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Author: Charlotte Hays

POTUS Gets Blamed for Something New. Walzing with Fraud? Platner Tuesday. Newark: Mayhem Is Message. Day’s Fun Story: ‘When ‘60 Minutes’ Is an Hour Too Long.’

Posted on by Charlotte Hays

The President of the United States was booed during the national anthem last night at Madison Square Garden. No surprise, the Knicks’ loss to the San Antonio Spurs was blamed on President Trump, including an anticipatory rant from ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith to the effect that if the Knicks lost, it would be President Trump’s fault:

Trump watched the Knicks take on the San Antonio Spurs with his granddaughter Kai – and he became the first sitting president to attend an NBA finals game. 

He saluted the NYPD officers carrying the American flag during the National Anthem. 

But Smith made his opposition about Trump’s attendance clear in an unhinged on-air rant.

“If it causes the New York Knicks to lose tonight, I’m blaming him,” he raged, which sparked laughter in the studio.

President Trump responded. The Garden was on high alert even before the president arrived after a mass stabbing incident. We now know the identity of the Penn Station madman, suspect in a stabbing spree, injuring six, one seriously, in the transit hub that is too close for comfort to Madison Square Garden. Poor guy had been given the draconian sentence of probation after pleading guilty to a previous stabbing.

Maine voters go to the polls and weigh in on Graham Platner today. Mr. Platner is the man whose past is so colorful that his Nazi SS tattoos may be the least of his worries:

Graham Platner is the overwhelming favorite to win Maine’s Democratic Senate primary. But the question hanging over the race is whether a series of troubling revelations about his past will lead a significant portion of Democratic voters to back Gov. Janet Mills, who ended her campaign in April after being unable to overcome Platner’s strong polling.

Platner’s present appears to be colorful, too. Mr. Platner allegedly has an active account with Kik, the premier child pornography messaging app, known as the “predator’s paradise.” The Maine Senate race could affect the makeup of the U.S. House. A Republican state rep in Maine cautions about a Senator Platt’s policies.

Reality Check. Spencer Pratt has been edged out of the runoff for Mayor of Los Angeles by socialist Nithya Raman, who will oppose incumbent Karen Bass, who once had the distinct honor of outdoing famed Roman Emperor Nero. He only fiddled while his city burned.

President Trump has charged fraud in California’s vote counting. “Is California’s Election ‘Rigged’?” an editorial in the Wall Street Journal asks today. The editors comment on the “sloth-like pace” of California vote counting, but conclude:

There’s no evidence so far that fraud has affected the results of the L.A. mayoral race, but the delayed results are a disservice to democracy.

Waltzing with Fraud? Vice President Vance has referred allegations involving Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison to the Justice Department’s fraud division for a potential criminal investigation over alleged fraud in federally funded social services programs. “They Knew All Along” is a headline on a post by the Minnesota-based Powerline blog, which has been on the Minnesota fraud issue longer than anyone else. Vance’s anti-fraud work may be his greatest asset for 2028.

The Middle East Is on Edge. Iran’s strikes on Israel reveal new and aggressive regional ambitions, while Lebanon is teetering at the abyss of a new civil war. “Israel Fights While Trump Talks” is the headline of a Wall Street Journal editorial:

Iran’s weekend missile attack on Israel was its latest act of war amid the cease-fire, another attempt to impose a new strategic reality on its neighbors. It went differently this time because the Israelis didn’t make excuses for Iran’s regime in reply. …

If the regime won’t make a deal that meets U.S. objectives, Mr. Trump needs an alternative—and soon. The war has now passed the 100-day mark, and the Strait of Hormuz is still closed. The U.S. has been helping sneak vessels through while its own blockade punishes Iran. But the regime has also gotten away with repeated attacks while it drags out talks and rebuilds its military arsenal. In recent weeks the U.S. position has been eroding.

The Free Press has two stories this morning  that are germane to the situation in the Middle East: “Why It’s Futile to Debate Israel’s Enemies,” by Sam Harris, and “Mr. President, Don’t Let Tehran Dupe You,” by Aaron MacLean.

I think Wall Street Journal columnist Bill McGurn is warning all of us not to be duped in his latest headlined “In Newark, the Mayhem Is the Message“:

The most obvious truth about Delaney Hall—the private building in Newark, N.J., where Immigration and Customs Enforcement holds people who entered the U.S. illegally—is that the protests outside its gates aren’t about what the protesters say they are about.

They say they’re concerned with improving conditions for the detainees. ….

Over the weekend border czar Tom Homan went to the facility on an unannounced visit to see for himself. In the cafeteria, he ate a big plate of spaghetti, which he pronounced fine. It didn’t matter. The real goal of these protests has always been to shut the ICE facility down.

The protesters cheerfully admit this. So do leading New Jersey Democrats. On her official X feed, Gov. Mikie Sherrill has pinned a post that reads: “I am going to keep working for better conditions inside Delaney Hall until it is closed for good.”

USA TODAY columnist Nicole Russell read the transcript of the Meet the Press interview, conducted by Kristen Welker, that caused President Trump to exit the set prematurely. Russell’s interpretation of what happened is a little different from the MSM’s:

To many mainstream outlets and Democrats, this will read as more evidence that Trump is thin-skinned and hostile to accountability. That critique has merit. But to most conservatives, the exchange is a flashpoint in a larger conversation about America’s eroding trust in the media.

Good News. Leor Sapir suggests in City Journal that Democrats may be cooling towards WPATH, the alleged leading authority in U.S. transgender medicine. WPATH never met a so-called “gender affirming” treatment it didn’t like:

It’s possible that the failure to mention WPATH at last week’s hearing was just an oversight, but it’s more likely that the organization has become a liability for transgender advocacy groups (like Minter’s National Center for LGBTQ Rights) and their allies in the Democratic Party.

This is not, as some might think, merely fixing a citation error. In the U.S., WPATH’s authority over the field of gender medicine is all but undisputed. (For a summary, see Chapter 10 of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ report on pediatric gender medicine, of which I was a coauthor.) WPATH’s guidelines and trainings define the field and are incorporated into hospital practice, insurance schemes, medical education, and malpractice litigation. It’s recommendations, as the Cass Review, the landmark British review of pediatric gender medicine, noted, are laundered through endorsement by other, more eminent and well-known medical groups, especially the Endocrine Society. The American Academy of Pediatrics’ policy statement of 2018 defers to WPATH and the Endocrine Society for medical recommendations.

Ms. Must’s favorite this morning is Gerard Baker’s “When ‘60 Minutes’ Is an Hour Too Long.” It’s pegged, as you might guess, to the Scott Pelley firing and subsequent drama:

Will America survive the murder of “60 Minutes”? Will the world?

The brutal homicide of America’s longest-running television newsmagazine was reported last week by its immaculately coiffed and richly compensated frontman Scott Pelley. For the crime of exposing this act of violence against journalism, truth and freedom, Mr. Pelley was shown the door after 37 years at the Tiffany network. These are dark days. If they can eliminate in plain sight an institution as central to the survival of the republic as Mr. Pelley and his carefully chewed spectacles, surely no one is safe.

First they came for the preening, powdered popinjays of television news, but I did not speak out because I am not a popinjay.

Two for the Road. A tribute to the late Gordon S. Wood, a historian who loved America, and “Update Your Assumptions,” by Meghan Cox Gurdon, who says that the norms of her childhood are long gone.

Iran and Israeli Strikes Complicate Negotiations. Homeless Guy Allegedly Penn Station Stabber. Socialist Gains on Spencer Pratt. President Storms Off ‘Meet the Press.’ Wiccan Chaplains & More

Posted on by Charlotte Hays

It’s fair to say that Tehran remains noncommittal about giving peace a chance.

On Sunday, Tehran launched a barrage of airstrikes against Israel—the first since the ceasefire began in April. Not surprisingly, Israel struck back:

The exchange of fire threatened to further complicate efforts to broker a lasting peace deal to end the months-long U.S.-Israeli war with Tehran and raised the prospect of a return to open conflict.

The Israeli Air Force hit sites in western and central Iran, its military said on social media early Monday local time, without providing further details.

Iran’s attack on Sunday followed Israeli military strikes on what Israel said were suspected Hezbollah positions in Beirut’s southern suburbs earlier in the day.

President Trump appealed for peace, telling both sides to “immediately stop ‘shooting.’” The president further stated that Israel’s prime minister would be forced to play ball with Iran after the Islamic Republic launched a missile attack on the Jewish State Sunday—and insisted that he is still the one who “calls the shots.” 

Iran wants money for peace, which could “be a minefield” for President Trump. Fox Digital is a good place to look for frequent updates. Oil prices are rising, and stock futures are mixed this morning. This Just In: Iran says it has ended strikes.

Penn Knife Horror. Six people were stabbed in New York’s Penn Station, which is contiguous to Madison Square Garden, where the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs are scheduled to play this evening and Wednesday. One victim was seriously injured. In custody is a suspect who is believed to be homeless and “emotionally disturbed.” Our cities are increasingly dominated by homeless people, and it’s about time that we come to grips with the truth that affordable housing is not the key to solving the homelessness problem.

It’s becoming less likely that reality star Spencer Pratt, who raised consciousness about drugs and mental health as the real causes of homelessness, will make it into the runoff with incumbent LA Mayor and famed junketeer Karen Bass. Socialist City Council member Nithya Raman has overtaken Pratt in the vote count, but the race remains uncalled. Looks like LA, with its myriad urban problems, might opt for business as usual.

Business as usual for the state of California includes a dysfunctional system for counting votes. In a more normal state, we’d know the results of the primary races by now. John Fund writes:

California has deliberately slowed down ballot-counting to accommodate its chaotic expansion of mail-in voting. The Washington Post’s editorial board calls the Golden State in this regard a “national embarrassment.” The New York Times sighs that California’s elections are in the “pretelegraph era” (though it also claims that this is somehow a “gift to Republicans”).

The system is indeed a designed mess. …

“I’d like to believe California can be saved from the Left. It may be too late,” demographer Joel Kotkin writes in the UK Telegraph. Kotkin says that conservatives may get excited about Pratt or Steve Hilton, still in the running to make the gubernatorial runoff, but demography is against them:

California’s insanely slow-moving vote count leaves the possibility that one or another will fall behind once the union-led “ballot harvesting” of late ballots alters the result. This has become increasingly common, with conservative candidates often eliminated weeks after election day….

California’s demographic profile is increasingly bad for Republicans. The state has been consistently losing its Anglo population, as well as the middle class, particularly families of all ethnicities, to Texas, Arizona, and Nevada. Those most likely to stay, notes the Public Policy Institute, tend to be young and often underpaid professionals, the very class that elected New York mayor Mamdani, public workers and their wards.

Sasha Stone on the “Worst Case Scenario for Los Angeles.”

President Trump cut short an appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press by storming off the set. The triggers were election fraud and the anti-weaponization money. Variety reports:

“I don’t know what’s going to happen with the weaponization fund,” Trump stated. “I love the idea, because people like you, the fake dirty press, the crooked press, people like stupid Biden, he’s not smart enough to know what’s going on, but people that surrounded him, surrounded his beautiful Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, what they did to the lives of people, they destroyed people. They sent people to jail who did nothing wrong.”

Eventually, Trump had enough and told Welker before walking off, “You’re a one-sided crooked network. Sorry. Let’s call it quits because I’ve had enough. Thank you, darling. Have a good time.”

For gluttons, see Axios’ “5 key moments from Trump’s cut-short ‘Meet the Press’ interview.” The New York Press has the six words that led to the president’s premature exit.

“The Food Stamp Rolls Decline—Hurray” is the headline on a Wall Street Journal editorial. GOP reforms are paying off as more recipients work or volunteer, the editors argue:

These are sensible and welcome changes that 20 years ago would have been supported by both parties. The press treats every departure from welfare as a tragedy, but the real regret is that welfare programs have become permanent entitlements that too often erode the work ethic and breed a culture of dependency on government.

Mark the food-stamp progress as a Trump win for the country that never would have happened if today’s Democrats were in power.

“The Rise of the UnJews,” by Joel Kotkin (congrats for two Must citations today, Mr. K), in City Journal, argues that “Anti-Zionism is rising among diaspora Jews; the future of Jewish identity may be increasingly Israeli.” Kotkin writes:

A clear danger should lead to greater solidarity, but instead we are seeing greater division among Jews. Shockingly, the scourge of Jewish anti-Zionism has metastasized after October 7, often allying itself with Islamists committed to the eradication of Israel and, in some cases, assaults on Jewish communities around the world….

The election of fervent anti-Zionist Zohran Mamdami as mayor of New York City reflected the growing power of unJews. He won one-third of Jewish voters and as much as two-thirds of those under 45, according to exit polls.

Another Must Hit for City Journal. “Jefferson’s Greatest Sentence,” by Michael Gibson, writes about Walter Issacson’s new book, “The Greatest Sentence Ever Written.” Gibson writes that the book reminds us that “we are a nation dedicated to a proposition.”

“The Four Sources of Voters’ Economic Rage,” by Inez Feltcher Stepman, explains that “American Dream costs (for ownership of homes, etc.) are constraining household budgets, even when other economic indicators look good. The Wall Street Journal reports that the American job creation machine has come back to life.

Presbyterians In/Wiccans Out. The Department of War has removed Wicc, and about 180 other “belief systems” as recognized religions. This primarily influences the hiring of military chaplains:

Some of the belief systems that have been removed from the list include atheism, which was replaced by a general “no religion” or “agnostic” designation; pagan or Earth-based faiths such as Wicca, Druidism, Heathenism and members of The Troth; New Age beliefs such as Eckankar, Rosicrucianism, shamanism and spiritualism; as well as other alternative belief systems, including Deism, Unitarian Universalism and practitioners of “magick.”

The religions that remain are various denominations of Christianity, Buddhism, Mormonism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism and the Baha’i faith.

We are waiting anxiously to see if Wiccans will hex the Department of War.

Jim Geraghty explores why so many Democrats seem willing to overlook Maine Senate hopeful Graham Platner’s—un—faults. Julian Epstein writes in the New York Post that “Graham Platner and ‘New Wave left’ detest Western exceptionalism.”

Sleepwalking Democrats have leveled charges of fascism so habitually, in such zombie-like fashion, that they don’t even recognize real Nazism when in their midst.  

Former CBS “60 Minutes” reporter Scott Pelley’s meltdown indicates, according to Becket Adams, that he saw himself more as a tenured sage than a reporter. Satire: “Fallen Hero: CBS Fires Scott Pelley After Decorated Career ‘In Combat’.”

Scott Pelley isn’t the only person who won’t go away. Don’t miss Miranda Devine’s “Democrats can’t escape the Bidens and their drama — even if they’re done covering for them.”

Senate Passes ICE Funding. John Bolton’s Guilty Plea. NYT Sends Platner Bat Signal. Strassel Reviews Bill Pulte Resume. Inside the Biden Immigration Industrial Complex. More

Posted on by Charlotte Hays

Well, well—it’s hard news Friday as the main (as opposed to Maine) news today originates in the world’s greatest deliberative society, so known. 

An embattled ICE—Immigration and Customs Enforcement—might receive funding until the end of President Trump’s term, although the Senate bill to do so required some fancy footwork:

Republican senators stopped short of using their political leverage to kill President Trump’s $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, approving a critical immigration-enforcement bill without adding language reining in the controversial program.

Passage of the $70 billion package funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol through the end of Trump’s second term came after a more than 19-hour session of amendment votes and intraparty negotiations. The GOP-backed measure passed 52 to 47 shortly before 5 a.m., with Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voting with Democrats against the bill.

The session’s votes allowed GOP senators in competitive election fights this fall—including Susan Collins of Maine, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Jon Husted of Ohio and Ashley Moody of Florida—to register their objections to the fund without derailing a bill that is a priority for Trump and the party.

The House is expected to take up the immigration-enforcement measure next week.

The party line vote, 52-47, came early this morning. The Washington Post observes:

The bill’s passage is the culmination of a months-longfight over government funding triggered by the killing of Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis in January during protests against the administration’s deportation operations there. Democrats in Congress refused to fund the Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE and CBP, unless Republicans agreed to impose new restrictions on federal agents.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, nominated to become AG, previously gave assurances that the anti-weaponization bill is dead. The amendments were sought to put a final nail in its coffin. An underlying issue in ICE funding is whether the United States will enforce its immigration laws at all. To that point, here’s a Rorschach test. Do you see this as a sad necessity or a crime against humanity?

The hard news is certainly hard for John Bolton. Bolton, who served as a national security adviser in President Trump’s first term and then wrote a book critical of the experience (“The Room Where It Happened“), plans to plead guilty to mishandling classified documents and will pay a $2.25 million fine as part of a deal with federal prosecutors, three sources told Reuters yesterday.

An editorial in the Wall Street Journal is merciless on the Trump administration’s handling of Bolton:

President Trump may hate being the target of lawfare, but he sure knows how to wield it against anyone who crosses him. That’s the story of John Bolton, his former national security adviser, who is agreeing to a plea deal essentially for the sin of writing a critical book about his time advising Mr. Trump.

Former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy writes in National Review:

To repeat what I explained when Bolton was indicted in autumn 2025, the Bolton investigation was always qualitatively different from other episodes in President Trump’s lawfare campaign to prosecute his political enemies. I admire Bolton, so I take no pleasure in saying his case involved concrete evidence of misconduct.

New York Times Sends Bat Signal. The New York Times published a devastating story yesterday headlined “Several Women Who Dated Graham Platner Recall ‘Unsettling’ Behavior.” “Unsettling” is mild for the kind of behavior described by the Times, and the story is being interpreted in some circles as the New York Times’ signal to dump Platner. Politico reports that many Dems are rejecting this advice. Platner so far shows no inclination to get out of the race:

Platner, on MSNOW on Thursday just hours after The Times published its story, denied the allegations of violence and said they were coming from someone who’s “politically motivated.” He said he has “not once” considered dropping out of the race.

The New York Times is not the only establishment standard-bearer that has a Platner problem. Maine is a cornerstone to Democratic hopes of taking the majority in the Senate in the midterms. And won’t things be interesting in Maine this weekend?

“Rubio, Bessent Show Obsequious GOP How to Give No Quarter to Propagandists” is the headline on a delightful Federalist piece. Both men went to the circus—I mean, separate hearings on Capitol Hill—this week. They were lion tamers! No, make that masters of a three-ring circus of angry pussy cats, who, alas, were not rendered speechless. Here’s a favorite Bessent moment as captured on a Nick Sortor X post:

TILLIS TO BESSENT: Did you tell Director Pulte you’d punch him in the face? BESSENT: “No sir — I actually said I was going to kick his ASS!”

LMAOOOO

Ah, Mister Pulte. I’m afraid he has been the talk of the town this week. Wall Street Journal columnist Kimberley Strassel has something to say about Mr. Pulte, a MAGA stalwart, whom President Trump wants to serve as the new Director of National Intelligence:

Job Description: Superpower seeks . . . anyone, to direct its national intelligence apparatus. Responsibilities: Whatever the CIA tells you. Qualifications: Obeisance to Donald Trump’s day-by-day agenda. Willingness to express constant admiration for the boss. Fluidity in MAGA “talk.” No intelligence experience required. Benefits: Knowing you are one Truth Social post from permanent retirement. Hours: This can be a part-time position (and please also consider our IRS opening)….

That’s a disturbing thought, though the naming of Mr. Pulte as acting director of national intelligence offers a useful contrast between the two Trump terms—and an explanation of its problems today. Trump One was drawn from experienced Republican hands who, despite initial disorganization and later disruptions, produced a record of achievement that helped get Mr. Trump a second term. Trump Two is populated from an ecosphere of MAGA think tanks, money men and political shops that was created post-2020 to cultivate and vet a pool of loyalists. That makes for a small universe, as evidenced by the growing number of multi-hatted Trump employees….

Many on the team are doing admirable work. But these requirements for club entry make for a small and self-limiting pool….

Meanwhile, Matthew Continetti, also in the Wall Street Journal, says: “End the Phony Cease-Fire with Iran.” President Trump must regain the initiative and restore U.S. credibility, Continetti argues:

Furthermore, Iran’s public rhetoric is as hostile as ever—even as President Trump and his team say Iran is negotiating in good faith. “I’d like to meet him,” Mr. Trump says of Iran’s nepo-baby ayatollah, Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.

The happy talk may be necessary to calm markets. Meanwhile the U.S. blockade crushes Iran’s economy. But one can walk this tightrope for only so long. Eventually, one returns to earth. The phony cease-fires strain U.S. credibility. They sap America’s deterrent. They foster mistrust among our allies, when the goal should be to sow disorder in Iran.

Alarm. Emma Camp warns in a piece entitled “Death Is Bad for Your Mental Health” that societies that have surrendered to moral relativism are giving doctors permission to help mentally ill teenagers commit suicide.

Insider Information. Juan David Rojas about “My Time Inside the Immigration Industrial Complex” for Compact Mag.

It did not take long, however, before I began to question the foundations of the immigration regime under Biden. …

Early on in my time as case manager, a sponsor originally from Honduras, Humberto, asked me what he should say at his immigration hearing. Dutifully, I explained that those persecuted due to their race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or specific social group were eligible for asylum with some courts including fear of reprisal from criminal groups. Minors who suffer sexual abuse or forced labor during their journeys or while in the United States may also qualify for a special visa. “Does any of that apply in your case?” I asked. 

“No,” he told me. “I just want to help my family in Honduras.” 

I had many conversations along these lines, though most of those I spoke to were less overt about the dubiousness of their asylum claims.

In legal terms, policymakers have determined that those most deserving of asylum are afforded Temporary Protected Status (TPS), a determination made on the grounds that conditions in specific countries are so severe they warrant additional protections and benefits. Under Biden, protected status was granted to Cubans, Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, and Haitians. Recipients from Cuba and Haiti were also eligible for Medicaid and food stamps. 

This Just In: Good May Jobs report.

And MY UNCLE was not eaten by cannibals.

House Passes War Powers Resolution. Condi Rice Touts Accomplishments of Iran War. Rubio Goes to the Circus. California May Have Life Wish. Columnist on ‘Britain’s Reverse George Floyd Movement.’ More

Posted on by Charlotte Hays

Somewhere in Iran, a mullah is smiling.

A resolution to block President Trump from ordering more strikes in Iran yesterday passed the House:

The 215-208 vote marked the first time such a measure has cleared the House or the Senate on a final vote since the start of the conflict more than three months ago. The Senate advanced a similar resolution last month on a procedural vote, reflecting growing impatience with a war Congress hasn’t authorized.

The effort faces sizable hurdles, however, before Congress could force Trump to end hostilities.

Four Republicans crossed party lines to vote for the resolution. NBC characterizes the vote as “a rebuke” to President Trump but “largely symbolic.”

A Dem talking point is that the Iran War has accomplished nothing but to make Iran stronger. Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice disagrees in a Wall Street Journal piece headlined “What the U.S. Has Accomplished in Iran.” Rice argues that the “regime is much weaker, and time is on the side of the U.S. and its allies that want a more stable region.” Rice writes:

The war against Iran has been a limited war, and its outcome is likely to be inconclusive. But it has achieved enough to produce a far better Middle East.

The three-month military campaign degraded Iran’s ability to project power by significantly damaging its conventional forces, missile stockpiles and proxies….

Yes, there are large stockpiles of highly enriched uranium somewhere in Iran, but this is a problem for the future, not today. Even if the uranium is at 60% enrichment, a fairly short technical step away from weapons grade, taking that final step is virtually impossible today. To reach weapons-grade—93% or higher—the material must be spun in sensitive centrifuges that are subject to breakage. It is hard to imagine that Iran’s centrifuge cascades survived the intense bombing. The Iranian conversion facility, without which one can’t make a bomb, was destroyed. Its A-team of nuclear scientists has been eliminated.

In sum, Iran is far weaker today than it was in February. No amount of Iranian propaganda can mask this reality. America’s near-term goals should be to keep it in that weakened state, to strengthen the region’s political realignment, and to make certain that President Trump’s promise that Iran will never possess a nuclear weapon is fulfilled.

Meanwhile, an editorial in the Wall Street Journal charges that “Trump Talks, Iran Escalates,” while President Trump reportedly is telling aides that he won’t resume all-out war with Iran unless U.S. troops are killed.

The War Powers Resolution wasn’t the only thing that happened yesterday in the House. Secretary of State Marco Rubio testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee about Trump’s foreign policy. “Is this the Foreign Affairs Committee, or is this a circus?” Rubio was moved to ask. The answer is circus. PJ Media caught the antics.  PJ Media’s curmudgeon Stephen Kruiser praises Rubio’s brilliance.

Entrail readers are feasting on the results of Tuesday’s primaries. For The Free Press’s Peter Savodnik, California’s stunning results are evidence that “California Won’t Die Without a Fight.” Savodnik, Caitlin Flanagan, and Michael Shellenberger unpack the California election results in a Free Press headline, “The Revenge of the California Republicans.” USA TODAY columnist Nicole Russell writes that ending one-party rule may be the key to improving the quality of life for Californians.

But Tuesday was also a good election night for progressives. National Review’s Andrew McCarthy writes about Adam Hamawy, New Jersey nominee for a House seat, who sympathized with the Blind Sheik, who inspired the first World Trade Center bombing. Former federal prosecutor McCarthy prosecuted the Blind Sheik. Hamawy was a character witness for the defendant. Hamawy is featured in another National Review piece headlined “The Monsters Come for Their Creators“:

Democrats can blame themselves for tolerating a species of “anti-Zionism” so radical that their voters are now willing to overlook a few contributions of material support to al-Qaeda. …

The party’s institutionalists cloyingly sought the favor of the mobs who never had any love for Democratic institutionalists (indeed, they tore at the security fencing and attacked the police who separated them from the Democratic lawmakers they despised). All the while, the likes of Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and Tim Walz bent over backward to lend moral authority to their tormentors. Hamawy’s likely election to Congress in November is a result of that calculus.

Similarly, Liel Leibovitz employs a monster simile—this time Mary Shelley’s monster—to argue that former President Barack Obama, “a brilliant and arrogant man who wanted to change the world,” ended up transforming his Party:

The creature that emerged from the experiment no longer talked about fiscal responsibility and government reform. It howled instead about opening our borders, legalizing gay marriage and redefining politics as the pursuit of identity by other means.

Identity politics essentially murdered Henry Nowak, the young stabbing victim whose pleas for help were ignored by UK police because the (now convicted) killer claimed (improbably) that Henry had made a racist remark. The cops handcuffed Henry, who was bleeding to death. Demonstrations are breaking out in the UK. Dominic Green calls this “Britain’s Reverse George Floyd Moment“:

The age of George Floyd ended as it began, with a scuffle in the street and the dying man saying, “I can’t breathe.” Those words were recorded on a police bodycam on Dec. 3, 2025, in Southampton, U.K., as Henry Nowak, 18, bled to death from five stab wounds from the Sikh ceremonial dagger carried by Vickrum Digwa, 23….

Mr. Digwa’s brother had phoned in a claim that “we just got attacked racially.” The magic word “racially” had activated the police. They came to arrest a racist. Three officers dragged Nowak across the parking bay in front of Mr. Digwa’s house, handcuffed him, and held him down while his lungs filled with blood. … In Britain as in the U.S., accusations of racism carry more of a charge than accusations of rape or murder. The Digwa family exploited this. 

“Henry Nowak’s Murder Is the Logical Conclusion of Black Lives Matter” is the headline on a piece in The Federalist, by John Daniel Davidson: “Indeed, Davidson writes, “what happened to Nowak is the logical endpoint of all western societies that choose to erect racial hierarchies and separate people into racial and ethnic identity groups.” Police officers have been cleared in the investigation.

An editorial in the Washington Examiner headlined “Democrats Are Still Soft on Crime” vividly makes its point in the first sentence:

There is perhaps no better example of Democratic Party dysfunction than what one sees when visiting the aisles of an urban retail store.

What you find is merchandise, some of it everyday items such as toothpaste and razor blades, locked away behind plastic cases.

This is to prevent retail theft, which has become an epidemic in many, if not most, cities across the country. It is necessary for stores to stoop to this level of inconvenience for law-abiding citizens because thieves are not held accountable.

We’ve had some heavy stuff this morning. How about Some Fun with Scott Pelley? The New York Post’s Charles Gasparino has an analysis CBS boss Bari Weiss’ decision to fire Pelley. As does the Wall Street Journal. But as is so often the case it is the Babylon Bee analysis that takes the cake:

’60 Minutes’ Begins Search for New Pompous Blowhard

Legacy media guy Jon Alter says that “60 Minutes” must be saved. The cry goes up: WHY? Media types such as Alter tend to confuse old media shows as sacred institutions, which means it doesn’t matter if they have died on us.

Two important articles: “Why Medicare and Medicaid Fraud Won’t Go Away” in City Journal and “Activists Claim Restrictions on ‘Gender-Affirming Care’ for Minors Cause Suicide. The Study They Rely on Has a Huge Flaw” in National Review.

Jill-O-Rama: Barton Swaim’s “Why Jill Biden Didn’t Say No” and Tunku Varadarajan’s yummy view review of Jill’s “View from the East Wing.” Why do you suppose she wanted to highlight the East Wing?

Will Republican Steve Hilton Succeed Newsom? Bass in Runoff. Time’s Up for Scott Pelley. Fear of Being Called a Racist: It Killed a Beloved Young Man. Doddering Elderly Man Crashes Jill’s Event. Oh, Wait. More

Posted on by Charlotte Hays

Brave New California?

A Golden State upset as a Republican (!) gubernatorial candidate appears to be heading to the November general election:

Republican Steve Hilton and Democrat Xavier Becerra were leading in unofficial early returns Wednesday morning and appeared positioned to advance to the November California gubernatorial election in the race to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in steering the nation’s most populous state and one of the world’s largest economies.

Hilton, a one-time British political strategist turned American conservative commentator and former Fox News Channel host who is backed by President Donald Trump, and Becerra, a former California attorney general who later served as a Cabinet secretary in former President Biden’s administration, were in the lead early Wednesday morning, with votes still being counted and results not yet certified.

“Change is coming to California, and it’s long overdue,” Hilton told supporters at his primary night watch party in Orange County.

Change may or may not be coming to Los Angeles. Incumbent Mayor Karen Bass, perhaps best known for her glam junket to Ghana as the devastating 2025 wildfires broke out, is projected to advance to a runoff. It is unclear whether she will be opposed by iconoclastic candidate Spencer Pratt, a reality star who ran one of the most creative campaigns in recent memory, or Democratic City Councilmember Nithya Raman. Politico comments:

The runoff, the first for a Los Angeles mayoral incumbent in more than two decades, comes amid widespread dissatisfaction with Bass’ performance, notably on the city’s still-deep homelessness crisis and the January 2025 wildfires that destroyed thousands of homes in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood.

Nevertheless, the 72-year-old Democrat attracted the support of city councilmembers and key business and labor groups who’ve argued that the mayor is moving Los Angeles in the right direction. She’s received high marks for her opposition to federal immigration enforcement raids that swept across the region last summer.

In other words, Bass is the candidate of the establishment. candidate. “The Democratic establishment swung back in California on Tuesday,” Politico writes. Another interpretation is that Tuesday night was the first major strike against an establishment that has retreated to its mansions while regular folks hire U-Hauls and corporations flee high taxes and insane regulations.

The Associated Press’s takeaways from last night include the Dems being forced to defend California, heretofore unheard of, and making inroads in Iowa, where there is an open Senate seat. President Trump’s primary winning streak broke last night in Iowa, where Trump-backed Randy Feenstra narrowly lost the GOP gubernatorial nod to Zach Lahn.

But c’mon. The most fascinating recent political phenomenon is the Nazi tattoo guy who likes sexting women and expressing himself in a solitary manner in porta-potties, and who is challenging Maine’s Republican Senator Susan Collins. Yes, Graham Platner, who came to DC to meet with Democratic Senators yesterday. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is sticking by his endorsement of Planer, but would only repeat, like a broken record, his mantra: “We are going to beat Susan Collins and take back the Senate.” Not an Indian Giver: Senator Elizabeth Warren also appears to be sticking with her endorsement of Platner. Examiner Chief Political Correspondent Byron York addresses “The Democratic Mess in Maine.” But why stop now? Platner’s latest:

“Senator Collins is bought and paid for by Benjamin Netanyahu, and she votes accordingly,” Mr. Platner’s campaign account posted on X.com on Monday. 

President Trump has tapped Bill Pulte to succeed DNI head Tulsi Gabbard. Pulte’s nickname in numerous news outlets this morning is “Little Trump.” An editorial in the Wall Street Journal is not sold on Mr. Pulte:

The leader of the agency that oversees the country’s mortgage market approached President Trump with a seemingly audacious proposal: succeeding Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence.

Pulte has no known national security experience, but he has something Trump values above all else: loyalty. In conversations with the president, Pulte made the case that he would be an unyielding advocate for the president’s foreign policy agenda and he signaled support for the war in Iran, according to people familiar with the matter.

Trump, who has in recent days expressed mounting frustration with his Republican critics, was sold. On Tuesday, he stunned many of his advisers when he announced on social media that he was installing Pulte as his top intelligence adviser.

Meanwhile, President Trump’s $1.7 billion “anti-weaponization” fund appears to be dead. This is hailed in a Wall Street Journal “Free Expression” piece as the result of Senate Republicans finding their spine. The Federalist disagrees, saying in a headline that “The Senate GOP’s Legacy Will Be Killing Accountability for Dem Lawfare.”

Tick Tock. CBS has fired “60 Minutes” Correspondent Scott Pelley after he unwisely accused CBS boss Bari Weiss of “murdering” the show:

Veteran “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley was fired by CBS News a day after taking aim at Editor in Chief Bari Weiss’s leadership, the latest turmoil at one of America’s most storied news shows.

Pelley interrupted new executive producer Nick Bilton during introductory remarks at a “60 Minutes” staff meeting Monday, according to people in attendance. The correspondent accused Weiss, who wasn’t present, of “murdering” the show and questioned Bilton’s qualifications for the executive producer role. Bilton hasn’t led a weekly TV news show before.

Enjoy Ben Demenech’s farewell to Mr. Pelley: 

Pelley, infamously the most anti-Trump anchor in television history (quite the accomplishment, considering George Stephanopoulos exists), went on a loud, unprofessional rant during a meeting. This memorable moment, sure to be enshrined with a shiny plaque, was reported with glee by reporters at The New York Times, The Guardian, and Puck – who had to work hard to get audio Pelley clearly wanted leaked. Pelley’s spittle-flecked invective against CBS boss Bari Weiss and new 60 Minutes executive producer Nick Bilton included referring to a list of recent firings as “Black Thursday,” as if letting go a list of hacks on a show that survives only based on the fact that it follows the National Football League was a date to be noted in the annals of history.

Racism Kills. We’ve all heard that. What is really deadly is the fear of being called a racist. It killed Henry Nowak. Henry Nowak, according to UK Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson, was a “beloved, blameless teenager [who] died in custody because there’s nothing officers in 2026 fear more than allegations of ‘racism’”:

“I have been stabbed,” Henry told police officers. Four times, he told them he was stabbed. And then, “I can’t breathe.” Nine times, he told police he couldn’t breathe. We can imagine, I think, how the lad’s fear eased a little when he knew the police had arrived. “Help is here,” Henry must have thought.

Somehow, the coppers missed the bloody slash on Henry’s face and the four other stab wounds inflicted on his body by Vickrum Digwa’s eight-inch knife…. [The officers] were doing exactly as they had been programmed to do by all those DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) seminars. Digwa had brown skin, was a Sikh man carrying a traditional knife and had told police he had been attacked “racially” – and the lad on the ground claiming to be wounded was white. … And so Digwa, who knew he held the race trump card, became the “victim”.

“Henry Nowak’s death reveals a police force corrupted by wokeness,” a 24-year veteran of a UK police force writes in Spiked Online. Racial identity, he says, trumps public safety. Powerline has a good item. The Powerline item features this X post from conservative media personality Matt Walsh, who describes himself as a DEI consultant:

I stand with the indigenous people of the UK.

What’s your favorite moment of Jill Biden’s book tour? Mine is when she blurted out, “I’m not a doctor.”  Others might prefer Joe Biden crashing Jill’s “The View” appearance to ask her, “Who do you love most in the whole world?” Was Macbeth as dumb about his missus?

Two for the road. “AI Is the Most Dangerous Arms Race in History,” by Nial Ferguson in The Free Press, “Energy Markets Limit the Hormuz Shock,” by Daniel Yergin at the WSJ.

Is There an Iran Endgame? Meet the Platners. Man Arrested for Biting ICE Agent. NJ Gov Blames ICE for Delaney Hall Scene. Bring Back SATs! More

Posted on by Charlotte Hays

Given the toughness of Iran’s rump government’s negotiations to end the conflict, the idea of Iran having a nuclear weapon should send chills up every spine in the West.

The latest wrinkle is President Trump’s profanity-laden conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over whether Israel should continue to fight Hezbollah in Lebanon. Axios broke the story:

President Trump lashed out at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel’s escalation in Lebanon in an expletive-laden call on Monday, two U.S. officials and a third source briefed on the call told Axios.

Why it matters: Earlier on Monday, Iran threatened to abandon the negotiations with the U.S. over Israel’s actions in Lebanon. On the call, Trump called Netanyahu “crazy” and accused him of ingratitude, according to two of the sources. He also put the brakes on Israel’s plan to strike Beirut. …

The other side: Netanyahu released a statement after the call saying he’d told Trump that Israel would attack targets in Beirut if Hezbollah did not stop attacking Israel, and that in the meantime Israel would continue its operations in southern Lebanon.

An editorial in the Wall Street Journal (“Iran Gets Trump to Rescue Hezbollah”) takes a dim view of this most recent development:

Iran’s regime began Monday by throwing a wrench into negotiations with the U.S., and President Trump spent the rest of the day scrambling to satisfy Iran’s demand. The result is a new cease-fire in Lebanon, rescuing Hezbollah for the moment, though the terrorists didn’t abide by the first cease-fire for even a day. …

In reply to Iran’s threat to end negotiations, Mr. Trump talked tough. “I don’t care if they’re over,” he told CNBC. “Frankly, I thought they started to get very boring.”

But the President’s actions suggest he does care. After long calls with Mr. Netanyahu and Lebanese interlocutors, on Monday afternoon Mr. Trump announced a new cease-fire in Lebanon: “They agreed that all shooting will stop,” he wrote on Truth Social. …

Iran’s regime sees this as one war, and it has been testing Mr. Trump on all fronts. If it fires on U.S. forces in the Strait or Gulf, will he still try to salvage the cease-fire? How about stepped-up attacks on Israel? How about claiming to quit negotiations? In each case, Mr. Trump has chosen to avoid escalation and keep talking. If he won’t send a different message, it will be difficult to get the regime to comply with a deal, no matter what it promises now.

The U.S. is, meanwhile, pressuring neutral Oman to pick a side:

In recent days, the Trump administration has threatened to sanction and even bomb Oman, after a new intelligence assessment concluded that Muscat was planning to join Iran in tolling vessels in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, according to another U.S. official. Oman has repeatedly denied that it plans to do so.

Counterintuitive. “We don’t need a deal with Iran,” argues National Review’s Dan McLaughlin. “Walking away from the war with Iran may be the lesser evil compared with accepting a bad deal.”

This Just In: Israel is striking southern Lebanon but appears to be pulling back from Beirut under pressure from President Trump. On a cheerier note, Victor Davis Hanson writes that “Iran survives by delay, deception, and deterrence games—but the moment may be coming when airpower, not diplomacy, decides how the nuclear standoff ends.”

Ms. Must called Graham Platner “teflon” yesterday. Maybe not. “Democrats fret Graham Platner could cost them — and not just in Maine” is a Politico headline. Maybe they should have started fretting with the Nazi tattoo or the porta-potty revelations? The latest is Platner’s texting to women not his wife. Quite a few women not his wife. This one has a twist: Platner’s wife had flagged the sexually explicit texts to his campaign:

Amy Gertner, who married Platner in 2023, told the campaign about messages she had found early in their marriage in the spring of 2025. In late August, as some aides were conducting opposition research on their own candidate, Gertner disclosed the texts to a campaign aide to make sure they didn’t pose a risk to her husband’s nascent campaign, those people said.

Apparently, the campaign did not fret. But now they are. In response to the texting story, Amy Gertner released a campaign video complaining that there were “people willing to spread gossip.” Townhall’s Matt Vespa calls this Platner making his wife “do a walk of shame of sorts.” The video (“Hey, this is Amy”) is embedded in the Vespa story. It was not Amy’s first video, and I predict it won’t be her last.

Meanwhile, the Washington Free Beacon reports that Platner has admitted buying cocaine as a Marine and has “no regrets.” Janet Mills, 78, who suspended her campaign, probably does. She reminds Maine Dems that she is still on the ballot. All very fretful.

Bring back testing! “University of California Professors Are Begging Schools to Reinstate the SAT“:

More than 1,100 University of California math and science professors are urging UC regents to reinstate college-entrance exams, saying that unprepared students are lowering academic standards and draining teaching resources. 

“We are already seeing the warning signs: longer pathways through prerequisite material, reduced readiness for advanced coursework, and growing pressure to dilute quantitative rigor,” the faculty wrote. “Left unaddressed, these trends will lead to declining graduation rates, longer time to degree, and reduced completion of STEM majors, with consequences for California’s highly skilled STEM workforce.”

An op-ed in the Wall Street Journal argues, “Even the overwhelmingly liberal Berkeley faculty are fed up with the admission of unprepared students.”

Speaking of California, I hear there are some primaries there today. Spencer Pratt and wild-card Republican Steve Hilton have made the races particularly interesting. “[B]ut don’t stay up waiting for the results. Winners might not be known for weeks thanks to state election laws that are designed to goose Democratic turnout,” a WSJ editorial suggests.

A federal appeals court ruled yesterday that the Trump administration’s ban on people who identify as “trans” is unconstitutional. A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit split 2-1 in finding that the ban was unconstitutional. You don’t need me to tell you how this decision could affect military morale and discipline.

A good observation from RedState: “There must be something about the month of May for the radical ‘protesters’ at Delaney Hall Detention Center in Newark, New Jersey, because May 2026 has been a lot like May 2025 in terms of the wild scenes that have unfolded there over the past two weeks.”

RedState highlights several disturbing incidents, including the guy who sank his teeth into an ICE agent. But New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill blames ICE, Bill McGurn observes. McGurn does not give Sherrill high marks for her handling of the “protests”:

At a press briefing Saturday, Ms. Sherrill alluded to Minneapolis. Clearly she intended to draw a contrast between her decisive actions and Minnesota officials’ failure to go after those who caused the mayhem. “I refuse to let that happen in New Jersey,” she said in her best zero-tolerance voice. And she named those responsible for the violence outside Delaney Hall.

“I will not give ICE a pretext to expand operations at Delaney Hall or across our state,” Ms. Sherrill thumped. “I will not put lives at risk.”

It’s a whopper, but New Jersey being what it is—a blue state whose gerrymandering will only get worse under Ms. Sherrill—no one questioned it. Even though the truth of the violence she condemns is obvious to anyone who watches the news.

In closing, Ms. Must assigns germane reading. “Feuding Communist Millionaires Reveal a Secret Network Powering America’s Radicals” in City Journal. Dazzling reporting. You will be tested.