Julia

NO TRAINS: I will block you
45/47
#GoDawgs 🐈‍⬛ㅤ
Rock/Pop/Metal/Southern🎶
#Hoosier/GA 🍑#GRITS
#HoosierNation🏈

[Julia @Route66Historic]

🧵6
𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐧𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬, 𝐧𝐨 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐞: 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥!

[PIC @MikePic36487]

@KevinMNelsonUSA

[Kevin M. Nelson @KevinMNelsonUSA]

In lieu of a post by Ted that actually aged well…. 🥸

[Kevin M. Nelson @KevinMNelsonUSA]

Ohh Ted, just stop… sleeping. 😂

[M.A. Rothman @MichaelARothman]

𝐆𝐔𝐓𝐅𝐄𝐋𝐃: 𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐂𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐒 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐌𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐎𝐗𝐈𝐂, 𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘’𝐑𝐄 𝐅𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐒 𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐖𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐌 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊

The Atlantic has identified the Democrats’ man problem and prescribed a cure so cynical it writes its own punchline: pretend to like sports. Greg Gutfeld could not resist.

He started with the diagnosis the magazine skipped. “𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘛𝘦𝘥 𝘉𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘺”, Gutfeld said. “𝘚𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘰? 𝘞𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥”.

Their solution, he noted, is not to drop the contempt — it is to costume it. “𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪-𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘢𝘴, 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦-𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦. 𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘴. 𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘴”. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐬𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭.

And Gutfeld put his finger on why it cannot work. The same movement now studying box scores has spent years framing athletics as oppression — “𝘈𝘭 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘱𝘵𝘰𝘯 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘍𝘊 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺”, he pointed out. You cannot brand a thing as bigotry on Monday and cosplay as its biggest fan on Tuesday.

The deeper tell is in the ask itself. A political party that needs a magazine article to instruct it on how to “𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤” has already lost the plot, because 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧, 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞.

𝐌𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦.

[unseen1 @unseen1_unseen]

In less than a year, the swamp critters went from being forced to pass the OBBB to being begged to pass a bill to fully fund DHS and ICE.

The only way this great American experiment works is if the elected leaders are afraid of the people voting them out of office.

If only we had a media that was pro American and pro the People.

[M.A. Rothman @MichaelARothman]

𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘 𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐂𝐑𝐀𝐓 𝐕𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐆𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐓 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐅 𝐎𝐅 𝐂𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐙𝐄𝐍𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏 𝐀𝐒 𝐌𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐋𝐄𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐂𝐄𝐃 𝐀 𝐌𝐈𝐃𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐕𝐎𝐓𝐄 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐀𝐂𝐓

It was long past midnight when Sen. Mike Lee turned to the chamber: 𝘞𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘵. During the Senate’s June 4 vote-a-rama he dragged the SAVE America Act onto the floor and forced every colleague on the record. The bill could not be simpler: prove you are a citizen when you register, and show ID when you vote.

Then he made the comparison no Democrat wanted to hear — that countries from Mexico and Brazil to India, Argentina, Peru, and even Botswana already require voter ID, while the United States does not. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐨.

And the threat is not hypothetical. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘏𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘯-𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴. That is not a turnout problem. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐬.

When the yays and nays were called, the amendment carried fifty to forty-nine. Susan Collins crossed over to back it. Every single Democrat voted no. Because Lee had offered it as a budget waiver, it needed sixty — so a majority of the Senate said yes to citizenship at the ballot box, and Democrats blocked it anyway. 𝐅𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬. 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦.

Tomorrow they will call this voter suppression. 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡: 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐧𝐨𝐧-𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩.

[JD Vance @JDVance]

Henry Nowak died the same way a civilization dies: abandoned, handcuffed by authorities who neither trusted nor cared for him, and accused of hate crimes he did not commit. His murder is as tragic as it is enraging. He should still be alive today, and he would be if the last few generations of European elites had stood their ground against the politics of self-hatred and the mass invasion of migrants, many of whom despise the West and the people who love it.

Henry was far from the first to so needlessly lose his life, and I fear he won’t be the last. Each time a life like his is lost, the proper response—the only response—is righteous anger. One of the most important things the Trump administration has proven to the world is that stopping the flow of mass migration and defending national sovereignty is a matter of political will and leadership. Anything else is an excuse.

It is because we love the West that we want to preserve it. We love our civilization. We love our country. We love our children. And nobody—nobody—should ever die the way that Henry Nowak died. May God comfort those who loved him, and may God rest his soul.

[M.A. Rothman @MichaelARothman]

𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍 𝐒𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐍𝐄𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐊 𝐈𝐆𝐍𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝟗𝟏𝟏 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐒 𝐀𝐒 𝐈𝐂𝐄 𝐎𝐅𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐀𝐔𝐋𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐒𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐄𝐃𝐒 𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐌𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐕𝐄𝐒

When local Democrats decided to stop protecting a federal facility from rioters, border czar Tom Homan did not beg. He hardened the building and started collecting evidence on the people attacking it.

The fight is over Delaney Hall, the ICE detention center in Newark, New Jersey. This week Mayor Ras Baraka announced the city would pull its police back from securing the facility, arguing the cost belongs to the operator, not Newark taxpayers. Homan’s account of what he found when he arrived is damning: “𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯’𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 911 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴. 𝘐𝘊𝘌 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘴... 𝘗𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘥. 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘥”.

So the federal government did the job the city would not. Homan said the feds 𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 — more wire, embassy fencing, Jersey barriers, floodlights, drones, and cameras running facial recognition on the crowds. His message to the agitators outside: “𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘦𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦, 𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯”.

And he drew a hard line on the mayor’s retreat. 𝐈𝐟 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐰𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜-𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐣𝐨𝐛, 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐆𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝. Homan said he struck an agreement with the state police, the police department, and the governor — the same playbook he ran in Minneapolis — and warned that backing out now hands the problem straight to the White House.

Then he closed the door the activists keep trying to pry open: “𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥”. He said he personally went through the files. Not a roundup of the innocent — a lawful detention center the local government simply decided to stop defending.

𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟗𝟏𝟏 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐟𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐬. 𝐒𝐨 𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐛 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐦 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭.

[M.A. Rothman @MichaelARothman]

🤔

[Sean Parnell @SeanParnellUSA]

He brought his children to Normandy — at his own expense — to honor the fallen of the Greatest Generation. Americans who gave everything to defeat tyranny & save the world.
Every parent should teach their kids what real sacrifice & courage look like. That’s how we keep freedom alive.
Proud to serve alongside a Secretary of War who leads by example, on & off the battlefield.

[M.A. Rothman @MichaelARothman]

𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐌𝐏 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐍-𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐏𝐘 𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐄𝐅 𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐆𝐔𝐓𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐁𝐔𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐔𝐂𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐘

President Trump just told his new acting intelligence chief, Bill Pulte, to start clearing house — and Washington is already in a panic (via Eric Daugherty).

“𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦”, Trump said of the sprawling Office of the Director of National Intelligence, calling it 𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐛𝐢𝐠 and adding that he’d “𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳” (Wall Street Journal).

The directive is blunt: Pulte should 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 of firing a large chunk of the DNI workforce, much of it Biden and Obama holdovers, before a permanent director is even named. Trump’s own aside about Pulte said the quiet part out loud: “𝘏𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘦𝘵 𝘤𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢, 𝘦𝘵 𝘤𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢”.

Pulte, who just replaced Tulsi Gabbard on an acting basis while keeping his post atop the Federal Housing Finance Agency, has 𝐧𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 — which is precisely why the holdovers fear him. The same Senate Republicans who slow-walked Trump’s nominees suddenly discovered an urgent concern about his “𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦”.

For years the intelligence bureaucracy treated Trump as a suspect rather than a president. 𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬.

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐫𝐠 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐭.

[M.A. Rothman @MichaelARothman]

🤔

[M.A. Rothman @MichaelARothman]

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝟐𝟎𝟑𝟑 𝐒𝐎𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐘 𝐂𝐔𝐓 𝐈𝐒𝐍’𝐓 𝐀 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 — 𝐈𝐓’𝐒 𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐇𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐂. 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐈𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐇, 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐁𝐘 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄

When @sircalebhammer told Joe Rogan “𝘚𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺, 2033, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘺 𝘶𝘱, 𝘴𝘰 𝘱𝘢𝘺𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘤𝘶𝘵”, some of you asked whether the math actually checks out. It does. Every number below comes from the government’s own ledgers. Follow along.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐫: 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐎𝐮𝐭 𝐯𝐬. 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐈𝐧

In 2024, Social Security paid out $𝟏,𝟒𝟖𝟓 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧. It took in $1,418 billion — $1,349 billion from payroll taxes and benefit taxation, plus $69 billion in interest (2025 Trustees Report). That is a $67 billion hole in a single year.

Now check the trust fund balance: $2,788 billion on January 1, $2,721 billion on December 31. Down exactly $𝟔𝟕 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧. The books balance. The program does not.

Strip out the interest — which is just the Treasury paying itself — and the cash deficit was $136 billion. Costs have exceeded tax income 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟎 (SSA).

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧: 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 $𝟐.𝟓 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧

The retirement fund held $𝟐,𝟓𝟑𝟖 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 at the end of 2024. It ran $103 billion short that year alone — and the shortfall widens annually, because roughly 11,000 Americans turn 65 every single day (Alliance for Lifetime Income).

The trustees track reserves as a percentage of annual cost: 169 percent in 2025, under 100 percent by 2029, empty during 2034 for the combined funds — and the retirement-only fund hits zero a year earlier, in 𝟐𝟎𝟑𝟑 (2025 Trustees Report). Drain $2.5 trillion at an accelerating pace and that is exactly when you hit bottom.

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐄𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝟕𝟕 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫

Here is the mechanism nobody in Washington explains. Social Security can pay benefits from only two sources: the trust fund and incoming payroll taxes. It has no authority to borrow. The day the fund hits zero, checks are automatically limited to whatever the 12.4 percent payroll tax brings in.

The trustees calculate that incoming taxes will cover exactly 𝟕𝟕 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 of promised retirement benefits at depletion (2025 Trustees Report). The program’s cost already runs 15.15 percent of every taxable payroll dollar — and climbing — against a tax rate frozen at 12.4 percent. That gap IS the cut. No vote required. No veto possible.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝟐𝟑 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤

The average retirement check is $2,081 a month (SSA, April 2026). A 23 percent cut is $𝟒𝟕𝟗 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡 — $5,744 a year, gone.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget ran it by household: a dual-earner couple retiring in 2033 loses $𝟏𝟖,𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝐚 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫. A single-earner couple loses $13,600 (CRFB). And CRFB now projects insolvency could arrive in 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝟐𝟎𝟑𝟐 — even sooner than Hammer said.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦

In 1960, 5.1 workers paid in for every beneficiary. Today 184 million workers support 68 million beneficiaries — 𝟐.𝟕 𝐭𝐨 𝟏 (SSA). The trustees’ own 75-year math shows $𝟐𝟓.𝟏 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 in unfunded promises, a number that grew $2.5 trillion in one year. That is roughly $6.8 billion in new unfunded obligations for every day Congress does nothing.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐖𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠

Fix it today and the trustees say it takes a 3.65-point payroll tax hike to 16.05 percent, or a 22.4 percent benefit cut. Wait until the fund is empty and it takes 4.27 points to 16.67 percent, or a 𝟐𝟓.𝟖 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐜𝐮𝐭 (2025 Trustees Report). Every year of delay makes the surgery bloodier. Eight years out, neither party will even put a bill on the table.

Rogan asked, “𝘐𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯?” The government’s own actuaries answered that question in writing a year ago.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝. 𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠.

[M.A. Rothman @MichaelARothman]

𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐌𝐏’𝐒 𝐃𝐎𝐉 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄 𝐌𝐄𝐍 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐑 𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐒 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐒 𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐊!𝐋𝐋 𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐏𝐒

While critics insist the homegrown terror threat is overblown, Trump’s Justice Department just laid out a plot that was incubating on American soil — and the details are chilling.

Federal prosecutors charged three men with conspiring to provide material support to ISIS: Bisaam Ghafoor, 21, of Leawood, Kansas; Elias Shamsaldeen, 21, of Porterville, California; and Bereen Dzayee, 25, of Lakeside, California. According to the complaint, beginning by at least February 2025 the three pledged allegiance to ISIS and its leader over Discord and encrypted calls, and funneled more than $2,000 to someone they believed was an ISIS operative.

This wasn’t talk. Prosecutors say 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐮𝐲 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐤!𝐥𝐥 𝐔.𝐒. 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬. Ghafoor allegedly said it would be “𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬” — as in cool — if his name could be written on the drone used in an attack on Americans. Investigators say his name was in fact written on the projectile of a rocket-propelled grenade meant for U.S. troops, and that Shamsaldeen talked about stabbing a servicemember himself.

Sit with the geography. 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐰𝐨𝐨𝐝. 𝐏𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞. 𝐋𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞. Not a war zone — three quiet American towns, where young men sat behind keyboards plotting to fund the deaths of the soldiers their neighbors send overseas. This is the homegrown radicalization the experts keep assuring us we’re imagining.

And then the part that gets buried: it was stopped. 𝐅𝐁𝐈 𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐊𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭. No lecture about root causes, no hand-wringing — just investigators finding the people who want Americans dead and putting them in handcuffs.

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐤!𝐥𝐥 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐩𝐬. 𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝.

[M.A. Rothman @MichaelARothman]

𝐆𝐄𝐍 𝐉𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐊𝐄𝐀𝐍𝐄: 𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐍 𝐈𝐒𝐍’𝐓 𝐍𝐄𝐆𝐎𝐓𝐈𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆, 𝐈𝐓’𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐋 𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐌𝐏 𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐍𝐎 𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑 𝐏𝐔𝐋𝐋 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐆𝐄𝐑

Every few days Tehran floats the same shimmering promise: a deal is close. Retired Gen. Jack Keane, one of the sharpest military minds in the country, says it is time to stop falling for it. “𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯”.

Iran’s strategy, he argues, is not peace — it is the clock. “𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦”, Keane says, timing it so that 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.

And he warns against rewarding the stall with money. “𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭, 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳”. His reason is history, not theory: “𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦”. Every signature Iran has ever put on paper, it later erased.

So Keane’s counsel is the opposite of caution. With Iran’s economy in freefall and the regime weaker than it has been in decades, he says the moment should be pressed, not squandered: “𝘓𝘦𝘵’𝘴 𝘨𝘰 𝘣𝘪𝘨, 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯”, and 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐩𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞.

This is the choice the pro-Israel hawk has warned about for years. A weakened Iran that is allowed to catch its breath does not reform — it rebuilds, and it remembers.

𝐈𝐫𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞. 𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭.

[M.A. Rothman @MichaelARothman]

𝐍𝐄𝐖𝐒𝐎𝐌 𝐀𝐃𝐌𝐈𝐓𝐒 𝐀 𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐒 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐍 𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐏 𝐈𝐍 𝐈𝐅 𝐓𝐖𝐎 𝐑𝐄𝐏𝐔𝐁𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐒 𝐋𝐎𝐂𝐊 𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐂𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐒 𝐎𝐅𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐎𝐓

California’s jungle primary sends the top two vote-getters to November regardless of party, and for the first time in years Democrats are staring at a real scenario where both finalists could be Republicans. Asked what he’d do about it, Gavin Newsom let the mask slip.

He opened with the dodge. “𝘔𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯”, he said, insisting “𝘐 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦”. Then, instead of stopping, he kept talking — and the quiet part came out.

“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘰, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘋𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵”, Newsom said, “𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯”. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠.

This is the party that spent a decade branding any doubt about an election a threat to democracy. Now its biggest star is openly war-gaming how to override a result he doesn’t like before a single vote is counted. And it’s not idle talk: 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐚 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐇𝐢𝐥𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐎𝐏 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞, a move designed to keep Chad Bianco out of the top two (Politico).

Read the logic plainly. When the rules might produce an outcome Democrats want, the rules are sacred. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧.

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐲. 𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠.

[M.A. Rothman @MichaelARothman]

𝐀 𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐃 𝐇𝐄𝐂𝐊𝐋𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐊𝐀 𝐊𝐈𝐑𝐊 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐒 𝐏∗𝐃𝐎𝐏𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐄 𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐎𝐅 𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐄

She was on stage at Turning Point USA’s Women’s Leadership Summit in San Antonio — the flagship event built to pull young conservative women into the movement — when a protester began shrieking the same vile line over and over, trying to hijack the room. “𝘌𝘳𝘪𝘬𝘢 𝘒𝘪𝘳𝘬 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘱∗𝘥𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴”, the heckler screamed, again and again.

Kirk did not flinch. She let the noise wash over her, stood in silence for a few beats, and then delivered the only line that mattered. “𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘰𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵” 𝐍𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭, 𝐧𝐨 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐩𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤, 𝐧𝐨 𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 — just a prayer aimed at the person trying to humiliate her in front of a packed hall.

Remember who this woman is. Erika Kirk took over as 𝐂𝐄𝐎 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐔𝐒𝐀 after her husband Charlie was ass∗ssinated in front of a campus crowd. She inherited an organization with a presence on more than 4,200 high school and college campuses and over 800,000 lifetime student members, and she has carried it forward while raising their children and burying their father.

The left spent years insisting that conservatives are the party of 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦. Then a stranger stands up and accuses a grieving widow of the single most monstrous thing he could invent, and her answer is to wish him peace. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲. One side throws the filth. The other side prays for the person throwing it.

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞. 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝.

[Richard Grenell @RichardGrenell]

Sending ballots in the mail to people who moved out of California years ago is corrupt.

Sending ballots in the mail to people who didn’t request one is corrupt.

Sending ballots in the mail to every address someone has lived in for the past 10 years is corrupt.

Letting activists sign up mentally unstable people for a ballot by using phony addresses is corrupt.

Not letting third party law enforcement officials check the voter rolls is corrupt.

Letting one political party control the entire process for decades leads to corruption.

[M.A. Rothman @MichaelARothman]

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘 𝐁𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐃𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐀𝐑𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐈𝐌𝐌𝐈𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐄𝐍𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐂𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐂𝐑𝐀𝐓 𝐕𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐘𝐄𝐒

At the end of a grueling nineteen-hour overnight session, the Senate did the thing Washington has promised for years and never actually delivered (via Libs of TikTok).

By a vote of 52 to 47, the chamber passed a $𝟕𝟎 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐚𝐠𝐞 and sent it to the House. The breakdown is enormous: $38.6 billion for ICE, $26 billion for Customs and Border Protection, and another $5 billion for DHS to spend on enforcement as it sees fit (CNBC, Washington Times). The money is locked in through fiscal 2029 — funded for the rest of President Trump’s term.

Then the clerk read the tally out loud. “𝘖𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 52, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 47. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘭, 𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥, 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥”.

Here is the line that tells you everything. 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐭 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐬. Zero. The only Republican to break ranks was Lisa Murkowski. An entire party looked at the largest border-security investment in modern American history — the resources to actually finish the job at the border — and decided the safer political move was to vote against it.

This is the difference between talking about the border and funding it. 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤; 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐧𝐨, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. The bill now heads to the House, where the same choice waits for everyone who has spent four years insisting they care about the rule of law.

𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐧𝐨 𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫. 𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐭.

[M.A. Rothman @MichaelARothman]

𝐀𝐒 𝐔𝐒𝐇𝐀 𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐃 𝐊𝐈𝐑𝐊’𝐒 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐖𝐈𝐃𝐎𝐖, 𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐀𝐈𝐃 𝐘𝐄𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓𝐇 𝐁𝐀𝐁𝐘 𝐒𝐇𝐄’𝐃 𝐒𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐍 𝐎𝐅𝐅

The Vances are expecting their fourth child this summer, a boy due in late July. It reads like an ordinary family announcement until you learn what changed Usha Vance’s mind — and that it traces straight back to the worst day of Erika Kirk’s life.

In an excerpt of his forthcoming book published by the Wall Street Journal, Vice President JD Vance describes his wife holding Charlie Kirk’s widow as the grief first broke over her. “𝘈𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘒𝘪𝘳𝘬’𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘰𝘸 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸, 𝘌𝘳𝘪𝘬𝘢 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘜𝘴𝘩𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘣𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘬𝘪𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦”.

That confession landed on a marriage where the question had already been asked and answered. “𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘜𝘴𝘩𝘢 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦”, Vance writes, 𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭.

Then it shifted. “𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘜𝘴𝘩𝘢, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥, 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘺”. Vance adds that he does not know why God works this way, only that “𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴”.

Charlie Kirk spent his public life arguing that faith and family are the answer to a culture that worships neither. 𝐈𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 — a son who would not exist if a grieving widow’s honesty had not reached the woman holding her.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐊𝐢𝐫𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝.