Issue: Politics

The Dems have come a long way, baby, since that old “believe all women” ruse. It was made clear that it was a ruse all along last night when scandal-ridden Graham Platner triumphed in Maine’s Senate primary.

A USA TODAY headline described Platner as “unscathed” by scandals. “Unscathed” is an understatement: with 81% of the votes counted, Platner had 72%. Former Governor Janet Mills was a distant second with 35%. Platner will run against GOP moderate Susan Collins in the fall. Interesting sidelight on that old “believe all women” stuff from The Free Press: 

Lyndsey Fifield told ‘The New York Times’ Graham Platner emotionally abused her and became physical multiple times. So why is she under attack?

In addition to women, billionaires might want to watch their step. Axios has five takeaways from the Platner win. In his victory speech, Platner admitted that he is “still far from perfect.” Also, an understatement. In the running for bluntest headline of the day: “The Scum Also Rises: Graham Platner Makes History As First Vanity Oysterman With Nazi Tattoo To Win US Senate Nomination.”

In other primary elections news, California has at last counted enough votes to know that Republican Steve Hilton definitely made the finals and will face Xavier Becerra in the Governor’s race. It is hard to exaggerate the miracle that a Republican did that well in California. UK Telegraph headline: “Cameron Aide One Step from Becoming California Governor.”

South Carolina was also the scene of primary elections yesterday. Once a rising star, Rep. Nancy Mace flamed out of the gubernatorial race:

Mace did not come close — sitting in fifth place with 80 percent of the vote counted. A onetime Trump critic, she had sought to pitch herself as a Trump die-hard.

[Pamela] Evette and South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson will face each other in a runoff because neither secured at least 50 percent of the vote among such a crowded field….

Lt. Gov. Evette has President Trump’s endorsement. GOP Senator Lindsey Graham received more than 50% of the vote, thereby avoiding a runoff.

Oh, What a Lovely Cease-Fire. The U.S. has launched strikes on Iran after the terror regime shot down an American Apache helicopter (the two crewmembers have been rescued). A Wall Street Journal story:

The strikes, which lasted several hours and which the military said were carried out in self-defense, were directed by President Trump.

“The operation was a proportional response to recent attacks on U.S. forces and international commercial ships transiting regional waters,” Centcom, which oversees U.S. forces in the Middle East, said in a statement released around 9 p.m. Eastern time announcing the end of the operation. …

In response, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched a drone attack on the U.S. Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, the IRGC said.

Many hearts sank at the words “proportional response.” An editorial in the Washington Post finds President Trump “overly eager” to reach a deal with Iran:

While Tehran’s current leadership structure remains opaque, it’s clear that hard-liners retain significant power. In recent weeks, Trump has seemed overly eager to negotiate a peace agreement to extract the U.S. from the war he started in February.

While the administration often repeats that no deal is better than a bad deal, the president also frequently announces that a final breakthrough is imminent (usually to soothe markets right before they open). He also has telegraphed that he lacks the appetite to restart full-scale bombing and pressured Israel over the weekend not to fire back when attacked by Iranian proxies.

The Middle East Forum notes that Iran’s decision to attack Israel was to protect its proxies, most immediately Hezbollah in Lebanon, part of Iran’s “Resistance Axis.” The Wall Street Journal suggests that after three days of strikes, the conflict is entering a “dangerous new phase.”

More on the Iran strikes from CBS.

Karmello Anthony, the Texas teenager who plunged a knife into the heart of another teen, Austin Metcalf, at an athletic event, has been convicted of murder and sentenced to 35 years. He will be eligible for parole in 17 years. The case was clear-cut:

One of the most emotional testimonies came from Collin County Chief Medical Examiner Dr Elizabeth Ventura, who described a large, gaping wound in Metcalf’s chest and said the knife had pierced his heart.

Despite overwhelming evidence of Anthony’s guilt, “hate-filled protests” erupted outside the courtroom when the “guilty” verdict was read:

Someone raged, “This whole thing’s been racist!

Another person yelled, “Y’all used to locking up n—as any goddamn way!”

A Metcalf supporter donning a suit and tie was hauled away from the courthouse in handcuffs after he allegedly shoved an Anthony sympathizer.

The cops physically blocked the pro-Anthony mob from reaching the detained man.

“Bye b–ch! Bye p—y ass n—a!” one woman cackled.

This is such a disheartening story. Anthony’s mother made a plea for mercy for her son. In a heartrending statement, Austin Metcalf’s father demanded that Anthony look him in the eye:

Metcalf had been silenced by a gag order by the court for opposing the decision to place Anthony under house arrest while awaiting trial.

He blamed the teen’s crazed supporters for swatting his home six times.

The outraged Metcalf briefly mentioned the pro-Karmelo Anthony protesters who had formed outside the courthouse as he shot down the group’s claims that the trial was racist against a young black teen who had committed the stabbing in self-defense.

“This was never about race,” he said. “It is about right and wrong. The public’s response sickens me … The moral decay is frightening.”

A Knife Attack in Belfast. A Sudanese migrant has been identified as the suspect in an attempted beheading in Belfast. You read that right—beheading:

Stephen Ogilvie, thought to be 44, suffered injuries to both eyes after Sudanese migrant Hadi Alodid, 30, allegedly tried to behead him late Monday night, the Sun reported.

Barbaric video footage showed Ogilvie being pinned under the knifeman — with a horrified witness heard crying, “He’s trying to cut his head off. He’s slicing his head off.”

The migrant — who reportedly exploited a legal loophole to get into the UK — is also accused of threatening to kill a radiographer on the same day as Monday’s attack, the hearing was told.

Fortunately, a heroic bystander stepped in before it was too late. Belfast is convulsed by rioting. In a post headlined “The Barbarism in Belfast,” Spiked Online’s Brendan O’Neill writes that the crazed, savage knifing was a bloody byproduct of state failure. O’Neill writes:

Are we allowed to feel pure, cold rage yet? It’s what millions of us felt this morning as we watched footage of that barbarous assault in Belfast. However much the pleb-fearing thoughtpolice of Keir Starmer’s government might disapprove of such fury, it’s the emotion that swelled in all decent British and Irish people as they saw a brute rain stab after stab upon his sprawled, struggling victim. Good luck trying to curb the people’s rage over this act of wanton savagery.

It was truly obscene. On a dimly lit nighttime street in north Belfast, a kind of medieval butchery unfolded. A local man in his 40s was mercilessly pinned down by the knifeman. Each plunge of the knife was coldly, cruelly executed. The monster went for the man’s face, his neck, his back. The police announced this morning that the victim suffered ‘significant injuries to his eyes’. Was this an attempted eye-gouging? In the United Kingdom in 2026? Some are calling it an attempted beheading. Whichever it was, we now know the early media reports about a ‘knife incident’ were shamefully euphemistic, dolling up a monstrous atrocity in the garb of everyday crime.

You might remember that there was a knifing in New York’s Penn Station on Sunday. City Journal points out that there was “nothing normal” about the Penn Station slashing. New Yorkers aren’t going to riot (at least about this). Rather, the threat is that they will normalize mental illness. The slasher appears to have been mentally ill. Ho hum.

Don’t miss “The Lockdown Dissidents,” a video opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal on “ a group of prominent scientists challenged the prevailing government approach to lockdowns.”

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.

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.

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.

Well, it’s certainly innovative—sending Cabinet members to sub for the Press Secretary, who’s on maternity leave. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is the latest to take his turn at the lectern. And wow! A star is born:

Scott Bessent – GAH-RRROOOWWWLLLLLLLL! …

Holy smokes, for a cabinet stuffed to the gills with oversized intellects and booming characters, it really takes a blazing comet-like personality to consistently rise above such a stellar crew, but two guys do it effortlessly. One is obviously the masterful global Jack-of-All-Trades, our Secretary of State, Marco Rubio.

His polar opposite in personality, yet always a center-stage kind of guy the second he opens his mouth, is the utterly urbane, completely unruffled, and smooth-as-silk Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent.

Nothing fazes the man, and he is so delightful that having a chance to watch him in action is a real treat.

That’s Beege Welborn of Hot Air, whose headline, shortly after Bessent’s stellar performance, was “It Was Scott Bessent’s Turn Behind the Press Podium and Oh, My.” Townhall’s Matt Vespa was similarly impressed. His headline was more hardcore: “Treasury Secretary Bessent Just Humiliated the Washington Post and CNN’s Kaitlan Collins at the Same Time.” Bessent addressed the question that has the MSM most riled: Will President Trump’s face be on a $250 bill?

What other administration would—or could—draft members of the Cabinet to fill in for the absent Press Secretary? Try to imagine then Vice President Kamala Harris stepping in for the perpetually petulant Karine Jean Pierre. No can do.

The word yesterday was that “something feels different” about the latest announcement that the U.S. and Iran have reached a deal. The Washington Post reports that a deal has been reached but still needs President Trump’s signature. It is a provisional agreement to open the Strait of Hormuz and extend the ceasefire while negotiations continue. Washington Post columnist Marc Thiessen warns, “Trump has devastated Iran’s regime. Don’t give it a lifeline now.” An editorial in the Wall Street Journal says it’s “risky to end the U.S. blockade without getting the enriched uranium.”

According to the liberal Politico, Dems are furious that the Bidens won’t go away and ask, “Why are we talking about” Jill Biden’s claim that she thought Joe was having a stroke during the presidential debate. Jill is dredging up the whole cognitive cover-up thing. Meanwhile, Babylon Bee has a mischievous take on the Doc’s revelations:

Jill Biden Explains She Thought Joe Had a Stroke During Debate, Which Is Why She Left Him Up There to Die

Jill Biden isn’t the only thing that blew up this week. A Blue Origin rocket exploded on the launchpad. Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos has the wherewithal, both financial and gumption-wise, to roll with the punches. More on the explosion.

And the Biden coverup wasn’t the only coverup shredded:

Ex-CIA officer David Rush’s alleged years-long scheme that netted him $40 million in gold bars and a top-secret security clearance has those in the Clandestine Service community questioning how he slipped through the fastidious vetting process — and who else may be flying under the radar.

The Examiner’s Byron York writes about what he calls “the CIA’s insane bold bar scandal.” Apparently, the spooks never uncovered blatant falsehoods on David Rush’s resume. At one point, Rush asked for millions in gold bars for “work-related expenses”:

And the CIA gave it to him! Officials began handing Rush money and gold. Only later did someone begin to wonder what was going on. The CIA then searched a storage space in Rush’s office but found “only a portion of the currency” that he had been given. Government officials were “unable to locate the gold bars or significant amounts of the foreign currency Rush received pursuant to his requests or to identify the intended use of these funds,” the affidavit said.

At that point, it appears that light bulbs finally started going off at the CIA. …

Can you believe that next Tuesday is the Los Angeles Mayor’s race? Caitlin Flanagan has an interesting piece at The Free Press headlined “Pratt Daddy’s Revenge.” “Pratt Daddy” is the name of candidate Spencer Pratt’s online business. Flanagan writes:

Pratt Daddy’s candidacy is motivated by a singular and purifying anger—more of a hatred, really—all of it directed at the incumbent, Karen Bass. He holds her directly responsible for the burning of his and his parents’ houses in the Pacific Palisades. Unseating her is his intention. The primary election is next week, and the top two candidates will advance to the general election in November (if one of them gets more than that 50 percent of the vote in the primary, he or she becomes mayor, a scenario that is impossible to imagine. Bass and Pratt are expected to run against each other in the general. I assume he won’t win, but I never thought Richard Hatch would win the first season of Survivor.

“Purifying anger”—aka righteous indignation—is, in my book, an excellent reason for running. Perhaps it’s that “purifying anger” that opened Pratt’s eyes to the idea that the Los Angeles homeless problem is really a drug problem. Governor Gavin Newsom has endorsed Karen Bass. It’ll be interesting to see if LA voters go for the establishment or are willing to try something new. Michael Barone has a piece headlined “The California dream ends in empty reservoirs and homeless tents.” Barone recalls a glowing article he once wrote on the Golden State:

No one would write such an article about California today, except maybe in a humor magazine. The public sector that helped make California the nation’s most populous state in 1963 is today producing a dystopia that has tens of thousands more people leaving than arriving in the once promised land of California every year.

California today “has the nation’s highest cost-of-living adjusted poverty rate, the highest levels of functioning illiteracy, and the worst housing affordability in the continental US,” writes Joel Kotkin, who has been chronicling California’s highs and lows for more than 40 years. “California increasingly resembles a neo-feudal state, where a handful of large companies drive the economy while the vast majority of workers endure high energy and housing costs, high taxes, and diminishing opportunity.”

Golden State government has spawned fiascos large and small. Fraudulent Medicaid spending, which made headlines in Minnesota this winter, seems likely to be even more monumental in California, whose Medicaid programs are scheduled to get $138 billion from the federal government, up $18 billion from 2024. The state subsidizes tribal ceremonies and exorcisms, gym memberships and art lessons.

What with spooks who can’t keep track of millions in gold bars and exploding rockets, we’ve had some surprises this morning. What could be next? How about “California Teaches Native Americans How to Light a Fire,” in City Journal:

California Governor Gavin Newsom has allocated millions of dollars to a program that funds Native American “food sovereignty,” owl counting, and “cultural burns,” in which tribal groups use traditional fire techniques to clear brush from the landscape and preserve their “close kinship” with plants, animals, and “other natural relatives.”

Since 2023, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or CAL FIRE, has awarded $24 million to tribal groups and other nonprofits as part of its “Tribal Wildfire Resilience” program. The man effectively overseeing the program, Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot, believes that California was founded on a “state-sanctioned policy of genocide” and that the state has pursued “decades of land dispossession, discrimination, and disconnection.” The Newsom administration, he said, was making progress in returning the land to the “leadership of California Native American tribes.”

Could we say this is dumber than carrying coals to Newcastle?

It’s about Time. CBS honcho and Free Press founder Bari Weiss is at last overhauling “60 Minutes,” including installing a new Executive Producer. This is good news. The elderly show badly needs a facelift. … Okay, the story is behind the paywall, but I can’t resist the headline: “The Bulwark’s Tim Miller and James Talarico Discuss God’s Genitalia, and Dems Wonder Why They Lose Texas.” Mr. Talarico is the Texas Democratic nominee for the Senate. TGIF.