Flotsam and Jetsam - A Light Flow Day

The news is a little light after Trump's return from China. Don Surber asserts The Donroe Doctrine reaps rewards. "Arresting Maduro and killing an ayatollah or two spoke louder than words." From the Chronic, Russia Diminished? Russia is not, and never was, as powerful as they like to portray themselves, as they are finding out in Ukraine. If they didn't have nukes, they would be a regional irritation like Iran.

From Not a Lot of People Know That, Ed Miliband vows permanent shutdown of the North Sea. "I have long believed Miliband is determined to do as much irreversible damage to the country as he can before he gets chucked out." Decline is a choice, one that both British and American leftists assent to readily out of misplaced guilt for their previous successes.

At NottheBee, Listen to this trucker explain how “foreign” drivers are being sidelined just days after SCOTUS said companies are liable for them. GRANDPA’s FREE ADVICE @GOP_is_Gutless, "It took less than 24 hours for brokers to tighten the belt after the Supreme Court ruled that brokers could be held liable for carrier accidents WOW!"

Amy Curtis at TownHall says Bang Up Job, Gavin! Newsom's Press Office Launches Lame Attack on Reflecting Pool Project

Newsom has started doing this weird thing where he points to construction projects that are in progress and implies that the point at which the photo was taken is the project’s final form. He did it with the ballroom, too. It may explain a lot about his record on high-speed rail. https://t.co/fKqlwB6Wmb

— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) May 14, 2026

At Twitchy, Mr. Science Says the Blue Reflecting Pool Will Just Support Even Greater Algae Growth. Not particularly. Algae will grow wherever sunlight meets water. But taking it off Tidal Basin water, and installing a filter system will help a lot. Althouse finds Fear of blue and desperate clinging to "character-defining grey." ""The resurfacing will dramatically and permanently transform the character-defining grey, achromatic appearance of the reflecting pool basin. The new colouration will cause the pool to resemble a large swimming pool rather than the reflective civic landscape it was designed to be, distorting the experience of the site for the millions of visitors who come to it each year." So said the Cultural Landscape Foundation, a Washington society, quoted in The London Times, which looks like this, going all in on AI imagery."

Dave Strom at Hat Hair, Drone Hits UAE Nuclear Power Plant; UPDATE: Trump: The Clock Is Ticking. There should have been an immediate reprisal attack against a powerplant supplying power to Tehran. Jason Greenblatt at Tablet speculates about Iran After the Ayatollah "With Iran militarily decimated and economically squeezed, Trump holds all the cards. But is a deal possible or worthwhile with a fragmented regime?" 

The OC Register reports a Poll: Democrats rally around Becerra, Steyer as Republicans consolidate behind Hilton. "The top two vote-getters will advance to the November election." Pretty much as I expected. I guess they don't hate billionaires that much. Twitchy, *SNORT* Spencer Pratt's Reaction to Nithya Raman PREENING About Possible Trump Endorsement Is PERFECTION. Althouse approves The women-empowering-women genre of political ad. "This new Spencer Pratt ad may be somewhat innovative in its forthright use of AI:"

“You are not alone.” Yoga moms, silent majority, and a preference cascade all in one. Whether or not Angelenos elect @spencerpratt as LA mayor, he and his team are revolutionizing politics. pic.twitter.com/l4pwOSmNUH

— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) May 17, 2026

I can't say I really expect Pratt to win, but he's scaring the bejeezus out the the Dems. At the minimum, they will cheat as hard as they can to prevent it. Kurt Schlichter smokes the hopium at TownHall, The GOP’s Midterm Reversal of Fortune. Hat Hair's Larry Elder thinks Gavin Newsom Has a Kamala Harris Problem, can't beat Kamala without pissing off the black ladies who are a reliable element of the base. Dave Manney at PJM sees a 'Feeding Our Future' Convict Points at Ilhan Omar. "Founder and former executive director of Feeding Our Future, Aimee Bock, finds herself sitting in custody as one of the central figures in one of the ugliest COVID-era fraud scandals in America. A federal jury convicted Bock in March 2025 on seven counts tied to wire fraud, conspiracy, bribery, and federal program fraud ... Now Bock has pointed at Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), claiming Omar knew about the fraud and helped create the conditions that made the scheme easier to run." At Fox, Jonathan Turley opines AOC's war on billionaires twists America's birth into a socialist myth, "Many Founders were themselves wealthy, and their revolution was rooted in property rights and free-market ideals, Turley says." As Stacy McCain notes, a tenet of the left is ‘There Is No Truth … Only Power.’

Cam at Bearing Arms is all over Minnesota Dems Melting Down After Gun Ban Vote Fails. Drew Roach @DrewRoachMN, "Democrats in the Minnesota House have gone completely UNHINGED When house dems didnt get the vote they wanted on the most extreme gun-grabbing bill in the country HF5140 one of their own, Rep. Gomez, actually told Republican @elliottengenMN to “go fucking kill himself.” This isn’t debate. This isn’t passion. This is deranged, toxic, and downright dangerous behavior from the same people who want to strip law-abiding Minnesotans of their constitutional rights. No class. No decency. Just pure meltdown when they’re challenged on disarming citizens while criminals roam free." From NYPo, New York crime ‘revolves’ around recidivists — as state’s laws release danger onto our streets.

Ward Clark at RedState thinks Russia Hoax Figures May Want Lawyers Handy After Blanche’s Latest Reveal. Eric Daugherty @EricLDaugh, "JUST IN: AG Todd Blanche confirms it’s ABOUT TO COME OUT as the DOJ probes the deep state coup against President Trump based on the Russia hoax “We're finding out some incredibly troubling things, and at some point at the right time, that will be made public, and the American people will see exactly what happened to this administration and President Trump over the past decade!” “The Southern district of Florida has an open criminal investigation. That involves hundreds of subpoenas, it involves hundreds of witnesses, and so, as far as time and one we can expect it, we are working hard and we are working efficiently, but we are going to do it right.” From the State of the Day, State of Thursday: MARK KELLY WOULD LOVE TO GO TO JAI, for releasing classified information, so he could play the martyr. Don't let him. Nickel and dime him with the legal process, but never come near him with handcuffs.

PJM's Stephen Kruiser thinks It's Awesome to Have the Feds Focusing on Real Criminals Again. FBI Director Kash Patel @FBIDirectorKash, "Today the FBI and our partners extradited the highest ranking member of Tren de Aragua (TdA) ever brought to justice - Jose Enrique Martinez Flores, aka "Chuqui. Flores just arrived in Houston from Colombia this evening. This is the first time ever that a TdA member has been charged with terrorism-related crimes and been extradited to the U.S. - history made pursuant to President Trump’s executive order last summer designating Tren de Aragua as an FTO ..."

At NYPo, Trans HS track athlete sparks shocking podium decision after sweeping California finals "A transgender high school athlete dominated multiple girls track and field events at a California regional final Saturday, igniting backlash from parents, competitors and activists, and prompting officials to award duplicate gold medals to female runners-up. Jurupa Valley High School senior, AB Hernandez, 17, captured first place in the girls’ long jump, high jump and triple jump events during the California Interscholastic Federation’s Southern Section championship final." Even California is getting tired of the trans bullshit.

The College Fix finds a U. Miami law professor who says We should consider making ‘cultural appropriation’ illegal J. Janewa Osei-Tutu. EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas @andrealucasEEOC, "Should be obvious after 250 years but: “American” is a national origin. And English is our country’s official language. No American should be mocked—in the United States of all places—for speaking English or for being American. @USEEOC is taking action to protect Americans from anti-American bias, which is unlawful under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. This week’s lawsuit is the latest step."

The Wombat has FMJRA 2.0: Writing Until Dawn up and garnering clicks at The Other McCain.

Flotsam and Jetsam - Gone Fishin' DIY

Trump and the Pubs

Naval Lawyer Delivers a Kill Shot to the Left's Uproar Over Trump's Airstrikes on Narco-Terrorists
TRUMP JUST MADE CHEAP TRUCKS LEGAL AGAIN. Check out the "climate" regulations he rolled back! - Not the Bee
Senate To Confirm 97 More Trump Nominees After Democrat Blockade Fails - The Daily Caller
The Filibuster Must Be Euthanized Now - The American Spectator
Althouse: "The President kind of holds up his hand and says, 'No, no, no, hold on a second. There's something much more important. Shoes.'"

The Disloyal Opposition

The Somali Welfare Fraud Scandal Is Even Worse Than You Think
The Minnesota Fraud Scandal Just Got a Whole Lot Worse for Walz and Omar – PJ Media
Instapundit - HUGH HEWITT INTERVIEWS POWER LINE’S SCOTT JOHNSON: The first reporter on the Minnesota fraud scand
Walz's bleeding heart keeps costing Minnesota taxpayers - Opinion
A Lawsplainer -- The Somali Fraud Edition
DC_Draino on X: "One of Obama’s top DEA guys was just caught laundering $12,000,000 for the cartels. When we said Democrats are working with the cartels to destroy America, we weren’t exaggerating."
Zohran Mamdani's DSA party pushing China propaganda in new monthly 'political education' seminars - New York Post
Althouse: "They’re trying to turn it into something scary, something sinister. But folks, it’s not really about anything that’s all that complicated."

Just Us

ALX 🇺🇸 on X: "BREAKING: Family of January 6th Pipe Bomb suspect say he is not a Trump supporter, contradicting claims made by many in legacy media. 
The Myth That the J6 Pipe Bomber Was a ‘Trump Supporter’ Just Blew Up – PJ Media
J6 Bomber Family: He's Not MAGA. He's a Basement-Dwelling Loner With A Grudge. – HotAir

Immigration Matters

Deputy ICE Dir. Has a Damning Question for Voters After Another Democrat 'Interferes' With Agents – RedState
Patty Murray: José Screams in Excruciating Pain As an ICE Vehicle Allegedly Runs Over His Legs – Twitchy
Eric S. Raymond on X: "@JBlunt1018 You'll love the plan if deporting immigrants doesn't fix things. It's "shoot all the communists". Mind you, I'm not warranting that I think either plan will actually work. I think the assumptions behind both plans are somewhat oversimplified. I'm just saying but before you . . "

The Wombat has FMJRA 2.0: The Hits Just Keep On Coming online and garnering clicks at The Other McCain.

Truckin' Into Tuesday

The Wombat has Rule Five Sunday: Lisa Gerrard up and running at The Other McCain.

Truckin' Into Thursday

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Jodie Comer ready and waiting.

NYT Dreads Patriotism, Flags and Pickup Trucks

Twitchy, New York Times says flying the American flag from a pickup truck is an imperfect clue to that person’s politics

NYT/MSNBC’s @MaraGay: In Long Island last weekend, I saw “dozens of American flags,” which was “just disturbing” pic.twitter.com/RhGdqqJope

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) June 8, 2021

Gay later complained she was being trolled by people tweeting her American flags, but Charlotte Clymer felt where she was coming from, saying that people who hoist a giant American flag on their car are probably racist.

Now the New York Times is on the case, and it just happens to be set in a Long Island town: 

Today, flying the American flag from the back of a pickup truck or over a lawn is increasingly seen as a clue, albeit an imperfect one, to a person’s political affiliation in a deeply divided nation. https://t.co/TODmHEmPsO

— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 3, 2021

Damn, that's evil! Even Althouse notices Have you noticed all the anti-4th-of-July articles?

Here's one I'm just catching up on: "Maybe it’s time to admit that the Statue of Liberty has never quite measured up" (WaPo).

It's time! Why is it time? Is there a "Time's Up" movement that's sweeping up all the manifestations of love for America? No more enjoyment of the comfortable attributes of everyday patriotism!

Here's an excerpt from the column, which is by WaPo's art and architecture critic Philip Kennicott.

The ironies and blind spots pile up. Liberty was depicted as a woman, at a time when women didn’t have the right to vote. In 1882, the United States passed the nakedly racist Chinese Exclusion Act; a year later, construction of the base of the statue began with Chinese laborers among the workforce. The idea of the statue was associated with the 100th anniversary of the revolution that brought American independence. But Bartholdi created a sedate, classicizing and mostly sexless figure, not the radical revolutionary icon of liberty known in France as Marianne (the bare-chested woman seen in Delacroix’s 1830 painting, “Liberty Leading the People).”. . .

I believe this has been a theme in the articles I've been seeing — what my post title calls "anti-4th-of-July" materials. I can imagine that the writers of this material would push me back and say, no, we're not anti-4th-of-July — you're anti-4th-of-July! — because we're for the deepest values of liberty and you're not.

Just remember, they hate you.  

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Natasha Romanova Redux awaiting your digital pleasure.

Truckin' Into Thursday

With bonus tattoos.

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Samsung Sam  finished on time and under budget.

Tuesday Truckin'

The Wombat has Rule Five Sunday: Happy Easter! ready for your amusement at The Other McCain.

Truckin' Into Thursday

 

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Santa Ereshkigal published on time and under budget at The Other McCain

Truckin' Into Tuesday

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Carla Gugino ready at The Other McCain.

Truckin' Into Tuesday

The Wombat has Early Morning Rule 5 Monday: Linda Ronstadt up at The Other McCain.

Thursday Truckin'

Wombat-socho has Rule 5 Sunday: Toni McBride ready at The Other McCain.

Truckin' Into Thursday

The Wombat delivers Rule 5 Sunday: Park Hye-su as promised.

Reason #6716 - #6717 That Trump Was Elected

Or perhaps this should become Reason #1 Trump will be re-elected? Average US salaries on the rise thanks to booming economy

US employers are stepping on the accelerator — and that’s lifting average salaries and fueling record raises across many sectors. For the typical American worker, pay increases could soon surge past 4 percent or 5 percent for the year, according to labor experts.

By any stretch, the number crunchers say, it’s a big jump to catch up on the anemic salary growth over the past 10 years, thanks to the law of supply and demand and a booming economy. Job openings recently surpassed the number of unemployed by 1.3 million. And it’s starting to trigger bottlenecks.

For example, a trucker shortage — precipitated in part by a surge in factory orders — is forcing one company to grease the wheels with some of the industry’s largest payouts of as much as $3,100 in weekly take-home pay.

“You need a minimum of two years experience, and be qualified to drive in the 48 contiguous states,” an official for MB Global Logistics told The Post.

“It’s tough finding drivers. We had a load delivery for New York City from the Midwest for $7,000 gross — and one driver we asked just did not want to take it.”

CNN has refused to write a report about an illegal alien who was charged last week in Dallas, Texas for allegedly murdering 12 elderly women.

The story broke last Wednesday when Kenyan national Billy Chemirmir, 46, was charged with the deaths of six women in Dallas County and then was charged on Thursday with the deaths of five women in Collin County. Chemirmir was already in prison from charges he faces from 2018 involving another alleged murder of an elderly woman.

The story garnered national attention and was widely reported on at most news organizations, except for CNN.

On CNN's website, there are no reports about the case, and the network buried the story on its television coverage, giving it minimum coverage so it could not be accused of ignoring it completely.

A few days after the story broke, CNN slipped in a 21-second segment on its early Saturday morning news show, airing the clip at 6:37 a.m. EST.

I guess Kenya isn't sending us their best either . . .

Fatal Truck Accident Off Bay Bridge Tunnel

Driver dies after tractor-trailer goes over the side of the CBBT

The driver of a tractor-trailer that went over the side of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel (CBBT) Thursday afternoon has died. CBBT spokesman Tom Anderson confirmed the driver died when he was on the way to the hospital.

Authorities identified the driver as 47-year-old Joseph Chen, of Greenville, North Carolina. Chen was hauling a load of seafood for Evans Transports, which is based out of Washington, North Carolina.

The tractor-trailer went into the water on the southbound side of the CBBT at mile marker 15 around 12:30 p.m. Navy spokesman Cmdr. Dave Hecht said a crew with HSE 2 out of Norfolk was in the area training when police called for help.

That crew responded in an MH-60 Sierra and pulled the driver out of the water. WAVY’s Erin Kelly tweeted that officials said the driver was standing on top of the vehicle before he was hoisted into the helicopter.
. . .
Bridge officials issued Level 2 wind restrictions Thursday, with winds exceeding 47 mph. There was a Level 1 restriction at the time of the accident.

Under a Level 2 restriction, tractor-trailers must be hauling a gross payload of 30,000 pounds, in addition to the weight of the rig.

It's Pretty windy out. It peaked here at nearly 40 with gusts to 50.

Trucker Survives Plunge Off Bay Bridge Tunnel

Tractor-trailer driver survives plunge over CBBT

Officials have confirmed a tractor-trailer has gone overboard at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.

According to officials, it happened southbound at mile post 14, shortly after 3 p.m. Wednesday. Tom Anderson with Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel confirms the driver is alive and was pulled out of the water by Virginia Beach Marine Patrol at 3:55 p.m.

Super Doppler 10 Meteorologist Ashley Baylor says the water temperature at the time of the accident was 49.1 degrees. The driver was flown via Nightingale to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. The driver suffered serious but non-life threatening injuries to his head, arm and chest. Firefighters say the driver was conscious and alert when he was pulled out of the water.

I would say he's pretty lucky to have survived. And seeing the way that truck blew through the guardrail can't be much comfort to truckers that cross the bridge.

If You Thought Your Roads Were Muddy