot. "Multiculturalism promised diversity, but by weakening assimilation and shared identity, it risks unraveling the cultural bonds that made America one nation."

Dave Strom hears a New Hot Take: Differences in Intelligence Are Illusory. We're all Elon Musks, except we had crummy teachers who had crummy teachers and so on ad infinitum. From RCE, Equity Without Excellence Is Not Equal at All. From Campus Reform, Records reveal SIU law school's mandatory 'professionalism' event was DEI session. "Southern Illinois University Carbondale's law school required students to attend a seminar that administrators publicly described as a professionalism training, though internal records identified it as a DEI session."

The Wombat has FMJRA 2.0: Checking Out The Free Agents up on time and under budget at The Other McCain.