The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

In The Mailbox: 01.02.26

Posted on | January 3, 2026 | No Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Usual weekend deadlines for the usual weekend posts.
As I suppose you all know by now, we had a problem with Cloudflare and its DNS servers yesterday, which meant I picked a bad week to slough off on New Year’s Eve. Spent the afternoon paying bills instead of catching up, so here we are. Thanks to everyone who bought stuff through my Amazon links in December.
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley et Hamas delendam sunt.

OVER THE TRANSOM
Director Blue: A Day With The Continental Army’s Secret Weapon – 1776, Top 20 Attacks On Nick Shirley To Shield Democrat Fraud, and A 2001-2026 Political Retrospective
357 Magnum: 2025 Self-Defense Shootings in the News, More Self-Defense in California, also Hollywood in 2025
EBL: Driftboat vs. Fishmonger Filet, The Ridiculously Extreme Lives of Swordfish, How The Swiss Fire In Crans-Montana Took Hold, Soup made with the rest of the fish, and Tournament of Roses Parade Royalty
Twitchy: Mamdani’s Non-Photo Op Photo Op, On Today’s Episode of “That’s Not How Money Works”, and Former Tea Partier Joe Walsh Wakes up In 2026 To Realize He’s Joined The Communist Party
Vox Popoli: The Lesson of Scott Adams, Taiwan > Okinawa, The Hallmark of Bad Writing, Replacement 3.0, and Welcome to 2026
According To Hoyt: Spit Out The Black Pill, Happy New Year, Attention in the Audience, Please, Bounce, and For This?
Cedar Sanderson: It Is Something, also, The Undaunted Phoenix
Stoic Observations: 3013 1/2

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
American Conservative: Trump’s Iran Threats Endanger His Presidency and Movement, also, Two Cheers for Bari Weiss
American Greatness: DOJ Official Harmeet Dhillon Demands Docs From Minnesota’s Sec. of State on ‘Hinky’ Same Day Voting Registrations, House Oversight Committee Will Call Minnesota Reps, Governor, AG to Testify, Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani Sworn in on Quran at Midnight, Washington State AG Warns Citizen Journalists to Stop Investigating Somali Daycares, and HHS Says It’s Freezing Child Care Payments to Minnesota After Fraud Allegations
Animal Magnetism: Animal’s Hump Day News, Animal’s Red Thursday News, and Animal’s Friday Announcement
BattleSwarm: Railroaded APD Officer’s Conviction Overturned, Spielberg Schindler’s List Foundation Now Funds Anti-Israel Groups, Is Dan Crenshaw Pussing Out On Shawn Ryan? and LinkSwarm for January 2
Behind The Black: Many Martian mysteries in one spot, SpaceX doing trial runs of specialized barge for transporting Starship/Superheavy from Boca Chica to Florida, ESA funds Danish lunar orbiter, SpaceX to do a major orbital reconfiguration of its Starlink constellation, and Peter Schickele performs Schickele and P.D.Q. Bach
Cafe Hayek: Protectionism Is Economically Destructive, The Complexities Are Always Greater Than They Initially Seem, ‘We Support Free Trade, But….’, Perhaps Xi Has God-like Powers that Mao Didn’t, and There Ain’t No Such Thing As Free Expansion of Automobile Production
CDR Salamander: Who’s Planning For War And Who’s Preparing For The Next POM Cycle?, A New Year, A “New” Weapon, & An Old Tale, and Fullbore Friday
Chicago Boyz: Derek Chauvin Appeal, New Year’s Eve 2025, and An Army of Shirleys
Da Tech Guy: DaTechGuy 2025 Year in Review, also, January Indulgence Calendar & the last six days of double Plenary Indulgences
Don Surber: A reply to NYT, Shah back in 2026? and Reviewing the “year in review” stories
Gates Of Vienna: No Sharia in Austria, Laughing into 2026, Radical Extremism, or, Those Dastardly Political Islamists, and Culture-Enriching Ruction in the Piazza Duomo
The Geller Report: President Trump Warns Iran – Kill Protesters and America Will Strike, DAY SIX: IRANIANS FLOOD THE STREETS AS FREEDOM REVOLUTION SPREADS DESPITE AYATOLLAH REGIME’S LIVE FIRE, Communist NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani Declares War on Individualism, FBI Foils Another New Year’s Eve Islamic Terror Attack — in North Carolina, and How Will the Iranian Regime Collapse?
Glenn Reynolds: UBI For Me But Not For Thee
Hollywood In Toto: Veteran Actor Shares Horrors of Hollywood Blacklist 2.0, Sentimental Value Features Four Oscar-Worthy Turns, Late Night Won’t Touch Somali Scandal, Why George Clooney (and Hollywood) Should Fear Bari Weiss, and MCU Ditches Woke … for Fatherhood?
Legal Insurrection: Alberta’s Independence Push Continues as 2026 Referendum Drive Kicks into Gear, Legal Insurrection AI-Generated Covers for the New Year’s Fantasy Magazine Rack, Florida Legislation Would Expand Number of People Who Can Carry Guns on College Campuses, New Ohio Law Banning DEI Goes Into Effect in June, and Finnish Police Detain Russian Crew After Suspected Sabotage of Baltic Undersea Cable
Matt Taibbi: Five Craziest Things About The Epstein Case Part 2, also, Let’s Make A Happy New Year
Nebraska Energy Observer: Peace Through Strength, New Year thoughts, and The Beef Cartel
Outkick: “Why Not Us?”, Alabama Never Should Have Been In The Playoff; Rose Bowl Loss Hurts ESPN, SEC’s Reputation, Team USA GM Bill Guerin Explains His Reasoning Behind Head-Scratching Roster Decisions, Lane Kiffin Brutally Roasted After Ole Miss Stuns Georgia, and Tom Brady’s Firecracker New Girlfriend Stuns America, Kay Adams Takes A Bath & Lane Kiffin Is Just The Worst
Power Line: A Dose of Reality on the Minnesota Frauds, Men of the year, Shirley you jest, Today in Minnesota fraud, and Why Was 2023 So Warm?
Shark Tank: DeSantis Keeps Up The Hype As Miami Hurricanes Advance To CFB Semifinals
Shot In The Dark: Campaign 2026, also, The Minnesota Way
STUMP: Top Five STUMP Posts For 2025!, 
The Political Hat: Happy New Year!
This Ain’t Hell: Valor Friday, New Toys for the New Year, Good News for Vets in LA, Dem mayors in action, and California’s desire for increasing taxes on the rich would backfire
Transterrestrial Musings: Happy New Year To All, The Energy Infrastructure, What To Watch For In Space This Year, and Islamism
Victory Girls: Mamdani: Rugged Individualism OUT, Huggable Socialist Collectivism IN, also, America Is Trading Its Roots for Something Very Different
Watts Up With That: Surprise! A $600 Million Insect Protein Animal Feed Business Just Went Bankrupt, Trump Shook Up Energy Policy In 2025. Disaster Could Still Strike In 2026, They called me the “anti-Greta” so I was targeted, Met Office Blowing Hot & Cold, and Hochul must reveal the “ruinous cost” of the Climate Act
The Federalist: Here Are The 10 Biggest Media Hoaxes Of 2025, The Federalist Staff’s 2025 Winners And Losers Of The Year, It’s Time To Cancel Our Subscription Culture Once And For All, It’s Not Just Minnesota. The Vast Majority Of Daycare Is A Scam, and Here Are The Top Six Takeaways From Jack Smith’s Preposterous White-Hat Posturing
Mark Steyn: Welcome to 2026, End Game, Partying on the Precipice (cont), and “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?”

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Category: Linkagery

‘Madison Cornbread’ Update

Posted on | January 1, 2026 | No Comments

June 2022: ‘Madison Cornbread’ gets her 15 minutes of fame

It was Ace of Spades who hung the sobriquet “Madison Cornbread” on former White House staffer Cassidy Hutchinson. In case you forgot, Hutchinson was an assistant to chief of staff Mark Meadows who became a so-called “star witness” when she testified in June 2022 before the J6 “insurrection” committee. That committee was not properly constituted, because Nancy Pelosi would not permit the Republicans to appoint members of their own choosing; instead Pelosi herself chose Lynn Cheney and Adam Kinzinger as the “Republican” committee members. There was never any skeptical cross-examination of witnesses, no exculpatory evidence introduced, nothing like an honest effort to provide a fair hearing. The illegitimate nature of the J6 committee is, of course, a perfect analogy for the 2020 election. No intelligent person now believes that Joe Biden actually got 81 million votes in 2020, and scarcely a day goes by now without new reason to believe that Trump really won that election, e.g., officials in Georgia belatedly admitting that more than 300,000 ballots in Fulton County lacked proper verification.

Excuse me for playing conspiracy theorist here, but this is crucial to the whole narrative around the J6 “insurrection.” If you take the anti-Trump view of what happened at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, it was an attempt to “overturn” the 2020 election — a threat to Our Democracy. On the other hand, if you have doubts about the integrity of the 2020 election, then the mob who stormed the Capitol had a legitimate grievance, and it was a Mostly Peaceful Protest that got a bit rowdy.

The real purpose of Nancy Pelosi’s J6 witch-hunt committee was to demonize anyone who raised doubts about Joe Biden’s 81 million votes, essentially making it a crime to suggest Democrats stole the election.

In effect, the J6 committee was about continuing the work of the self-described “cabal” that worked to make sure Joe Biden “won” in 2020. The committee was not an “investigation,” it was a cover-up.

As such, no self-respecting Republican should have cooperated with the J6 committee or, if compelled by subpoena to testify, their cooperation should be limited by strictly meeting legal requirements. This brings us back, then, to the strange case of “Madison Cornbread.” She became the “star witness” of that Star Chamber charade because she was willing to share mere gossip — “so-and-so told me that Trump said this” — in particular claiming that Trump had attempted to physically overpower his limousine driver to force him to drive to the Capitol. Actual witnesses immediately contradicted this testimony, but of course the J6 committee never presented these contradicting witnesses, allowing Cassidy Hutchinson’s dubious testimony to become the defining narrative.

Naturally, Simon & Schuster gave her a fat advance to write a book, a six-figure payoff for her service to the anti-Trump cause. And now, more than three years after her 15 minutes of fame, we get this ironic coda:

The House Select January 6th Committee’s “star” Cassidy Hutchinson provided “secondhand hearsay” about the 2021 Capitol riot and wasn’t considered as a witness in the election interference case brought against President Trump, according to former special counsel Jack Smith.
Smith told the House Judiciary Committee in a closed-door deposition on Dec. 17 that Hutchinson — who testified at the Jan. 6 select panel’s made-for-TV hearings in June 2022 — “certainly” wouldn’t have made a “powerful” witness because she couldn’t provide “firsthand” testimony.
“My recollection with Ms. Hutchinson, at least one of the issues was a number of the things that she gave evidence on were secondhand hearsay, were things that she had heard from other people,” the ex-Trump prosecutor testified to the Judiciary lawmakers and staff, the deposition’s transcript shows.

Game. Set. Match.

Here we have the special counsel who got the assignment to put Donald Trump in prison over the 2020 election dispute saying, under oath, that Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony was just gossip. Any first-year law student has to know that hearsay is inadmissable as evidence in a legal proceeding, and Jack Smith couldn’t go to court with that stuff.

We have lived through years of lies about all this — the 2020 election, the Capitol riot, the various “investigations” of Trump — and some people have unfortunately lost their minds in the process. Not naming names, but if certain prominent podcasters have slid over the edge into the kook fringe, isn’t that somewhat understandable, given how much gaslighting we have all endured? EIGHTY-ONE MILLION VOTES!

Maintaining one’s sanity amid the howling madness can be difficult when we are expected to believe the testimony of “Madison Cornbread.”

Thank God I was never that crazy, except for maybe during that psilocybin-induced psychosis in 1979, but why bring that up now?

UPDATE: “The Last Refuge” on X:

The predicate for Jack Smith to prosecute President Trump for his efforts to “interfere in the 2020 election” and thereby “challenge all democratic norms” essentially boils down to Jack Smith accusing President Trump of participating in a fraud when he challenged the outcome of the 2020 election.
To get beyond President Trump’s first amendment right to free speech, Jack Smith claims Trump knowingly understood that Joe Biden had won the election; President Trump was told by senior Republican advisors that Biden had legitimately won the 2020 election; President Trump rejected the reality of the “truthful information” presented to him, and instead chose to launch a psychological operation against the American people, i.e. “fraud.”

In other words, the entire raison d’être of Smith’s investigation was the hope that he could somehow prove that Trump himself believed that Joe Biden actually won the 2020 election. Not enough psilocybin in the world to convince me that this was a legitimate investigation.



 

Category: Conspiracy Theories, Election

In The Mailbox: 12.30.25 (Evening Edition)

Posted on | December 31, 2025 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 12.30.25 (Evening Edition)

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Incensepunk magazine is calling for flash fiction submissions
Silicon Valley et Hamas delenda sunt.

OVER THE TRANSOM
Director Blue: The Feminist Revolution In Iran
EBL: Stone Crab Claws, Brigitte Bardot – “Mambo Italiano”, and Nothin’ New for New Year
Twitchy: Tim Walz’ Worst Nightmare – A Roundup Of Somali Fraud Memes, “Finally, Something Not Infuriating!”, and CNN Laments That “MAGA Journalist” Nick Shirley Had No Guardrails
Louder With Crowder: CNN’s Abby Phillips dismisses Nick Shirley’s reporting because “The Somali community is under attack”, “When is someone going to jail for the rampant fraud?”, Surveillance Video From 2018 Proves Somali Fraud Has Been Going On For Years in Minnesota, and “Learing” Center at heart of Somali fraud scandal caught busing in kids… while government claims they shut center down?
Vox Popoli: The Logic Holds, The Junior Classics 9 & 10 Ebooks, Never Buy In to Netflix, Too Doggone Funny, and Did Chase Just Go Down?
Mazelit’s Corner: Dentist Who Wished For “More Dead Zionists” Still Practicing In Swanky Hollywood Office
Ammo.com: Stray Bullet Death Statistics

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
American Conservative: The Danish Immigration Lesson, also, American Militarism Is the Missing Element in the Creed–Nation Debate
American Greatness: FBI Director Says Minnesota Fraud Cases Are ‘Tip of a Very Big Iceberg’, The Pence Mirage: Why the Right Isn’t Leaving Trump, DHS Agents on the Ground in Minneapolis Investigating Somali-Owned Businesses As Fraud Allegations Swirl, Judge Rules Trump Administration May Share Illegal Alien Medicaid Data With ICE, and Trump Administration Sues Virginia Over In-State Tuition for Illegal Immigrants
Animal Magnetism: Goodbye, Blue Monday
BattleSwarm: Richard Hammond And Stirling Moss Discuss Their Brain Injuries, Russia vs. NATO Video Roundup, Musk Backs Wilco GOP Chair In Tranny Bathroom Wars, and Why Are Producers Making Subprime Meltdown 2 When No One Liked The Original?
Behind The Black: China launches two satellites for “new technology verification for space target detection”, President Trump and NASA administrator Isaacman: Please take the crew off of Artemis-2, The up and down tale of two rocket startups, Vector and Phantom, Colliding galaxies, as seen in the infrared and X-rays, and Russia’s early warning satellite constellation is apparently no longer functioning
Cafe Hayek: Noah Smith Is Mistaken About Trade Deficits, Michael Pettis Is a Very Poor Trade Economist, The Terms of Protectionism, and The Condition of My Support for a Policy of Free Trade
CDR Salamander: Understanding Japan’s Military Expansion
Chicago Boyz: We Have CRM. Maybe We Need AIM, also, Another Merry Minnesota Walz
Da Tech Guy: Two Bad Christmas Jokes, One Old One New, also, Five Christmas Season Thoughts Under the Fedora
Don Surber: Sadly, Bardot was right
Elizabeth Nickson: How Demented Is The Demented Dominion?
First Street Journal: When a raging anti-Semite feels comfortable enough to go on a tirade
Gates Of Vienna: Fundraising for Hamas in Genoa, Ratcheteering, Sanae Takaichi Says “We Must Reconsider This Policy of Continuing to Bring Them In”, and “Foreigners Should Not Vote in Swedish Elections”
The Geller Report: MULLAHS UNDER SIEGE: Massive Nationwide Strikes Shut Down Grand Bazaar as Iran Regime Faces Spreading Revolt, Historic First: Donald Trump First Non-Israeli to Receive Israel Prize for Special Contribution to the Jewish People, Iran Claims They’re in ‘All-Out War’ With US, Europe and Israel, Trump Promises Hamas Will Have “HELL TO PAY” If Terror Group Does Not Disarm, and ELECTION JIHAD: Niqab-Clad Lifelong Democrat Enters NC Republican Primary, With No Other GOP Candidates Filed
Hollywood In Toto: In Defense of ‘Landman’s’ Blonde Beauties, Why French Connection II Was a Minor Miracle, ‘Nuremberg’ Should Crush TDS Once and for All, George Clooney Takes Bold Stand Against Journalism, and Is Hollywood Finally Getting What It Voted For?
Legal Insurrection: NASA Chief Vows U.S. Moon Base as Centerpiece of New NASA Agenda, HHS Freezes Child Care Payments to Minnesota Amid Daycare Fraud Allegations, MTG’s Exit Interview with The NY Times: Scorn, Self-Pity, and a Rewrite of History, HUD: Biden-Era Rental Assistance Payments Went to Deceased Tenants, Noncitizens, and Politico Reporter Implies Somali Daycare Center Owners Could Justifiably Shoot People for Asking Questions
Outkick: Falcons Have Ruined The NFL’s Winner-Take-All Hopes For The NFC South. Stefon Diggs Facing Felony Charges He ‘Categorically Denies’ While Working To Pay Off Alleged Victim. Steve Sarkisian Blasts Unqualified NIL Agents, And Roommates, Ahead Of Transfer Portal Chaos. ‘We’ve Got No Rules’: John Calipari Rips A College Basketball System Gone Wild. and Elizabeth Banks Has Her Legs Ready For 2026
Power Line: The ordeal of Romi Gonen, Today in Minnesota fraud, On Strategic Minerals, the Left Is Catching On, and Desperately Defending Timmy
Shark Tank: Byron Donalds Rips Tampon Timmy Over Day Care Fraud Allegations
Shot In The Dark: Civics
STUMP: Top Five Mortality With Meep Posts From 2025
The Political Hat: Blogroll Cleanup 2025
This Ain’t Hell: WWII vet identified, Operation Cowboy, President Trump details success indicators that did not go as critics predicted, US slashes UN humanitarian aid from $17 billion to $2 billion, and Convicted killer appointed to police oversight panel in Oregon city
Transterrestrial Musings: The Early Days Of Computing
Victory Girls: Tim Waltz, Fraud King Of The Somali Pirates, also, MN Fraud: Daycare With No Kids And Misspelled Sign Raked In Millions
Watts Up With That: Miliband Claims High Energy Bills Due To Fossil Fuels, The Trump Administration’s Fight To Fund Scientists, Hybrid Horror – You are 3x More Likely to Die in a Hybrid Vehicle than a Gasoline Vehicle, Shropshire Sinkhole? Blame It On Climate Change! and Climate activists v. the U.S. energy industry: Cases to watch in 2026
The Federalist: Minneapolis Daycare Scandal Reveals The Trajectory Of Blue Zone Fraud Culture, The Left’s Top 25 Lies Of 2025, Top Attorney For Special Counsel Jack Smith Previously Spiked Clinton Foundation Investigation, Let’s Leave Trump Impressions Behind With 2025, and Before You Make Any Lofty New Year’s Resolutions, Go Clean Your Room
Mark Steyn: On the Town: A Very Good Year, Last Rites: John Huston, James Joyce and The Dead, Auld Lang Syne, Posterity and Propositions, and The “Blessings of Public Funding”

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Category: Linkagery

In The Mailbox: 12.30.25 (Afternoon Edition)

Posted on | December 30, 2025 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 12.30.25 (Afternoon Edition)

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Maybe it’s time for Trump and Hegseth to raise a few brigades of MPs.
Silicon Valley et Hamas delenda sunt.

Caveman catgirl brings knowledge to the ignorant. (h/t Sensurround on X)

OVER THE TRANSOM
357 Magnum: More Guns, Less Crime
Director Blue: A Day With A California Gold Prospector In 1849, A Winter Day At Valley Forge In 1778, Tim Walz & The Somalis, and A Day With Lewis & Clark & Sacajawea
EBL: Training New Cutters, Frankenstein, Brigitte Bardot : RIP, Tourists Favorite Fish, and Did Democrats murder Melissa Hortman over her vote against fraud in Minnesota?
Twitchy: Commies of a Feather, Texas Man Busted For Handing Bomb-Making Material To Fed Posing As ISIS, and Amazon’s Drone Nightmare Hits Dallas
Louder With Crowder: Parents are demanding answers after Democrat-controlled school district surveyed 11-year-olds on their sexual preferences, YouTuber who exposed Somali fraud SHREDS Tampon Tim Walz over accusations of “white supremacy”, Injured male tennis player outside of the Top 600 still able to defeat the best female player in the world, “She is not our friend”, and Female comedian pledges she’ll never stop fighting to trans the kids while lashing out at RFK Jr
Vox Popoli: Russia Moves On Odessa, HARDCODED, The Inevitable Arrives, More Bass More Better, and Giving Them a Chance
Upstream Reviews: January New Releases
Dr. Mauser: Whose Safety?
The Bugscuffle Gazette: When you import the Third World
Ammo.com: Gun Ownership In America By Year
Stoic Observations: The Ultimate Punk
Cedar Sanderson: Forensics for Writers Part 3, also, The Color of Winter

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
CDR Salamander: China Develops World’s Oldest Warship
Don Surber: Running reporters ragged
Elizabeth Nickson: An Extractive Brutalist Amoral Class Is Being Deposed
STUMP: Seasonal Warnings – Beware Of Falls and Shoveling Snow!

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Category: Linkagery

Game of the Year!

Posted on | December 29, 2025 | Comments Off on Game of the Year!

Brock Purdy spots Kyle Kyle Juszczyk (44) in the end zone.

If you weren’t watching Sunday night’s game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Chicago Bears, you missed one of the greatest games in NFL history. Both teams came into this Week 17 matchup with a shot at the No. 1 seed in the conference (which includes a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs). The Bears had already clinched the NFC North title, while the NFC West was still a three-way battle between the 49ers, the Seattle Seahawks and the L.A. Rams.

As regular readers know, I became a 49ers fan this year after they acquired my man Mac Jones as their backup quarterback. That turned out to be a great deal for both Mac and San Francisco, after Niners QB Brock Purdy suffered a “turf toe” injury in the season-opener against Seattle. Jones ended up starting eight games for San Francisco, compiling a 5-3 record — including a crucial OT victory over the Rams in Week 5 — and redeeming his reputation after getting benched in New England and then spending a season as Trevor Lawrence’s backup in Jacksonville. By the time Purdy was ready to return from his injury in Week 11, the 49ers had a 6-4 record and since then, they have now won six in a row after holding off Chicago in the prime time thriller Sunday night:

Brock Purdy and the San Francisco offense did everything they could for the first 58 minutes in a nearly flawless performance. At the end, they were just spectators when the beleaguered defense finally came through with a stop.
Purdy threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Jauan Jennings with 2:15 left, and the 49ers forced an incomplete pass on the final play from the 2 to beat the Chicago Bears 42-38 on Sunday night and set up a Week 18 showdown for the top seed in the NFC.
Caleb Williams drove the Bears (11-5) down the field in the closing seconds and had one last shot for the win. But Bryce Huff forced him out of the pocket and his throw short-hopped Jahdae Walker in the end zone to seal a sixth straight victory for the 49ers (12-4).
“For them to finish out the game like that, I was so happy for them. I was sitting there not being able to do anything but watch,” Purdy said. “To be able to celebrate was a cool team win. There’s nothing like that. It was pretty special.”
That gave the 49ers a chance to win the NFC West and get a bye by beating Seattle (13-3) in the season finale on Saturday night. A win would give San Francisco home-field advantage and a chance to stay home all postseason, with the Super Bowl set to be played at Levi’s Stadium on Feb. 8.
“We’ve earned this,” coach Kyle Shanahan said. “This is the game we want. We love that it’s here. We have an opportunity to never leave here again this year.”
The loss ends the Bears’ hopes of earning the top seed. Chicago has already clinched the NFC North and can earn the No. 2 seed by beating Detroit next Sunday.
Purdy followed his career-high five TD-pass performance last week against Indianapolis by throwing for three scores and running for two to become the sixth player since the AFL-NFL merger with back-to-back games with at least five touchdowns.
Purdy finished 24 for 33 for 303 yards, while Christian McCaffrey ran for 140 yards and a score and added 41 more receiving.
Williams went 25 for 42 for 330 yards and two TDs but couldn’t deliver at the end after already leading the Bears to an NFL-record six comeback wins after trailing in the final two minutes of regulation.
“It’s frustrating,” Williams said. “You don’t want to lose a game ever. And then also, in that position, having a shot at the end is all you can ask for on this moment.”
Neither defense could slow down the opposing offense for most of the night after a pick-6 by Chicago’s T.J. Edwards on the first play. The Niners led 28-21 at halftime.
The teams then traded touchdowns on the first three drives of the second half, with D’Andre Swift scoring on two runs for Chicago and Purdy delivering a highlight-reel play for San Francisco. He rolled to his right on a play from the 6, eluded two pass rushers and then flipped an easy TD pass to Kyle Juszczyk on a play that lasted longer than 8 seconds.
“I was hoping he’d throw it away and we’d have a couple more downs,” Shanahan said. “Then I started watching him like every fan does. He made me extremely nervous and then he made my extremely happy.”
The Bears finally forced a punt and went ahead 38-35 on a short field goal by Cairo Santos with 5:22 to play when they couldn’t convert on third down in the red zone.
The Bears’ opportunistic defense struck on the first play when Edwards caught a deflected pass and returned it 34 yards for Chicago’s first defensive score on the opening play in at least 45 years, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
“It was early in the game so you do have to flush it and be ready to play a whole game after that,” Purdy said.
Purdy answered his big mistake to start the game with a 65-yard touchdown drive capped by a 1-yard pass to Jake Tonges, and San Francisco moved the ball with ease all half.
Purdy added two touchdown runs and McCaffrey also scored on the ground to give the 49ers a 28-21 lead at the break despite allowing two deep TD passes by Williams.

That’s just two of the many incredible plays during this game. When your quarterback throws a pick-six on the first play from scrimmage, you figure you’re in for a long night, but after that screw-up, Purdy gave a nearly flawless performance. Still, it was just barely enough to beat Chicago. I’d been skeptical of Caleb Williams as the No. 1 draft pick two years ago, but what he did Sunday night erased my doubts. The kid can play. However, this year’s Niners are a team of destiny. They have struggled through devastating injuries, with two future Hall of Fame defenders — edge rusher Nick Bosa and middle linebacker Fred Warner — both going out with season-ending injuries. San Francisco defensive coordinator Robert Saleh deserves kudos for being able to cobble together a defense with a bunch of rookies and third-stringers.

Yes, yes it was the game of the year, and it sets up the regular-sesaon finale against the Seahawks with the No. 1 seed at stake. Keep in mind, this year’s Super Bowl will be played at the Niners’ home field, Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. If San Francisco beats Seattle, they would get a week off during the Wild Card round (January 10-12), and then have home-field advantage all the way, including the Super Bowl.

Thrilling — and I’m all-in on this saga because my guy Mac Jones got grabbed as the backup QB. Certainly hope Brock Purdy stays healthy. Wouldn’t want to risk Mac having to come in and play hero again.



 

Category: Football

Rule 5 Sunday: Probably Not Mrs. Santa

Posted on | December 29, 2025 | Comments Off on Rule 5 Sunday: Probably Not Mrs. Santa

— compiled by Wombat-socho

We’re willing to accept a reasonable facsimile. H/T @kbdabear on X.
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley et Hamas delendam sunt.

ANIMAL MAGNETISM: Animal’s First Red Friday News and the Saturday Gingermageddon.

EBL: Saturday Night Girls With Guns, Heat, American Hustle, Roofman, It’s A Wonderful Life, Regretting You, Feast of Seven Fishes, Green Book Christmas Eve Dinner, Let’s Make Pizza, “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy”, “Kyrie Eleison”, Kate Bush, MAGA – Make Midterms Great Again, Aimee Carrero, Zooey Deschanel, Christmas Mountain, and Casadh Tsolais.

A VIEW FROM THE BEACH: Diana Mots, Fish Pic Friday – Katka Švagrová, You Trashed My Christmas, Christmas in Prison, Jingle Bells, Merry Christmas!, Silent Night, More Wednesday Wetness, Carol of the Bells, The Wednesday Wetness, Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want to Fight Tonight), Christmas Time is Here by Golly, Disapproval Would Be Folly, The Monday Morning Stimulus, Happy Solstice!, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Palm Sunday, Last Christmas and Epstein Files Dumped

BACON TIME: Rule Five – The Weather Outside Is Frightful

Thanks to everyone for all the luscious links!

 

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Category: Rule 5

FMJRA 2.0: Stuck In The Ruts

Posted on | December 28, 2025 | Comments Off on FMJRA 2.0: Stuck In The Ruts

— compiled by Wombat-socho

It was another one of those weeks for the Senators. We lost three painfully close games to the DayTraders, but then came home to RFK and took two out of three to Pete’s Brewers, which left us 2-4 on the week and three games behind the Brewers and Twins at 25-35. Next up, we’re facing California on Tuesday and Kansas City on Friday, which means that unless we get really lucky against the 33-27 Angels, it’ll be another 2-4 week next week.
If you’re interested in dipping your toes into Dynasty League Baseball, Pete has a once-a-week league starting with the 1999 season. Let me know in the comments if you’re interested.
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley et Hamas delendam sunt.

‘Yes, We Stole the Election. Oopsie.’
The Pirate’s Cove
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

Thoughts From a ‘Heritage American’
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

FMJRA 2.0: A Week In The Ruts
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

Rule 5 Sunday: In Honor Of Alice Cooper
Animal Magnetism
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

In The Mailbox: 12.22.25
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

Journalism, Credibility and ‘Experts’
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

Make Nakatomi Plaza Great Again
EBL
357 Magnum

In The Mailbox: 12.24.25 (Afternoon Edition)
EBL
357 Magnum

In The Mailbox: 12.24.25 (Evening Edition)
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

In The Mailbox: 12.26.25 (Afternoon Edition)
EBL
A View From The Beach
357 Magnum

In The Mailbox: 12.26.25
EBL
A View From The Beach
357 Magnum

Thanks to everyone for all the links!

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In The Mailbox: 12.26.25

Posted on | December 27, 2025 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 12.26.25

— compiled by Wombat-socho

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a pleasant Boxing Day/Feast of St. Stephen.
Usual weekend deadlines for the usual weekend posts.
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley et Hamas delendam sunt.

OVER THE TRANSOM
357 Magnum: Good Guys 2, Bad Guys 0
Director Blue: Top Ten New Epstein Insights From Mike Benz
EBL: American Hustle, Roofman, Yelloweye Snapper, Regretting You, and “Good King Wenceslas”
Twitchy: Ghost Daycares – No Kids – Million$ Vanished, Ilhan Omar’s Dad Was Colonel For Siad Barre Linked To Isaaq Genocide, and Scott Jennings Breaks Out Puppets & Crayons To Explain ILLEGAL to Abby Phillip
Louder With Crowder: Minneapolis Mayor Threatens If Trump’s ICE insists on enforcing the law, they might get killed or something, Minnesota Lt. Gov. takes pandering to new heights with hijab, White House uses Christmas Vacation for pro-MAGA content – it leads to a hilarious response from a co-star, and “Why is there a microwave in the tub?”
Vox Popoli: How AI Killed Scientistry, Maybe They Just Need More Immigrants, and H1B is Invasion
According To Hoyt: Europe And Other Lost Civilizations, ON SALE NOW AND OVER Christmas, Peace On Earth, Let It Go, and Hallucinations
RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
American Conservative: Washington May Need to Deal With a Nuclear Japan
American Greatness: Slouching Toward Open Season on Jews
Animal Magnetism: Animal’s First Red Friday News
Baldilocks: Mundane things
BattleSwarm: Merry Christmas: Stellarscope’s “Silent Night”, also, LinkSwarm For December 26
Behind The Black: China launches weather satellite, Former ULA CEO Tory Bruno now working for Blue Origin, Japanese bank invests in Starlab, The SpaceX alumni that are reshaping the space industry, and Russia launches classified weather satellite
Cafe Hayek: Trade Surpluses Are Not Evidence of ‘Overcapacity’
CDR Salamander: Fullbore Friday
Don Surber: It’s Trump’s World – We Just Live In It
First Street Journal:  He’s ugly, and his mother dresses him funny, also, “Liberals claim to want to give a hearing to other views, but then are shocked and offended to discover that there are other views.” ? William F. Buckley
The Geller Report: Not A Single Track Has Been Laid, Obama Judge Blocks Ban On Toxic Artificial Food Dyes, DO-NOTHING GOP Squanders House, Senate & White House With Historic Inaction, University of Texas Muslim Student Arrested For Arson, Terror Attack on Church, and RULE BRITANNIA NO MORE – Guardian Begs for Cash While Britain Silences Speech and Imports Chaos
Hollywood In Toto: President Trump Is His Own Worst Late-Night Enemy, also, The Secret Agent Is Like No Other Film This Year
Legal Insurrection: U. Oklahoma Fires Instructor Who Failed Student for Citing Bible in Essay on Gender, Latin America’s Rightward Drift Accelerates as Trump-Backed Candidate Wins in Honduras, DEI Policies Have Caused Real Harm to Young White Men, Trump Taps Louisiana Governor as Special Envoy to Greenland, and Nineteen States Suing Trump Admin Over Transgender ‘Healthcare’ for Minors
Nebraska Energy Observer: Merry Christmas, if you’re reading today, I’m a bit sorry for you, also, Boxing Day
Outkick: Michigan Hires Kyle Whittingham As New Coach Following Sherrone Moore Scandal, Was Notre Dame Planning On Backing Out Of SC Rivalry All Along? Georgia Tech Scientists Attempt To Determine Nature’s Best Pop-Tart In Hilarious Video, The NHL Standings Look Like They Got Sauced On Eggnog This Christmas, and Sofia Vergara Got Stuffed Into A Rather Revealing Christmas Dress, Olbermann Melts Down & LeBron’s Minus-33
Power Line: Minnesota fraud: between the holidays, Seconds, The rightward shift, and What fraud?
Shark Tank: Byron Donalds Mocks Idea Of Democrat “Rebranding” Before Midterms
STUMP: 2025 Twelve Days of Christmas Costs – Update
This Ain’t Hell: The Christmas Truce, California Air Guard scores – again, Valor Friday, and Trump Targets Genocidal Nigerians
Transterrestrial Musings: Merry Christmas, also, Tory Bruno
Victory Girls: John Kennedy’s Stuffed Alligator Wins Christmas Internet
Watts Up With That: Why Molecular Biology Labs Are Almost Always Stocked With Salmon Sperm DNA, Some Men Downplay Climate Concerns Because of Gender Insecurity, Why America Might Find Coal in Its Stocking This Christmas — And Be Jolly, How a PNAS Study Confuses Institutional Authority with Truth, and How the Grinch Stole Greenie Christmas
The Federalist: Here’s What Trump Means By Calling For ‘Peace Through Strength’, AI In The Classroom Destroys Actual Intelligence In Students, New York Legalizes Doctors Prescribing Death, Ladies, You’re Loading The Dishwasher All Wrong, and The Best Classic Movies And T.V. To Watch With Your Family This Post-Christmas Week
Mark Steyn: Show Your Swag, Christmas Day with Mark and Friends, Boxing Day Blowout Sale, and Café Imperial Boxing Day Bonanza

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