KURT SCHLICHTER: Democrats are the Republicans' secret weapon.

But they have to use it aggressively.

THE BABYLON BEE predicts the news.

STEPHEN MOORE: My visit to the data center.

The data center I visited stores two football fields of state-of-the-art equipment that keeps the internet functioning and records and responds to billions of online tapping around the globe every minute. The speed and efficiency of these operations is mind-numbing. Contrast it with 1950s telephone switchboard operators connecting every phone call manually. Data centers are doing billions of transactions and computations across the country to service tens of millions of users every minute.

On the other hand, where would we be without the blizzard of adware and nannyware making television and the internet more and more unusable?

INSTAPUNDIT: Why Fauci matters.

LIBS OF TIKTOK: It's insane that any of these people were ever taken seriously again after this.

It's insane they were ever taken seriously, period.

DR.(?) ANTHONY FAUCI: The man who destroyed America’s trust in science.

Whatever medical school granted that man his medical degree should immediately recind it.

'WELCOME TO SOCIALISM': A stark warning about Mamdani.

MUST HAVE BEEN A DIFFERENT 'DEI' -- The Left brands Justice Thomas a 'DEI hire'. It's a video with Fox News' contributor Jonathan Turley.

SUNDAY SMILES: I'm there.

You'll have to scroll down to see the rest, but they are worth it.

SORRY, BUT NO: New York wants to govern Iowa and Missouri.

A BEAUTIFUL START for any morning....

HARSHLY. How should MAGA handle its grifters, lowlifes, bigots, and nutjobs?

CLEANING UP THE JUDICIARY: Rogue judge finally gets an act named after him.

AI IS MAKING THE OFFICE MORE PRODUCTIVE. Can it do the same for the home?

No, because I shoot to kill when it crosses my threshold.

JUST AS I HAVE PREDICTED -- Vigilantism is Man’s natural state.

Linked from Instapundit.

WILL TRAVELING BACK ROADS MAKE A COMEBACK? I-70 experiencing a run of lithium-ion battery fires in semi trailers.

IRAN LAUNCHES SURPRISE ATTACK ON US FORCES -- discovers that wasn't a good idea.

Saudi Arabia struck back....

RANDOM THOUGHT from Sunday July 26th: Adware and nannyware are making television and the internet more and more unusable.

THE LEFT-WING UNICORN HUNT for the white male working-class voter.

They haven't found one yet, and it's unlikely they ever will....

NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION: Same ol', same ol'.

More proof -- if any is needed -- that government unions should be banned.

FBI CAPTURES its fourth 'Most Wanted' in five weeks. But Democrats needn't worry; they're producing more at record rates.

UNLIKELY TO WORK: Are California Democrats surging cash to turn Alaska blue?

They should surge themselves to Alaska; that's a surefire way to turn it blue....

HEH: NEW 'APOCALYPSE EARLY WARNING SYSTEM' keeps tabs on billionaires, will warn you if they all start fleeing to bunkers.

ESPECIALLY FOR A LEFTIST GOVERNMENT: A government admitting a mistake is the hardest thing in the world.

MAN SHUTS DOWN THIEF stealing his TV with some help from the Second Amendment.

That's what it's for....

I'VE NOTICED IT TOO -- search for something and the AI-enabled search engine shows you what it wants you to search for, not what you want to search for.

Linked from Instapundit.

UNFORGIVABLE means just that.

YOU CAN'T DO THAT: Black-owned Atlanta restaurant faces boycott calls for serving a (gasp!) Republican.

RACIST EX-PRESIDENT keeps pushing racism.

SILENCE: The mainstream media "doth protest too little, methinks."

IT'S A START: Portland and Los Angeles anti-ICE protesters are in the FO stage.

A small start, but a start nontheless....

SO LONG, AMERICA: It was the trip of a lifetime.

Linked from Red State. You'll have to scroll down to the bottom to find the link to World Cup Freddy. But it's well worth the trip....

ERIC FLORACK: The Left has always been this way.

Now they're just being more obvious about it.

WORLD CUP FREDDY makes it to Nashville and has the perfect patriotic moment before returning to Germany after the soccer tournament ends.

GUNS & MOSES lead to dangerous laughter.

HASAN PIKER MAKES AOC HIS 2028 PICK FOR PRESIDENT, says it's 'not even a question’.

In a way, he's right. It's 'not even a question' that Democratic Socialists are dumber than dirt.

SUMMER LEE AND ILHAN OMAR pooled brain cells for ‘bomb’ attack on fellow Democrat — it didn’t go well. "These two are the reason there are 'Do Not Eat' labels on silica packets."

THE EXACT MOMENT THE GATES OF HELL opened for Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS OF AMERICA: Try leading by example.

IT'S ALL ABOUT GETTING TO KNOW YOUR NEIGHBOR: Airplane seats really are getting smaller.

Ripe for a 'bcozzy' commercial on television....

PLATNER, MAMDANI, TALARICO, AND NOW AOC: Scratch a commie, find a mommy.

A very harsh, unforgiving mommy.

FROM DEI TO IED: The Left-wing unicorn hunt for the white male working-class voter.

WE CAN READ HARD THINGS: "Those who do will have an advantage over AI’s cognitive cripples."

WELL ... YES. Is the Democrats' fundraising powerhouse ActBlue a massive money laundering machine?

Given it's by and for Democrats, no surprise.

TRUST THE ELITES? Caught on their own emails.

For years, we were told to trust the process. Trust the intelligence community. Trust the experts who assured us that America's elections were the most secure in history and that anyone who questioned that was a conspiracy theorist, a threat to democracy, or worse.

Last week, we found out exactly how much that trust was worth.

No, thank you ....

NO MEAT FOR THE MASSES: Eat your porridge, peons.

Sad to see....

POWERLINE: Our violent Left. "Vote our way or we will vandalize your house, threaten your family, and assault your staff."

The modern Democrat(ic?) party....

THEY WERE AFRAID OF WHAT HE'S SAY: We know why CNN refused to air Trump's election interference speech.

FORMER MARINE AND CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE arrested after saying Trump must be 'killed'.

FOR THE LEFT, 'deranged' = 'normal'.

JUST STOP:

From a Shadow's World post way back on August 5th 2017.

REPUBLICANS SHOULD HELP THEM: Democrats are walking into a minefield.

GAVIN NEWSOM, ENVIRONMENTALIST: Release the bears!

PRESIDENT TRUMP HAS A BRILLIANT WAY to make Canada pay for wildfire fallout.

I'd prefer he sent them knowledgeable firefighters and told Canada to pay their salaries.

REVOKE THEIR CITIZENSHIP AND KICK THE OUT. The unconstitutionality of the Democratic Socialists of America.

The cold, cruel world awaits....

TWO BIG WINS: Trump wins DEI court case amd brings semiconductor investment back to America.

Make America Home Again (MAHA).

A DEEP WATER PORT IN ARIZONA? San Andreas fault stress at 1,000-year high.

Win-win.

IT'S ONLY VIOLENCE WHEN IT AFFECTS ME PERSONALLY: Mamdani's housing event just found a new form of 'violence.'

BECAUSE WASTE IS WHERE THE GRIFT IS. Why do California cities keep raising taxes instead of cutting waste?

It funds politicians, government bureaucrats, favored NGOs, and paid voters.

MAMDANI TO ARREST NETANYAHU? The best option for Trump is to kick the UN out of New York. And Mamdani with it.

Tehran would be a good choice.

SAME STUPIDITY, DIFFERENT DAY. Workers Deserve More!

If you've got a strong stomach, here's the PDF.

PAST ITS 'SELL BY' DATE: Northeastern Illinois gender studies major enrolls just 4 students.

It's a spoiled product. Always has been, but now people are recognizing it for what it is....

TOP ONCOLOGIST says the wellness industry is 'toxic' and getting it all wrong.

He's right.

OLIVE GARDEN is now more secure than elections.

Olive Garden is controlled by a free market, not a Democrat cabal....

And your access to fettuccine is secure.

INSTAPUNDIT ON THE CONSTITUTION'S GUARANTEE CLAUSE: Will Trump invoke it?

I certainly hope so.

THE DEGENERATE SOCIALISTS OF AMERICA: This is what your children and grandchildren will inherit.

Vote like their lives depend on it -- because they will.

SMART MAN: World Cup Freddy returns to X.

PowerLine explains why.

NEXT UP IN IRAN: Pickaxe mountain?

[VIP] WELCOME BACK, MARCHING MORONS: Einstein never would have used artificial intelligence.

Also recommended, a classic cult film, Idiocracy.

THE DEGENERATE SOCIALISTS OF AMERICA: This is what your children and grandchildren will inherit.

Vote like their lives depend on it -- because they will.

THE WORLD MADE ANEW: America's allies are stronger, its rivals weaker, and the global balance has shifted.

THERE’S MORE PROOF OF ELECTION FRAUD than Global Warming, Israeli Genocide, and Socialism Working.

WELCOME BACK, KAROLINE LEAVITT: Her first press briefing back after maternity leave.

Update from PowerLine: maternity leave. The full (Twitter) picture is great, but unfortunately you have to be a Twit to see it.

SCHLICHTER: Leftist women are an abomination.

MACHIAVELLI'S THE PRINCE -- “The only people who haven’t read it are the ones who keep losing.”

WORKING CLASS GETTING HOSED by the victim class politics of hosepipe (water hose in American english) bans.

THIS USED TO BE ACTIVE SABOTAGE, now it's bureaucratic standard practice.

To mangle the famous quote that graced President Harry Truman's desk (the buck stops here) "The buck slows here".

Linked from Instapundit (Sarah Hoyt).

PORTLAND'S ADOPT-A-BUM PROGRAM isn't working out as well as the mayor hoped.

NOT IF IT'S TAUGHT BY COLLEGE FACULTY: Scholars argue for mandatory college civics.

HEH: Taco Bell manager confident Cyclospora came from farmers market down the street.

Click on the link.

I DO: Who gets to choose America?

I'm an American citizen and I want my vote back.

[VIP] DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS eye Michigan Senate seat ahead of August primary.

I don't normally post [VIP] material, simply because it isn't visible to everyone, but the Democratic Socialist candidate Abdul El-Sayed is calling for Bernie Sanders' cradle-to-grave 'Medicare for All'.

'Cradle-to-grave' is Democrat-speak for 'abortion to assisted suicide'.

SEEN AT THE LOCAL CONSERVATIVE GROUNDS CAFE: "It's too bad that stupidity isn't painful." The sticker is now on the back of my truck.

RANDOM THOUGHT on political management styles:

Republican: wealth management
Democrat: poverty management

Need I say more?

IN AMERICAN ENGLISH: Socialism . Fails . Every . Time .

WITH SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM'S DEATH a power vacuum has opened up in the GOP Senate.

A GLIMPSE INTO COLORADO’S FUTURE and you’ll find yourself casually browsing real estate listings in Texas.

Just don't bring DEM-ocracy with you.

AMUSING (AND A BIT HISTORICAL) IF NOTHING ELSE: How the fortune cookie crumbles.

‘HARD FOR ANY DEMOCRAT TO WIN’: Top Democrat gives the game away on the Save America Act.

Cliffs Notes version: If we can't cheat, we can't win.

COMMUNISM IS A LOT EASIER TO SWALLOW WHEN YOU'RE IGNORANT:

Item 1: Part of this is that they’ve been subsidized by grift and fraud for so long.

Item 2: The education apocalypse.

The 'Valley Girls' -- and dudes -- from years ago have returned....

RANDOM THOUGHT: 'Valley Girls' have returned as Democratic Socialists.

SCHLICHTER: No Democrat has the brains or courage to not be crazy.

It should be 'brains and courage' above....

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER: More than 200 FBI agents swarm Fulton County GA to investigate 2020 election fraud.

SHIFF'S NAME SHOULD BE SHITT: After Republicans lost Lindsey Graham Adam Schiff wasted no time counting votes.

UNFORTUNATELY THEY'RE SUCCEEDING. With extreme poverty at all-time lows, Democratic Socialists hope to reverse the trend.

ACCESSIBILITY; WE'VE MADE RAPE MORE ACCESSIBLE. Mamdani's explanation of why NYC is dealing with rising rate of rapes.

FLORIDA GOV. RON DESANTIS bars H-1B visas at public universities.

We already have enough home-grown idiots.

THE DEFINITION OF GREED: Bernie’s coming to town.

Is government, not billionaires.

SHE'S NORMAL: Here is the real reason why they hate Caitlin Clark so much.

RUBIO TO THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT (ICC): Hands off the United States — Oh, and we're shutting you down.

CNBC’S WOKE ‘WORST STATES’ LIST makes Red America look great.

I live in one of the worst. Thank God.

BECAUSE HE'S A FAILURE: Why Democrats are furious with Bernie Sanders.

NOW A RING GIRL: the versatile Sophie Cunningham.

I saw a picture somewhere of her with Sidney Sweeney with her caption "One of us forgot our tits at home." That girl lady has class.

VICTORY GIRLS: Show us the money, Randi Weingarten.

LARRY ELDER: What's the real defining image of race in America?

[T]here is a race problem in America, and it's the blatant racism of prominent figures on the left. This is the real defining image of this era of American history.

Truth.

JOHN STOSSEL: Spoiled socialists.

JONATHAN TURLEY: James Talarico's defense of gun control leaves out a key word.

For the maleducated, here's the Cliffs Notes version: Texas Opie should just keep talking.

IF THIS DOESN'T MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD, NOTHING WILL: Young man uses money he saved for a house to give his granddad a World Cup adventure.

SO WHAT DO THESE PEOPLE ACTUALLY DO? Michigan State University spends almost $900,000 on five DEI staffers.

Other than create havoc?

THEY'RE NO LONGER 'DEMOCRATIC SOCALISTS', OR EVEN JUST SOCIALISTS. Bernie Sanders and the Democrats' coalition of the appalling.

They're just idiots. Mostly overeducated, mostly undermedicated idiots.

END WOKENESS: The interracial violence narrative vs. reality.

Linked from Instapundit.

THE SOONER THE BETTER: Make Iran great again.

NOW CONQUERING INNER SPACE: This human habitat at the bottom of the ocean is now operational.

Linked from Instapundit.

THE BEST WAY TO HONOR SEN. GRAHAM [R-SC] is to pass the Save America Act now.

SOUTH CAROLINA SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM: dead at 71.

Rest in Peace. We've got this.

I LIKE THE IDEA: Trump's plan for triumphal arch wins a key early approval.

But I'd go a bit smaller....

REPUBLICANS LEARN ABOUT BRANDING: "In the spirit of designating every minority enclave of the city, I'm officially renaming my district 'Little America'."

'LUXURY BELIEFS' are killing people.

YGBFKM: The FCC Chair casts doubt on ABC's claim that 'The View' is a 'bona fide news program'.

Of course 'The View' is a bona fide news program....

SEND HIM --AND ALL HIS FAMILY --BACK TO UGANDA: Mamdani's embittered Fourth of July rant to America.

KICKED OUT BY HIS OWN DEEP BLUE 'COLLEAGUES': Platner is a hilarious symptom of progressive failure.

Still, I was hoping he'd stay in the race to further embarrass his fellow Democrats.

CERTAINLY; IT SHOULD BE OBVIOUS: Is AI leading to a dumbed-down and misled populace?

The author is right. Absolutely right.

POWERLINE'S Week in Pictures has posted. Two favorites, this week:

And one I'm somewhat partial to ...

... although given what academia has done to education I'd choose 'PhD to Prision' instead.

That said, go see the rest.

JASMINE CROCKETT says the Texas Democratic Senate primary was racist.

Jasmine Crockett was the racist in the race. She lost.

DO YOU REALLY WANT TO GO ON A GAY CRUISE? Stop in Israel (see last chart).

BUT, BUT ... WAS IT CONSENSUAL? Prehistoric cave discoveries hint at shared culture between Neanderthals and modern humans.

INSTAPUNDIT IS BEATING MY DRUM: Don't lock young Americans into Social Security.

I agree, as I have for years. Here are some of my old Social Security posts. [if given the option, sort by relevance; the ones of interest come up faster.]

AND NOW THEY'VE RUN OUT OF CLOWNS. It looks like the Democrats have been sending their best all along.

MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY: You’re just going to have to kill them or walk away from Iran.

I'd prefer we kill them. Rabid animals can't be allowed to live.

THIS IS WHAT 'MUH DEMOCRACY' LOOKS LIKE: Residents vow to take matters into their own hands at block party nightmare.

Thanks, Democrats....

HEH: How about “no apparatchiks” instead?

I'M REMINDED OF SGT. SCHULTZ FROM HOGAN'S HEROS: "I know nothing."

I’M NOT SURE, I’D HAVE TO CONSULT WITH CHATGPT: Is Artificial Intelligence making us dumber?

AN EXCELLENT QUESTION: Why is gun rights the only civil right with a federal bureaucracy purpose-built to regulate its exercise?

CREDENTIALED, DEPENDENT, AND UNEMPLOYABLE: The Washington Post’s cautionary tale backfires.

BECAUSE THERE'S MORE TIME TO EAT? Losing sleep leads to weight gain.

DEMOCRATS DISCOVER Trump's latest crime against humanity: home maintenance.

It seems like Democrats can neither maintain or improve -- only destroy.

HALF A CENTURY OF MANAGED DECADENCE, packaged as progress.

I MISSED President Trump's Mt. Rushmore speech on Independence Day. It's about 30 minutes long, but well worth the time.

Linked via Instapundit.

MAINE'S GRAHAM PLATNER WOES have been accumulating faster than I can track so I've decided to just list the ones I've been watching.

(7/7) PLATNER WOES: The Left has a new narrative about Graham Platner; Scott Jennings just nuked it.

(7/8) DON'T GO GRAHAM. Your party -- and you -- desperately need a swift kick in the ass.

(7/8) GOOD NEWS; BAD NEWS: Platner just killed the Democrats' brand; you’re gonna hate what replaces it.

(7/9) GRAHAM PLATNER suspends his Maine Senate campaign. I was hoping he'd stay in the race.

Apparently he has only suspended his campaign, not withdrawn from the race, which he's supposed to announce on Monday, the last day to (legally) withdraw. I hope he doesn't; it will serve the Democrats their just deserts.

PITY: Former Wisconsin judge avoids jail time for obstructing arrest of illegal immigrant.

She deserved at least some jail time. At a minimum she should have her license to practice law revoked and never allowed to be in a courtroom again (except as a defendant).

I'VE NEVER THOUGHT MUCH OF STEPHEN A. SMITH. This just confirms why.

NO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE WAS INVOLVED. How my father mastered cooling our house without air conditioning.

IN SEATTLE, NATURALLY. 'Professor' gets National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to study rural gender-diverse youth.

ANYTHING THAT CAN BE ALREADY IS: How much is AI manipulating us?

I'D GET THE WILLIES ANYPLACE INSIDE SUNNY HOSTIN'S BUBBLE. 'The View' co-host Sunny Hostin laments 'I suddenly feel unsafe' in neighborhoods with American flags.

"THE GREAT SECRET OF THE LAST HUNDRED YEARS is that Progressivism is an elitist, technocratic ideology crafted by academia."

WELL, YOU DEMANDED IT: Seattle residents pull red card on socialist mayor as street becomes 'dumping ground'.

You got it -- good and hard. Enjoy....

APPARENTLY THE WOKE MIND VIRUS IS CATCHING. Bill Clinton's July 4th post proves the Democrat party is truly done.

HOW'S COMMUNISM WORK? Like this: Cuba goes dark as island nation hit with massive blackout.

ON THE LEFT, dogma beats reality.

The Left is bubble-wrapped, packed into a box, taped shut, and stored far, far away from the real world.

VOTE LIKE YOUR LIFE, LIBERTY, AND PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS depend upon it.

Because it does.

SCHLICHTER: Chip away at birthright citizenship until we can finish it off entirely.

BINGO! Elon Musk decimates Mamdani's America 250 speech with one simple fact.

WHAT DO YOU EXPECT FROM SOMEONE WHO CAN'T GRILL A HAMBURGER? NY Sen. Chuck Schumer's beef industry bill risks raising prices, not lowering them.

PROGRESSIVE POLITICIANS ARE IDIOTS. California high school battles Newsom's state law ordering it to change 'Indians' mascot.

NO ARGUMENT FROM ME: Socialists are disqualified for public office simply by being socialists.

Or should be....

THE VENEZUELAN EARTHQUAKES EXPOSED SOMETHING — and it wasn't just shoddy infrastructure.

MY PLATNER PREDICTION JUST CAME TRUE. Here’s what’s next.

SEND THEM BACK. All of them.

IT IS AMERICA, AFTER ALL: UFC President Dana White suggests God himself kept storm from UFC event. Now it appears the storm actually did split in two around the White House.

IF AMERICA IS TO SURVIVE Democrats and Republicans must stop lying about their deficit spending and debt.

HEH: "If you don’t like getting told what temperature to set your thermostat, you probably won’t like socialism."

JONATHAN TURLEY: Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro could've been a contender, but he caved to the loons.

I posted on his refusal earlier. I would add that my Senator (Raphael Warnock [D-GA]) did the same -- unfortunately we're stuck with him for another term

THIS IS your Democratic Socialist party.

TAKE A WILD GUESS. What is Iran building now in the Zagros mountains?

It probably isn't low-rent housing....

TANSTAAFL: The 1.9% solution.

^*TANSTAAFL: There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.

HERE'S HOW Fauci can still face prosecution despite his pardon.

Do it: Either option will be devastating for his legacy.

THE COLLEGE EDUCATED VOTER: a problem in search of a solution.

It's somewhat uplifting; watch the video at the bottom of the post.

SOCIALISM: So many eggs broken yet no omlets.

AIR CONDITIONING: Proof of Europe's decline.

You can also scroll down to see the cartoons.

TELL ZORHAN MAMDANI: Detective union chief warns 'this has to stop' after bloody weekend in Brooklyn.

SITUATION NORMAL -- UNCHANGED: Disinformation starts at the top — with America’s elites.

I SIMPLY CAN'T BELIEVE THIS: Virginia and Montana top list of the most patriotic states in new survey for America’s 250th birthday.

Montana, I believe. Virginia, no; it elected a far, far Left progressive, Abagail Spanberger, as Governor for the next 4 years.

Well, to a limited extent, I will agree that outside the DC metro area, Virginia is patriotic....

YEAH, PRETTY MUCH. The New Socialists: elite, ungrateful, and toxic as ever.

And narcissistic. Don't forget narcissistic.

SO POUND SAND. Trump’s DOJ tells the International Criminal Court (ICC): Americans answer to America.

DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS OF AMERICA (DSA) LEADER says his group would be 'thrilled' with AOC running in 2028.

I can easily see her doing TikTok videos from Air Force One....

NOT REALLY, but ... need another reason to loathe Michelle Obama?

ANY WIN IS A GOOD WIN. Trump scores appeals court victory in battle over National Park historical displays.

THOUGHTS ON LAST NIGHT'S AMERICA 250 INDEPENDENCE DAY GATHERING IN WASHINGTON DC.

The Mall had been evacuated earlier in the evening due to severe weather. Some events were canceled (mostly the flyovers that had been happening throughout the day) and others rescheduled. Around 11 pm the the gates were reopened and America 250 restarted with President Trump to speak at 11:20 pm.

Surprising me, the Mall area started refilling quickly. Apparently most of the attendees had stayed around expecting it reopen. I heard estimates of upwards of 100,000 people, including many families with young children staying up well past their bedtimes. People were still coming in when President Trump began speaking.

His speech was essentially a guided military/crisis history of the United States from 1776 through 2026 using the real flags that had flown during those periods. He brought to the stage people (or surviving family members of those) who had actually participated in the events of which he spoke to remind us of the essential greatness of the American spirit. It was a very moving speech.

Then the fireworks began, and President Trump delivered what he promised -- they were spectacular. And they weren't launched from a single point -- from behind the stage, to the left, to the right, all over. I can only think of it as an IMAX theater performance. It lasted a bit over 30 minutes, at least twice as long as any I have ever seen.

And then the people left. Quietly. Not a fight to be seen; not a riot; not a shot fired.

The way an Independence Day celebration should be....

BEEGE WELBORN: This is my Happy Birthday to this magnificent country.

HEH: How do you say "MAGA" in Spanish?

Maybe it's time to change 'Gulf of America' to 'Gulf of the Americas'.

JUST ANOTHER teapot tempest.

THE LEFT ASKED FOR THIS; they got it.

And America won....

CIVIL SERVICE HAS NEVER WORKED WELL, so yes, bring back the spoils system.

And yes, I was a 'civil servant' for a short while. It was a mistake.

Go read the whole post.

TEN BLUE STATES chose to boycott the America 250 State Fair. They are Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusettts, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.

Pennsylvania and Maine also 'officially' boycotted, but their own citizens chose to step up to the task.

REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL [D-WA] insists socialism is popular. Its true it's popular in her circles -- but her circles don't include America.

JUST STEP BACK and let Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu do his thing.

Let him concentrate on the mullahs and IRGC while Hegseth's Department of War takes care of the rest.

WHEN REALITY BITES: Gavin Newsom has no clue on concealed carry.

Actually, he has no clue on just about everything....

IT'S CALLED GOVERNMENT. Everyting temporary is permanent.

THE RIDICULOUS REASON why Queen Camilla has angered the Left.

"Sod off, swampy" sounds right to me.

WHO KNEW? Seizing private property is the endgame of socialism.

Normally I would accuse myself of being sarcastic, but with the state of American higher education being what it is, no longer.

THERE AREN'T ENOUGH DONALDS BEING BORN? Trump is negatively impacting ... birth certificates?

How about Muhammads? Zorhans? Baracks? Are there enough of them?

CELEBRATE AMERICA 250? REALLY? Zohran Mamdani delivers a socialist manifesto to celebrate America 250.

POWERLINE: America at a crossroads.

The author's not optimistic. Neither am I.

JOSH SHAPIRO SHUNNED AMERICA 250, and now it’s a success. Normal people and businesses stepped up with pride.

Linked from Instapundit.

I DON'T KNOW BUT I CAN HOPE: Can we restore the principles of 1776?

MALLARD FILLMORE:

AMERICA'S NEXT 250 YEARS begins with patriotic education.

IN YOUR FACE, EUROPOORS, I'm setting my thermostat to 1776 for Independence Day.

SOME PEOPLE ARE PUSHING BACK: Massachusetts woman steps in after 'shameful' Democrat Governor boycotts the Great American State Fair.

Good. We need more people like Donna Festinger and Judith Kalaora, and fewer like Gov. Maura Healey.

THE REPUBLIC AT 250 and the merchants of chaos.

PATRIOTISM IS ALIVE AND WELL on America's 250th Birthday.

THE LINCOLN SPEECH every American should read on this America 250 Independence Day.

HEH: At 10:24 am this morning I wrote "It's not even 90 yet and already the weather 'panicans' are out with a heat advisory. Our cats have been outside all day enjoying the warm weather.

IT'S INDEPENDENCE DAY. A bit late for my July 4th posts, but we had a rather significant power outage here in the hinterland and power has just returned. Herewith are a pair of archive photos from 2021 and here is one from today.. insert Flag1 Except for having put the flagpole in a different place, nothing much has changed. Except grass (finally). I wish America has changed as little as it has here.

THE BRITISH got what they wished for....

MAMDANI WANTS YOU to enjoy the warmth of socialism.

So enjoy.

IN 2026 JFK would be a Republican....

AI ‘FACT-CHECKER’ says there may be 72 genders.

Artificial Intelligence is only as good as its training set -- and who defines the training set? If you're considering AI you might think about considering its parentage and education.

From the comments: "AI is the most powerful censorship tool yet created. It can be trained/tuned to only provide approved opinions and information." Many of the other comments (more than I expected) are on that point. Kudos to Real Intelligence....

IT STARTED OUT AS A JOKE. But now no one is laughing at this candidate’s chances for 2028.

A warning to Americans: This could happen to YOU.

HE'S RIGHT: Spencer Pratt furious as LA Mayor Bass uses fire for political posturing.

Spencer Pratt, the reformer and firebrand whom California Democrats managed to cheat out of the Los Angeles mayoral primary, is absolutely disgusted with “soulless goblin” Bass for pontificating that the fire at a particular L.A. facility must be a “turning point.” When the arson-triggered Palisades fires devastated huge swathes of land, killed dozens of people, and turned some of the most beautiful neighborhoods into heaps of charred logs and ashes, Bass wasn’t fazed. But now that a building which a donor of hers owned has burned, suddenly she is calling for drastic change.

Hypocrisy, thy name is Democrat.

HEH. THIS WOULD BE FUN: President Trump could end most birthright citizenship with this 1 simple trick.

More: The political upside of losing the birthright citizenship case.

I suspect the upside may be greater than the downside....

THE SOCIALISTS ARE COMING ... for the Democrats.

The takeaway is the last sentence: "[T]he stupid Republicans may be saved by the evil Democrats."

[VIP] THE BEST PLANES EVER: And every one American designed and American built.

For the over-literate computer types out there, I would add that the SR-71 was designed by slide rule and drafting board.

I still have mine....

SO KILL IT. Iran's theocracy has given way to an IRGC military dictatorship. And put a stake through it's heart.

HER 15 MINUTES OF FAME ARE OVER: Has the ‘revolution’ already passed AOC by?

IT'S MOMENTS LIKE THIS -- Captain Jim shared his final flight before retirement in the cockpit with his daughter, First Officer Julia -- that warm the heart.

I'VE GOT A PLETHORA so here are some more cartoons to enjoy.

No more enjoying television....

The difference betweeen socialism and 'democratic' socialism....

Trump hatred is misplaced....

Another commandment ignored....

The bartender is college-educated....

More to come -- eventually.

MIRANDA DEVINE: Democrats are in desperate need of a new leader as Communists overrun their party.

But all they've got is a Communist wannabe (Obama).

THE LAST SANE DEMOCRAT: Fetterman pummels Mamdani's SCOTUS defiance.

JUST TAKE A LOOK: Are you aware of just how crazy and radical the Democratic Socialist program really is?

WORST PRESIDENT EVER: Mr. Obama, are the slaveowners in the room with us right now?

FIVE YEARS AGO TODAY: The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Update: Apparently some things are cultural and not subject to easy change.

YOU SHOULD LOOK IN THE MIRROR, LADY: This New York Democrat says companies like Apple 'think they are governments' and 'want to have totally unchecked power'.

MAXIMUM JAIL SENTENCES REQUIRED: Seven nabbed after anti-Trump graffiti, deliberate slashing stuns the National Mall.

MY THOUGHT EXACTLY. Let Make New York suffer.

SOME CARTOONS TO START THE WEEK:

Enjoy.

I'M GLAD I NO LONGER LIVE IN VIRGINIA. Virginia judge blocks 'assault firearms' ban.

The state will appeal the decision, obviously, but at least my weapons are safe in the free state of Georgia.

NO MATTER WHO THE NEXT (REPUBLICAN) PRESIDENT IS, Usha Vance should be his/her Vice President.

WHAT'S NEXT? The pond scum-loving Left loses its reflecting pool. The last sentence of the post sums it up perfectly. "Democrats: Always petty. Never pretty."

TENSION ON THE BENCH: Justice Alito is none-to-pleased with Justice Sotomayor's angry dissent on the asylum case.

Democrats are always angry. When the lose; when they win. Always.

THEY WON'T LISTEN. Socialism bankrupted her family in Venezuela. Now, she’s warning American students.

WE COULD LEARN A LOT FROM OUR FOUNDERS who fought a middle east war centuries ago.

And won!

SOMEONE FINALLY FIGURED OUT THE OBVIOUS: DEI is make-work employment for otherwise unemployable neurotics and anti-social types.

HELLO MOTHER, HELLO FATHER: A letter home from a woke detention summer camp.

THAT'S ONE WAY OF GOING OUT OF BUSINESS: Florida tattoo shop refuses service to military and veterans for being 'war criminals'.

FINALLY, SOME JUSTICE: Eight protesters having ties to Antifa were sentenced to decades in federal prison on Tuesday for their roles in a violent July 4, 2025, ambush outside an Alvarado TX immigration detention center.

Update: [T]hey tried it in a small town. Hat tip, Instapundit.

I'D CALL IT 'JUST DESERTS'. What if violating the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) meant jail time?

DEFEND SOCIALISM -- if you can.

IT'S OFFICIAL: The Democrat party is a socialist skinsuit.

THE AMERICAN MIND: How to think about the American Revolution.

Via Hillsdale College's monthly publication Imprimis.

SOON-TO-BE-FORMER SEN. JON OSSOFF [D-GA]: Just when you thought Democrats couldn't stoop any lower.

HEH:

My daughter's friend in grad school, upon being asked by a member of her dissertation committee why she didn't include a Marxist perspective. "I grew up in the Soviet Union. I don't practice recreational Marxism."

'Nuff said. Linked from Instapundit.

IF YOU THINK YOU'RE HEALTHY it means you haven't been watching enough television.

It's time for Congress to step in and ban pharmaceutical advertising. Ambulance chasers, too.

WELL, OF COURSE: Joy Reid says no Black Americans she knows are celebrating 4th of July.

The only Black Americans she knows live in her bubble....

THEY CAME AT NIGHT: Trump reveals vandals sliced 350-foot gash into Reflecting Pool bottom.

I ALSO FAVOR BANNING MILLENNIALS FROM CONGRESS. Bless your heart, Jon.

At least until they've grown up....

“LET’S GET OUR HANDS ON SOME OF THAT LOOT.” Democrats surging on taxes.

'POETICA' JUSTICE: What a woke NYC coffee shop told a Jewish congressman just got the DOJ's attention.

Instapundit update.

The woke mind virus is akin to rabies and should be treated the same way -- eradication.

PUNCHING BACK? Elon Musk is now taking action after Ro Khanna vows to investigate him for his USAID actions.

After the DOGE accusation, Musk should take him for all he's worth.

NEW TAX STUPIDITY: Will the last productive person to leave California please turn out the lights?

Same as the old tax stupidity. Democrats never learn.

IT SHOULD SURPRISE NO ONE that the Democrats love socialism.

[N]one of us should be surprised that CNN’s polling has found that Democrats love socialism and hate capitalism. The average Democrat voter now is AOC, and like AOC, they don’t want to shut up about the little that they know about the real world.

Their knowlege is underwhelming....

SEE THE NEXT UNITED KINGDOM PRIME MINISTER: His name is Larry.

Update: installing Larry's new door.

SO WHO CARES? Joy Reid vows she will no longer vote for Democrats who refuse to pledge ending ties with Israel.

So she won't vote for John Fetterman. Big deal.

ADAM SCHIFF'S latest Elon Musk wealth grab fantasy.

Are there any non-idiots remaining on the Left (Fetterman excepted)?

CYNICAL PUBLIUS: Possible reasons why Trump signed the Iranian Memorandum of Understandins (MOU).

It's the second reason I favor.

IT’S NOT A BAD IDEA: Ban all NGOs.

It's one I've proposed in the past. Linked from Instapundit.

AUSTIN METCALF IS DEAD and Karmelo Anthony is 'too poor' to fund appealing his conviction. Break out the tiny violin.

JUANITA BROADDRICK is dead on target.

THERE ARE MANY GOOD MEMES in PowerLine's Week in Pictures this week, including soccer, trillionaires, the Obamalisk, and election returns. That said, my favorite is this one:

Now go see the rest.

LYING AND CHEATING IS EMBEDDED IN THEIR DNA: Texas Democratic Senate nominee Talarico reportedly courted Silicon Valley donors.

RANDOM THOUGHT: Replace 'tax the rich' with 'tax the stupid'. There a lot more of them so even $10/head should bring in as much as a 5% wealth tax on billionaires.

Remember how Bernie Sanders was famously in favor of taxing millionaires -- until he became one?

WELL, YES. Were Democrats always this dumb?

Recommended reading: The Marching Morons by Cyril Kornbluth.

AN OBELISK TO NARCISSISSM: Now we know why the Obama Center is so ugly.

The left's devotion to Obama has never been about substance. It's a cult of personality, and all these years later, it’s still going strong.

See also Beauty is obvious; ugliness comes with a lecture.

YES, WE DEMOCRATS WANT A WEALTH TAX: Just not on us.

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: Iran war misconceptions.

The key to negotiating an end to the war is to always remember that Iran’s regime —- its theocrats, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, military leaders, and elected officials -— has no history of telling the truth or abiding by any agreement it signs.

So the only means of enforcing concessions is to use disproportionate force each time Iran inevitably violates the terms of the armistice.

So bomb them BACK into the pre-historic Stone Age.

I'M INTERESTED, BUT IT'S TOO DARN COLD: North Dakota could overtake Texas and Florida as a tax-friendly state.

SAD, INDEED: From 'Trooping the Color' to 'Trooping the Coroner'.

IF TRUMP BUILDS IT they will come. The Left hates Trump so much that it's trying to sabotage the Reflecting Pool.

If Obama builds it they will run....

OUR CAMPUSES ARE CORRUPT — and higher education is due for its comeuppance.

HEH: Pride night in major league baseball.

If This Goes On --

RANDOM THOUGHT: Free speach does not confer an obligation to listen.

A START: University indoctrination centers are being abandoned.

Maybe even a good start....

REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE says Fulton and Gwinnett counties went around Georgia election law -- now it's suing.

Good luck with that -- the Atlanta metro area is solidly Blue.

JUST SAY NO. Iran's unprecedented 'whole-regime' delegation at US deal talks signals one goal.

ANTIFA ANTI-ICE BRIGADE charged.

Peaceful protests are one thing; violent protests are criminal and should must be treated as such.

PUNCHING BACK IS GOOD: Charlotte school learns expensive lesson after smearing student over Charlie Kirk tribute.

FROM THE DEMOCRAT'S PLAYBOOK: You'll own nothing and be happy.

Whether you like it or not....

FROM LAST WEEK'S PowerLine Week In Pictures, a view of the elitist mindset:

There are many others, topped by the Califraudia primary election memes. Go see them all.

ONLY JEALOUS PINKO LOSERS begrudge Elon Musk his well-deserved success.

Americans call them 'Democrats'.

POLITICS BEFORE PROFITS: Stop corporate ‘rackets’ from shortchanging Americans’ retirement income.

My retirement assets are doing quite well, thank you very much, but I hope it's from growing the economy and not by advancing a leftist political agenda.

[VIP] SMART STATES WIN CHEAP ENERGY; dumb ones fail America.

I THINK THEY'LL HAVE TO: Can bombs bring Iran back to the negotiating table?

This time it has to be complete capitulation, not negotiation. Otherwise, parking lot....

SO WHAT IS LEVERAGE FOR? These people are nuts!

[VIP] KURT SCHLICHTER: Savages versus civilization.

I wish we were more civilized....

HOW DEEP ARE THE NEWSOMS IN IT? This deep.

THE POLITICS OF ENVY: They doesn't want to earn anything; just steal it.

BY ANY MEASURE, California is a failed state — and a national embarrassment.

Democracy is dead in California.

THE REVOLUTION HAS BEGUN. Players on a MLB partner team refuse to wear 'Pride' jersey.

'Partner teams' used to be called 'farm clubs' but I guess that's too rural for the MLB sophisticates...

SALENA ZITO: 'It's Only a Matter of National Security'. America's Workforce Academy's mission to fill the workforce gap.

CALIFORNIA’S INSANE ‘Prove You’re Gay’ law.

KURT SCHLICHTER: Fiery but mostly peaceful riots are the language of the unheard.

SEATTLE’S SOCIALIST MAYOR doesn’t plan on limiting her attacks to the rich.

Her father (who supports her financially) doesn't seem to mind. He lives in New York.

THE “BOOM BELT” is basically America’s new economic engine.

Linked from Instapundit here.

EVER WONDER WHY LEFTISTS ARE SO CRAZY? A new study just confirmed the Left's worst-kept secret.

IT'S TIME TO REINTRODUCE IRAN TO AMERICAN BOMBS: Iran announces Persian Gulf Strait Authority, sets stage for tolls.

METAPHOR ALERT: Obama Presidential Center’s $470M safety net under scrutiny.

If taxpayers have to bail it out it should be turned into an American Museum of Progressive Failure.

GRAHAM PLATNER'S greatest vulnerability isn't what you think it is.

MASSACHUSETTS 'HOMEBASE' PROGRAM: a hundred million dollars for (illegal) migrants.

If you work -- in the private sector, obviously -- get out now.

ABOUT TIME: The FBI is finally going after the services that enable cybercrime.

BOOMERS (1946-1964): A generation of Scrooge McDucks?

As a pre-Boomer (a year early) my parents lived through the Depression and the economic restrictions of WWII and I spent the formative years of my life hiding under my desk at school during nuclear war drills to survive (?) mutual assured destruction (MAD).

Do you think that may -- just may -- have something to do with our 'Scrooge -ish' behavior?

HASAN PIKER GOES FULL STALIN: cheers plan to throw Republicans in prison.

Even if he could, they would still be outnumbered by Democrats....

ANTI-AMERICANISM: It’s the law!

AMERICA AT 250: Remember the Tenth Amendment?

OBAMA’S PRESIDENTIAL CENTER looks like his ego cast in stone.

Heh.

IS ANYONE SURPRISED BY THIS? “Mental illness is emerging as its own political identity and is most heavily aligned with leftist political ideology and causes.”

So Democrats are batshit crazy. Who knew?

MIRANDA DEVINE: Pete Hegseth’s warning to Europe – be smart or be invaded.

BERNIE'S STUPID SCHEME to 'socialize' artificial intelligence must be stopped.

Translation from Bernie-speak: "I want my (un)fair share."

After all, he's not a billionaire.

R-I-I-I-G-H-T: Election fraud "is against the law, so nobody would ever do it."

DEMOCRATS WILLING to throw Black voters under the bus to gain power.

They'll throw anyone under the bus who gets in their way.

SO WHAT'S NEW? Hillary Clinton is back and lying again.

Hillary Clinton suggests rural voters are too stupid to show ID to vote and Black and Latino Representatives can only be elected if voters are segregated by race.

Of course, since she is herself both dumb and racist.

BE SURE TO INVITE THE REVOLUTIONARY GUARD. Khamenei funeral finally set for July.

NOT SO RANDOM A THOUGHT: AI search engines are effing worthless. They don't search for what you want; they search for what they know you should want.

To the extent I can, I keep mine turned off. Unfortunately it (thinks it) knows better and keeps turning itself back on....

THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE: Everyone is talking about this photo.

Those aren't from the latest tranche of UFO photos?

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: Stop destroying civilization!

BY THE TIME YOU REACH RETIREMENT AGE YOU SHOULD HAVE STOLEN ENOUGH: Chip Roy has a plan to drain Congress of its elderly swamp creatures.

SOME OF THE MORE PUBLIC IDIOTS IN AMERICA: The Left has plans for seizing and spending Elon Musk's money.

Basic economics is beyond their ken.

IRAN'S REVOLUTIONARY GUARD: potential big hurdle to a U.S.-Iran deal.

Give them to Israel for disposition....

IT DOESN'T LOOK LOOK LIKE Spencer Pratt is going away anytime soon.

Good for him....

THE SCUM ALSO RISES: Graham Platner makes history as first vanity oysterman with Nazi tattoo to win U.S. Senate nomination.

DON’T PANIC about Trump’s Iran strategy just yet.

Longish, but it's Kurt Schlichter on his (Trump's) miltary/economic strategy.

CALIFORNIA IS WHERE the Democrats test out all of their insanity.

Just a thought: Should Maine be renamed 'East California'?

HEH: Platner’s "certainly good enough getting other people’s money to qualify for employment in Washington."

THEY ALREADY HAVE; WE CALL THEM 'DEMOCRATS': Humanoid robots will soon fill U.S. homes.

POORLY, I SUSPECT: Let's see how this experiment plays out.

HEINLEIN: “A government-supported artist is an incompetent whore.” The same applies to so-called 'journalists'.

ESPECIALLY BY OUR INFERIORS: Americans have had enough of being lectured.

RANDOM THOUGHT: Now that Fox News has gone to 'live updates' on its web site it's not worth bothering with any more. I'm moving to Newsmax

VIRAL INFLUENCER: How Bill Gates’ billions shape U.S. medical research.

I think I've discovered why health care has gone downhill over the last 20 years....

ARE YOU NOW OR OR HAVE YOU EVER ... been anti-American?

HEH: It’s fun having a POTUS enjoying himself.

Linked from Instapundit here.

SAY NO to the "warmth of collectivism."

GO PRATT: Spencer Pratt is still in the fight, and he'll do more than get by with a lot of help from his friends.

[VIP] ENERGY DENSITY: The physics rule renewables can never escape. The metrics are here, here, and here on X (Twitter).

Closely related.

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: Iranian endgames.

The only acceptable solution to Iran is to obliterate the Mullahs and their Revolutionary Guard and send them to meet their 72 virgins wherever Allah resides.

BECAUSE THEY'RE DEMOCRATS? Why are male-identifying Democrat candidates all creepy weirdos?

ANOTHER HUGE VICTORY: The transgender movement's grip on American medicine is loosening fast.

If you want to be transgender, fine. But do it on your own dime. Not mine.

'MOMMA' IS IN FEAR FOR HER LIFE from the long arm of the legislators.

How long must this woke mind virus continue to exist until normal America decides to kill it, stomp its remains into dust, and then salt the Earth it has been ground into?

MAKE AMERICA BEAUTIFUL AGAIN: The deeper agenda behind Trump’s Reflecting Pool glow-up.

And it should be the tag line for the next Republican presidential candidate.

RANDOM THOUGHT: Who put the 'Dim' in Dimocrats?

THE FIRST (AND ONLY) COMMANDMENT FOR CONGRESS:

From the Non Sequitur cartoon site.

NOW THAT THE ELECTION HAS BEEN CALLED (FINALLY):

YOU DON'T SAY: California is ground zero for election fraud in the United States.
Linked from Instapundit here.
-------------------------
OF COURSE THE CALIFORNIA VOTE WAS RIGGED! Here’s why it’s obvious.

SHORT ANSWER, NO: Can California still be saved? Confine it and let it rot.