July 22, 2026 — Scott Johnson

The Trump effect [With Comment by John]

Featured image I decried President Trump’s endorsement of clown gubernatorial candidate Mike Lindell last week in “Put a MyPillow over it.” Running in a multicandidate primary field, according to a KSTP/SurveyUSA poll, Lindell now predictably appears to have extended his lead over competitors including endorsed candidate Kendall Qualls and House Speaker Lisa Demuth. That is a shame. Lindell is a joke. I would have said that before it was reported Lindell is »
July 22, 2026 — Scott Johnson

Co-presidents for life [With Comment by John]

Featured imageI vaguely recall reading Ron Radosh’s 2021 Quileette essay “Sandinista! The US Left and Nicaragua.” However, while my attention was turned elsewhere, Nicaragua’s National Assembly amended the constitution to allow the president to run for an unlimited number of five-year terms. Given the fact that Sandinista Commie Daniel Ortega was president, that was a bad sign. As I understand the relevant developments, it got worse in 2025 when the Constitution »
July 21, 2026 — John Hinderaker

The Democrats’ Most Loyal Voters

Featured imageWhen I was trying civil jury cases, the conventional wisdom was that plaintiffs wanted jurors who were mad at the world because they thought their merits had not been sufficiently rewarded. The classic plaintiff’s juror, I was told, was a guy with a PhD in comparative literature who was driving a taxi. Conversely, the ideal defense juror (I am talking about civil cases, not criminal cases) is a happy person, »
July 21, 2026 — John Hinderaker

What’s Affordable, What Isn’t

Featured imageThis graphic has been all over X for the last few days, and I have been meaning to get to it. It is similar to many other charts I have seen over the years. We all know that the cost of living has been rising, especially during the Biden administration. But many are not aware of how targeted those increasing costs actually are. Many goods and some services have gotten »
July 21, 2026 — John Hinderaker

Feds Suspend $1 Billion in Medicaid Funds to California, Minnesota

Featured imageIn a long-overdue action, the federal government is moving to protect taxpayers against systematic fraud in California and Minnesota: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Tuesday he’s stopping more than $1 billion in federal Medicaid payments to California and Minnesota over suspected fraud. “We are not sending Medicaid dollars out the door until we have confidence that they are being spent lawfully and appropriately,” Kennedy said »
July 21, 2026 — Scott Johnson

Fox News covers “depraved rag”

Featured imageTwenty years ago I covered Keith Ellison’s first campaign for Congress extremely closely. I talked to sources all around the United States in the course of the campaign. I have an Ellison file six inches thick deriving from my work on that campaign. Star Tribune reporter Rochelle Olson covered that campaign for the Star Tribune. Her coverage essentially performed public relations on its behalf. Her motto was not there’s no »
July 21, 2026 — Scott Johnson

One-Trick Pony

Featured imageTCM is playing Paul Simon’s film One-Trick Pony (1980) at the moment. I was one of the few who found Simon’s film to be terrific. I should probably shorten that to say I was one of the few who found his film, period. I loved it, complete with the guest appearances of the Lovin’ Spoonful and Sam & Dave (below). Sam & Dave were barely talking to each other by »
July 20, 2026 — John Hinderaker

Biden Judge Blocks Paramount Acquisition

Featured imageIn February, Paramount Skydance agreed with Warner Bros. Discovery to acquire that company for $111 billion. The agreement followed a convoluted battle between Paramount and Netflix to be the buyer, which Paramount ultimately won. The Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice cleared the acquisition last month, finding no anticompetitive impact. The Antitrust Division is highly respected; its analyses are largely mathematical and look at the pricing implications of alleged »
July 20, 2026 — Scott Johnson

“This depraved rag”

Featured imageStar Tribune columnist Rochelle Olson has cheered on the pardon conferred on child rapist Tou Vue Vang by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, and Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Natalie Hudson. Olson’s congratulatory comments are unsurprising. She is a core supporter of the Democrats. At right in the photo below Olson was on her way to cover the 2024 Democratic convention that would nominate Walz its »
July 20, 2026 — Scott Johnson

Keane insight

Featured imageIn his interview with Joe Rogan last week, Vice President Vance promoted the line that the Israelis oppose blew up his beautiful Iran deal because they want “to keep the war going on indefinitely.” The editors of the New York Post responded with an obvious point: It was Iran that broke the 60-day “comprehensive cease-fire” established by the Memorandum of Understanding by attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz, period: »
July 19, 2026 — John Hinderaker

Is Trump Nixon 2.0?

Featured imageAt InstaPundit, there are interesting links and quotes about the fact that Richard Nixon is enjoying a renaissance among young Americans. Many young conservatives are re-evaluating Nixon, and comparing him with Donald Trump. Those observations are worthwhile, and I commend them to your attention. There are obvious parallels between Nixon and Trump, including the fact that both came back from what seemed to be the end of their political careers, »
July 21, 2026 — Scott Johnson

Sentence affirmed & unreported

Featured imageSurely you don’t remember Charles Littlejohn. He is the guy who was nabbed for leaking the tax returns of President Trump to the New York Times. He also leaked tax information of thousands of the most successful and wealthy Americans including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Warren Buffett to ProPublica. He pleaded guilty to only one crime, but he committed many. Ira Stoll reports this underreported sequel for the Washington »
July 20, 2026 — Bill Glahn

7th Prime Minister in 10 years

Featured imageFrom NBC News, ‘King of the North’ Andy Burnham to become 7th UK prime minister in a decade. The 7th in ten years, dating back to David Cameron in 2016. By my count, only Burnham’s immediate predecessor, Keir Starmer, took office immediately following a general election. Burnham and four others first assumed office following something like a palace coup. Until recently, Burnham was the Mayor of Manchester. A month ago, »
July 20, 2026 — John Hinderaker

Liberal Terrorist Attacks Federal Building in New York [Updated]

Featured imageEarlier this morning, an anti-ICE activist set off an explosion at the entrance to 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan. The building houses ICE and the FBI, and illegal immigrants are processed there: Police say a man armed with a collection of weapons started a fire outside 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan on Monday morning. Officials said two people had minor injuries and the incident is being investigated as a »
July 20, 2026 — Scott Johnson

“Genocide” for dummies

Featured imageThe proposition that Israelis seek to commit or have committed “genocide” in Gaza is patently absurd. It works an inversion of reality that has proved useful to Hamas and its supporters. It has become a shibboleth required of ambitious pols seeking to nail down the “Hamas wing of the Democratic Party, which is in control.” Bret Stephens is the New York Times columnist and former editor of the Jerusalem Post. »
July 19, 2026 — Bill Glahn

The centrist trap

Featured imageMedia in Minnesota are desperate to win a fifth-consecutive election for governor for the Democrats. But they know that they have an uphill battle. So, they are working overtime to portray the Democrat nominee Amy Klobuchar (now a sitting U.S. Senator) as a moderate, centrist, middle-of-the-road politician. The Minneapolis Star Tribune is carrying this water by the tanker truck, As Democrats move left, Klobuchar makes a business-friendly pitch in governor’s »
July 19, 2026 — Bill Glahn

The habeas defiance

Featured imageJoe Biden-appointed Judge Jeffrey M. Bryan leads Minnesota-based federal district judges in defying an 8th Circuit court of appeals’ ruling on the detention of illegal aliens awaiting deportation. Aliens have been filing habeas corpus cases in record numbers, seeking release from ICE detention at facilities around the state as part of a nation-wide trend. We are approaching 1,400 habeas cases filed, just in Minnesota, since the first of the year. »