The Bulwark, a Voice of the Crust.

IN THIS CRUCIAL PERIOD between the election and the inauguration, opponents of the president-elect need to use every feasible lever of power to defeat Trump’s movement, lest the country fail.

In this, they would be correcting a past mistake. The original response to Donald Trump’s rise was based on a strategic error. His critics and opponents thought he was an aberration, not a phenomenon—a recipe for quietism.

In the context of culture, we had Michelle Obama’s initial response: “When they go low, we go high.” The comforting conceit was that if Trump’s opponents continued to hold the moral high ground, Americans would eventually tire of the man’s shenanigans and return to their better natures. If you get down in the mud with a pig, the saying goes, you only get dirty.

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The number has grown each year, and represents 6 to 7 percent of ICE detainers issued in those years. Each declined detainer represednts a deportable criminal alien who was released back into the community and given the opportunity to prey on more victims. The number reported by ICE include detainers declined by the law enforcement agency with custody of the alien, cases in which the local law enforcement agency provided insufficient notice to ICE to arrive before the alien’s release, and early releases of aliens despite a detainer.

Mattnew Continetti.

Donald Trump’s visit to Washington on Wednesday had all the hallmarks of his first term. There was the cable-news pageantry of Trump Force One’s arrival in and departure from D.C. There was a cordial and reassuring meeting in the Oval Office between Trump and President Biden. There was the reelection of Speaker Mike Johnson within the House GOP and an orderly transfer of leadership to a new generation of Senate Republicans. And there was mounting shock, disbelief, and alarm within the bipartisan political class at Trump’s selections for secretary of defense, director of national intelligence, attorney general, and secretary of health and human services.

Four years of the somnolent, garbled, and often out-of-sight Joe Biden, accompanied by the vacant and aloof Kamala Harris, had dulled the senses. By dawn Thursday, some of us were beginning to recall the unrelenting nature of Trump’s first administration: a near-constant gale of news, hot takes, controversies, scandals, policies, personalities, and surprises. Reporters, commentators, wonks, bureaucrats, and elected officials are left searching for ballast. The situation is unlikely to change in the coming months. Why? Because the Trump whirlwind has returned.

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In the history of the social sciences, no other field of study has attracted so great a level of hostility as the science of economics. Since the inception of the science, the onslaught against it has been on the rise, extending across individuals and groups. And the outlook for a favorable reception of the science is bleak, given that a significant number of people are incapable of following through the extended chains of reasoning required for comprehending economic arguments.

Economics takes ends and goals of action as a given and—in matters of value judgments—it assumes neutrality (i.e., non-normativity), which is characteristic of a science. However, questions of suitability of means and various policies adopted to attain chosen ends are not beyond the scope of economic analysis.

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Here’s another way to look at why Republicans swept the 2024 elections: It’s the fault, only partly, of course, of the gerontocracy of the Democratic Party. Going back through history, it’s hard to find a time when a party’s leadership was so far along in years. The founder presidents retired in their mid-sixties. Andrew Jackson retired at 69, Abraham Lincoln was murdered at 56, and Ulysses S. Grant retired at 54. Theodore Roosevelt died at age 60, Franklin Roosevelt at 63.

Funny–he doesn’t look like Kamala Harris….

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The Welsh government has been advised to create dog free spaces in outdoor public areas after an ‘anti-racist’ group asserted it is making black Africans ‘feel unsafe’.

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As Americans voted decisively for a candidate who explicitly rejects nearly everything that Bernie Sanders advocates, Vermont’s senior senator insists that the Democratic Party just wasn’t liberal enough. The mindset of the far left seems to be that the working class just needs more of what they just voted against. For Bernie, the answer is always, “more cowbell.”

The Foundry.

Conservatives know that when the American Left wants us to “have a conversation” about an issue, it means they get to talk incessantly until we agree with them.

To progressives, there is one, approved view on a given issue and all others are atavistic throwbacks to an era before “progress.”

Observe that humans (and all mammals) come in two sexes, and you are a “transphobe.”

Suggest it is unfair for males to compete against females in sports and unsafe for men to share prison cells with women, and it is “hate speech.”

Declare that America is about equal opportunity, not equal outcomes, and uphold merit over race- and sex-based discrimination, and you are racist and misogynistic.

Argue against mass illegal immigration, and you are xenophobic at best, racist at worst.

David Brooks.

i’ve spent much of my adult life attending or teaching at elite universities. They are impressive institutions filled with impressive people. But they remain stuck in the apparatus that Conant and his peers put in place before 1950. In fact, all of us are trapped in this vast sorting system. Parents can’t unilaterally disarm, lest their children get surpassed by the children of the tiger mom down the street. Teachers can’t teach what they love, because the system is built around teaching to standardized tests. Students can’t focus on the academic subjects they’re passionate about, because the gods of the grade point average demand that they get straight A’s. Even being a well-rounded kid with multiple interests can be self-defeating, because admissions officers are seeking the proverbial “spiky” kids—the ones who stand out for having cultivated some highly distinct skill or identity. All of this militates against a childhood full of curiosity and exploration.

Most admissions officers at elite universities genuinely want to see each candidate as a whole person. They genuinely want to build a campus with a diverse community and a strong learning environment. But they, like the rest of us, are enmeshed in the mechanism that segregates not by what we personally admire, but by what the system, typified by the U.S. News & World Report college rankings, demands. (In one survey, 87 percent of admissions officers and high-school college counselors said the U.S. News rankings force schools to take measures that are “counterproductive” to their educational mission.)

…

The whole meritocracy is a system of segregation. Segregate your family into a fancy school district. If you’re a valedictorian in Ohio, don’t go to Ohio State; go to one of the coastal elite schools where all the smart rich kids are.

Pete Hegseth Was Removed from Biden’s Inauguration, Labeled ‘Extremist’ (James Bickerton/Newsweek)

Democrat Governors, City Leaders Pledge to Shield Illegal Aliens From Trump  Trump be da boogeyman.

No Matter How Bad You Think an Attorney General Matt Gaetz Would Be, He’ll Be Worse (Mark Joseph Stern/Slate)

A Foul Fireside Chat (Maureen Dowd/New York Times)

Senate Republicans Alarmed by Gaetz Pick as Attorney General Nominee (Karoun Demirjian/New York Times)

Justice Dept. employees stunned at Trump’s ‘insane,’ ‘unbelievable’ choice of Matt Gaetz for attorney general (NBC News)

Exclusive: Trump’s team drawing up list of Pentagon officers to fire, sources say (Reuters)  Good.

Tulsi Gabbard’s Nomination Is a National-Security Risk (Tom Nichols/The Atlantic)

Matt Gaetz just resigned from Congress, ending a probe into sexual misconduct and drug use (Associated Press)

Trump’s pick for top intel job has been accused of ‘traitorous’ parroting of Russian propaganda (Dan De Luce/NBC News)  Russian collusion! Russian collusion! Russian collusion!

House Democrat to introduce resolution reiterating Trump can serve only two terms as president (NBC News)

House Ethics Panel Was Set to Vote to Release Report Critical of Matt Gaetz (New York Times)

Bolton calls for FBI investigations before Gaetz, Gabbard confirmations (Sarah Fortinsky/The Hill)

Despite Victory and GOP Trifecta, Trump’s Fight Has Just Begun

Energy Department Quadruples Lending Budget in Rush To Approve ‘Green Energy’ Loans Before Trump Takes Office

Why Trump is trying to outrage Washington with his controversial Cabinet picks (Stephen Collinson/CNN)

Trump Plans to Install His Book Publisher as Head of Personnel (New York Times)

The Trump Doctrine

Matt Gaetz is emerging as the Trump pick Republicans are prepared to dunk on (Joshua Nelken-Zitser/Business Insider)

Federal Judge Reverses Retirement Plan So Trump Can’t Fill Seat

NYC delivery workers filing wage theft claims seek protection from deportation under Trump  I guess they must be illegal aliens. What did they expect? A supportive Democrat?

Matt Gaetz Cannot Be Allowed to Become Attorney General (Jeffrey Blehar/National Review)

Leftists Melt Down As Biden Is Nice To Trump During White House Welcome

Matt Gaetz Is a Bad Choice for Attorney General (Wall Street Journal)

Klepper After Hegseth Nomination: Women ‘Have to Get Pregnant’ to Risk Life

NY Times Shepherds Radical Anti-Male Feminists Broken by Trump Victory

‘Left turn and off the bridge’: Trump’s spy pick stuns intel world (John Sakellariadis/Politico)

FBI seizes Polymarket CEO’s phone, electronics after betting platform predicts Trump win: source (Taylor Herzlich/New York Post)

Fox News host Pete Hegseth as defense secretary: Perfect symbol of phony MAGA masculinity (Amanda Marcotte/Salon)

OH SHUT UP: Chicago Tribune Columnist Cries Trump Didn’t Win Election, ‘Disinformation Did’

Trump’s Shock, Mock, and Roll ‘Em Strategy (William Kristol/The Bulwark)

Trump’s Immigration Plans Could Bring an Economic Toll (Lydia DePillis/New York Times)

Trump pick resurfaces questions about Tulsi Gabbard’s 2017 Syria visit (Bryan Pietsch/Washington Post)

What Trump Can (And Probably Can’t) Do With His Trifecta (Russell Berman/The Atlantic)

Eva Longoria reveals she has fled ‘dystopian’ America with her family and is now living in Mexico and Spain (Natasha Anderson/Daily Mail)  Good riddance.

‘These Are Such Vital Years’: Weir Demands EPA ‘Hold The Line’ Against Trump

The Curious Case of Tulsi Gabbard: Is She a Russian Asset or a Dupe? (Jonathan V. Last/The Bulwark)

Playbook PM: Ethics probe hangs over Gaetz (Eli Okun/Politico)

MSNBC’s Mitchell Doubles Down On Fake News About Hegseth, Women Pilots

Republican Leaders Are More Afraid of Trump Than Ever (Jonathan Chait/The Atlantic)

Fla. AG Takes FEMA to Court for Civil Rights Violations

Food prices worried most voters, but Trump’s plans likely won’t lower their grocery bills (Dee-Ann Durbin/Associated Press)

Nichols Loses His Noodle Over Conservative Telling Him to Give Gabbard a Chance

Go bags, passports, foreign assets: Preparing to be a target of Trump’s revenge (Washington Post)

House Oversight Committee Investigates Biden-Harris ‘Scientific Integrity’ Guidelines Meant To Thwart Trump’s Agenda

Matt Gaetz is a Vile Sex Pest and Any Senator Who Votes For Him Owns That (Ben Domenech/The Transom)

Trump’s intelligence chief pick Tulsi Gabbard is ‘Russia’s girlfriend’ (Marc Bennetts/The Times)

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President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team is preparing to eliminate the Biden administration’s $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit as part of its broader tax reform plan, Reuters reported Thursday.

Trump’s energy-policy team, led by oil magnate Harold Hamm and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R.), has held several meetings to discuss repealing the EV subsidy, a cornerstone of President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, sources told Reuters.

Trump plans to use savings from ending the tax credit to help fund the extension of his 2017 tax cuts, which are set to expire at the end of 2025, Reuters reported. With the GOP retaining control of the House, congressional Republicans plan to make broader tax reform a top priority.

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ABC top brass is scrambling to bring in pro-Trump hosts for “The View” and other top shows, the New York Post reports.

The American Mind.

One of the worst decisions in Supreme Court history might finally be overturned.

Filed in January 2024, John Ream v. U.S. Department of the Treasury could cast aside Wickard v. Filburn (1942) could put an end to the Court’s rampant abuse of the Constitution’s Commerce Clause to justify whatever Congress wants to do.

The plaintiff is asking for declaratory and injunctive relief to overturn the current federal ban on distilling alcoholic beverages at home for personal and family consumption. Mr. Ream wants to produce rye and bourbon and has no plans to sell or offer it to the public. He believes that this prohibition exceeds the powers of Congress under both Article I and the 10th Amendment.

Although current statutes expressly authorize the home production of both beer and wine, 26 U.S.C.§ 5601(a)(6) prohibits home distilling of whiskey. Interestingly enough, 26 U.S.C. § 5181 allows for personal production of ethanol to produce fuel for farm use—and the same distilling process can also be used to produce whiskey.

The complaint in John Ream correctly notes, “If Congress can prohibit home distilling, it can prohibit home bread baking, sewing, vegetable gardening, and practically anything else.” How did Congress get the authority to regulate virtually anything under the auspices of commerce?

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When the director of the local Jewish federation first saw the hundreds of red, white and black posters plastered around the University of Rochester’s campus last weekend, an eerie comparison came to her mind.

They “looked a little bit like the ‘Kidnapped’ posters,” recalled Meredith Dragon of the Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester, referring to the flyers for Israeli hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza that became prominent in the weeks after Oct. 7, 2023. “I wonder if they were designed that way in particular.”

But the Rochester posters were something else entirely. Instead of promoting visibility for Israeli victims, these posters — marked with large “WANTED” lettering — targeted members of the university community who, the unnamed protesters alleged, had some form of ties to Israel. They stood accused of crimes ranging from “genocide” to “racism” and “intimidation.”

James Lileks: “Maybe it’s just me, but the older I get, the less I need to know everything now about everything.”

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A top Democrat in Rep. Seth Moulton’s (D.) hometown said she would find someone to challenge and replace the Massachusetts congressman for saying he doesn’t want his daughters “getting run over” by transgender athletes.

Last week, Moulton told the New York Times that he has “two little girls” and doesn’t “want them ge??tting run over on a playing field by a male or formerly male athlete, but as a Democrat, I’m supposed to be afraid to say that.” In response, Salem Democratic City Committee chair Liz Bradt condemned Moulton while making her threat.

“We will not stop advocating for people from all walks of life and all identities. He can take on the far right words ‘identity politics’ to degrade our work. We will find someone to run against him and win,” Bradt said in a statement obtained by the Boston Globe. “Salem Democratic leadership issued a letter to all our members in opposition to his statements. Our membership will be voting on endorsing the letter at our meeting Thursday night.”

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My, what a surprise.

The Department of Justice violated its own internal policies when it sent a letter—which ended up in the New York Times—warning Elon Musk’s political action committee against its $1 million voter registration giveaway in swing states, the chairman of the Federal Election Commission alleges in a letter obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

On Oct. 23, less than two weeks before the presidential election, the Times reported that the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section sent a “warning letter” to America PAC, Musk’s political group, that a $1 million giveaway for newly registered voters might violate the law. Both the letter and the leak appear to violate DOJ policies, FEC chairman Sean Cooksey argued in a letter to DOJ inspector general Michael Horowitz.

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Two days after the election, a federal court in Texas ruled against President Joe Biden’s latest unauthorized scheme to subvert immigration law: “parole in place” for illegal aliens who are the spouses of U.S. citizens.

In a 73-page decision, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas upheld a challenge by 16 states to the Department of Homeland Security’s attempt to create the parole program by administrative rule.

Introduced by Biden back in June, “parole in place” for spouses was built on a legal house of cards, as my BorderLine column explained at the time. In promulgating the order, Biden’s government created another administrative runaround to dodge the lawful visa process.

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Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), the infamous anti-Israel student group, protested Veterans Day by hosting a “Martyrs Day” event honoring “those martyred by the Israel-US war machine.”

In an Instagram post, CUAD, which has celebrated Hamas terrorists and praised attacks on Israelis, welcomed attendees to “read a martyr’s story and plant a poppy in their memory.” About 80 people attended the event.

Trump’s defense choice stuns the Pentagon and raises questions about the Fox News host’s experience (Associated Press) Questions they never raised about Kamala.

Pete Hegseth Appointment Sparks Military Fury: ‘Beyond Stupid’ (Newsweek) I’d have picked Eric Prince.

‘We are in a new place’: Bernstein reacts to Hegseth’s comments about women in combat roles (CNN) Trotting out Carl Bernstein again? Scraaaaaaape that barrel….

Russia Attempts to Collect Its Winnings (emptywheel)  The new Russia Collusion Hoax. An oldie but a goodie.

THE TWO DONALD TRUMPS (The Atlantic)

SNL Pretends To Support Trump To Stay Off ‘List Of Your Enemies’

Protests Break Out Across US in Response to Trump Winning the Election

Hostin Supports Axing Holidays With Trump-Voting Family, ‘Moral Issue’

US Senate Democrats rush to confirm judges before Trump takes office (Nate Raymond/Reuters)

Republicans Probing FEMA for Denying Hurricane Relief to Trump Backers

Rubio news triggers MAGA backlash (Politico)  MAGA is the New Nazi.

Uniparty Establishment War On MAHA Heats Up

CNN’s Whitfield Touts Clyburn’s ‘Jim Crow 2.0’ Fearmongering Over Election

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Reveals Plans to Fire 600 Federal Health Workers (Anna Merlan/Mother Jones)

Judge in Arizona election case against Trump allies is accused of anti-Trump bias (Politico)

Putin Aide Issues Ominous Warning About Trump’s New “Obligations” (Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling/New Republic)

Trump pledged to close the Education Department. What would that mean? (Washington Post)  A lot of money saved, a lot of Federal leeches unemployed, a lot of kids not perverted.

Fired FEMA Supervisor Claims Avoiding Trump Homes Was A Widespread Practice Due To ‘Political Hostility’

CNN’s Hunt Questions Trump Pick of ‘Little Marco’: Doug Heye Has Great Comeback

‘Who the f–k is this guy?’: Defense world reacts to Trump’s surprise Pentagon pick (Politico)

Trump’s First Executive Order May Be a Military Purge (Malcolm Ferguson/New Republic)  Speed the day.

Once They Were Neocons. Now Trump’s Foreign Policy Picks Are All ‘America First.’ (New York Times)  Trump’s a learner.

CNN’s Scott Jennings SCHOOLS Panel Over Hegseth Pick as Secretary of Defense

Newsom Assures Californians They Will Be Safe From All The Trump Administration’s Prosperity, Safety, Lower Prices  Babylon Bee.

Port Authority races to secure funds for Midtown bus terminal before Trump takes office

Playbook: Elon wears out his welcome (Politico)

Trump demands Senate recess to install Star Wars Bar (Liz Dye/Public Notice)

Special counsel Jack Smith and his team to resign before Trump takes office (NBC News)  The first fruits of the Trump victory.

YouTuber Applauds as Families Divorce & Dissolve over Election

Trump Called His Win a ‘Historic Realignment’ of U.S. Politics. We Have Our Doubts. (New York Times)  Of course you do.

Why Is PBS Allowed to Be Mangle-MAGA TV?

Pritzker, Colo. Gov. Polis launch governors’ coalition to protect against ‘threats of autocracy’ under Trump (Tina Sfondeles/Chicago Sun Times)

Newsom Visits Washington To Shield California From Trump Policies

CNN’s Zakaria Admits Dems Lost Due to Ignoring Border and Anti-Trump Lawfare

Trump Puts Allies on Alert by Handing Pentagon to Fox News Host (Bloomberg)

Europe must build resilience against Trump’s America – and welcome those desperate to flee it (Alexander Hurst/The Guardian)

Former DC Officer Fanone Hunkers Down In Blue Ridge Mountains; “Fully Expects” Shootout With Trump Agents

In Trump’s mass deportation plan, the private prison industry sees a lucrative opportunity (ABC News)

Trump May Usher In Massive TV Station Land Grab (Alex Weprin/The Hollywood Reporter)

Carl Bernstein: Putin, Netanyahu, China benefiting from Trump picks (Juliann Ventura/The Hill)

No, women aren’t likely to “boycott” men – but here’s why the idea matters (Amanda Marcotte/Salon)

Lawmakers Reject Bill That Would Let Trump Destroy Nonprofits (Noah Hurowitz/The Intercept)

The Guardian Throws Tantrum Over Trump Victory, Says “No Longer Posting On X”

Don’t Give Up on the Truth – Striking out against injustice is always right; it always matters. (Peter Wehner/The Atlantic)

Transcript: Paul Krugman on How Badly Trump Voters Have Been Scammed (New Republic)

Mitchell Spreads Fake News About SECDEF Nominee Hegseth, Female Pilots

ABC, CBS Pitch Hissy Fits Over Trump Joking About Staying in WH After 2028

Trump Makes Chilling Joke About Staying in Power Forever (Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling/New Republic)

U.S. Left Loses It As Trump Reaches Outside D.C. Bubble for Cabinet Nominees

Democrat Moves to Clarify the 22nd Amendment After Trump Refers to Running for Third Term (Annie Karni/New York Times)

Republicans “stunned and disgusted” as Trump taps Matt Gaetz for AG (Axios)

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Recently, legacy outlets Politico and The Washington Post reported on, and appeared to sympathize with, an amendment co-sponsored by Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) that would continue the work of an anti-free speech State Department program, the Global Engagement Center (GEC). In response, the Media Research Center relentlessly sought answers from the potential Senate majority leader candidates. The Media Research Center reached out to Cornyn, Thune and Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL).

The GEC, for its part, was shown to have aggressively worked to censor free speech on social media platforms, including targeting users of platforms as being a part of foreign influence campaigns. For example, Twitter Files journalist Matt Taibbi has reported that the GEC has smeared Twitter users by accusing them of acting on behalf of the People’s Republic of China. The GEC gave Twitter a list of “5500 names” that included CNN employees and “multiple Western government accounts.” The GEC has also been caught working with, and even giving $100,000 to, the George Soros-funded anti-free speech Global Disinformation Index (GDI). In Feb. 2023, Washington Examiner Investigative Reporter Gabe Kaminsky exposed the GDI for seeking to “defund conservative media” by cutting them off from their advertising funding.

The Media Research Center called Cornyn’s D.C. and district offices 12 times, in addition to sending two emails and a text message to Cornyn Press Secretary Tatum Wallace about the amendment. At no point did any Cornyn staffer address the amendment or even agree to speak on the phone. A staffer from Sen. Thune’s office informed the Media Research Center that Sen. Thune did not have a comment on the amendment. The Media Research Center also passed on concerns about the amendment to a staffer at one of Sen. Scott’s regional offices.

I believe I shall vote against Senator Cornyn if it runs again.

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Yesterday, news broke that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will lead a newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) focused on radically restructuring federal spending during Donald Trump’s presidency. What parts of government will be some of the easiest targets?

Using data from the OMB, 24/7 Wall St. identified the government agencies wasting the most taxpayer money. The 13 federal agencies on this list are ranked by the dollar value of overpayments made in the government’s 2023 fiscal year. All supplemental data in this story also came from the OMB report. Among these agencies, overpayments range from about $16 million to nearly $99 billion.

While some of this money is recoverable, taxpayers are ultimately on the hook for much of that wasted spending. The agencies on this list recovered a reported $25.2 billion in improperly made payments in fiscal 2023, some share of which was paid in error in a previous year. Still, this amounts to only about 14% of the total overpayments made in 2023. (These are the companies that receive the most in government subsidies.)

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I have started the process of applying for an Argentinian passport. If you live in Europe and have any familial connection to a far-flung land, you should consider this, too. Not to leave a sinking ship. I intend to stay and fight (by which I mean try to convince minds). But as an insurance policy. I’ve sat through history classes—as have many of you—wondering why on earth the Jews didn’t leave sooner.

Never again.

This week, Muslim extremists in Amsterdam went on a literal hunt for Jews. *Since setting this post to schedule on November 10th, Free Palestine activists in Sweden organised another such attack on Jews who were remembering Kristallnacht*

The American Mind.

With his historic re-election to the presidency, it would seem that Donald Trump’s legal problems are over. Trump, as practically everybody knows, has been the target over the last two years of numerous federal, state, and local prosecutions. Now that Trump will be returning to the nation’s highest office, these cases will be put indefinitely on hold or dropped altogether.

But if Trump’s problems in this respect are over, America’s are not. These cases present a problem for the nation because of the popular perception that they were merely a form of political “lawfare” brought to damage Trump, impair his candidacy, and prevent his return to power. Polls have shown that substantial numbers of Americans view these cases as politically motivated. Indeed, in what may come as a galling surprise to Trump’s political enemies, exit polls indicate that he won a majority of the votes of those Americans who believe democracy is under threat. This result surely reflects these voters’ sense that the various prosecutions of Trump were really an attempt to undermine democratic self-government by depriving the people of a free choice in the presidential contest.

John C. Wright.

Modern society faces seven mountains of madness, that is, seven institutional strongholds, captured by the enemy, that command the culture and war against it:

The Press and Hollywood
Washington and Wall Street
Academia, The Chattering Class, The Church

While the Church is not entirely captured, the number of priestesses, pro-abortion, pro-sodomite and pro-contraception denominations, bishops, and orders who have fallen away from Christian teaching is severe and severely scandalous.

With the election of Trump, the centermost of the mountains of madness, the stronghold of politics, takes are sharp and shocking blow.

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No matter how bad you think Covid policies were, they were intended to be worse.

Consider the vaccine passports alone. Six cities were locked down to include only the vaccinated in public indoor places. They were New York City, Boston, Chicago, New Orleans, Washington, D.C., and Seattle. The plan was to enforce this with a vaccine passport. It broke. Once the news leaked that the shot didn’t stop infection or transmission, the planners lost public support and the scheme collapsed.

It was undoubtedly planned to be permanent and nationwide if not worldwide. Instead, the scheme had to be dialed back.

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The Brookings Institution, an entity substantially funded by Big Tech and leftist billionaire George Soros, is whining for increased censorship in the wake of the 2024 election.

On Nov. 7, Brookings senior fellow Darrell West asserted Republicans won the 2024 election due to insufficient censorship of so-called online disinformation. Disturbingly, Brookings has financial ties to multiple Big Tech platforms that can censor speech online.

Brookings’ new commentary complained about President-elect Donald Trump and Republicans’ 2024 landslide victory, which reclaimed the House and Senate. Brookings highlighted “inflation fears, concerns about border security, worries about cultural issues related to race, gender, and sexuality, and feelings that President Joe Biden and the country as a whole were headed in the wrong direction,” but ultimately blamed alleged “disinformation.”

The Hill, a Voice of the Crust.

The University of Rochester in New York found “wanted” posters of Jewish faculty members on campus on Sunday night.

“This act is disturbing, divisive and intimidating and runs counter to our values as a university,” said university president Sarah Mangelsdorf.

“Furthermore, several of those depicted appear to have been targeted because they are members of our Jewish community. We view this as antisemitism, which will not be tolerated at our University. This isn’t who we are. This goes against everything we stand for and we have an obligation to reject it,” she added.

The school’s Department of Public Safety immediately began taking the posters down, highlighting the difficulty of the task in its statement.

Newsbusters.

President-elect Donald Trump may have overcome Google’s election interference, but the search giant continues to rig presidential race search results.

The Media Research Center found that Google provided a desert of left and legacy media sources for conservatives to wander through in search of right-of-center presidential race coverage on Nov. 12—exactly one week after the election. MRC researchers once again utilized the media list provided by AllSides, which classifies publications based on their “right” to “left” bias, and searched for the terms “donald trump presidential race 2024” and “kamala harris” presidential race 2024.” The first U.S.-based right-of-center result for the Trump prompt did not appear until the sixth search result on page 11, a New York Post article. This means that users had to pass over around a hundred search results before The Post.

Google did not display a single article from a U.S.-based right-of-center outlet in the 24 pages of search results for the Harris prompt. The first right-of-center result appeared on page six in the form of a Fox News video.

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Got them ol’ Deep State blues….

Nearly a month ago highly classified US intelligence detailing Israeli plans for a retaliation attack against Iran appeared online. The pair of documents were prepared by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and the leak immediately kicked off a massive federal investigation and hunt for the leaker.

On Wednesday federal prosecutors have revealed an arrest, with the NY Times reporting that “The man, Asif W. Rahman, was indicted last week in federal court in Virginia with two counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information.” He had worked for the US government overseas, and is being charged with two counts of violating the Espionage Act. The Times has followed with an update identifying him as a CIA official.

UPDATE: CIA Officer Arrested in Cambodia for ‘Deadly Serious’ Leak of Classified US Docs on Israel

The Washington Poop.

Voters in Montana, Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania — states that Donald Trump won on Nov. 5 — also voted for Republicans to take over Senate seats currently held by Democrats, helping Republicans secure control of the upper chamber.

After these flips, only Maine, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin will send a split-party delegation of one Democrat and one Republican to the Senate. That is the lowest number since Americans began directly electing senators more than a century ago.

The 17th Amendment was a mistake, a big step on the road toward twisting our Republic into a Democracy. Of course Democrats loved it.

Axios, a Voice of the Crust.

Democratic leaders are increasingly anxious about being left with a big bill from Kamala Harris’ campaign, which is likely to end millions of dollars in debt, four people familiar with the matter tell Axios.

Why it matters: Debt beyond a few million bucks could hamper the Democratic National Committee’s efforts to rebuild the party over the next four years.

I’m with you, brother.

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A journalist with the London Telegraph has been visited unannounced at her home by police in the UK who told her they are investigating a “non-crime hate incident” over a tweet she posted a year ago.

Yes, really.

Allison Pearson relates what happened on Sunday in an article, noting that police will not tell her which post is the subject of the investigation, nor will they tell her who her accuser is or what they feel offended about.

Read it.

entering the country—this is according to Die Welt, which published data by the Central Register of Foreign Nationals.

According to the report, a total of 4,614 people deported asylum seekers re-entered Germany in the first nine months of this year, despite an existing entry ban. In the same period, 14,718 migrants were deported.

Most of those who re-entered the country were Afghan nationals (443), followed by Moldovans (431), Syrians (385), Serbians (304), Macedonians (277), Algerians (266), Turks (255), Georgians (221), Albanians (220), and Bosnians (173).

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Imagine how peaceful the world would be if the Religion of Peace didn’t exist.

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It’s that time of year again. The days are short. The nights are frosty.

It’s time for sleigh bells and Christmas trees and carolers.

And it’s time for terrorist attacks in German Christmas markets.

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Kinda late to the party.

Axios, a Voice of the Crust.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) is getting caught up in the ideological infighting plaguing his party, with some members of his left flank dialing up their scrutiny toward him.

Why it matters: Jeffries’ loyalists have long touted his reputation as a unifier and coalition-builder, but some progressives are wondering aloud if he has the mettle to take on President-elect Trump.

Considering the role Arabs and other Muslims played in the slave trade, it always entertains me when African-Americans adopt Muslim names in order to seem more ‘ethnic’.

Read it.

The UN Climate Change Conference, known this year as COP29, kicked off on Monday and will last through the 22nd of this month. Many of the usual climate grifters have skipped the event as de-growth ‘green’ policies in the US are being prepared to be rolled back to some degree under a Trump presidency. Even Swedish far-left activist Greta Thunberg skipped the event (pre-occupied with pro-Palestine protests?).

On Tuesday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres told the world leaders who attended the event that last year’s meeting was a “master class in climate destruction,” adding, “The sound you hear is the ticking clock.”

Guterres also said the transition to clean energy “won’t be stopped by no group, no business, and no government.” He was likely referring to Trump’s plan to roll back certain climate policies that are strangling the economy and simultaneously boosting inflation, making US companies unable to compete in international markets. At the same time, China operates free of these de-growth policies.

Read it.

And the finger-pointing continus….

CNN.

The science is settled … until it’s not.

Financial Times.

That will get a bunch of panties in a wad.

US migrant rights advocates raise alarm over Trump appointments (Al Jaaeera)

Yale Psychiatrist: Harris Voters May Need To Cut Off Friends & Family Members

One of Trump’s Few Checks on Power? The Supreme Court He Shaped (Greg Stohr/Bloomberg)

White House races to dole out funding from key legislation before Trump takes office (Arlette Saenz/CNN)

’60 Minutes’: Depressed Scott Pelley Struggles to Comprehend Trump Win

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Directly Addresses People Who Voted For Both Her And Trump (Josephine Harvey/HuffPost) Splitters!

What Election Do These People Think We Just Had? – Democrats are inventing wild fantasies … (Jack Mirkinson/Discourse Blog)

Lead CBS, NBC Shows Ignore BOMBSHELL Report on FEMA Discriminating Against MAGA

A Look at Democratic Voter Turnout and Trump’s Election Victory (Michael C. Bender/New York Times)

David Remnick sounds off on the 2024 election, MAGA Media, Jeff Bezos, and more (Oliver Darcy/Status)

‘Hail Hitler and hail Trump’: People wave Nazi flags outside Jewish play in Michigan (David Edwards/Raw Story)

Those lovable uniters on the left advise Democrats to shun their friends and relatives who voted for Trump

Trump’s Cabinet Could Include Senator Who Tried to Fight Hearing Witness: Report (Nikki McCann Ramirez/Rolling Stone)

Resistance 2.0: Why The Campaign Against Trump Is Different This Time

Warren: Trump transition ‘already breaking the law’ (Tara Suter/The Hill)

He Went To A White Supremacist Event. Now He’ll Oversee Trump’s Mass Deportations. (Christopher Mathias/HuffPost)

Inside House Dems’ 11th-hour plot to sabotage Trump’s agenda (Andrew Solender/Axios)

Trump’s reelection casts a shadow over the start of global climate negotiations (NPR)

Musk Turning Himself Into the ‘Guest Who Wouldn’t Leave’ at Mar-a-Lago (Will Neal/The Daily Beast)

‘I Don’t Believe it’: Glaude Insists Trump Elected Because America Is Racist, Not Economics

How the Senate map explains Trump (Calder McHugh/Politico)

Trump Stole Bernie’s Working-Class Story. Dems Should Steal It Back. (Aaron Regunberg/New Republic)

Trump’s shadow falls on Chinese solar giant (Arianna Skibell/Politico)

CNN Cheers As Top Kamala Staffer Calls For Jan. 6 “Disruption”, Unelected Presidency

Chinese National Arrested Again After Multiple Efforts To Enter Mar-a-Lago

Women stockpile abortion pills before Trump term (Marisa Iati/Washington Post)

Iran Strongly Denies US Claims It Was Involved In Plot To Kill Trump

MSNBC Ratings Crater As Viewers Tune Out Trump Victory Coverage (Alex Griffing/Mediaite)

‘Trump Wins, Planet Loses’ – Morano heads to UN’s COP29 in Azerbaijan – Gore depressed – Bernie Sanders: ‘Struggle against climate change is over’

COP29 Will Be Haunted by the Ghost of the President Yet-to-Come

Springtime for Calling People Hitler

Blue state govs gear up to protect their people (Noah Berlatsky/Public Notice)

Left Blames Racist Minorities for Trump’s Win

Will the Supreme Court Stand Up to Trump? Can It? (Stephen I. Vladeck/New York Times)

Why Trump’s Deportations Will Drive Up Your Grocery Bill (Paul Krugman/New York Times)  That makes me feel better — Krugman has been wrong on his economic predictions Every.Single.Time.

RFK Jr. Isn’t Just Reckless. He’s Dangerous. (Michael R. Bloomberg/Bloomberg)  Trump cooties!

STUDY: 89 Percent Of Saturday Night Live’s Fall Campaign Jokes Targeted Trump

Trump Cabinet Picks So Far Decried as ‘Nightmare Fuel’ (Elise Stefanik/Common Dreams)

Will the American project survive the anger of white men? (Carol Anderson/The Guardian)

Welcome back to 1945

California Gov. Gavin Newsom will spend part of week in DC as he tries to Trump-proof state policies (Sophie Austin/Associated Press)

Rollo Tomassi: “Democrats don’t see men as having problems, they see men as being problems. Men responded to that and voted Republican.”

Read it.

The Dutch capital has become an effective no-go zone for Jews, who were the target of yet another round of antisemitic violence last night.

Violent pro-Palestine protesters—mostly young men, described by Germany’s Bild as “Jew haters”—took to Amsterdam, launching lit fireworks at cars, setting fire to a tram, and shouting “Kankerjoden,” which means “Cancer Jews.” Young people on scooters are also reported to have been actively seeking confrontation with police officers.

Footage of the chaos shared online appears to have been taken straight from a dystopian film.