The minority party was allowed in these hearings

Jonathan Turley: "Democrats Fight to Keep the Insurrection Myth Alive in the New J6 Committee." 

Don't be AWFL

Sasha Stone: "Confessions of a Recovering Liberal White Woman." - "Liberal white women in the past 20 years have lived the most privileged lives of almost anyone on the planet. But even having everything somehow wasn’t enough. They needed to still feel like Thelma and Louise, like they had no other choice but to scream in the faces of the ICE agents, no other choice but to resist, no other choice but to step on the gas." 

CNN is such a clown show

Townhall: "What a CNN Host Said About Tim Walz Left Scott Jenning's Truly Aghast."

This isn't the first time that Scott Jennings has been told something true is not true.  It's gotten to the point that Scott Jennings need to bring his own iPad on the show with preloaded videos proving his assertions.  "Yes, Tim Walz did say this and here's the video."

Scott Jennings just caught Abby Phillip in a bold-faced LIE on CNN — and he couldn’t believe she was denying the truth.

Watch till the end to see the proof.

As the panel freaked out over the DOJ probing Tim Walz and Jacob Frey for obstructing federal immigration operations,… pic.twitter.com/wNcvdUmNPb

— Overton (@overton_news) January 17, 2026

Corey Comperatore was unavailable for comment

Washington Post: "What’s to blame for political violence? Here’s what Americans say."

Political violence in the United States has been rising for several years. Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and the violence led to five deaths. President Donald Trump faced two apparent assassination attempts during his 2024 campaign. And last year, Minnesota state legislator Melissa Hortman (D) and conservative activist Charlie Kirk were killed, while the house of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) was set ablaze.

Emphasis added.  Never change, Washington Post.  Democracy dies in darkness or something.

Jeffries just says stuff

PJ Media: "Hakeem Jeffries Just Crossed a Dangerous Line That Can’t Be Uncrossed."

I can't get worked up by Hakeem Jeffries.  I don't think he knows what he says half the time.  His depth of knowledge is proven to be as shallow as a puddle in a summertime parking lot whenever he's slightly challenged. 

He's the Karine Jean-Pierre of Congress.

An inconvenient series of wrong predictions

Outkick: "Twenty Years Later, 'An Inconvenient Truth' Has Been Thoroughly Debunked." 

Is this the way you want to go?

Because it's going to end badly for you.

Ace: "Minneapolis Mayor and Insurrectionist Jacob Frey Justifes Attacking ICE Agents, Saying Hitting Federal Agents With Shovels Is Just "Defending Our Neighbors"."

Frey does not share the values of his Republican constituents. Do they, then, have a justification for using violence against him?

The left never answers this question. Or rather, they avoid it by simply saying "that's different."

Not once have I seen Walz or Frey say something along the lines of "you may protest and document, but you may not interfere with lawful actions of federal agents enforcing federal law."  Instead, they just pour more kerosene on the fire.  Do you want the same chaos turned against you using the low bar of "I disagree with your policy?"  Because we can throw punches too.

Related - Hot Air: "When Resistance AWFLs Don't Realize Not Every State Thinks Their Tantrums Are Adorable." 

Stop me if you've heard this before

Boston Globe editorial: "Mitt Romney puts a spotlight on Social Security’s looming shortfall - Without changes, the retirement program won’t be able to pay the full benefits that have been promised to retirees."

This is the jillioneth opinion piece on Social Security I've read that advocates for the exact same solution: let somebody else pay for it.  It's always about raising the tax cap while means-testing benefits.  There is absolutely no understanding of the program or imagination for solutions other than taxing the rich.

New Nick Shirley video has dropped

 

We are all dumber for having listened to it

Jonathan Turley: "Minnesota Files Meritless Lawsuit to Stop Increase in Fraud Investigation and Immigration Enforcement." 

Do you miss them now, Ro Khanna?

Issues and Insights: "California Shows How To Lose $1 Trillion Without Even Trying."

It only took the threat of a wealth tax to drive half the billionaires in California to Texas and California.  Let's get that law passed and drive out the rest of them.

(Reference to title here.) 

Minnesota tries the heckler's veto

Prepare yourself for what might be the dumbest lawsuit in American history.

Yahoo News: "Minnesota and the Twin Cities sue the federal government to stop the immigration crackdown."

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota and its two largest cities sued the Trump administration Monday to try to stop an immigration enforcement surge that led to the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis woman by a federal officer and evoked outrage and protests across the country.

The state, joined by Minneapolis and St. Paul, said the Department of Homeland Security is violating the First Amendment and other constitutional protections. The lawsuit seeks a temporary restraining order to halt the enforcement action or limit the operation.

That's right: the basis for thwarting the federal enforcement of immigration laws is the First Amendment, which now necessarily extends to ramming your Honda Pilot into ICE agents.  These people are utter clowns. 

Extra - Powerline weighs in:

Still, one way or another, this case is doomed. Keith Ellison has been a do-nothing Attorney General who has been AWOL during the greatest state government fraud scandal of recent times. He knows that his re-election bid is in trouble, as he has a very strong opponent in my friend Ron Schutz. So he is trying to change the subject by running against President Trump, who is not popular in Minnesota. This case is 0% law, and 100% politics.

Speaking of fraud, another Nick Shirley video is dropping soon.

Minnesota is a failed state

Full of failed leaders.  From Minnesota-based Powerline:

Rather than a blissful socialist utopia, Minnesota ended up with a looted treasury and near-constant social unrest. It would have ended no other way. Minnesota is a failed state under current ownership.

That would be Tim "Jazz Hands" Walz: "The ‘Affable’ Coach Walz Never Existed."

Also: "What’s the matter with Minnesota? - The state is at the epicenter of a self-serving and destructive revolution." 

One of them is Eric Swalwell

Washington Post: "Two congressmen watched an ICE shooting video. Only one is sure of what he saw."

The Post knows exactly what they're going to get with Swalwell.  Was Jasmine Crockett unavailable?

Extra context: "Minneapolis Is Not Even A Close Call --A Lawsplainer On Officer-Involved Shootings."

Fraud is everywhere

Unreported Truths: "Medicaid fraud and abuse are hitting unthinkable levels - In Indiana, spending on a single Medicaid program for behavioral therapy for autistic children rose 30-FOLD in six years; the state spends $75,000 per child per year." 

Minneapolis shooting

Andrew McCarthy on the Corner: "A Tragedy, but a Justified Use of Force." 

Extra - PJ Media: "The ICE Cop Video Is Out and Polite Society Now Demands Apologies From the Following Riot Fans."  Don't hold your breath. 

Silence is complicity

Hollywood in Toto: "Will Disney Ever Stand Up to ABC’s Chronic Liars? - 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' and 'The View' spew so much misinformation it hurts America"

Somebody opined that Kimmel is actively trying to get fired now. 

They would change their minds if capable

Townhall: "A Lot of Liberal Narratives About the ICE Shooting Just Got Obliterated With This New Video."

The Left is too invested in the martyr narrative. 

They are children

Real Clear Politics: "Law Cannot Be Held Hostage to Democrat Temper Tantrums." 

Voting with our U-Hauls

This list is amazing from "The Great Divorce Continues."

The rumor going around is that the 2030 census is going to be a political earthquake with electoral votes shifting firmly into the red column. 

NPR gonna NPR

Twitchy: "Classic NPR Bias: Why They Got Defunded – Framing a Driver Assaulting ICE As Just 'Sitting in Her Car'." 

Hey, at least I don't have to pay for it anymore.  NPR will follow the CPB soon enough.

Another Bryn Mawr kook

National Review: "Mamdani’s Commie Housing Official Is a Lunatic." 

Extra - Hot Air: "Crybully: Mamdani's Tenant Advocate Breaks Down When Confronted About Hypocrisy."  This was likely the first time in her coddled life that she was ever confronted on an issue.

The word "may" is doing some heavy lifting here

LA Times: "Tim Walz isn’t the only governor plagued by fraud. Newsom may be targeted next." 

Tap dancing and moonwalking

Twitchy: "Tapper Asks Mark Kelly What Soldiers Should’ve Done Since Dems Are Calling Trump’s Maduro Capture Illegal." 

Hey, kudos to Jake for asking a Democrat a tough question. 

A Venezuelan has thoughts

Damn, I mean, damn just watch this:

My guess was "some kind of coercion"

Townhall: "Seattle's Socialist Mayor Has a 'Solution' for the City's Empty Offices. Guess What It Is."

The answer is taxing vacant office buildings, which I think is a winner for me.

Good riddance

Wall Street Journal: "Nonprofit That Funded NPR and PBS to Dissolve After 58 Years - Board of directors votes to dissolve organization after elimination of federal funds."

This headline says it all

National Review: "Propped Up by the Legacy Press, Tim Walz Is Undone by Social Media."

Once again with feeling: if the mainstream media had done its job, we wouldn't be here.  The media's fecklessness was exposed by a kid with an IPhone camera.

It's Woodward and Bernstein on a state level, bringing down a governor, but without the credentials of Columbia Journalism School. 

Meanwhile, they're cheering in Venezuela

Powerful article from a professor at Simon Bolivar University in Caracas: "This Is What Venezuelans Really Want."

For most Venezuelans, life has become an exercise in struggle in an economy of scraps and favors, making do with a patchwork of informal jobs and relationships that can never quite fill the void left by the corruption and inefficiency of the government. For years, this is what our authoritarianism has looked like: not autocratic socialism, but the worst kind of primitive capitalism.

In Venezuela, we have long faced a brutal paradox: an absent yet omnipotent state. It is everywhere and nowhere. It has failed to provide the essential services that once, under President Hugo Chávez, justified its monstrous growth and revolutionary ambitions — water, electricity, health care, education. Our society has been orphaned, ground down to its most basic capacities. The government has been reduced to a mere apparatus for securing its own continuity. 

It has been reported that the United States had sources in the Presidential palace telling us exactly where Maduro would be at the time of the raid.  The Venezuelans gave him up easy.

Follow the money

PJ Media: "Now We Know Why Democrats Are Defending Somali Fraud."

They need to be asked if they'll return these campaign contributions. 

Extra - Powerline: "It is widely rumored that national Democrats are trying to force Tim Walz out of the 2026 Minnesota governor’s race."  Interesting. 

Maduro captured in Venezuela

Fox News: "Trump confirms US strike in Venezuela, says President Nicolas Maduro has been 'captured' - Trump said a 'large-scale strike' took place early Saturday morning against Venezuela and Maduro, who was captured and flown out of the country"

It seems like the U.S. military swooped in with zero resistance and spirited Maduro away.  I'm not sure of the legality of this operation but it seems to mirror Noriega in Panama back in 1989.

Pouncing and seizing

Washington Post: "Tim Walz was a Democratic hopeful. Now, he’s a Republican punching bag. - The Minnesota governor is seeking a third term amid a welfare probe in his state that has sparked unwanted national attention."

Every time, man, every time.  The story can't just be about the fraud; it has to be about Republicans noticing. 

Left-wingers in a nutshell

Legal Insurrection: "San Francisco Mayor Signs Reparations Bill, Admits There’s No Money to Pay Them - “We are not allocating money to this fund — with a historic $1 billion budget deficit, we are going to spend our money on making the city safer and cleaner”

Dude's gonna break the Internet

Fox News: "Nick Shirley says legacy media will ‘go insane’ when he posts part two of his Minnesota fraud reporting."

My prediction: he's going to show a lineup of Minnesota public officials embarrassing themselves.

The Final Boss of class warfare

This is my favorite story right now.  LA Times: "Billionaire tax proposal sparks soul-searching for Californians."

This is the ultimate story of "other people's money."  California already has an extremely progressive income tax structure:

The state budget in California is already largely dependent on income taxes paid by its highest earners. Because of that, revenues are prone to volatility, hinging on capital gains from investments, bonuses to executives and windfalls from new stock offerings, and are notoriously difficult for the state to predict.

But in blue states, it's never enough.  So with income taxes maxed out, it's time to think outside the box and go for a wealth tax.  The legality and morality of a wealth tax is beside the point; California needs cash! 

The billionaires in California are waking up to the fact that they're not welcome there:

An increasing number of companies and investors have decided it isn’t worth the hassle to be in the state and are taking their companies and their homes to other states with lower taxes and less regulation.

“I promise you this will be the final straw,” Jessie Powell, co-founder of the Bay Area-based crypto exchange platform Kraken, wrote on X. “Billionaires will take with them all of their spending, hobbies, philanthropy and jobs.”

Although the article questions whether the referendum will get the necessary signatures and pass in a general election, I think it's a foregone conclusion.  There's nothing that people love more than having other people pay for things.  Do it, California.

Recommendation for 2026: invest in Texas commercial real estate.

Related - Ignorant of history, California has never heard of the David Tepper effect. 

Both their viewers are outraged

Twitchy: "MAGA OBSESSION! PROPAGANDA! PANIC! MS NOW Sets Its Strategy for Covering Up Minnesota Somali Fraud."

ICYMI, MS-NOW's ratings have plummeted by 27% since last year.  It's almost like nobody believes what they report.

Media review

Federalist: "Here Are The 10 Biggest Media Hoaxes Of 2025." 

I'll take things that never happened for $200, Alex

Minnesota Star Tribune story:

A lawyer who represents one of the operators of Minnesota Best Childcare Center in Minneapolis, which was featured in the 43-minute video, said his Somali clients have received hundreds of death threats since the video went viral late late last week.

She got her book deal

Ace: "Democrat Hitman Jack Smith Admits: I Never Called Madison Cornbread to Testify Because Her Testimony Was Nothing But Second- or Third-Hand Gossip and Hearsay." 

Why 2026 is going to be a good year for conservatives

Hear me out.  I know the midterm elections tend to trend against the party in the White House, but I think there's reason for hope in 2026.

Republicans are considered the party that is friendly to business while Democrats are largely regarded as the party in favor of larger government.  In 2008 the Great Recession triggered by the housing crisis put Republicans on the defense as the fraud and rapacity of the subprime lending market was exposed.  This opened the door for Obama's rise and (briefly) a filibuster-proof majority in Congress.  Business had failed and the Republicans needed to suffer and they did.

The Biden Administration leaned hard into Big Government with profligate spending that triggered record-high inflation.  But the more immediate backlash against Big Government is the evidence of Medicaid (and other) fraud in Minnesota which is surely the tip of the iceberg. 

Americans are generous but one thing they will not abide: being turned into suckers.  Watch the video of the girl below; she gets it.  Once the trust in the government is gone, the party that champions the government is going to suffer the consequences.  Also: calling opponents of fraud "racist" or "Islamophobes" or supporting "white supremacy" is not going to work.  We're done with that.

Great rant.

I think many are starting to feel this way.

You go girl! pic.twitter.com/Gro3sQW7Uw

— QE Infinity (@StealthQE4) December 31, 2025

Killing the golden goose

Washington Post editorial: "California will miss billionaires when they’re gone - Larry Page and Peter Thiel adjusted residencies before yearend in case a wealth tax passes." 

Happy New Year, everyone!

See you in 2026.

The Jussie Smollett-ing has begun

NY Post: "Minn. Somali-run day care bizarrely reports all their important documents about child care were stolen in mysterious break-in."

He said the alleged prowler stole “important documentation” including children’s enrollment information, employee documentation and checkbooks.

What are the odds that the prowler stole nothing of value but did take the very documentation needed for a federal audit?

Somebody - correctly - predicted that these daycares would be hit with fake "hate crimes" like rocks through the windows and there would be zero CCTV evidence.  Accurate. 

They write the same story every year

Associated Press: "A rough year for journalists in 2025, with a little hope for things to turn around."

If you think there might be some self-reflection in the mainstream media about its obvious bias and America's plummeting trust in its mission, you'd be wrong.  If, however, you imagined this piece might chew over the enduring trauma of one reporter being called "piggy" by Trump, you win a cigar.

This story pops up every year and it always seeks to paint these clowns as glorious revolutionaries, printing out their "truth" on hand-cranked mimeographs.  Or coloring their faces blue, a la William Wallace, and screaming "press freedom!"

This made me chuckle, emphasis added:

Long angry about a perceived bias against conservatives on PBS and NPR newscasts, Trump and his allies in Congress successfully cut funding for public broadcasting as a whole.

Keep it up.  You'll all be working for Bari Weiss and Nick Shirley soon.

We're over the target

Twitchy: "Republicans pounce! The Hill 'Zeroes In' on the REAL Problem in Minnesota (Take One Guess)."

There we go again, noticing stuff. 

The math isn't adding up

Newsbusters: "New York Magazine Already Fearing Mamdani Could Flop as Mayor."

Seems like some of these questions should have been asked during the campaign. 

The kids are learing

NY Post: "Misspelled Minnesota day care Quality ‘Learing’ trucks in children after viral fraud video: ‘Never seen kids go in there until today’." 

Who could have done this stabbing on the Paris Metro?

I'll give you three guesses and the first two don't count: "Illegal African migrant with deportation order suspected in Paris Metro mass stabbing."

He was imprisoned last year for - wait for it! - sexual assault.  But then he was released in July with a deportation order and - you'll never believe it! - he didn't leave. 

The tolerant French are getting sick of this merde:

Unsurprisingly, there is widespread appetite in France for a reform of the status quo. A survey taken earlier this year found that nearly nine in ten French voters would support a system in which those issued with deportation orders were remanded in jail until they are removed from the country.

That is a step in the right direction.

This is a new one

PJ Media: "Illegal Aliens Busted for $14 Million Gift Card Fraud."

These Latvians would steal unactivated gift cards, steal the ID on the back, then reseal the card and return it to the store kiosk.  When somebody activates the cards with funds, they would track it online using the security ID and then drain the funds before the card could be used. 

Today's lesson: check gift card packaging before buying.

Switching off the BBC

Echoes of American late night television here: "The BBC’s Christmas collapse is nothing short of catastrophic."

What makes this failure more serious is that it comes after years in which the BBC has insulated itself from almost every form of accountability. Complaints about bias are filtered through systems designed to reject them. Regulators defer to process rather than outcome. Governments hesitate to frame vital reform. Critics are marginalised. The one judgement that cannot be procedurally neutralised is audience behaviour.

And that judgement is now devastating. People are not marching in protest, though millions are refusing to pay the licence fee. They are doing something far more damaging. They are ignoring the BBC, even at the moment when it is trying hardest to matter.

We had the same problem in America with NPR and PBS, paying for something we didn't want.  Had.

In which I say something nice about a Democrat

The incoming governor of Virginia Abigail Spanberger has an article on Fox News: "I’m the new Virginia governor and affordability is what everyone needs - New administration plans to address housing, healthcare and energy to boost economic competitiveness."

This piece is remarkably straightforward, clear-eyed, and absent the partisan rancor that seems to attend every one of these political statements.  She says a kind word for Governor Glenn Youngkin and only mentions Trump a single time (I checked) and the context was she's "ready to work with anyone" that would help Virginia.

Kudos.

He's a sad, sorry man

Sasha Stone: "No Jimmy Kimmel, You Didn't "Win" - Except in your own mind." 

The mainstream media avoided this story

Fox News: "Walz slammed in wake of viral video that raises daycare funding questions: 'Needs to be held accountable' - YouTuber's video shows seemingly inactive Minneapolis center that allegedly received $4M in state funding."

The video (below) follows independent YouTuber Nick Shirley doing the kind of work the mainstream media used to do.  But the MSM is beholden to the narrative of anti-racism, open immigration, and protecting Democrats/demonizing Trump at all costs.  This story was first broken by City Journal, scooping all the major "news" sources, and Nick Shirley takes up the baton.  His video is both shocking and at times mordantly funny as he visits a series of Somali-run daycare centers in Minnesota, all the time asking "where are the children?"

Spoiler alert: not a single kid was found,

Extra - Twitchy: "Minnesota Star Tribune's Year in Review Ignores Massive Fraud Scandal: Protecting Dems at All Costs" 

It's Harrison Bergeron IRL

Post Millennial: "Mamdani's new lesbian FDNY fire chief never worked as a firefighter - "There are some young LGBTQ members that maybe don’t see this as a possibility for them and I want them to know that there’s nothing that can stop them from finding success."

Sometimes I wonder what year we'll just start handing out certificates saying "you're a surgeon!"

This soy boy wants attention

Townhall: "Adam Kinzinger Took Revenge on CBS Over 60 Minutes Drama. There's Just One Problem."

This stunt reeks of low testosterone and bad journalism. 

What happened to Australia, part 2

Twitchy: "Premier of New South Wales Says They Don't Have Free Speech Like America Because of Multiculturalism." 

For unto us, a Child is born

Merry Christmas

Mark Steyn called it

Don Surber: "America Alone updated."

Mark Steyn's book came out in 2006 and, boy, was it prophetic.  Europe needs workers to fund their lavish government spending but, without enough native workers on hand due to plunging birth rates, the continent imported from the Muslim world.  How's that working out?

Meanwhile in Japan, it's resembling the fiction book "The Children of Men."  NY Times: "Dogs in Kimonos: Japan Reinvents a Children’s Holiday for Pets - A traditional Japanese festival is being adapted for poodles and Pomeranians, amid a booming pet industry and a dearth of children." 

Sad.

Surprise

CNBC: "U.S. economy grows by 4.3% in third quarter, much more than expected, delayed report shows."

So far the market is shrugging this off, probably because it will push off federal rate cuts.

What happened to Australia?

Hot Air: "Saying the Quiet Part Out Loud: You Must Give Up Your Freedom for Multiculturalism."

The Land of Convicts used to be known for rugged self-reliance but now it's copying the British model of cultural suicide.

Not one lie was spoken

Fox News: "Media ‘complicity’ blamed as feds say Minnesota fraud crisis could reach $9B: 'Shown their true colors' - Federal prosecutors said last week the fraud in Minnesota could be as high as $9 billion"

The media faced a dilemma and did what it always does: protect Democrats.  They didn't want to be called "racist" or "anti-immigrant" and they certainly didn't want to do anything to damage the reputation of the then-VP nominee in the 2024 election, Tim Walz.

Every time.

Toughen up, buttercup

Sasha Stone: "No, Words are Not Violence - A bad social media post is not a shot in the neck."

Let's check in on Seattle's good intentions

Reason: "Seattle's Delivery Minimum Wage Failed Drivers and Raised Costs - Increased hourly rates corresponded with lower tips and fewer orders to share between drivers, leaving gig workers no better off than they were before the law passed." 

Wrong President

The Left clamored for the release of the Epstein files in its insane witch hunt against Trump.  Instead, it looks like we're going to see a lot of pictures of Bill Clinton.  

Why would Trump do this?

Twitchy: "'PANIC MODE'! Tim Walz Says Trump's Weaponizing Federal Gov't Against MN Just Because of MASSIVE Fraud."

This is the last refuge of a scoundrel: invoking Trump to drum up sympathy for your crimes. 

Dark times at MSNOW

PJ Media: "Inflation Drops 'Unexpectedly' to 2.7% for November. Media Hardest Hit." 

OMG srsly?

Hot Air: "Kamala: We Didn't Release the Epstein Files Because Our DoJ Was Soooo Independent."

She's really committed to insulting the American intelligence. 

A sign of the times

The Corner: "Oscars Ceremony to Get Dumped on YouTube"

In a different era, the Oscars were one of the premier events on broadcast television, a sort of entertainment equivalent of the Super Bowl.

Even as the shows became boring for most Americans because of insufferable political speeches, there were still enough people who cared about movies and celebrities to tune in each year.

I used to be the annoying guy at work who would poll office mates who they thought would win Best Actor.  Now I could not care less.  Not one of those people on stage have ever turned down a private flight but they insist you should use a paper straw to save the environment.

"One Battle After Another" will sweep the Oscars this year because it's the perfect reflection of Hollywood sanctimony. 

Comedy gold

Red State: "Hoo Boy: Fani Willis Has an Epic Meltdown When Grilled by GA Senate Committee About Trump Case."

These videos are a hoot, especially when Fani tries to explain how her lover worked 160 billable hours/week.

White men need not apply

Hot Air: "Hey Boomers and Gen X, if You Think DEI Has Been Bad for You, Ask a Millennial or Gen Z Guy"

The source essay for this post is long but worth it.

A conservative is a liberal...bitten by a dog?

Of course it used to be "who has been mugged" but in the case of writer David Sedaris, he's aghast at toxic tolerance on the Left: "Liberal Comedian Pens Piece Explaining Why Liberals Are Impossible to Talk To."

This story totally mirrors Ana Kasparian's "Road to Damascus" moment. 

Let's see: David Sedaris, Ana Kasparian, soon...Bill Maher.  

Read the room, Trump

The Hill: "Massie blasts Trump’s ‘disrespectful’ Reiner post: ‘I challenge anyone to defend it’."

This is Trump at his worst, endlessly nursing his malevolence against anybody who said a discouraging word about the Donald.  The political right had to endure the ugliness of the Left after Charlie Kirk's murder with the implication that we're better people.  Most are but Trump can't help himself, dragging everybody down into the gutter.

Chicago is descending into Thunderdome

Washington Post: "Chicago has lost its mind - The city’s fiscal situation is dire, and Mayor Brandon Johnson is determined to make things worse."

They've run out of funding gimmicks and the slightest hiccup leads to chaos:

Springfield recently passed a sweetener bill for police and firefighter pensions, which already had less than a quarter of the assets needed to ensure that beneficiaries get paid what they’re owed. The funding ratio will now drop to less than 18 percent. The situation is so bad that when a computer glitch delayed property tax collections earmarked for the pensions, the firefighter’s fund didn’t have enough cash to mail its checks out, forcing the city to step in with an emergency loan.

The Chicago Teachers Union is the Master Blaster of Chicago Thunderdome.  They whole government will be fighting over the scraps soon.  

Evil spreading

Quillette: "Bondi Was Not a Surprise - The massacre at Bondi Beach was shocking—but after years of denial and equivocation about antisemitism, it was inevitable."

RIP Rob Reiner

Sheesh, he didn't have to go out like this.  Fox News: "Hollywood director Rob Reiner and wife Michele found dead - LAFD said the bodies of a 78-year-old man and 68-year-old woman were found inside the home"

Spinal Tap is one of my favorite movies.  Terrible tragedy. 

A staggering display of incompetence

NY Post: "Person of interest in Brown University shooting released as investigation ‘now points in different direction’."

So they let that Benjamin Erickson kid go and it seems they have absolutely no idea what they're doing next.  There are hundreds of cameras on the Brown campus but they can't find a single one that might show the killer's face.  All we have is a single long-distance shot of a guy all in black.

Total clown show.  Imagine spending $88K to send your kid to Brown and they can't offer the protection you have on a Ring camera. 

Then there's the madness in Australia

Fox News: "Australia terror attack: 16 dead, including gunman, after father-son duo opens fire on Jewish community - At least 16 dead, including one alleged suspect, and 40 injured in mass shooting on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia." 

Looks like they globalized the intifada. 

Extra - Red State: "Death Toll Climbs in Sydney Terror Attack; Shooters Identified as Father/Son Duo."  At least one guy says the cops at Bondi Beach pulled a Uvalde. 

Infuriating waste of a press conference

The authorities at Brown just wrapped up a press conference that revealed almost no new information, other than the shooter is in his twenties.  What was the point?  Why are we not allowed to know anything about the identity of the alleged shooter? 

Update: Benjamin Erickson

The person of interest authorities took into custody in connection with the shooting at Brown University is Benjamin Erickson, a 24-year-old originally from Wisconsin, two people briefed on the investigation told The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity.

He drove 17 hours to Brown?  What.

The absolute balls on this guy

Daily Mail: "Bondi Beach terror attack: Video shows hero creeping up behind the gunman and disarming him."

Damn, that guy is an bona fide hero.  Did it with his own two hands.  Video at link.

I always tell my kids: carry a knife.

Transactional President learns his worth

PJ Media: "Joe Biden Is Getting a Brutal Lesson on How Irrelevant He Is."

Maybe Hunter can help fund Joe's library by selling some paintings. 

Brown University shooting

Breaking: a person of interest is in custody. 

They just concluded a press conference where the Brown people said virtually nothing.  The person in custody is a man.  That's all they said. 

You can't possibly believe this

PJ Media: "Tim Walz Is So Toast Over Minnesota’s Medicaid Fraud Scandal."

I'll believe it when I see it, brother.  Matt Margolis ridicules Walz's press conference but - let's face it - he hit the critical talking points for any Democrat: race and Trump.  Know why that midwit Elizabeth Warren keeps getting re-elected in Massachusetts?  She just spits out words containing "fight" and "Trump" and Bay Staters ignore her empty record. 

It's OK: I've been reliably told they can't get benefits

This data is mind blowing

“Non-citizens Social Security numbers issued during the Biden Administration

2021: 270,425
2022: 590,193
2023: 964,163
2024: 2,095,247

- The Biden administration gave more non-citizens Social Security cards in 4 years than live in the state of Iowa
-… pic.twitter.com/dAgdNnqGGU

— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) December 12, 2025

Experts are smart. S-M-R-T.

Matt Taibbi: "Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's Blunt Call for Government By "Independent" Experts - Independent from what? Dumb voters, of course. On this week's potentially transformative Supreme Court case, and the revival of Woodrow Wilson's vision"

Trump v. Slaughter concerns more than the fate of the Federal Trade Commission. It’s about competing visions for the future of Western democracy, both implicitly recognizing the same problem: the world, and governments the size of America’s, may have become too technical and complex to be managed in the old way. The Trump Administration's argument, also articulated in this case, calls for enhanced presidential power to take on “headless” bureaucracies, seen as the source of problems. The flip side argued by Brown Jackson (and increasingly by former allies in Europe) calls for more “independent” agencies, who need independence from what they see as the real problem: ignorant voters.

This (inevitably) circles back to questions of free speech and online censorship.  The Left loves to say that of course they want free speech but with "guardrails" and "limits" to protect the people.  It's for their own good!  Who shall determine these guardrails and limits?  The "experts."

William F. Buckley had it right: "I am obliged to confess I should sooner live in a society governed by the first two thousand names in the Boston telephone directory than in a society governed by the two thousand faculty members of Harvard University." 

Bring it on, Spartacus

PJ Media: "Dems Would Last Maybe 5 Minutes in the Civil War They Think They Want."

Democrats are tough guys when speaking unchallenged or doing an interview on MS-NOW (pretty much the same thing.)  The most illustrative example of what happens when a Democrat is directly confronted can be found in Hakeem Jeffries' hallway argument with Republican Congressman Mike Lawler.  Jeffries fell back on small insults instead of defending the Democrats shutting down the government.  When he was later confronted by CNBC host Melissa Quick, he had a meltdown.

This was an aberration for the media which usually treats the Left with kid gloves.  Wanna go toe-to-toe?  Let's do it, tough guy.

Living it up in the PR

NY Post: "AOC splurged nearly $50K on pricey hotel stays, dining and renting Puerto Rico concert venue where Bad Bunny performed."

Remember when AOC was too poor to help her suffering grandmother in Puerto Rico so conservative Matt Walsh raised $100,000?  And then they turned down the gift?  I 'member. 

Sorcery!

Ace: "In Astounding Coincidence the "Experts" Cannot Explain, US Oil Production Hits Record Highs as Gasoline Prices, Inexpicably, Fall to Lowest Levels Since the Chinese Engineered Bioweapon."

Caleb Hammer: super-extreme MAGA

I had to share this video exploring the Left's reaction to financial vlogger Caleb Hammer.  His main schtick is to sit down with very irresponsible people and go over their insane finances.  Since the majority of these people are both broke and woke, he's being accused of being a right-winger.  Of course.

Now it can be told

NY Post: "The NY Times suddenly discovers the Biden border crisis — long after it matters."

One interesting tidbit from the Times' reporting is that the Senate was pushing for a bipartisan immigration bill long before the February 2024 vote but the Biden White House "didn't want its fingerprints on the legislation."  Otherwise, it's all stuff we already knew but the New York Times ignored because it would reflect poorly on Democrats. 

Charlie Kirk unavailable for comment

Twitchy: "Arsonist Laments Fire: Elissa Slotkin Wishes We Could All Get Along and Have 'Healthy Conversations'."

AYFKM?  The Left absolutely does not want a dialogue which is why they run away from even Bill Maher's show for the safe haven of MS-DNC.

Here in the People's Republic of Massachusetts

Boston Globe: "1 in 3 voters say they’ve considered leaving Massachusetts — even if they want to stay. ‘Just outrageously expensive.’." 

The cost of empathy, part 2

In a very similar vein to the post below, people are starting to notice that educational performance has plummeted since standardized testing was ditched in the name of "equity."  We don't want to hurt the kids' feelings as they plan for their futures as Tik Tok influencers.

NY Post editorial: "America needs to restore high standards before our schools become completely worthless."

Boston Globe: "Young people are getting dumber. Here’s why. - A precipitous drop in academic achievement demands an urgent response." 

The cost of empathy

Daily Caller: "The Somali Welfare Fraud Scandal Is Even Worse Than You Think" - "We believe the Somali fraud operation in Minnesota is the single greatest theft of taxpayer dollars, through welfare fraud, in American history."

This story is as old as time: a new benefit program is set up and then the slightest cutback is deemed "starving children" or "throwing Grandma off a cliff."  So the program expands with new participants and scamsters but calling out the fraud is heartless and (usually) racist.

That retard Tim Walz is just the kind of squish to let this fraud run out of control. 

They *have* to believe this

Ace: "Here We Go Again: Leftwing Propaganda Media Claims the Anti-Trump, Anti-ICE BLM Supporter Is Akshually MAGA." 

The end State of class warfare

Jonathan Turley: "Welcome to Hotel California: Democrats Push Retroactive Billionaire Tax"

The “2026 Billionaires Tax Act” would impose a one-time 5% tax on individual wealth exceeding $1 billion. While technically using 2026 wealth figures, it would apply to billionaires who resided in California in 2025. So you cannot hope to flee… at least with your wealth intact. It is a penalty for those who stayed too long hoping that rational minds would prevail in California.

The tax is a familiar tactic of many in politics who attack the wealthiest citizens as somehow ripping off the poor. If states can do this for billionaires, it is likely to do it for those in lower tax brackets as they face the choice between financial discipline and tax increases.

When I heard about this my first response was: "Are retroactive taxes legal?"  As Professor Turley explains, the question of legality is complicated.  What is not complicated is unfairness of reaching back in time to pick a man's pocket. 

The Left hates free speech

Federalist: "Democrats Would Like To Suppress Free Speech The Way Britain Does" - "The American left doesn’t look at the United Kingdom and see a cautionary tale, it sees a template to follow." 

This again?

Hot Air: "Boston Judge Steps In to Rescue Planned Parenthood Again."

The Judiciary branch is destroying its credibility.

Media-on-media catfight

PJ Media: "NYT to WaPo: You Lied About Hegseth."

Hot Air: "It Sure Looks Like WaPo Hegseth Story Is Another Hoax."

Townhall: "The New York Times Just Blew WaPo's Hegseth War Crimes Story Out of the Water."

I've said it before and I'll say it again: litigation is the only proper response to this "journalism." 

It is the year 2025, almost 2026.

Our major American media is indistinguishable in terms of accuracy and impartiality from the Soviet Union's Pravda, circa 1970.

Fact.

— Cynical Publius (@CynicalPublius) December 2, 2025

Follow the money

Washington Post: "New York won’t reign forever. Bring on Y’all Street. - As Dallas gets a Nasdaq exchange, Texas looks more like America’s financial center."

The timing could hardly be better. Just as New York prepares to install a radical democratic socialist as mayor, Nasdaq Texas is being launched. It will join NYSE Texas and the Texas Stock Exchange in turning Dallas into a serious financial center. Indeed, the city’s mayor, Eric L. Johnson, confidently predicts that “Y’all Street” will replace Wall Street as the beating heart of American business. And the really interesting possibility is this: That might be an improvement.

It remains to be seen how Zohran Mamdani’s experiment in creating East Berlin on the Hudson works out. One point is clear, however: If he is successful in imposing the higher corporate and income taxes he wants, not everyone will stick around to pay them. Florida would be one potential alternative. But Dallas is starting to look even better. Nasdaq Texas expects to open for business early in the new year, the NYSE announced in February that it would relocate its Chicago operation to Dallas and the new Texas Stock Exchange has backing from big hitters including BlackRock and Citadel. If you want to spend the morning trading Tesla and Nvidia before heading off to your ranch, you won’t be short of options.

The Left is fond of opining that the "rich" will never leave New York City because it's the financial center of the world.  To which I say: impose your socialist policies and call their bluff.

See what happens.

The end of clapter

Hollywood in Toto: "2025: The Year Late-Night TV Collapsed - Colbert canceled, Kimmel benched and Gutfeld stayed the course."