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Issue: Crime

Seizing Kharg Island? College Newspaper Apologizes for Correctly Calling Murder Suspect Illegal. Kimmel Sneers: Markwayne Mullins Is a … Plumber. More

Posted on by Charlotte Hays

President Trump “wants a speedy end” to the Iran War, but Iran maintains it has no plans for negotiations with the U.S. Hmm. Could it be that Iran—which just lost naval chief who was responsible for closing the Strait of Hormuz—is being a bit unrealistic?

The legacy media in the U.S. isn’t going to explore that notion. However, Allister Heath, the U.K. Telegraph columnist does, writing that Trump hatred is so pervasive among members of the “expert” class that they are underestimating U.S. achievements.

AEI’s Danielle Pletka talks to retired four-star General Jack Keane about President Trump’s endgame in Iran. “They would have to surrender to us in major concessions all the things that we are physically taking away from them to include keeping the Strait of Hormuz open,” General Keane tells Pletka. Meanwhile, Israeli General Yoav Gallant’s Free Press headline is “How to Finish the Job in Iran.” Gallant’s argument:

Iran must be compelled to accept conditions that end its nuclear threat and regional aggression. The way to do that is to seize its greatest choke point: Kharg Island.

Two overlooked angles in the Iran war. Sadanand Dhume writes that the overthrow of the mullah regime in Iran would have a beneficial ripple effect on Muslims worldwide, while Matthew Koenig argues with a U.S. win in Iran could spell the end of rogue states.

“Juries Take the Lead in the Push for Child Online Safety” is the New York Times headline on a story about two expensive verdicts that went against social media giants:  

In Los Angeles on Wednesday, a jury decided in favor of a plaintiff who had claimed that Meta and YouTube hooked her with addictive features — a verdict validating a novel legal strategy holding the companies accountable for personal injury. And a day earlier in New Mexico, a jury found Meta liable for violating state law by failing to safeguard users of its apps from child predators.

“Big Tech Invincibility Is Over,” says a New York Post headline, while a Wall Street Journal editorial (“The Social-Media Shakedown Begins”) harumphs:

A Los Angeles jury on Wednesday held Meta Platforms and Google’s YouTube liable for a 20-year-old woman’s personal troubles. The schadenfreude will be overwhelming—nail the billionaires! But using a novel product liability theory to shake down companies won’t help young people and isn’t a good way to make law.

You really can’t beat Politico’s elegiac description of Congress not doing its job:

An overwhelming sense of frustration and despair has overtaken Congress as lawmakers try to clinch a deal to end a nearly six-week shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security as a previously scheduled holiday recess looms.

An overwhelming sense of frustration looms over Congress, the Congress that won’t end the partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (here and here)? The shutdown that leaves us all vulnerable and TSA agents unpaid? That Congress?  

There are some people who are trying to help out at our airports. They are called ICE agents. But ICE agents may be the only federal employees the top tier of the left despises (D.C.’s Washingtonian magazine even tells you how to contribute to nonprofits to aid fired federal bureaucrats, who are likeable to the genteel left!).

In a column headlined “The Dems Propaganda of Constant Lies Are Getting Americans Killed” Miranda Devine writes about the “false narratives” that are getting people killed, including attacks on ICE agents:

We see how it works this week as the mendacious trio of Connecticut Democrat Sen. Richard Blumenthal, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate counterpart Chuck Schumer claimed in unison that ICE agents helping ease TSA lines at airports this week will “brutalize and kill” you and kidnap your children.

In fact, ICE agents are kindly giving stranded passengers bottles of water, helping with their luggage, and performing tasks that free up TSA workers who have just missed their third paycheck — thanks to the Democrats.

Unlike fired federal bureaucrats, who sat behind desks and had the power to dole out federal grants for, say, drag queen kabuki shows, ICE agents fall on the wrong side of the genteel left sympathy divide. And let’s face it—there’s a whiff of working class about ICE. Not like those sympathetic bureaucrats. New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill, meanwhile, “will not tolerate” ICE agents wearing masks in her state (they don’t wear masks in the safer airport environment).

Sheridan Gorman, a Chicago college student who allegedly was killed execution-style by an illegal alien, seems to have fallen on the wrong side of the sympathy divide, too. Regarding the murder, Sheridan’s college newspaper issued an apology—for correctly calling the alleged executioner an illegal immigrant. We’re all familiar with a Chicago pol’s “wrong place, wrong time” explanation for Sheridan’s death. Disgraced former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, who spent time in prison with gangbangers, put forward the theory that the suspect was participating in a gang initiation.

Twofer. Unlike ICE agents and Sheridan Gorman, this person must have fallen on the correct side of somebody’s sympathy divide—he’s illegal and trans—or how else to explain a six-month sentence for the sexual assault of a 14-year-old boy in Manhattan? Well, it’s in Manhattan—that does help explain it.

Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin falls on the other side of late-night snoot Jimmy Kimmel’s snobbery divide. I mean, my gawd, the man is a plumber:

“Trump’s got a whole new generation of thinkers lined up, including his newly confirmed secretary of Homeland Security, Markwayne ‘Chuck Mike Bruce Dave’ Melon — Mullin. Maybe melon’s better,” Kimmel said. “He’s the now former senator of Oklahoma. Before he was elected to the Senate, Markwayne Mullin was a low-level MMA fighter and a plumber. That’s right. We have a plumber protecting us from terrorism now. It worked for Super Mario. Why not Markwayne?”

After his father’s death, when Mullin was 20, the future Cabinet member turned his family’s small plumbing business into a multimillion-dollar concern. Here’s wish Kimmel a broken pipe and leaky faucets.

Adapting a line from the Kamala Harris campaign, columnist Karol Markowicz says, “We’re not going back.” “New York’s Hochul Drove Me to Florida — Now She’s Begging Me to Return. Not Happening” is the headline on a Fox Digital piece by Markowicz:

Hochul said some “patriotic” rich people have stepped up to help fill the state’s budget gap, and that, sure, it’s OK to write her a check. But if you really want to help, Hochul implored her wealthy supporters, “visit Palm Beach and see who you can bring back home, because our tax base has been eroded.”

Hochul sounded annoyed as she delivered that last line, as if it is the fault of her supporters — who are writing her checks to sustain her struggling state — that their wealthy friends have left for sunnier pastures.

Her comments were surprising because, well, Hochul played a large role in forcing those Palm Beachers out in the first place. In 2022, Hochul said, “Just jump on a bus and head down to Florida, where you belong, OK? Get out of town because you don’t represent our values.”

Hochul apparently is also getting cold feet about climate change mandates.

Ya Think? “‘You Lose Your Credibility’: Democrats Warn against Turning a Blind Eye to a Colleague’s Misconduct” is a Politico headline. The colleague is three-term Florida Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who faces federal criminal charges for alleged multimillion dollar fraud.

Savannah Guthrie gave an anguished interview with her old colleague Hoda Kotb about her mother’s disappearance:

“And to think of what she went through. I wake up every night in the middle of the night, every night,” she told Kotb. “And in the darkness, I imagine her terror. And it is unthinkable, but those thoughts demand to be thought. And I will not hide my face. But she needs to come home now.”  

Oopsie. Ms. Must got carried away with a headline yesterday. I promoted the Democrat who flipped a state legislature seat in Florida to the U.S. Congress in my headline. She is President Trump’s representative in the state legislature, not the U.S. House of Representatives. Speaker Johnson, please forgive me.

Violence Follows Death of Mexican Drug Cartel Boss. Would-be Trump Assassin Shot Dead by Secret Service. Gorsuch: Tariff Ruling Catches Kagan in Hypocrisy. Big Marco & More

Posted on by Charlotte Hays

Well, with at least three stories that would lead on a normal news day (do we have those anymore?), we’ve decided to go South of the border to start the day.

“Violence erupts in Mexico after cartel leader “El Mencho” killed in military operation” CBS News reports:

Violent clashes erupted in parts of western Mexico on Sunday amid a military operation that led to the death of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader, triggering widespread security concerns throughout the region.

Mexican security forces killed Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, also known as “El Mencho,” during an operation in the western state of Jalisco, Mexico’s Ministry of Defense said in a statement on X. It said he was wounded during the raid in the town of Tapalpa and died while being flown to Mexico City.

The state of Jalisco is the base of the cartel known for trafficking huge quantities of fentanyl and other drugs to the United States.

USA TODAY has a helpful capsule account of the notorious cartel boss’s career. The violence is mostly in areas controlled by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. Vehicles and businesses are set ablaze.

Californians trapped as cartel unleashes hell near US border over drug kingpin’s killing, according to the New York Post. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the U.S. provided “intelligence support” to the Mexican government. Rocket launchers capable if bringing down airplanes were found in the cartel’s extensive arsenal.

This would lead the news on an ordinary day: An armed man apparently trying to kill President Trump was shot dead by Secret Service at Mar-a-Lago. President Trump was not at Mar-a-Lago when the shooting occurred, at around 1:30 am Sunday. The identified as Austin Martin Tucker of North Carolina:

The armed madman who was shot and killed by Secret Service after he snuck onto President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate Sunday was reportedly obsessed with the Epstein files — and implored others to “raise awareness” just days before the deadly encounter.

Other colleagues told the outlet that Martin was deeply disturbed by what he believed was a concerted government campaign to cover up the Epstein files so elites could continue “getting away with it.”

They also said he voiced frustrations about the economy and how difficult it is for young people to afford to live on their own. He went so far as to try and organize a union at the country club for higher wages, but no one supported the move, the outlet reported.

Inevitably, “sources” have told nuisance gossip spot TMZ that the gunman was “a vocal supporter of Trump.” Quest for a motive arriving on schedule.

The Jerusalem Post asks when (not if?) President Trump will attack Iran and gives the four most likely options. Iran is finding itself more isolated than it expected, with pals China and Russia not coming to the regime’s rescue. Rusia expert Rebecca Grant evaluates the Iranian arsenal versus the U.S.’s. She also highlights Iran’s four top threats and how the U.S. fights back.

The U.S.-Iran negotiations are being conducted along nuclear policy lines. But the protests were for a better life for Iranians and the dislodgement of a tyrannical regime. Thousands are dead. Four recount their ordeals in the Wall Street Journal.

As you know, the Supreme Court ruled Friday in a 6-3 majority that President Trump’s tariffs are illegal. An editorial in the Wall Street Journal, which has been stalwart against the tariffs, heralded what it called “The Real Tariff Liberation Day,” and praised the ruling:

It’s hard to overstate the importance of the Court’s decision for the law and the economy. Had Mr. Trump prevailed, future Presidents could have used emergency powers to bypass Congress and impose border taxes with little constraint.

As Chief Justice John Roberts explains in the majority opinion, “Recognizing the taxing power’s unique importance, and having just fought a revolution motivated in large part by ‘taxation without representation,’ the Framers gave Congress ‘alone . . . access to the pockets of the people.’” …

The tariff law ruling also gives the lie to the Democratic charge that the current Court is a rubber stamp for Mr. Trump. The Court has now shown it is willing to block abuses of executive power by Presidents of both parties. This is exactly what the Constitution calls on the Justices to do.

Writing at City Journal, Ilya Shapiro argued that on tariffs, the Supreme Court had “delivered a reminder” that a President must work with the tools that Congress has provided. Here is his conclusion:

And then there’s Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who wrote a separate concurrence resting on legislative history—an opinion that, tellingly, no other justice joined. In a case where statutory text was front and center, turning to congressional committee reports feels like looking for circumstantial evidence after the statute has already confessed.

In the end, the decision is less a rebuke than a reminder: Congress controls the taxing power. If it wishes to arm the president with sweeping tariff authority, it must do so unmistakably. Until then, presidents must work with the tools Congress has actually provided.

Three conservative Justices—Clarence Thomas, Samel Alito, and Brett Kavanaugh—dissented. Justice Thomas has ripped the ruling, saying that the majority “errs” on the Constitution. A Washington Post editorial (hey, they’re really getting good!) explains how Justice Neil Goruch has Justice Elena Kagan, who has ruled differently for Democrat Presidents, “dead to rights.”

A Wall Street Journal editorial, meanwhile, praises Gorsuch for trying to “revive Congress,” while Allysia Finley writes that there is “plenty of hypocrisy to go around” regarding the tariffs case. This isn’t over by a longshot. President Trump, though he will not disobey the Supreme Court, “won’t blink” but will use a different legal justification of tariffs.

A historic snow dump has brought New York to a standstill. This time Mayor Zohran Mamdani is granting a “full, classic snow day” to school students. But New York ace financial writer Charles Gaspario thinks it’s already too late for Mamdani to redeem himself financially:

Truth be told, I thought it would take at least one budget cycle for our socialist boy-wonder mayor to implode in a sea of idiocy over how he plans to govern this city and how he intends to pay for it. 

The fact that it’s happening even before his first budget is finished — with an absurd debate over raising taxes on rich people who are already leaving the city in droves or socking it to working-class homeowners through higher property taxes — is downright scary. 

It’s a big red warning sign that this mayor is so fundamentally unfit for the job of governing Gotham that Gov. Hochul should remove him from office before he destroys what’s left of the city’s economy. …

The fact that Mamdani doesn’t understand all of this is the reason you don’t elect as mayor a 34-year-old former lefty rapper with a degree in Africana Studies unless you actually think destroying what’s left of the city’s economy is a good thing.

Eli Lake reports at The Free Press that the White House has “had enough” of Tucker Carlson, after repeatedly  asking him to cut his Israel bashing. I did not catch the Tucker Carlson-Ambassador Mike Huckabee interview in which the U. Ambassador to Israel triggered the fever swamps. Also in The Free Press, Peter Savrodnik had a distressing story about antisemitism battles among Christians on the right.  

Miracle on ICE:

Forty-six years to the day after a bunch of unheralded amateurs stunned the heavily favored Soviet Union en route to winning Olympic gold, the U.S. men’s hockey team engineered another epic victory. The Americans won a battle of the sport’s superpowers on Sunday, toppling longtime nemesis Canada 2-1 in overtime to win their country’s first Olympic gold in men’s hockey since the famed 1980 “Miracle on Ice.”

Not a Miracle. FBI head Kash Patel got beat up in press for attending big hockey victory bash in Italy.

He’s Big Marco Now.  From Axios: “JD or Marco? Trump keeps asking advisers about 2028.”

FBI Provides Description of Guthrie Abductor. Dem Pols Pursue “Trans” Activism Like Ahab Did the Whale. Teachers’ Unions Resort to Lawfare. Pritzker’s People. More

Posted on by Charlotte Hays

Nearly two weeks after the puzzling disappearance of Today co-host Savannah Guthrie’s mother, Nancy, there are finally some developments:

The FBI has released new identifying details about the suspect who kidnapped Nancy Guthrie — and has doubled its initial cash reward for information leading to a break in the case.

“Today, the FBI is increasing its reward up to $100,000 for information leading to the location of Nancy Guthrie and/or the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in her disappearance,” the FBI’s Phoenix office posted on X.

Forensic analysis of doorbell camera footage at the 84-year-old’s Tucson, Ariz., home has revealed several identifying factors about the masked, armed abductor who was seen on her doorstep, officials announced.

Nancy’s alleged kidnapper is a male, approximately 5’9” to 5’10” tall, with an average build, the FBI Phoenix office said. He was also wearing a black, 25-liter “Ozark Trail Hiker Pack” backpack in the doorbell video, authorities added.

Meanwhile, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos disputes claims that he withheld essential physical evidence from the FBI in Mrs. Guthrie’s disappearance. “Not even close to the truth,” the sheriff said Thursday on the NBC Tucson affiliate KVOA. The New York Post has a curious story proposing that a hostage negotiator offer the abductor immunity in exchange for the return of Mrs. Guthrie. One hates to ask, but how likely is it that the 84-year-old has survived this terrible ordeal? Savannah Guthrie posted old clips of her mother and the Guthrie siblings when they were younger:

“Our lovely mom,” Savannah Guthrie wrote in the caption Thursday, alongside a yellow heart. “We will never give up on her. Thank you for your prayers and hope.” 

Neighbors were asked to make their own security videos available to investigators.

Are you still boiling that Canadian authorities were so solicitous that they might offend a dead “trans”-identifying mass shooter that they identified him as a “female in a dress”?  I am — and I am fortunately not alone in my righteous indignation. The Federalist (“Anti-Truth Media Bend Over Backward to Call Canadian Trans School Shooter by His Preferred Pronouns”) observes:

Innocent civilians are dead at the hands of another alleged trans-identifying killer. And as per usual, media propagandists’ biggest concern is whether they’re referring to him with the correct pronouns.

Shouldn’t feminists and sociologists be concerned that this gives a distorted representation of women and violent crime? Here is a picture of a 12-year-old shot in the head while she was trying to protect her friends. According to a survivor, the shooter had vowed to “finish off” his family, including his pro-trans activist mother, Jennifer. Just please don’t misgender him, okay?

Demonstrating that they have their priorities straight, Democratic lawmakers are embracing trans activism “like Ahab chasing that whale.”

Shutdowns are the way we govern now. A partial government shutdown will almost certainly hit the Department of Homeland Security. Democrats detest ICE because meanies there are deporting “our neighbors,” so they are voting not to fund DHS. Ironically, ICE is a part of DHS, which is already funded through 2029.

Speaking of funding, teachers’ unions have always been flush with cash. But school choice is giving them a run for their money – actually, more like competition in educating kids. “Teachers Unions Get Desperate” is the headline of Kimberley Strassel’s Wall Street Journal column. Strassel writes that the unions are filing suits they have no chance of winning just to harass school-choice advocates:

Antichoice plaintiffs “usually file lawsuits right before families sign up for the program just to be particularly cruel. They know they’ll lose nearly every case, but delaying or enjoining the programs in any way is the last-ditch effort to slow maximum uptake for families,” says Tommy Schultz, CEO of the American Federation for Children.

Many suits are striking out. …

Democrats will have to decide how much longer to stick with this unraveling cartel. School choice is out of the bottle, experiencing exponential growth. 

Senate hearings are often just grandstanding, but two Republican Senators drew blood yesterday. Power Line had a great item on Senator Josh Hawley’s exchange with Ellison, as did Townhall. Senator Ron Johnson added that Ellison had egged on violence and was responsible for the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Ellison got a whacking, but he still appeared confident.

Speaking of L’Étoile du Nord, as Minnesota is nicknamed, Governor Walz is asking for a $10 million relief package for small businesses harmed by the immigration situation. It might have been simpler if Minnesota had just obeyed the law and nobody had gotten hurt. Let’s hope the package won’t include too many future “learning” centers.

Pritzker’s Peeps. “In the Midwest, Anti-ICE Democrats Are Failing America” is the headline on a Real Clear Politics story:

Ground Zero is the Midwest, including my home state of Illinois. The state has convened multiple public commissions to undermine the Trump administration’s push to deport criminal illegal aliens — named “Operation Midway Blitz” — and vilify U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as a “paramilitary force” terrorizing the region.

Illinois’ so-called “leadership” is to blame. Right after President Trump’s resounding 2024 victory on the very issue of border security, Pritzker picked his side: “You come for my people, you come through me.” He repeated the same message in October, when Operation Midway Blitz was supposed to be completed.

Apparently, Pritzker’s “people” are murderers, rapists, and pedophiles who are here illegally. Why aren’t they military veterans who proudly served our country? Why aren’t they police officers trying to keep our streets safe, despite dangerous leftist rhetoric that scapegoats anyone with a badge?

Virginia won’t be purple for the midterms if the state legislature passes — as it will — a new proposal:

Democratic state lawmakers in control of the Virginia legislature are fast-tracking a proposed new congressional map that would give the competitive state up to four more left-leaning U.S. House districts in time for this year’s midterm elections.

“Moderate” Governor Abigail Spanberger is expected to sign it next week.

As a second U.S. aircraft carrier is being sent to the Middle East, Bernard-Henri Levy wonders, “Is Help Still on the Way for Iranian Protesters?” He writes:

I hope that the American armada deployed in the Red Sea, in the Gulf of Oman and at the entrance to the Persian Gulf isn’t a mere negotiating backdrop, bargaining chip or communications ploy, but that as I write, it is identifying its targets, pinpointing the weaknesses in enemy defenses, mapping the nerve centers of power — that it is preparing to strike.

The time for regime change has come. That is what Mr. Trump promised the women and men who, bare-handed and at the risk of their lives, defied this murderous regime when he announced that “help is on the way.”

The study of the humanities has fallen on hard times. A piece in The Atlantic says that the future of the humanities lies in the hands of the multibillion-dollar Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. I tend to think the fate of the humanities lies with grassroots parents who start small classical schools — or curious students who sign up for Latin and get hooked on the riches of our civilization.

Ms. Must wishes she had a smile emoji to use for RFK Jr. explaining why he was not afraid of getting Covid. Savor it, Townhall suggests — but maybe don’t quote it in a family blog.

More Super Bowl halftime fallout: For classicist Victor Davis Hanson, Bad Bunny’s degeneracy evoked that of Satyricon (“Most of Bunny’s lyrics were raunchy and demented, and likely out-Epsteined the imagination of the late Jeffrey Epstein”), while Robby Soave spotted something wholesome in the competing halftime show put on by TPUSA – TPUSA gained a million new supporters immediately after their show.  

Wishing you a happy Valentine’s Day tomorrow. As we’ve long said at IW, Valentine’s Day is a great time to bring back Cupid.

We hope you’ll get a box of chocolates. You should also read IW’s Hadley Heath Manning’s important new report, The Dating Decade.

‘Trans’ Gaslighting; No, Canada Shooter Was Not ‘Female in a Dress.’ Guthrie Glove. REAL Epstein Files. Seeking a Rich Sugar Daddy—Your Friends at WaPo. More

Posted on by Charlotte Hays

The initial description was fishy. Early reports identified the shooter in the terrible mass shooting in Canada as “a female in a dress.” But was this accurate?   

Powerline seems to have been the first to question this curious description. The post was headlined “Another Trans Mass Shooting?” Remove that question mark.

Here is how the New York Times describes the shooter, who has been identified as Jesse Van Rootselaar:

Ms. Van Rootselaar was biologically born male and began transitioning to female six years ago, Mr. McDonald said. He added that the police would continue identifying her as a female. He said that the authorities were not yet able to say why the suspect had carried out the murder spree, one of the worst in Canadian history.

Here’s a picture of Van Rootselaar. Look like a female to you? The more reliable New York Post calls him “transgender” in the headline and describes his sick massacre:

The transgender high school dropout who gunned down his mother and stepbrother before killing six others at a British Columbia, Canada school was seen for the first time in resurfaced photos posted by his family – including one eerie snap showing the smiling teen holding a rifle. 

Jesse Van Rootselaar, the 18-year-old ex-student who went on a gun-wielding rampage at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, was spotted straight-faced in several pictures posted by his grandmother on Facebook for his 14th birthday.

“Happy 14th birthday to our grandson Jesse !! Love you always !! XOXO,” the post from August 2021 read.

Van Rootselaar launched the horrifying attack at a private residence in the remote community before continuing the carnage at the high school, where authorities said he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

In the same honest media outlet, Bethany Mandel calls upon the mainstream press to “stop gaslighting” us about “the reality of trans shooters.” Mandel writes:

The tragedy in British Columbia is not an isolated incident. 

Over the past several years, a disturbing number of mass attacks have involved individuals who identified as transgender.

In Nashville, a transgender-identified shooter murdered six people at a Christian school.

In Minneapolis, another attacker with documented gender-identity turmoil targeted a church.

The alleged murderer of Charlie Kirk had transgender associations and beliefs.

Yet the media insist that violence by mentally ill people and their transgender identity is mere coincidence.

The Federalist comments on “an epidemic of transgender violence” and has this about the Canadian shooter’s mother:

An Instagram account purportedly belonging to Jesse’s mother, Jennifer, appears to show she was a trans activist who posted that “you have any idea how many kids are killing themselves over this kind of hate,” adding “ProtectTransKids.”

When it comes to the “trans” issue, it’s not only the public at large that suffers from gaslighting. “What I Suffered Being ‘Transgender’” is an eloquent op-ed in the Wall Street Journal by Soren Aldaco, an Independent Women Ambassador, who is suing the medical professionals who gaslight her, encouraging her to undergo radical surgery to “transition” into a male.

There is a belated break in the Nancy Guthrie case. Investigators have found a black glove dropped near Mrs. Guthrie’s yard, potentially a breakthrough. A retired FBI agent believes the suspect is an amateur—in which case, he or she has had a pretty good run so far.

“A Welcome Jobs Rebound” is a headline on a Wall Street Journal editorial on the Labor Department’s January jobs report.

The economy created a net 130,000 new jobs in the first month of the year, according to the Labor Department. But the story is better than that because the private economy created 172,000, offset by a decline of 42,000 jobs in government.

The Biden years were a boom time for government, and the Trump course correction is much needed. …

A major complication in this data is the impact of the Administration’s mass deportation policy. The National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) looked at the BLS data and found a decline of 534,000 foreign-born workers in the U.S. since a peak in March 2025. That’s a reduction of about 1.4 million foreign-born workers than would be expected from previous government estimates. ….

NFAP says the unemployment rate for U.S.-born workers was 4.7% in January, compared to 4.3% in January 2025. The jobs that foreign workers filled may simply go away over time, as the deportation wave continues. But at least in January the labor market showed signs of a welcome rebound.

Meanwhile, the number of voluntary self-deportations skyrockets as (some) illegal immigrants find that the Trump administration means business.   

I’m Napoleon. And I Voted. The Free Beacon has a truly smashing piece on the Mamdani official, whose previous pursuits included registering psychotic people to vote. Alister Martin, New York’s new Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Chief, helped provide help for doctors to register mental patients to vote:

Citing the “therapeutic” benefits of voting, the institute has used Vot-ER’s tools since at least 2021 to register patients hospitalized for schizophrenia, suicidal thoughts, and life-threatening addictions. Some of those patients had been involuntarily committed, raising thorny questions about informed consent and the use of vulnerable people as political pawns.

History Calling. President Trump’s intentions in Iran remain a mystery. “Serious Trump biographies in the decades ahead will begin with the decision he makes on Iran now,” Hugh Hewitt argues.

One door is marked “Truman/Reagan” and the other door is marked “Carter/Obama/Biden.”

President Donald Trump has to choose one. Again. And this time, the choice will define Trump’s place in history.

A New York Post editorial suggests “Iran’s rulers plainly fear US strikes — Trump should prove them right.” Former CIA analyst Martin Gurri writes that from Venezuela to Tehran, Trump keeps the world guessing—to his advantage.

In “The Real Epstein ‘Ring’” Barton Swaim debunks the usual take on the late pedo:

The Jeffrey Epstein files were supposed to uncover the financier’s sex-trafficking and blackmail operation. They haven’t, for the excellent reason that there was no such operation. …

Its nonexistence is, ironically, the main thing to emerge so far from the document dump. … The press purports to think the salient fact here is that Mr. Trump in 2019 claimed he knew nothing about Epstein’s creepy actions. But the salient point is that Mr. Trump in 2006 volunteered his view to the cops that Epstein’s behavior revolted him and is thus unlikely to have participated in it.

Today’s liberals spend a lot of energy discoursing on the American right’s pathologies, often justly. But it ought to bother them that 20 years ago the man they loathe most took a look at Jeffrey Epstein’s conduct and got the hell out of there.

Washington’s Neediest Cases. “Rich Liberals, Please Step Up and Save the Washington Post” is the headline on Michael Tomasky’s plea at The New Republic. Behind the paywall, but you get the gist. Laughter Is the Best Medicine. Townhall’s Kurt Schlichter has a different idea: indulge in some good old schadenfreude. He writes:

There’s a glorious symmetry in their suffering, but there’s so much more. There’s their incessant whining about Jeff Bezos refusing to continue to subsidize their little bubble, like some bratty girl at Wellesley who graduates and finds that Daddy is cutting off her money and she’s got to actually work. Did these people actually work? They told themselves consistently how important and vital their “work” was ….

Personally, I love their incessant whining that Jeff Bezos somehow owes them sinecures. Why, he’s got so much money he could easily continue paying for them to provide zero value! It’s his moral duty! One even referred to his “stewardship” of the Washington Post in a typically overwrought X post. Stewardship? He’s a steward? What, like some sort of ink-stained Denethor? Well, they’ve got the funeral pyre part down.

What Does This Mean? Gallup will no longer chart presidential approval ratings. Gallup has been tracking them for 90 years. … Nina Shea asks what is next for Jimmy Lai, the Hong Kong newspaper owner, behind bars at the behest of the communist regime in Beijing. Shea provides a glimpse of Lai’s life in prison through his daughter.

Chilling Video in Guthrie Case. Nothing Adds Up. Suspect in Canada Mass Shooting: ‘Female in a Dress.’ Wes Moore: Too Good to Be True? & More

Posted on by Charlotte Hays

The FBI has released videos and photos of a masked subject in the case of the mystifying disappearance of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, mother of “Today” cohost Savannah Guthrie. They are chilling:

A 27-second video shows the person approaching the front door and raising a gloved hand to a home security camera outside the door before walking away. A 14-second video shows the person facing the camera holding a flashlight in their mouth before covering the camera lens with some vegetation. Law enforcement officials told CBS News the material the individual is holding up appears to be prairie brush.

The New York Times embeds the chilling video of the intruder entering the Guthrie house in a string of Guthrie update stories. The “doorbell” footage, which was thought to have been lost, took more than a week to access (scroll down in the NYT updates). The Times also has a description of the scene:

The silent, black-and-white doorbell camera videos total just 44 seconds, but what they depict is frightening: a masked, armed person approaching Nancy Guthrie’s doorstep late at night, shortly before she was abducted.

Fox Digital also has the eerie video. Body language expert Susan Constantine commented:

From a behavioral perspective, Constantine said the circumstances shown in the footage do not appear consistent with a robbery gone bad, noting that robberies often involve two or three people with defined roles. The FBI images released so far show one individual, and she emphasized that investigators have not publicly identified a motive or confirmed the subject’s role.

Despite the subject wearing a mask, Constantine said the footage still reveals identifiable physical traits.

A delivery driver was detained, questioned, and released in connection with the Guthrie case. (Also, here.) Hot Air’s John Sexton has a good post on new developments, including TMZ’s Harvey Levin’s puzzling claim of “activity” in the bitcoin ransom account and the search of the house that daughter Annie Guthrie occupies with her husband. Nothing adds up. If the TMZ ransom letter is not legitimate—and we don’t know that—then the alleged abductor or abductors have made no contact. In which case, why was Nancy Guthrie taken? What was wanted?

Terrible news from Canada. At least nine were killed and dozens injured in a shooting at a school and residence in British Columbia. The New York Post describes the suspect as “a female in a dress“:

The suspect, who was described in a local active shooter alert as a woman in a dress with brown hair, was found dead from what appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, cops added. 

Police have identified the shooter, but didn’t publicly release their identity due to the integrity of the investigation.

Matt Vespa notes the “weird” way police described the suspect. This is one of the deadliest shootings in Canadian history.

This is a real headscratcher: The FAA has halted all flights to the El Paso airport for ten days, citing unspecified “special security reasons.” Townhall suggests possible reasons.

Is Maryland Governor and 2028 aspirant Wes Moore just too good to be true? Governor Moore has often told the story of a grandfather forced to flee the KKK. Now, he’s facing questions about the veracity of the story. The Free Beacon offers other examples of unverified biographical details the Governor has claimed. Governor Moore’s office responds that the “broader reality is not in dispute” and accuses the Free Beacon of racism. 

“Democrats Still Searching for an Argument Against Voter ID” is the headline on James Freeman’s Best of the Web column. Rep. Marcus Raskin gets high marks for creativity:

What’s wrong with it is that it might violate the 19th Amendment, which gives women the right to vote, because you’ve got to show that all of your different IDs match. So if you’re a woman who’s gotten married and you’ve changed your name to your husband’s name, but you’re so now your current name is different from your name at birth. …

Neil Munro’s Breitbart piece on sanctuary cities (“Democratic State Leaders: Sanctuary Cities Must Be Exempted from Civil Rights Laws”) is getting a lot of attention. Powerline’s Bill Glahn picked it up and commented. Joe Abraham, a lifelong resident of Illinois, has written Gov. J.B. Pritzker asking how Pritzker can defend the sanctuary policies that killed his daughter:

Recently, I sent Gov. JB Pritzker a letter asking straightforward questions about the sanctuary policies he champions — policies that protected an illegal alien who went on to kill my daughter. I asked for a response by January 19, 2026, the one-year anniversary of Katie’s death. To this day, I have received nothing.

Waitin’ for That Golden Age. Wall Street Journal columnist Jason Riley says that Americans are running out of patience with the Republicans:

Empathy might go further than telling struggling households that they’ve never had it so good, but Mr. Trump can’t help himself. His predecessor’s tenure was “defined by the misery known as ‘stagflation’—high inflation and low growth,” the president wrote in these pages last month. “Only 12 months into my second term in office, we now have the exact opposite—extremely low inflation, and extraordinarily high economic growth!”

The optimism is admirable, but the political messaging misses the mark. Most voters don’t buy the administration’s claims that things are hunky-dory. They don’t believe Joe Biden still deserves blame for the current situation ….

We’ve been taking note of the collapse of “gender-affirming” medicine. Alas, “The Pronoun Wars in Public Schools” are still going strong:

Can a public-school district refuse to hire a K-12 teacher if she won’t use transgender pronouns? The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals said yes in a 2-1 decision late last month, over a rousing dissent by conservative Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III. Similar disputes are bubbling up elsewhere, so the Supreme Court at some point might need to clarify. …

Judge Wilkinson disagrees. “There can be no question that transgender rights represent a highly contentious and significant issue in our social and political zeitgeists,” he says. “If this issue is not one of public concern, I cannot think of an issue that would be.” The judge calls pronoun usage “a noncurricular matter” and suggests Ms. Polk could easily be accommodated by letting her “call all students by their last name (e.g., ‘Bueller, please answer question 43.’)”

One More on Education. The “Mississippi Miracle”—whereby the native state of your humble scribe made astonishing progress in educating her kids, moving from near the bottom to near the top in national rankings—is being threatened. You can guess why: “Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, who leads the Senate, took orders from the public-school monopoly.” Get some courage, Delbert. Delbert is a Republican.

This Is About Education, too. A GOP lawmaker was shocked after an anti-ICE sheriff was stumped by a fifth-grade civics question:

A North Carolina House Oversight Committee hearing spurred on by the recent killing of a young Ukrainian woman, Iryna Zarutska, in Charlotte, took an unexpected turn when [GOP Rep. Allen] Chesser asked Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden, “What branch of government do you operate under?”

McFadden, who is the top law enforcement officer in the county where Zarutska was killed, simply answered, “Mecklenburg County,” prompting Chesser to repeat, “What branch of government do you operate under, sheriff?”

The sheriff answered, “The Constitution of the United States,” to which Chesser responded, “That is what establishes the branches of government; I’m asking what branch you fall under.”

After McFadden answered, “Mecklenburg County” again, Chesser remarked, “This is not where I was anticipating getting stuck. Um, are you aware of how many branches of government there are?” The sheriff quickly shot back, “No.”

After a long pause, Chesser continued, “For the sake of debate, let’s say there are three branches of government: legislative, executive, judicial. Of those three, which do you fall under?”

The sheriff answered, “I believe I fall under the last one … judicial.”

“You are incorrect, sir. You fall under the executive,” said Chesser.

After that, Chesser continued to press McFadden about how he reconciles his responsibility as an officer under the executive branch to enforce the law with his opposition to cooperation with ICE.

Distraught Plea from Guthrie Family. Tariffs. Massive WaPo Staff Cuts Have MSM Shouting Murder! Blue State Demographic Nightmare. Justice Ketanji at the Grammys. More

Posted on by Charlotte Hays

In a riveting moment of TV, Samantha Guthrie, “Today” co-host, and her siblings begged for the return of their missing mother, 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie:

Savannah Guthrie opened the family’s plea by thanking supporters for their prayers before describing her mother as the heart of their family and making a direct appeal for contact, stressing Nancy Guthrie’s fragile health and urgent need for medication.

“Our mom is a kind, faithful, loyal, fiercely loving woman of goodness and light,” Savannah Guthrie said. “She’s funny, spunky. She has grandchildren that adore her and crowd around her and cover her with kisses. She loves fun and adventure. She is a devoted friend. She is full of kindness and knowledge. Talk to her and you’ll see.”

The video underscores how little is known about Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance. Was she abducted? Samantha Guthrie directly addressed possible kidnappers:

“We are ready to talk. However, we live in a world where voices and images are easily manipulated,” she added. “We need to know without a doubt that she is alive and that you have her. We want to hear from you, and we are ready to listen. Please reach out to us.”

Savannah Guthrie later addressed her mother directly, offering words of faith and reassurance as the family waits for answers.

No suspects have been identified. CNN suggests that the emotional video is a way to “humanize” Nancy Guthrie to alleged captors. Not to be a pessimist, but I’m not sure about the kidnapper with a heart approach. An emotional President Trump called Samantha Guthrie and ordered federal law enforcement to assist in the search. This has to be one of the strangest of episodes: Who would take Ms. Guthrie’s mother? Why? The New York Post on an alleged ransom note.

In a previous attempt to overthrow a tyrannical regime, Iranian dissidents cried out to an American President, asking, “Where are you, Obama?” Washington Post Columnist Marc Thiessen writes that President Trump’s place in history will be determined by his response to the current Iranian uprising:

Trump is right to carefully weigh the risks of military action, which must be taken seriously. But there are also risks to inaction, which are arguably far greater.

Start with the risk to America’s credibility. Trump told the Iranian regime in no uncertain terms that if it “violently kills peaceful protesters … the United States of America will come to their rescue,” adding: “We are locked and loaded and ready to go.” The regime ignored his threat and slaughtered thousands. He then urged the Iranian people: “KEEP PROTESTING — TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!! Save the names of the killers and abusers. They will pay a big price. … HELP IS ON ITS WAY.” Iranians listened to those words and took to the streets — and many paid with their lives.

The U.S. and Iran will hold nuclear talks tomorrow in Oman. I thought that was John Kerry’s schtick? Townhall’s Kurt Schlichter is not subtle: Kill the mullahs, he advises.

Polling indicates that Americans haven’t yet fallen in love with President Trump’s tariffs. Nor has the Wall Street Journal’s Editorial Board. “Are Trump’s Tariffs Winning?” is the headline of a WSJ editorial, which is a decided thumbs down. Another poll indicates that most Americans want the Supreme Court to reverse the tariffs.

The Washington Post, the Watergate newspaper, now owned by Jeff Bezos, has announced stunning layoffs—around a 30% reduction in its staff. The Atlantic calls it “murder,” while the New Yorker settles for “How Jeff Bezos Brought Down the Washington Post.” Never known for modesty, the Washington Post calls it a “blow to a legendary news brand.”

Meanwhile, as National Review’s dry-eyed John Puri writes, “People Aren’t Actually That Upset over the Washington Post Layoffs,” and at the same esteemed outlet, Jeffrey Blehar comments on the Grim Reaper’s visit to the hallowed newspaper. Them’s the breaks, as Charles Darwin might characterize the situation.

The Verdict Is In: Ryan Routh, President Trump’s attempted assassin, is sentenced to life in prison. It should carry weight that Fox Special Report Anchor Bret Baier told FBI Director Kash Patel that he doesn’t believe we yet have the full story on the earlier Butler attempt on the president’s life. Look for “Free Bryan Routh!” signs sprouting at your next zany lefty rally. (Just kidding—I hope.)

“Blue States’ Demographic Nightmare” is the headline on Steven Malanga’s latest City Journal piece:

When we seek explanations for why today’s Democrats refuse to call those here without permission “illegal,” oppose lawful deportations, and seek government benefits for those who’ve snuck into the country, we probably need to look no further than the population woes of Democratic states. … 

Looking at these results, one might conclude that Democratic voters and the politicians they elect would consider reforms to keep and attract more voters. But states like California, New York, and Illinois have been racking up losses for more than a decade with no sign of political change. If anything, Democratic states seem to be pressing ahead with the very policies that repel a substantial number of citizens and businesses. During the Biden years, Democrats decided that the solution to this problem was to import a cohort of new voters. That immigration policy, ironically, had as much to do with the improbable reelection of Trump as any other Democratic strategy.

Considering this, it’s interesting that California’s Governor U-Haul—aka Gavin Newsom—is considered the Democratic frontrunner for 2028. Ms. Must has been hearing a lot about New York Times columnist Bret Stephens’s recent offering, “Will Newsom Be the Democrats’ Next Mistake?“

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s attendance at the anti-Trump Grammy awards hasn’t gotten as much attention as others. Until, that is, Miranda Devine explained the meaning of the Justice’s applauding the anti-ICE speeches removed any shred of impartiality regarding many issues likely to come before the Court:

But she should have stayed home rather than laughing and clapping in the audience with a bunch of virtue-signaling luvvies ranting “F–k ICE” every time they got on stage. …

Her attendance at the rancidly partisan anti-ICE Grammy Awards on Sunday was a joke. 

The 55-year-old Biden DEI candidate was nominated for a Grammy for narrating the audiobook of her memoir “Lovely One,” which she unashamedly believes herself to be. 

Meanwhile, singer Billie Eilish’s “stolen land” comments led an LA real estate law firm to question whether to evict her because her mansion sits on land of the Tongva Tribe, the land’s original inhabitants. This apparently is a joke. But Ms. Must wishes it weren’t. Would love to see Ms. Eilish defend her stolen property.

“Is AI the Next Climate Change?” Another terrific piece from the Wall Street Journal’s Barton Swaim. “Disaster looms, they tell us. Empower experts, raise taxes! Here we go again.”

Must Be Briefly Noted: Warm the of Collectivism Update: Tens of thousands of New Yorkers left without heat as temperatures drop to 4°—and tenants blast Mamdani for failing to act. … But the Mayor’s Health and Mental Hygiene is very active. They are busy organizing employees to protest against the state of Israel. … “Hillary Clinton Wrote a Hit Piece on Me. Here’s My Response” in The Free Press is by Allie Beth Stuckey, whom Mrs. Clinton accused of being lacking in empathy! … Amazon reportedly asked a movie theater in Oregon to cancel showings of Melania after it posted this on its marquee: “To defeat your enemy, you must know them. Melania starts Friday,” a quote attributed to Sun Tzu, author of “The Art of War.” Another line read, “Does Melania wear Prada? Find out Friday.” … Calling Mamet Mavens. The playwright sits for a chat with The Free Press.