This is the best Democrats can do?

Don Surber  

Her problem is not that she is impolite, it is that she is a monster who treated her husband and her staff like kickballs.

"Looking to replace Newsom next year, Democrats have rallied behind Katie Porter who is leading in the polls in California. She is raking in millions from donors. She already has union endorsements.

"She is a horrible person.

"The New York Post reported:

California gubernatorial contender Katie Porter once dumped scalding hot mashed potatoes on her then-husband’s head during a fight, resurfaced divorce documents allege as clips of her fiery temper continue to go viral.

The former Golden State congresswoman’s ex-hubby, Matthew Hoffman, filed for divorce in 2013 and detailed that the Democrat—who has a reputation for exploding at her staff—frequently abused him verbally and threw “toys, books and other objects” at him during their marriage, The Post previously reported.

"Democrats subsequently elected her to Congress.

"The woman’s temperament has not improved. AP tried to do a cleanup on Aisle Diva, reporting, “Katie Porter pushes back. After disastrous week ex-US Rep rallies support in California governor run.”

The story said:

On Wednesday, a snippet of a recent TV interview went viral showing the progressive favorite Porter in an awkwardly tense back-and-forth with a reporter — at one point she threatened to walk out. Shortly afterward, a video surfaced of a 2021 interview showing her loudly berating a staffer.

After a round of condemnation from her Democrat rivals and a flood of online mockery, Porter showed no sign of stepping aside while her campaign lined up supporters to help her weather the fallout.

“In this critical moment in our country we don’t need to be polite, go along to get along, establishment politicians that keep getting run over by the opposition,” said Teamsters California Co-Chairs Peter Finn and Chris Griswold, which endorsed Porter in September. “We need strong leaders like Katie Porter that are willing to call it like it is and stand up and fight for everyday Californians.” . . . More...

Who or What Will Finally End Hamas?

Victor Davis Hanson    Hamas is an irredeemable terrorist cartel that subverts Gaza, uses civilians as shields, and must be dismantled and barred from power before any genuine peace can begin.

"So there is a rare opportunity for the U.S., the Arabs, and Israel finally to forge a peace without the fear of foreign-funded, nihilist terrorism—but only for the moment and solely if the last obstacle, the terrorists of October 7 who prompted the last two years of war and death, are finally disarmed, discredited, humiliated, and eliminated."

"Hamas was born and exists to kill Jews, seek the destruction of Israel, and, to some extent, overthrow or subvert pro-Western Arab governments. Period.

"For those ends, it diverted billions of dollars from the people of Gaza to build a vast subterranean labyrinth of military headquarters and arsenals. It expropriated hospitals, mosques, and schools for use as tunnel entries and exits, using expendable civilian shields to protect its rich terrorist hierarchy. Hamas always counted on plenty of collateral damage to sway the Western left to become active enablers of its murderous causes—in a way, it is also stone silent on other “occupied land” and “refugees,” from the recent ethnic cleansing in Azerbaijan and Nigeria to the long-standing illegal occupations of Northern Cyprus and swaths of the Congo.

"Hamas was willing to execute its Palestinian Authority rivals, cancel all elections after its first and only victory, hold kangaroo death courts to murder dissidents, and steal hundreds of billions of dollars in Western and international relief. It has already violated the ceasefire, attacking and killing Israelis, and now claims it has “lost” the remains of Israeli hostages, whom it likely murdered (and thus does not want more physical evidence of their barbarity).

"Hamas will never give up power, despite the fact that its ruling elite is all but wiped out, thousands of its foot soldiers are dead, and it is now loathed by most nations of the Middle East. The subtext of every negotiation over the future of Gaza is that almost every Arab regime privately wants the U.S. or Israel to eliminate Hamas. It is likely more popular at American college campuses, or in Dearborn, Michigan, and New York City—than in the Middle East.

"Nonetheless, the remnants of Hamas are already in public view, in SS fashion, publicly executing any alleged critics or rivals. And it hopes to be reinvigorated by the recent release of 1,700 convicted terrorists, most with Hamas ties and many flush with cash for their past killing of Jews.

"Hamas’s current strategy?

"It hopes first to crush any internal Gaza opposition by liquidating critics, particularly oppositional clans and tribes, before mounting terrorist operations against Israel." . . . More...

Of course, hundreds of Thunbergians in their really cool Keffiyehs will take to the streets to intimidate local faculty, TV anchors and celebrities. TD

College anti-Israel group calls for death to all Zionist 'collaborators' in Gaza

Dem Senators Now Fear Fallout of 'No Kings' Absurdity

RedState 

"But we should remember the apocryphal caution often attributed to H.L. Mencken: "Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people'"

"The "No Kings" weekend of absurdity has ended, and many of us are still pointing and laughing at videos of aging Boomer hippies and Gen Z nitwits, both of which groups are shrieking incoherently about "tyranny" when in a real tyranny they would not be allowed to shriek incoherently about "tyranny." A casual read through history reveals very clearly, after all, that real tyrants aren't really big on free speech.

" 'You can't expect any intellectual consistency from these people, after all. But now the raging of the nitwits has some Democrat Senators worried about holding the line in the ongoing Schumer Shutdown - worried, not about Republicans, not even about sane voters, but about their own far-left base.

Grassroots Democrats frustrated with the Trump administration have been demanding a fight, and on Saturday millions showed up at “No Kings” demonstrations across the country to protest the president’s government.

In that context, Democrats know they will get hit hard by a number of voices on the left if they do not get something for opening the government.

“People are going to get hammered” if they vote for the House-passed bill to reopen the government and keep it funded through Nov. 21, said one Democratic senator who requested anonymity to talk candidly about their party.

"The schadenfreude, it is strong in this. When you dine at the Devil's table, you don't get to choose the menu, and Democrats have, as a party, embraced the nutcase left - now they face the consequences. Those consequences may well include electoral oblivion.             

Did you see that protest this weekend? 😂 pic.twitter.com/pE1P1Qnfg4

— Ramble_Rants (@ramble_rants) October 20, 2025    More...

 ‘No Kings’ — end game

. . . "While they clearly can’t run on these issues, what they can do is appeal to envy and fear. That’s what the No Kings protests are about — stoking mistrust in our current governmental system in order to set in motion its eventual destruction. But, to what end?  Communism."

 Press pimps No Kings parades    "Unlike the spontaneous FJB chants, this event was planned and paid for by liberals"

From the Babylon Bee:  SUCCESS: After Weekend Of 'No Kings' Protests, America Will Now Still Not Have Any Kings

Zohran Mamdani Refused to Intervene to Stop Cairo Sexual Assaults, Citing ‘Cultural Sensitivity’

 Amy Curtis 

Israel Gaza: Hamas raped and mutilated women on 7 October*

"Democrats love to portray themselves as the "Party of Women." They will tell voters breathlessly that they are the only thing standing between our mothers, aunts, sisters, and daughters from being forced into Handmaid's Tale outfits.

"But, as with all things Democratic, don't look at what they say, look at what they do. Time and again, Democrats betray women when it really matters. Democrats put the desires of "trans identifying" men over the rights and safety of women, including women in prison and girls in locker rooms. The Biden administration rewrote Title IX to force men into women's sports and punish the women who spoke out against it. They lie about abortion and the abortion pill, harming women.

"And now we've learned that Zohran Mamdani, New York's frontrunner for mayor, refused to step in and stop a rape on the grounds of cultural relativism." . . .

Journalist Lara Logan was attacked by hundreds of men in Cairo, Egypt, during a protest, resulting in her clothes being torn off in the middle of the street.
💔 pic.twitter.com/Gl6EQmlQtK

— Islam Invasion 🚨 (@IslamInvasion) May 11, 2025

. . . "That is what Mamdani refused to stop because he didn't want to be "culturally insensitive."

"We've seen this same mentality in the UK, where the number of rapes has risen exponentially, and grooming gangs have been harming British girls for years. Authorities often give the perpetrators light sentences because of their culture and religious beliefs and belittle the victims for being racist.

"And now Mamdani wants to bring those policies to New York, which will no longer be safe for women or Jews. In the name of "cultural sensitivity."

* Israel Gaza: Hamas raped and mutilated women on 7 October, BBC hears

. . . "Police have privately shown journalists a single horrific testimony that they filmed of a woman who was at the Nova festival site during the attack.

"She describes seeing Hamas fighters gang rape a woman and mutilate her, before the last of her attackers shot her in the head as he continued to rape her." . . .

Gabbard says declassified report 'exposes' Obama administration

BBC: Gabbard says declassified report 'exposes' Obama administration  "US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has released a previously classified report which she says points to a "treasonous conspiracy" to undermine the results of the 2016 presidential election.

"The House Intelligence Committee document takes issue with the conclusion, reached by numerous intelligence reports including one by the CIA, that Russia sought to help Donald Trump in that election.

"Gabbard appeared at the White House on Wednesday and said the report reveals "egregious weaponisation and politicisation of intelligence".

"Democrats said the White House is trying to distract from the ongoing controversy surrounding its decision not to publish files relating to Jeffrey Epstein.

" 'It seems as though the Trump administration is willing to declassify anything and everything except the Epstein files," Democratic Senator Mark Warner said, adding that a bipartisan Senate report had backed the CIA's conclusions about Russia favouring Trump. . . ."

Bombshells Begin: Newly Declassified Doc Confirms Obama Was Compromised, Emails Showed Up on Mystery Evidence Presented to FBI

. . . "By coincidence or otherwise, Comey's FBI chose not to look deeper.

" 'Witnesses told us that the FBI has never comprehensively reviewed thumb drives 1 through 5," the hitherto classified appendix read.

"Meanwhile, in a footnote, the appendix also noted that the question of accessing the thumb drives resulted in multiple meetings, one on Sept. 20, 2016, and another on Oct. 20, 2016, attended by FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, White House Counsel W. Neil Eggleston, and others.

"Why would White House counsel meet with the FBI regarding thumb drives already known to contain Obama's emails? Then, why would the FBI choose not to review the drives?

"Grassley called it an "extreme lack of effort and due diligence" on the FBI's part. The senator also characterized the "Comey FBI’s negligent approach and perhaps intentional lack of effort in the Clinton investigation" as a sharp contrast with its "full-throated investigation of the Trump-Russia collusion hoax."

"Likewise, many users on the social media platform X saw the Obama emails as the key to understanding why, in the words of Sean Davis of The Federalist, the Comey FBI "deliberately sandbagged the Clinton investigation and refused to take basic investigative steps that would’ve revealed how seriously Clinton compromised national security.' " . . .

Obama accused of 'treason'? Tulsi Gabbard says ex-prez was behind 'years-long coup' against Trump - US News | The Financial Express

Charlie Kirk’s assassination reveals the growing threat of Democrats’ violence

  Joseph Ford Cotto   

By the end of our conversation, one truth was unmistakable. America has entered a period where hatred is mainstream, and political violence is no longer unthinkable.  

"The numbers were shocking. The implications, worse.

"In a recent conversation on my show News Sight, Patrick Basham laid out findings that expose a political culture edging toward something darker than polarization. His words stayed with me long after our broadcast aired on October 7.

"Basham, the director of the Democracy Institute, has spent decades studying political behavior on both sides of the Atlantic. He is measured, data-driven, and careful with his language. Which is why what he said was so striking.

"Reflecting on the Institute’s fresh polling data, he told me, “It’s a sort of quite terrifying, or at least unnerving, result. Just across the board, such a large minority admit to a pollster that they have hatred in their heart for those who hold opposing political views. But that said, we get to the nub of the issue, which is that a majority of Democrats admit that they hate at least some people who hold opposing views.”

"The choice of words in the poll was deliberate. “We use the word ‘hatred,’ ‘hate,’ because we didn’t want to say ‘dislike’ or ‘strongly disagree.’ That’s just too tame today,” Basham explained. “This poll was taken in the days after Charlie Kirk’s assassination. We wanted to identify how intense the sentiments were. And we were not shocked that a majority of Democrats would acknowledge quite openly that that is how they felt about political opponents.”

"This hatred did not emerge overnight. Basham traced its roots through the Trump era. “It’s probably not shocking when you consider over the last decade what Democratic voters have openly, explicitly, overtly said about Trump and about those who support him,” he said. “A healthy or unhealthy slice of Democratic voters really do view themselves as better people than their Republican peers, and there is a willingness to take that further.” . . .More...

Dr. Joseph Ford Cotto is the creator, host, and producer of News Sight, delivering sharp insights on the news that shapes everyday life. He also provides affordable, results-driven consulting for business, management, media, politics, and the economy. . .

Trump Mocks 'No Kings' Protests:

Trump Mocks 'No Kings' Protests: 'I'm Not a King—I Work My A** Off'   

"I looked at the people. They’re not representative of this country, and I looked at all the brand new signs paid for. I guess it was paid for by Soros and other radical left lunatics," he said.

. . . "Not a word of what President Trump said is untrue. He does, in fact, work his a** off like no president we have ever seen in our lifetime. These protesters were perfectly content with a man whose brain had dissolved into a puddle of mush being walked around very rarely in public like "Weekend at Bernie's" for four years, yet can't comprehend a man working tirelessly to make the country better.

"They were okay with the country being run by autopen. They were pleased as punch when the last king implemented mask and vaccine mandates, and tried to get people fired for their personal medical decisions. And they were thrilled when that same king repeatedly tried to jail his political opponents.

"Biden or whoever was running the country the previous four years was the true "king."

As for the signs - well, RedState ace journalist Jennifer Oliver O'Connell has a tremendous rundown of some of the "rebels without a clue" who attended this past weekend's rally.

For me, and I know this is a little more subtle than the other placards worthy of mockery, this sign is one of my favorites. A protester claiming King Trump is "criminalizing protests" ... while they're standing freely on a public street ... protesting.

" 'I looked at the people. They’re not representative of this country, and I looked at all the brand new signs paid for. I guess it was paid for by Soros and other radical left lunatics," he said. "It looks like it was worth checking out."

"The demonstrations were very small, very ineffective and the people were whacked out. When you look at those people, those are not representative of the people of our country."

"He's right. They're not. They're a small swath of people who don't want to accept the election results. Mostly white. Mostly Karens. Mostly cat ladies. A group that can't admit their leftist movement is in the minority, while MAGA is the overwhelming force in this country right now." . . .

Aging lefties waste a beautiful Saturday to pretend they are speaking truth to power.  

. . . "What they are actually protesting, of course, has nothing to do with kings. It’s just another mass outbreak of Trump Derangement Syndrome. As Brit Hume phrases it on X, “The ‘No Kings’ rallies are mostly a protest against a man who sought power three times through democratic elections and enacted his major agenda item by majority vote of democratically elected members of Congress. Some King.” Batya Ungar-Sargon expands on his point as follows: “The Left isn’t protesting a king but their fellow Americans. They aren’t standing up for democracy — they are protesting against it.” They seem to have forgotten that Donald Trump was democratically elected less than one year ago with a popular majority." . . .

JD Vance Challenges Dems to Denounce Mamdani Appearing With 1993 WTC Bombing 'Unindicted Co-Conspirator'

Becca Lower

Vance isn't wrong here. This absolutely is not something the Democrats want to address, and there's only one reason why. They can't square the circle on political violence because it exposes what they and we know about the far-left fringe of the Democrat Party.

"As I wrote earlier on Saturday, Vice President JD Vance was on hand to deliver remarks to an enthusiastic crowd of Marines at the United States Marine Corps' 250th Birthday Celebration event at Camp Pendleton in California  

"But he managed to find time before arriving at the base to give his thoughts on the latest revelations involving Zohran Mamdani - the man whom the Democrats are championing to become the next mayor of New York City.

"In case you missed the latest, here's Bonchie to bring us up to speed on Mamdani seeming in recent days to drop any pretense of being something other than an aficionado of radical Islamist thought:

Today at Masjid At-Taqwa, I had the pleasure of meeting with Imam Siraj Wahhaj, one of the nation’s foremost Muslim leaders and a pillar of the Bed-Stuy community for nearly half a century. I was also joined by CM @dr_yusefsalaam of Harlem. A beautiful Jummah. pic.twitter.com/4kcN4CGlUk

— Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@ZohranKMamdani) October 18, 2025

And posted by Laura Loomer:   

Linda Sarsour

@lsarsour

calls Siraj her mentor. In case you thought it couldn’t get worse, Siraj Wahhaj’s son, Siraj Wahhaj Jr ran a jihadi compound in New Mexico where he trained kids to commit terrorist attacks. He and his associates were arrested and jailed for LIFE for training kids on a compound in New Mexico to kill Americans. Authorities said they stockpiled weapons and planned to commit mass murder in the name of Islam. The remains of dead children were also found on the compound. These are the people who are backing Mamdani. This is who’s trying to take over New York City. More...

The Roots of Zohran Mamdani’s Rage   

"By 2022, Mahmood had taken these ideas further, equating Abraham Lincoln’s Civil War policies with Adolf Hitler’s inspirations, portraying America as the progenitor of genocidal regimes. These views, nurtured in elite academic circles, were not fringe. They became intellectual fuel for a younger generation raised to see Western civilization not as liberator but as oppressor."

Legal Insurrection:  . . . The New York Post was quick to call him out:  Lefty NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani gleefully campaigned this week with a notorious, gay-hating Brooklyn imam who is an unindicted co-conspirator in 1993 World Trade Center bombing and who has been linked to other terrorist activity in the United States — including urging “jihad” on the Big Apple. . .  

Church of England Splits, Losing 40 Million Members as Conservative Majority Drives Major Division

 Infidel Bloggers Alliance  

"In the absence of such repentance, we have been prayerfully advancing towards a future for faithful Anglicans, where the Bible is restored to the heart of the Communion."

"The Church of England is facing a seismic schism, with the conservative Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (Gafcon), representing nearly 40 million members—ten times the UK’s Anglican population—declaring itself the authentic Anglican Communion.

"Gafcon announced it has  severed ties with progressive factions, accusing them of abandoning biblical authority and pursuing a “revisionist agenda.”

"The group stated, “We cannot remain in communion with those who forsake the inerrant word of God.”

"1. We declare that the Anglican Communion will be reordered, with only one foundation of communion, namely the Holy Bible, “translated, read, preached, taught and obeyed in its plain and canonical sense, respectful of the church’s historic and consensual reading” (Jerusalem Declaration, Article II), which reflects Article VI of the 39 Articles of Religion.

"2. We reject the so-called Instruments of Communion, namely the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lambeth Conference, the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC), and the Primates Meeting, which have failed to uphold the doctrine and discipline of the Anglican Communion.

"3. We cannot continue to have communion with those who advocate the revisionist agenda, which has abandoned the inerrant word of God as the final authority and overturned Resolution I.10, of the 1998 Lambeth Conference." . . .  Entire article here...

 

China Arrests 30 Pastors as Crackdown on Christians Grows

 Legal Insurrection  

"Beijing’s message could not be clearer: the Communist Party will tolerate religion only when it serves the state. For millions of underground Christians in China, that means worship itself remains an act of defiance."

"China’s persecution of Christians has reached alarming new levels. In a series of overnight raids across multiple cities, police detained at least 30 pastors and church leaders,  part of what religious rights groups are calling the largest coordinated assault on underground Christianity in decades.

"As the BBC reported:

“The US has called for the release of 30 leaders of one of China’s largest underground church networks who were reportedly detained over the weekend in overnight raids in various cities.  

”Beijing’s Zion Church, one of China’s largest and most influential house church networks. The Chinese Communist Party shut down the congregation in 2018 after it refused to install government surveillance cameras.

“Police in China detained dozens of pastors of one of its largest underground churches over the weekend, a church spokesperson and relatives said, in the biggest crackdown on Christians since 2018.”

 The detentions, according to NBC, came just days after Beijing expanded export controls on rare earth minerals, a move that has already heightened U.S.–China tensions. Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the arrests, calling them yet another example of the Communist Party’s hostility toward Christians who refuse to submit to state control.

“This crackdown further demonstrates how the CCP exercises hostility towards Christians who reject Party interference in their faith and choose to worship at unregistered house churches.” . . .

1865; Appomattox Campaign Driving Tour Map

 Emerging Civil War  

"Blue and gray soldiers raced westward during the first week of April 1865. After spending forty-one weeks around Petersburg, Robert E. Lee hoped the Army of Northern Virginia could leave its adversaries behind. Ulysses S. Grant’s strategic and personnel decisions enabled his armies to intercept Lee multiple times until finally cornering the Confederates at Appomattox. Much has been written about this final clash in Virginia and the work of federal, state, and private organizations has made it one of the most interpreted and accessible Civil War campaigns. Borrowing from these efforts, I have created a tour guide that overlays the routes of both armies onto a modern map.

. . .More here

"Calkins spearheaded the creation of the Lee’s Retreat Driving Tour, a self-guided route that roughly follows the Army of Northern Virginia from Petersburg to Appomattox. Civil War Trails maintains this self-guided route today and the organization has placed additional wayside exhibits along the many roads taken westward. Check out their online brochure here. The American Battlefield Trust has substantially increased the preserved battlefield acres, particularly in Dinwiddie County, around Sailor's Creek Battlefield State Park, and at Appomattox itself.

"The hundred-mile journey is an absolute must for anyone with an interest in the Civil War and this updated map should enhance the great public history work already done for the Appomattox campaign. Download the full map as a pdf here.

"(Update) The numbers listed on the map correspond with a suggested order of visiting the sites, as originally designated by the first Lee’s Retreat maps. In order, they are:  

Posted in Battlefields & Historic Places, Civil War Trails;  Tagged as Appomattox Campaign, cartography, Civil War Trails, Lee's Retreat, tour guides

Is Race-Baiting Over?

Power Line Blog  

Personally, I have never understood why conservatives should care about liberals’ accusations of racism, which are at least as dumb as their other smears. But for some reason, those particular lies have been effective. 

"Heather Mac Donald optimistically declares “The end of the race hustle.” Heather’s article is long, and data-rich. I recommend reading it all. She credits President Trump with being uncowed by the Left’s accusations of racism, and offers hope that race-baiting no longer works:

For decades, pointing out that any action, public or private, had a black target or fell disproportionately on black people was sufficient to discredit that action, regardless of whether it was couched in terms of race or had a racist intent.

Want to fire an employee? Good luck if that employee is black; such a dismissal would be presumptively racist. Tempted to criticize a government official for alleged incompetence or unethical conduct? If that official is black, think twice, since blackness is used as a shield. Try to jail a serial violent offender, such as Brown Jr., who happens to be African-American? That would contribute to racial inequity.

"Is that description overdrawn? Maybe, but it describes a strong current in the reality that we have been living in.

"Criminal justice, in particular, has been badly compromised by race ideology:

The idea that racial disparities in arrest and incarceration rates reflect discrimination and not disparities in criminal offending has been a staple of Democratic policymaking for years. The “systemic criminal justice bias” conceit has led district attorneys across the US to stop prosecuting and stop seeking jail terms for a host of crimes, simply because penalizing those crimes would have a disparate impact on black criminals.

"The “systemic bias” claims are false, but they have impaired public safety across America.

"Education is, of course, another area where racism has reigned supreme. So what is Heather’s basis for thinking the era of race-baiting will soon be behind us?" . . .  More...

The Times Gives Mamdani the Obama Treatment   "The New York Times apparently thought better of the original headline gracing its ostensibly straight-news coverage of the blowback that followed when New York City mayoral candidate Zoran Mamdani encountered, for perhaps the first time, an issue relating to Israeli security on which he had no opinion: the necessity of Hamas’s disarmament.

" 'Mamdani Faces Islamophobic attacks After Comments About Hamas,” read the original headline of Emma Fitzsimmons’s article. Subsequently, Mamdani faced only unspecified “attacks” that were presumably as vague as his “comments” about the barbarous terrorist sect.

"The Times would have been better off scrubbing the item entirely. "  The rest of this article is behind a pay wall, but you know what is relevant. TD