The Other McCain

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

In The Mailbox: 01.26.26

Posted on | January 27, 2026 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 01.26.26

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Silicon Valley et Hamas delenda sunt.

It was good enough for Col. Colvill and his men at Gettysburg. It’s good enough now.

OVER THE TRANSOM
Director Blue: A Day When The Mississippi Ran Backwards (1812), A Day When The Enemy Burned The White House To The Ground (1814), and The Full Scope Anti-ICE Insurgency
357 Magnum: Good Guys 1, Bad Guys 0
EBL: Alex Pretti’s Minneapolis ICE Shooting — Here’s the Law (Legal Analysis), Hamachi, The Definitive Address to a Haggis in Edinburgh Castle, Swedish pickled herring, and Dodo The Kid from Outer Space
Twitchy: Fake But Accurate – Journos & Other Propagandists Run With AI Pretti Image, Nurse Says He Won’t Give Anesthesia To Republicans In Surgery, and My Friend Was Murdered By Feds – Send Coffee Money
Louder With Crowder: MN Police Chief says it doesn’t matter if Alex Pretti shooting was justified, Mamdani confirms that, yes, taxpayers will be funding free childcare for illegals, Hollywood actor claims “we” should be a county thankful for immigrants, Bad Bunny hasn’t angered football fans enough, and Body “positivity” ad shows fat man complaining that you are shaming him
Vox Popoli: Immigration and Outsourcing, No Chance At All, A 60-Year-Old Book Review, Why AI Hallucinates, and Championship Weekend
Cedar Sanderson: Forensics For Writers Part 7, also, Winter Storm Chocolate Pudding
The Bugscuffle Gazette: Cowboy Chicken Soup, So, Iran, and So, Iran Part 2
Twilight Patriot: Why Sad Puppies Still Matters
Stoic Observations: No Church Bombings Today, Everyone’s An AI Script Kiddie, and Ferguson Burning Revisited
Upstream Reviews: New Releases
Gab: France Demands We Ban Users – We Say No

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
American Conservative: Ashes of American Flags, also, On Immigration, MAGA Needs Less Morality
American Greatness: A Citizen’s Guide to Violence in Minneapolis, also, The Countdown to Iran’s Liberation Has Begun
Animal Magnetism: Animal Magnetism LIVE Ep. 72 – Alaska and Names
BattleSwarm: Old And Busted: Youxia In, Xi Out. The New Hotness: Xi In, Youxia Out, Winter Storm Fern T+1: Snow Down, Power Up, and Petteway v. Galveston County v. New York?
Behind The Black: Oman says it wants to sign the Artemis Accords, SpaceX launches 25 more Starlink satellites, “AI isn’t getting smarter. We are getting dumber.”, Russia delays launch of its own “Starlink” constellation, and The profound life’s work of Richard Rodgers
Cafe Hayek: Trump Is Playing 2-D Chess, Badly, Stop the Micromanaging, and A Comparison of Trump 45 to Trump 47
CDR Salamander: Mid-Winter Melee On Midrats, also, China’s Demographic Window To Action is Closing
Chicago Boyz: The Thuggery Precedes the Dictatorship, also, Worthwhile Reading
Da Tech Guy: DaTechGuy’s Diet Phase Three The Final and the Hardest Part
Dana Loesch: On The Minnesota Shooting
Don Surber: Time Is On Trump’s Side In Minneapolis
Elizabeth Nickson: How Is Everybody Enjoying Our Lovely Marxist Invasion?
First Street Journal: How wealthy blue staters fight #ClimateChange, also, The internet has not made the left smarter; it has really made them stupid
Gates Of Vienna: A Blizzard of Ice, Giulia Sorrentino: “Islam is Penetrating Our Institutions”, A Narrow Escape, Giulia Sorrentino and Tommaso Cerno Must Be Over the Target, and This is the Face of ISIS in Virginia
The Geller Report: The Two Mr. Trumps, MINNESOTA INSURRECTION – DHS Agents Engage, Shoot Armed Keffiyeh-Clad Rioter in Enforcement Action Against Violent Illegal, INDUSTRIAL SCALE FRAUD – $400 Million Minnesota Medicaid Scheme Operating Out of Single Building, SIGNAL INSURRECTION – Walz Incitement, Anti-ICE Signal Cells, Fatal Confrontation — Minnesota Democrats, Walz Adviser Identified as Admins, and Carny Barker – Canada’s PM Carney Trashes America Under U.S. Protection, Grovels to China, Then Crawls Back
Glenn Reynolds: On Weather Forecasts And “Trusting The Science”, also, Of Squids, Ink, & Minnesota’s Corrupt Machine
Hollywood In Toto: Why Jimmy Kimmel Won’t Pounce on Easy Ratings Boost, We Bury the Dead Is Not Your Average Zombie Flick, This Wasn’t Your Typical Take on Hamlet, Send Help Is the Very Best of Sam Raimi, and Kimmel’s Free Speech Army Silent As Jewish Cancellations Spike
Legal Insurrection: Snowmageddon 2026 Sparks Appreciation for the Reliability of Energy From Coal, Oil, Appeals Court Grants Stay on Restrictions Placed on Agents in Minnesota, Trump Sending Homan to Minnesota, Confirms Investigation Into Rep. Omar, FBI Investigating Minnesota Anti-ICE Signal Chats, and Young Man Who Skipped College to Become an Electrician Now Makes Six Figures
Nebraska Energy Observer: And Now Let’s Meet Maria, Amelia Amongst the Cousins, and Canada and More
Outkick: NFL Commemorates America’s ‘Freedom, Unity, And Founding Ideals’ Prior To Conference Title Games, Budweiser Drops Unbelievably Patriotic Super Bowl Commercial, Disgraced FIFA Boss Targets Trump While Warning Fans Off US World Cup, Ernest Jones Twists the Knife on Rams After Seahawks Beat Former Team, and Sydney Sweeney Pulls Off Incredible Bra Stunt On Hollywood Sign
Power Line: Stephen Hunter – Pretti’s pistol, Minneapolis insurgency, Inside the battle of the Twin Cities, Minnesota revolution in the courtroom, and Trump’s Demands
Shark Tank: FL Health Department Finds Elevated Levels Of Arsenic In Candy
Shot In The Dark: Blame, also, Random Thoughts From A Random Debate
The Political Hat:
This Ain’t Hell: Far-left organizations are providing ICE related information to protesters in Minneapolis, Trump ADA gets grief from GOA, NRA, Federal agent shoots armed illegal alien in Minneapolis, Vice President JD Vance says California’s fraud is worse than that of Minnesota, and Big Navy, “Sorry About That Covid Thing”
Transterrestrial Musings: Lawyers, On The Apparent News Of The Day, and In The Air
Victory Girls: Schumer And Democrats Vow Shutdown Over DHS Funding, also, The Attacks on Usha Vance are Savage and Dangerous
Watts Up With That: “Storm” Chandra, Storm Ferm: Remember Uri (centrally planned electricity ‘transition’ in Texas), Money to ‘Decarbonize’ as Useless as Gym Memberships and Extended Warranties, Germany’s Natural Gas Crisis Escalates … One Storage Site Near Empty …Government Silent, and Mann v. Steyn: Finally Ready for Appeal?
The Federalist: Former 911 Responder Shares Horror Stories Of Mail-Order Abortions, Democrats Are Willing To Die To End Deportations – That Can’t Stop Law Enforcement, NASCAR Ditches Cheap Gimmicks In Favor Of A Playoff Format Focused On Racing, Republicans Rewarding Anti-ICE Violence In Minnesota Will Incite More Violence Everywhere, and Don’t Wait Until You Die To Give Your Kids Their Inheritance
Mark Steyn: Mann’s $9M Jury Lie, “Someone’s in the Kitchen with Dinah”, Never Leave the House – Martin Scorsese’s After Hours, “Down Under”, and Dress to Kill

Amazon Warehouse Deals
Best Sellers – Automotive
New Releases – Automotive
H&R Block Deluxe & State Tax Software


 

Rule 5 Sunday: All You Can Eat

Posted on | January 26, 2026 | Comments Off on Rule 5 Sunday: All You Can Eat

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Thanks to @kbdabear on X.
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley et Hamas delendam sunt.

Not Chinese, but a succulent meal nonetheless.

EBL: Saturday Night Girls With Guns, Amelia Maria And Eva Are Defending Europe, MAGA Immigration Enforcement, Nora Jane Noone, Bookish, The Home, A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms, Goth Waifu Amelia, National Championship Cheerleaders, The Dick Van Dyke Show, and “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love”

A VIEW FROM THE BEACH: Natalie RoserFish 691 Landed in Potomac RiverFish Pic Friday – Audrey SvabodaThursday TanlinesDon Lemon Goes to Church, May Get ArrestedThe Wednesday WetnessMDDNR Looking at Striper Bass ResetA Tuesday Tune – WildflowerThe Monday Morning StimulusRandom Celebrity News and Palm Sunday 

BACON TIME: Rule Five – Butt It’s Friday

FLAPPR: 2025 Milkers Of The Year Awards

Amazon Warehouse Deals
Deals on Premium Beauty Products
Visit Amazon’s Intimate Apparel Shop
Shop Sex & Sensuality Gifts


 

FMJRA 2.0: Too Good To Be True?

Posted on | January 25, 2026 | Comments Off on FMJRA 2.0: Too Good To Be True?

— compiled by Wombat-socho

It was another great week to be a Senators fan. Not only did we take two of three against the hapless Dodgers – the sole loss coming at the hands of Don Sutton, who held us to three runs while the Dodgers scratched out four – but we went on to beat the Hated Yankees in two games, the third being an 0-5 shutout against Wilbur Wood. We’re tied with the Red Sox for second in the division at 39-45, we have a positive run differential for the first time this season (the 15-6 and 13-3 wins against LA helped that a lot) but we’re facing St. Louis and Montreal next week, so I’m expecting a .500 week at best.
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley et Hamas delendam sunt.

4-2 continues to be good.

Radical Vegan Transgender Cult Update: Three ‘Zizians’ Make Court Appearance
The Pirate’s Cove
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum




FMJRA 2.0: Suddenly, A Winning Week
EBL
357 Magnum

Rule 5 Sunday: But First, Coffee
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

Ludicrous Irony: Life Advice for Young Men from the Former John Walker Flynt
A View From The Beach
EBL

In The Mailbox: 01.19.26
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

In The Mailbox: 01.20.26 (Afternoon Edition)
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

In The Mailbox: 01.20.26 (Evening Edition)
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

In The Mailbox: 01.21.26
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

Historical Analogies and the Current Crisis
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

In The Mailbox: 01.23.26 (Afternoon Edition)
EBL
A View From The Beach
357 Magnum

In The Mailbox: 01.23.26 (Evening Edition)
EBL
A View From The Beach
357 Magnum

Amazon Warehouse Deals
Amazon Essentials
H&R Block Deluxe & State Tax Software


 

Minnesota: @camhigby Exposes Communications of Anti-ICE Conspiracy

Posted on | January 25, 2026 | Comments Off on Minnesota: @camhigby Exposes Communications of Anti-ICE Conspiracy

Amanda Koehler

The Saturday morning shooting of an armed anti-ICE rioter in Minneapolis triggered still more mayhem in the city despite below-zero temperatures. It has become obvious to everyone paying attention that the so-called “protests” (which are, in fact, a conspiracy to obstruct federal law enforcement) are being carefully coordinated.

Professor Reynolds confesses that he is unable to tell from online videos exactly what happened prior to Saturday’s shooting, and I feel the same, but the ambiguity of the available evidence hasn’t stopped Democrats from declaring with certainty that Alex Pretti was murdered, an assertion which I sincerely doubt. (Ask any prosecutor about the difficulty of disproving a self-defense claim in such a situation.) While all this controversy was capturing attention, however, independent journalist Cam Higby scored one of the most important scoops of the year by infiltrating a Signal chat group of “MN ICE Watch” activists.

No sooner had Higby begun posting this information than others started identifying members of this anti-law enforcement conspiracy, which apparently includes very well-connected Democrat activists.

If Amanda Koehler, a union-connected consultant who worked on Gov. Tim Walz’s reelection campaign, is an administrator of this network, how many other influential Democrats in Minnesota are part of the conspiracy to obstruct federal law enforcement in the state? Maybe all of them?

Perhaps most disturbing is that “MN Ice Watch” appears to be using law enforcement resources, perhaps the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), to identify vehicles and drivers. This would seem to suggest that local or state law enforcement officials in Minnesota are actively assisting the conspiracy to obstruct federal agents.

The entire apparatus of governance in Minnesota has been turned against the United States. Invoke the Insurrection Act, Mr. President.



 

The St. Paul Three: Anti-ICE Terrorists Now Facing Federal Felony Charges

Posted on | January 24, 2026 | Comments Off on The St. Paul Three: Anti-ICE Terrorists Now Facing Federal Felony Charges

William Scott Kelly

Nakima Valdez Levy-Armstrong

Chauntyll Louisa Allen

Normal Americans — the kind of decent people who would never vote Democrat — were horrified last Sunday when video emerged of a “protest” mob storming a church in St. Paul, Minnesota:

The rationale of this “protest” was the idea, currently prevalent among Democrats, that it is morally wrong for Republicans to win elections and therefore, when Republicans are in office, obeying the law is optional.

Democrats never say this in so many words, of course. To express their beliefs as a clear syllogism would immediately expose the invalidity of their arguments, which is why they never debate anymore. Anyone who has watched Scott Jennings single-handedly dismantle leftists on CNN knows this — Democrats can’t win any kind of honest debate, which is why they end up shouting and shrieking and trying to silence opposition.

What happened at the Minnesota church was not a constitutionally protected exercise of free speech, as Samuel J. Abrams explains:

Recent events in Minnesota — where anti-ICE protesters interrupted a service at Cities Church in St. Paul, targeted pastor David Easterwood (who is apparently also an ICE official), then defended the disruption as an exercise of First Amendment rights — reflect a growing confusion about what the Constitution does and does not protect. Similar incidents have occurred in recent years, affecting churches, synagogues, and other religious services across the country. Whatever one thinks of the protesters’ underlying cause, the constitutional question here is not a close one.
“This is what the First Amendment is about,” said journalist Don Lemon, who entered the church with the protesters and defended their actions to a pastor who was asking them to leave. Organizers Nekima Levy Armstrong and Chauntyll Louisa Allen have since been arrested for allegedly violating the FACE Act, which prohibits using force, threats, or physical obstruction to interfere with religious services.
There is no First Amendment right to enter a house of worship and engage in conduct that effectively shuts down a religious service, even as part of a protest. Nor does anybody have the right to remain on private property after being asked by its owner or authorized representatives to leave.
The First Amendment offers its strongest protection to speech in traditional public forums — streets, sidewalks, and parks — while also protecting freedom of association, religious exercise, and freedom of conscience. A society committed to free expression depends not only on protecting speech, but on maintaining a clear delineation between protected speech, on the one hand, and unprotected civil or criminal conduct on the other.

You can read the whole thing. Don Lemon is typical of those in the media who, in becoming “Democratic operatives with bylines,” have embraced the radical “By Any Means Necessary” mentality of the modern Left. Whatever helps Democrats (or hurts Republicans) is good, and anything that hurts Democrats (or helps Republicans) is bad. There is no objective truth in their worldview, only partisan advantage, which is why they are such habitual liars. Those of us who are not Democrats can turn on the TV and observe half-a-dozen such lies in any hour-long segment on CNN (and as little as 15 minutes on what used to be called MSNBC), and the most outrageous element of the media’s pervasive bias is the fact that these partisan propagandists so obviously think they are our moral and intellectual superiors. Now, dear reader, scroll back up to the top of this post, gaze for a while at the mug shots of Don Lemon’s criminal accomplices and ask yourself: “Are these people superior to me?”

Attorney General Pam Bondi doesn’t seem to think so:

The fact that William Scott Kelly called this a “white supremacist” church is a huge clue about the kind of propaganda that is being deployed to mobilize these rioters against law enforcement. Kelly has claimed to be a combat veteran, but this has been disputed; while I cannot confirm reports that he was court-martialed for theft and dishonorably discharged, neither do I doubt those reports. “Bad causes attract bad people,” and Kelly appears to do nothing else except protest everywhere.

All of these culprits rationalized their crimes:

A BLM leader who serves on a school board, a woke TikToker, and a third alleged ringleader of an anti-ICE mob who stormed a Minnesota church during Sunday service have been arrested, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Thursday. . . .
Armstrong allegedly led the raucous group, including Don Lemon, from the Racial Justice Network to storm the church and call out resident pastor David Eastwood, accusing him of moonlighting as the acting field office director for ICE in Minnesota.
A picture of Armstrong being led away in handcuffs was shared by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on X on Thursday morning.
“Religious freedom is the bedrock of the United States – there is no First Amendment right to obstruct someone from practicing their religion,” Sec. Noem said on X.
AG Bondi also confirmed that a second suspect, Chauntyll Louisa Allen, who bragged about organizing the protests, had been taken into custody in a separate X post.
Allen — a Black Lives Matter leader and member of the Saint Paul Public Schools Board of Education — had earlier compared herself to Jesus, saying she had been inspired by his cleansing of the temple. . . .
A spokesperson for the city’s Board of Education told The Post that the district “has been made aware of this incident and is following all applicable policies and procedures” but “does not comment on pending legal matters.”
Later Thursday afternoon, it was announced that an anti-ICE influencer, William Kelly, had also been arrested for his involvement in the church riots.
Kelly, who uses the handle “DaWokeFarmer” on TikTok, was pictured on X being taken into custody while wearing a beanie hat emblazoned with the words “F*ck Trump,” by Noem. . . .
Armstrong, Allen, and Kelly are being charged with “conspiracy against rights,” which makes it a federal crime to intimidate someone in the free exercise of their rights as secured by the US Constitution.

The “Racial Justice Network” decided that this was a “white supremacist church” and why? Because the ACLU filed a lawsuit (Hussen v. Noem) against ICE and named as one of the defendants David Easterwood who, besides a pastor at this church, was employed as acting director of the local ICE office. In other words, the ACLU “doxxed” him, and that’s why this church got targeted even though Easterwood wasn’t even at the church at the time of the “protest.” Once radicals decide that it’s wrong to enforce the law, next they believe that law-enforcement officials are villains, and when they act on those perverse beliefs, bad things happen.



 

In The Mailbox: 01.23.26 (Evening Edition)

Posted on | January 24, 2026 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 01.23.26 (Evening Edition)

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Usual weekend deadlines for the usual weekend posts.
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley et Hamas delendam sunt.

OVER THE TRANSOM
Director Blue: Satellite Wars
357 Magnum: Road Rage Is Never a Good Idea
EBL: Amelia, Maria, and Eva are defending Europe, MAGA Immigration Enforcement, Norwegian Smoked Salmon, Peking Duck, and David Bowie “Station To Station”
Twitchy: Libs Eat Up “ICE Scared Off My Carrot Pickers” Hoax Because Orange Man Bad, Anti-ICE Numpties Protest JD Vance At His Minnesota Hotel – Just One Problem, and Gavin Newsom’s Media Team Drops Hypocritical Homophobic Memes On SecTreas Bessent
Louder With Crowder: MS NOW analyst says white people are to blame for everything always and, yes, that even means you white liberal allies
Vox Popoli: Cooking With or Getting Cooked, also, Yeah, So, About That
According To Hoyt: Europe So Far Away, The Isekai Rag, The Way We Were, State of (some) publishing, and Betrayal
Cedar Sanderson: Mid-Winter Dreamin’
Jim McCoy: Galactic Merc Level One & Two
Upstream Reviews: Hollywood Fatigue
Gab: Why The Internet Sucks Now

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
American Conservative: Relive The Civil Rights Era – Send in The Troops, also, The Hawks’ New Plans for Iran Are Disastrous
American Greatness: A Human Wave of Hope – The Iranian People Demand Freedom, The Czech Republic Shows Europe How It’s Done, Trump Owned Davos, The Grid Is Warning Pennsylvania, and If Britain Bans X, How Far Will It Go To Block Free Speech?
BattleSwarm: Yes, We Have No Bananas (Or Winter Storm T-2), also, LinkSwarm For January 23
Behind The Black: Blue Origin to reuse first stage on next New Glenn flight, Fake scientist Michael Mann slapped down hard by DC superior court, Rocket Lab completes its first launch in 2026, French smallsat rocket startup Latitude targeting a first launch in early ’27, and Blue Origin’s proposed TeraWave constellation: Is it really competition with SpaceX?
Cafe Hayek: Economic Reality Continues Not to Be Optional, “Mr. Tariff” Was No Help, and 2026 Summer Institute on the History of Economics
CDR Salamander: Fullbore Friday
Dana Loesch: Oscars – Overreaction Or Woke?
Don Surber: Jack Smith’s perjured testimony
First Street Journal: Are you tired of winning yet? also, Is this really what he wants?
Gates Of Vienna: Arabs vs. Kurds in Antwerp, Run Me Out in the Cold Rain and Snow, and PVV: Seven Dwarfs Revolted!
The Geller Report: Democrat Arizona AG Kris Mayes Says Citizens Can Shoot ICE Agents, Wounded NYPD Detectives REFUSED Medical Care By Doctors and Nurses at NYU Langone Hospital, Mahmoud Kahlil Set to Be Deported to Algeria, President Trump Announces Greenland Deal at Davos, and U.S. Armada Deployed: Trump Moves Massive Fleet Into the Gulf
Hollywood In Toto: H Is for Hawk Will Catch Everyone Off Guard, Melania Was Doomed from the Start (And It May Not Matter), and What Happened to Is This Thing On?
Legal Insurrection: NIH Won’t Fund Research That Uses Aborted Baby Tissue, The Gender Gap in Political Ideology and What We Can Do About It, DePaul University Suspends Students for Justice in Palestine Until 2027, Chicago Hospital Stops Pediatric Trans Drugs Following HHS Threat, and House GOP Defeats Resolution to Bar Trump From Further Military Action in Venezuela
Matt Taibbi: Forget Trump & Greenland – Howard Lutnick Gave The Davos Speech That Mattered
Nebraska Energy Observer: No More Welfare Queens, also, We Are Amelia Too
Outkick: Dabo Swinney Brought Receipts, Goes Nuclear On Ole Miss For Tampering With LB Luke Ferrelli, Buffalo Bills Coaching Search Takes Odd Turn With Interviews Of Rivers And McDaniel, Fernando Mendoza Going Pro; So Now Comes Hard NFL Scouting Scrutiny And Evaluations, Washington Post Reportedly Not Covering Winter Olympics In Person, As Layoffs Loom, It’s Not The Dodgers Ruining Baseball, It’s The Milwaukee Brewers, and Lindsey Vonn Dusts Off Her Body Paint Swimsuit, JD Vance Hobbles The College LIBS & Tiffani Amber Turns 52!
Power Line: ICE and Urban Legends, On the Ground in Minneapolis, The Cities Church case so far, There will be no survivors, and Will the trees explode?
Shark Tank: AG Uthmeier Announces Additional Charges Against Alleged Child Rapist
Shot In The Dark: A Theory, also, Greenland
STUMP: Dangerous Conditions Ahead – Stay Safe
The Political Hat: Firing Line Friday: What’s Wrong with the Political Parties?
This Ain’t Hell: Arizona AG suggests that ICE agents could get shot under the state’s self-defense laws, Valor Friday, Steve Robinson, SEAL and stolen valor warrior, passes away, DOJ Red Letter Decision, and Retired Flags Support Kelly in Amicus Brief
Transterrestrial Musings: The Largest Wealth Flight In History, Blue Origin, and Latest On The Mann Suit
Victory Girls: Ringleaders Of Church Invasion Arrested, No Warrant For Don Lemon, also, Homan To Spanberger: ICE Deportations Will Continue
Watts Up With That: South Korea’s Developing Net Zero Debacle, The Brain Microplastics Claim and the Collapse of Scientific Restraint, Honeywell CEO Vimal Kapur Asserts Powering Data Centers with Renewables is “Against Physics”, British Climate Crusade Creates Economic Disaster, and For The Future of EVs, What Policy Is “Stupid”?
The Federalist: Here Are 9 Key Moments From Jack Smith’s Congressional Testimony, Vance Promises Attention To Pro-Life Concerns: ‘You Have An Ally In The White House’, Former Iowa School Superintendent Who Turned Out To Be Criminal Illegal Alien Pleads Guilty, Virginia Democrats Want Schools To Push State-Enforced Homosexuality, and 76 House Republicans Help Democrats Kill Measure Defunding Clinics That Perform Abortions, Child ‘Trans’ Surgeries
Mark Steyn: It’s Still the Demography, Stupid, Insurrection and Acts, Live Around the Planet – Donald Does Davos, Done Pretending, and Make Babies Great Again

Amazon Warehouse Deals
Best Sellers – Tools & Home Improvement
New Releases – Tools & Home Improvement
H&R Block Deluxe & State Tax Software


 

In The Mailbox: 01.23.26 (Afternoon Edition)

Posted on | January 23, 2026 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 01.23.26 (Afternoon Edition)

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Silicon Valley et Hamas delenda sunt.

OVER THE TRANSOM
357 Magnum: They Should Never Have Graduated from High School
Director Blue: Winter Storm Fern
EBL: Ballad of Rorke’s Drift, Bookish, and What Happened to the Pre-Contact Dogs?
Twitchy: Rep. Jordan Alleges Jack Smith Spied On 12 GOP Senators & The Investigation Continues, Government Bureaucratic Incompetence Is A Plague And It’s Time To Stop The Spread, and Tennis Star Amanda Anasimova Drops Reporter Goading Her To Denounce America 
Louder With Crowder: Bearded lunatic screaming at churchgoers has a meltdown after one of his comrades got arrested for invading the MN church, Eric Swalwell lashes out at ICE agents, pledging to prevent them from ANY employment in California, and Chris Cuomo returns to his faux tough guy act, threatens Scott Jennings for calling illegals “illegals”
Vox Popoli: Vaccines are Organized Crime, A Question of Content, More Books, More Better, and Rethinking Human Evolution Again
Cedar Sanderson: Tomato Wyrm – Part 7 & Finale
Stoic Observations: A Canticle for Leibowitz, also, ODSC AI Week One
Weird Catholic: St. Vincent’s Many Tortures
The Bugscuffle Gazette: Time To Bend That Algorithm

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
CDR Salamander: From Unicorns To Warhorses
Dana Loesch: Michael Fanone Is A Fake Tough Guy
Don Surber: Art of the Deal in Davos

Amazon Warehouse Deals
Best Sellers – Patio, Lawn, & Garden
New Releases – Patio, Lawn, & Garden
H&R Block Deluxe & State Tax Software


 

Historical Analogies and the Current Crisis

Posted on | January 22, 2026 | Comments Off on Historical Analogies and the Current Crisis

John Adams (left); John Quincy Adams (right)

Here’s a question most people have never pondered: Why did the North fight the Civil War? The way history is taught, the focus is on slavery and the South, and the motives of the Confederacy are subjected to critical scrutiny in a way that the Union side of the controversy is not. If you start digging around, examining contemporary accounts as I have done, you might begin questioning some of your fundamental beliefs. Sen. Robert Toombs, declaring the causes of Georgia’s secession, pointed to the 1846 Walker Tariff as the underlying grievance that led eventually to the formation of the Republican Party. After decades of protectionist policy advocated by New England interests, the 1846 tariff signaled that “free trade, low duties, and economy in public expenditures was the verdict of the American people. The South and the Northwestern States sustained this policy. There was but small hope of its reversal; upon the direct issue, none at all.” It should not need to be said that Toombs’ argument was tendentious — he was in the position analogous to an attorney pleading a client’s case. But the point is that the basic economic and fiscal policy of the nation were involved in the regional contest and, as Toombs said, by the mid-1840s, the South and the West were in a de facto alliance against the Northeast. But the controversy long predated that.

Think of John Adams and his son, John Quincy Adams. The elder Adams, having served as George Washington’s vice president, was elected president in 1796. Twenty-eight years later, the younger Adams was elected president in 1824. Both of them served only one term, proving unpopular in office, and the interregnum between their two terms in the White House was filled by an unbroken tenure of Virginians, followed by the presidency of Andrew Jackson of Tennessee. For the first 48 years under the Constitution (1788 to 1836), then, New England had held the office for just eight years. and there was little prospect of them regaining that office because of the changing arithmetic of the Electoral College:

In 1792, there were 132 Electoral College votes; 38 of those votes (28.8 percent of the total) belonged to the New England states of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Massachusetts alone wielded 16 electoral votes (12.1 percent of the total) in 1792. Forty years later, however, when Jackson was reelected to a second term in the White House in 1832, the Electoral College had increased to 288 voters, and the New England states (now including Maine) possessed just 50 — a mere 17.4 percent of the total. That total was exactly matched by six new states in the South and West — Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Missouri — each of which permitted slavery. Kentucky and Tennessee, each with 15 Electoral College votes in 1832, now had more representation than Massachusetts, with just 14 votes. . . .

You can read the rest of my latest American Spectator column.



 

« go backkeep looking »