Why Did Schumer Even Bother? Epstein Is Back. Shrink: TDS Is Real. Girlboss Lies. Ellis Island’s Truth. And More

President Trump late yesterday signed a bill to end the longest government shutdown in history. The bill funds the government through January. Here’s a breakdown of what’s in the legislation.

Although Speaker Mike Johnson had enough GOP votes to pass the legislation, six Democrats broke ranks and voted in favor of the bill. All six are from swing districts. Now that it’s over and there will be a deluge of business that had been put on hold over 43 days, it’s tempting to dub this the Seinfeld Shutdown—i.e., a shutdown about nothing.

Thus, the Wall Street Journal’s Barton Swaim ponders the question of “Why Schumer Had to Do It.” Swaim argues that ordinary Democrats did not demand a shutdown, but that left-leaning nonprofits did—the shutdown was “a show” for the base:

But what or who is that “base” to which Messrs. Klein and Blanchard refer? Poke around and you’ll find it consists mainly of cash-flush foundations, unions and activist groups. The American Civil Liberties Union; the Sunrise Movement and other environmental and climate groups; Planned Parenthood and other abortion-rights outfits; an array of immigrant-rights organizations, some of them so radical as to be almost insurrectionist; the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association; the Southern Poverty Law Center, Black Lives Matter and other racial-justice organizations; the Human Rights Campaign and assorted LGBTQ activist groups; scores of foreign-connected Palestinian-rights and otherwise “anti-Zionist” organizations; the George Soros-funded network known as the Open Society Foundations . . . and on and on. …

These demands issued from progressive nonprofits led by ideologues and staffed by young busybodies.

Liberal politicos frequently accuse Republicans of slavishly catering to the whims of Mr. Trump. There is truth in the charge. But Mr. Trump will leave office in three years. Progressive nonprofits aren’t going anywhere.

Extended and enhanced subsidies for the Affordable Care Act, so-called, were at the heart of why the Democrats held out so long. They are cynically trying to blame the failure of the ACA, passed without GOP support, on the Republicans. When health insurance is debated in Congress, as per the deal to end the shutdown, Chris Jacobs, founder and CEO of Juniper Research Group, reminds us that there already is an alternative to the ACA. In forcing a debate, the Dems may have opened the door to replacing the ACA. Will they get “cornered” by the ACA? Meanwhile, Kurt Schlichter says that the Dems want fighters but keep getting losers.  

The ACA was an issue in the shutdown. But so too was hating Donald Trump. A psychiatrist writing in today’s Wall Street Journal proposes that, in a way, Trump Derangement Syndrome is real, though “no serious mental-health professional would render such a partisan and derogatory diagnosis.” Dr. Jonathan Alpert writes about what he has seen in his own practice:

I initially viewed this as an ideological reaction, an understandable response to a polarizing figure. But over time the symptoms took on a more clinical shape. What once looked like outrage now presents as a fixation that distorts perception and consumes attention.

One patient told me she couldn’t enjoy a family vacation because “it felt wrong to relax while Trump was still out there.” Others report panic attacks or trouble sleeping after seeing him in the news. Their anxiety has outgrown politics and become a way of being.

The term “Trump derangement syndrome” emerged as a tongue-in-cheek partisan label. The joke obscured the psychological reality in which a political figure becomes a symbolic stand-in for threat and loss of control.

Mr. Trump himself isn’t the pathology; he is the trigger. 

With the shutdown ending, Dems and the media are making a beeline back to the Jeffrey Epstein “bombshell.” Miranda Devine charges that they are “pushing another desperate anti-Trump hoax – a false Epstein smear campaign.” Their latest hit did require some fancy footwork:

House Democrats pulled a bait-and-switch on a new trove of Jeffrey Epstein documents Wednesday when they released just three select emails in which the pedophile financier mentioned President Trump, including one claiming, “Victim 1 spent many hours at my house with him.”

But the Dems on the House Oversight Committee deliberately withheld the name of the victim in the missive — Virginia Giuffre, who said before her death earlier this year that she witnessed no wrongdoing by Trump during their interactions. 

Media outlets jumped on the limited document release anyway — led by the New York Times and CNN, which appeared to have gotten a sneak peek at the messages. 

Glutton Alert: The House Oversight Committee has released 20,000 pages of documents provided by the Epstein estate. Meanwhile, hope springs eternal. And don’t expect the Epstein matter to fade. “Why Trump’s Epstein Problem Won’t Go Away” is the headline on Eli Lake’s latest at The Free Press:

The fight over the Epstein files has become a test of the president’s power.

Victor Davis Hanson has a terrific piece at American Greatness on immigration. VDH hails Ellis Island as the orderly, law-abiding way Americans once welcomed newcomers, in contrast to the Biden administration’s destructive policies. Also highly recommended is Christopher Rufo’s City Journal piece on “The Rise of American Schizo-Politics.” “The far-Left generates violence; the far-Right fulminates conspiracy,” Rufo argues. He writes:

We seem to be entering a period of digitally driven “schizo-politics,” in which both sides’ fringes have developed a web of political narratives, conspiracies, and counter-conspiracies. On one side, we have the left-wing terror memeplex, optimized toward radicalization and random acts of violence. On the other side, we have a paranoid right-wing variant, which refuses to accept reality—“maybe we didn’t really land on the moon”—and directs a growing segment of the population down rabbit holes.

Dynasties Have a Way of Petering Out. I don’t quite know how to fit the word that Jack Schlossberg, heir to Camelot and Caroline Kennedy’s son, will run for outgoing Rep. Jerry Nadler’s seat into this scheme. But here’s the Free Beacon headline: “Jack Schlossberg, Kennedy Grandson Running for Congress, Tweeted About Drinking ‘Jew Blood (Ashkenazi not Sephardic)’ and Semen in Offensive Dig at RFK Jr.”

Kirsten Fleming of the New York Post calls Schlossberg (don’t miss the picture of the candidate) “the perfect avatar for modern Camelot.” Isn’t it interesting that RFK Jr., whose kin snubbed him when he signed on for Trump, appears to be the Kennedy who survived Camelot and went on to meaningful employment?

Women and Choices. The Federalist says that by the world’s standards, Kelsea Ballerini had it all. But:

Ballerini is suffering from a broken heart. The 32-year-old’s troubles do not necessarily stem from an off-again, on-again relationship with beau Chase Stokes, though that probably plays a role. Rather, Ballerini’s obvious emotional ache comes from a deep longing to be a wife and mother.

Ballerini’s real-time struggle between the girl boss identity she bought into at just 19 years-old and the reality that it’s left her “sitting in parks” coveting the love and memories made by families with kids is documented in her latest release “I Sit In Parks,” In the music video for the song, Ballerini is seen through a nostalgic, warm filter swinging on a playground as quick clips of a child playing with bubbles or children being embraced by their parents cut in and out.

Alex Berenson’s Substack offering is called “Unreported Truths.” Berenson’s latest is a fascinating scoop on the CIA and Covid. Taking note of a BBC shake-up occasioned by the Beeb’s doctoring of Trump quotes, Independent Women alum Christine Rosen suggests in the U.K. Telegraph that the venerable news outlet is “following the US establishment media down the path to irrelevance.”

Hooray for the military. National Review celebrates the recent surge in young Americans signing up to serve our country:

There is no doubt that Hegseth’s telegenic public-relations focus on lethality, fitness, and “the warrior ethos” has been an important factor in motivating at least some of the 18- and 19-year-olds who are joining the ranks. Abandoning advertising campaigns that many Americans considered woke, the U.S. Army is once again asking young Americans to “be all you can be” — and thousands of them are answering the call, spurred on by marketing that is visibly attempting to make the military seem cool and exciting.