Sunday, November 30, 2025

The Burning of Bethany Magee; What one more horrific attack reveals about violence, failure, and our fraying social compact.

 The American Spectator

"Duffy noted that Reed had 72 prior arrests and wrote on X: "This would never have happened if this thug had been behind bars. Yet Chicago lets repeat offenders roam the streets. Chicago’s carelessness is putting the American people at risk. No one should ever have to fear for their life on the subway.' "  Newsweek

"I’m haunted by what happened to Bethany MaGee. Haunted by how, in the midst of something as ordinary as a subway journey, she found herself doused with gasoline and set ablaze. Haunted that she’s now in a burn unit fighting for her life. Haunted at the thought that, even if she survives, she’ll likely be scarred for life, not simply from the burns themselves, but from the emotional trauma. 

"Haunted, and also deeply, bitterly outraged. I recently wrote about the murders of Iryna Zarutska and Logan Federico, young women, like Bethany, attacked by strangers in moments when they should have been safe and secure. Writing that article, I wanted to conclude by saying “never again,” and yet I couldn’t. Not because the message didn’t need saying, but because I knew, deep down, that “never again” was tempting fate.

"And so it has come to pass. Yet another innocent young woman horrifically attacked. Yet again attacked by someone who should never have been out on the street to do the attacking, someone who’d been arrested over and over again, and yet spat back out by a system unwilling to confront the fact that some people simply cannot be allowed to share space with the rest of society. Yet another failure of our mental health care system, but above all, of our justice system. 

"When I wrote of Iryna and Logan, I wrote, despairingly, of the need for young women to arm themselves along with all the other vulnerable members of society, the elderly, the disabled, and anyone else lacking the physical wherewithal of a Chuck Norris or a Jacky Chan. I evoked the message of Chicago’s favorite liberal columnist, Mike Royko, who, decades ago, in response to a similar horror, turned away from his anti-gun ideology and counseled young women to arm themselves. 

"Frankly, both then and now, this represents the counsel of despair. Make no mistake — in the present moment I would very much prefer to see armed women to dead or dying ones. And I agree with the point made long ago by Royko, that having a woman blow away her attacker would have a salutary effect on the problem. It would eliminate one predator, and it might serve as a deterrent to others. It might also encourage progressive judges, the kinds who seem hell-bent on returning predators to the streets, to perhaps explore some other options, if only to protect their “pets,” the violent criminals who they few as unfortunate victims of the “system.”

"But I entertain no illusions on this score. The necessary training and the constant situational awareness and the stress of cycling between self-defense guru Jeff Cooper’s “Condition Yellow” and “Condition Orange” represents a burden no honest citizen should be expected to maintain on a daily basis. In our current cultural climate, a successful act of self-defense would likely bring down the harpies of victimhood on the side of the dead attacker, not the woman who defended herself. Worst of all, for any normal person, taking a life, even as an act of self-defense, almost always carries a lifelong burden all its own.". . .

What happened to Bethany MaGee? Riley Gaines demands arrest of judges who freed suspect Lawrence Reed with 72 prior arrests   

"They would rather sacrifice more American lives before ever admitting their failed policies caused her death They will never confront the extremism that led to an American hero being murdered."

Here's What's Really 'Unholy' About Chicago's Brandon Johnson 

"As part of his efforts to end such "racist" and "unholy" practices in his city, Johnson also did away with the ShotSpotter program in September 2024 — despite pleas and warnings from aldermen, victims' advocates, and community members."

. . . "Back before Johnson pulled the plug on ShotSpotter, Alderman Silvana Tabares issued a stark warning. "Starting tonight, every gunshot victim left bleeding in the streets of our city will be a worthy sacrifice in the eyes of the mayor for his radical agenda. Every single one.” 

Infomercial Towel Merchant 'The Sham-Wow Guy': the New Anti-Woke GOP Candidate for 31st District in TX ?

 RedState   

"What Offer needs to do is get to work selling himself with the same vigor as his product lines, convincing people to stop having boring votes and stop having boring politics. "


"The fortunes of the Texas Republican Party may rest in the hands of an infamous late-night TV infomercial salesman. It sounds like a ridiculous, preposterous political proposition – BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE! If you act now, you can support the election prospects of the genius behind the chamois towel you never knew you needed.

"The news spilled during Thanksgiving that Vincent Shlomi filed for candidacy in District 31 in Texas for the U.S. House of Representatives. To clean things up a bit, Shlomi goes by the name Vince Offer, but you probably know him by the more generic label – The Sham Wow Guy. 

"Mr. Offer was a staple of late-night television for a few years, hawking his miracle towels, said to hold 20 times their weight in fluids, serving as an all-purpose drying and cleaning product. The success was enough to see Vince later branching out with another household gadget, the Slap Chop. This was a small spring-activated countertop slicer.

"Offer had been off the radar for some time, as he attempted to carve his way into Hollywood. He was the creative force behind a pair of dismal, gutter-level comedies that ended up going nowhere. His second offering, “In APPropriate Comedy,” somehow had a bevy of known stars, like Lindsay Lohan, Adrien Brody, and Rob Schneider. 

"But now Offer is back, and he wants to join in on the GOP power base today." . . .

Mississippi 'miracle' catapults 4th-grade reading scores from bottom into top 10 by getting back to phonics

Joseph MacKinnon  "Mississippi has a winning approach to childhood literacy that other jurisdictions might want to adopt."

The U.S. Department of Education noted, "Mississippi’s literacy climb may be called 'miracle,' but it's really smart, local innovation at work."


"In 2013, Mississippi ranked 49th out of the 50 U.S. states in grade four reading achievement on the National Assessment of Educational Progress — the largest continuing national assessment of American students' knowledge and capability in math, reading, science, and writing.
"In what has repeatedly been dubbed a "miracle," the state made its way up the list — to 29th in 2019 and then 10 spots higher to ninth place nationally for reading scores last year.
" 'According to the NAEP, black students in Mississippi ranked third nationally last year among their cohort for reading and math scores; Hispanic students in the state ranked first in the nation for reading and second for math scores; and poor students in the Magnolia State ranked first for reading and second for math scores nationally.
"While there have been numerous attempts to explain Mississippi's success, it appears the "Mississippi miracle" is attributable ultimately to the state's 2013 Literacy-Based Promotion Act, which conservative commentator Rich Lowry recently noted effectively came down to adopting phonics and setting high standards for students.
"Noah Spencer, a researcher at the University of Toronto's economics department, analyzed the impact of the LBPA — the three pillars of which are improving teaching, identifying and helping kids with reading deficiencies, and holding back third-graders who can't hack it on an end-of-year reading assessment — in a study published last year in the Economics of Education Review. Spencer found that:
the policy, which included investments in teacher training and coaching, early screening for and targeted assistance to struggling readers, and retention for deficient readers, increased both grade 4 reading and math test scores on a national assessment by 0.14 and 0.18 [standard deviations], respectively, for students with any amount of exposure to the policy, and by 0.23 and 0.29 SDs for students with K-3 exposure to the policy.
"Spencer stressed the significance of these increases, citing previous research that found "that 'children with test scores that are one standard deviation higher at age 12 report 1-2 more years of schooling by age 22' in the lower- and middle-income countries they study." . . .

Jimmy Stewart - America's Most Famous Bomber Pilot?

 Brig. Gen. James M. Stewart; National Museum of the United States Air Force

. . ."He began flying combat missions and on March 31, 1944, was appointed Operations Officer of the 453rd Bomb Group and, subsequently, Chief of Staff of the 2nd Combat wing, 2nd Air Division of the 8th Air Force. Stewart ended the war with 20 combat missions. He remained in the USAF Reserve and was promoted to brigadier general on July 23, 1959. He retired on May 31, 1968." . . .

Saturday, November 29, 2025

Will Trump’s autopen executive order de-bench 237 leftist federal judges (including Ketanji Brown Jackson)?

Andrea Widburg   

"That means that the squish conservatives might find a way to stop Trump from invalidating the Autopen signatures, even though Biden’s mental incapacity and testimony about his disconnect from every document that the Autopen signed should void all those documents."


(For more on the ramifications of this order, check out this post.)

"On Thursday, I wrote that leftist judges on the bench are creating a form of tyranny, for they have arrogated to themselves the constitutional power of the Executive branch of government. There is no more balance. According to the Democrat appointees on the bench, none of Trump’s actions are solely within the discretion of the democratically elected chief executive. Instead, all are subject to judicial review and approval.

"The day after I wrote that essay, Trump issued a statement via Truth Social voiding every document that was signed with an Autopen during Joe Biden’s presidency and threatening Biden along the way:

Any document signed by Sleepy Joe Biden with the Autopen, which was approximately 92% of them, is hereby terminated, and of no further force or effect. The Autopen is not allowed to be used if approval is not specifically given by the President of the United

States. The Radical Left Lunatics circling Biden around the beautiful Resolute Desk in the Oval Office took the Presidency away from him. I am hereby cancelling all Executive Orders, and anything else that was not directly signed by Crooked Joe Biden, because the people who operated the Autopen did so illegally. Joe Biden was not involved in the Autopen process and, if he says he was, he will be brought up on charges of perjury. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

"Some have pointed out that this order is merely performative, since one president can always undo another’s executive orders.

"As an aside, that line of argument is untrue. As we’ve seen, district courts have repeatedly held that Donald Trump cannot reverse the executive orders of previous presidents. That’s the special unwritten Donald Trump rule. Their rulings are always dressed up in fancy language and erroneous legal arguments, but the net result has been that what other presidents do, Trump cannot undo. (ChatGPT struggles with this concept, but you can get the idea of what’s going on here.)

"More important than that argument’s inaccuracy is a practical reality: Voiding all of Biden’s Autopen signatures doesn’t just end policy Executive Orders. In theory, it also ends every judicial nomination Biden made, from Ketanji Brown Jackson on down." . . .

Terror, (especially stochastic terrorism) As Politics

J.R. Dunn  

"There is a concept called “” in which overheated, extreme rhetoric, or actions by establishment figures in politics, media, or the law, create a climate in which unbalanced members of the public — the mentally ill, the obsessive, the fanatical — are encouraged to carry out atrocious acts that might never have occurred otherwise. It’s a form of terrorism that seems to arise spontaneously and mysteriously out of nowhere, but in fact is the direct result of demagoguery by supposedly uninvolved public figures." . . . 

"The Dems have always been adept at playing dirty. There is scarcely a single epoch of American politics since 1828 that doesn’t feature a titanically corrupt Democrat capable of vast crimes committed in order to remain in power and make a profit doing so. But old-time Dems knew there were limits. You didn’t try to steal a presidential election. You didn’t undermine the foundations of the system itself. You didn’t try to annihilate the opposition. You gave lip service to the verities and generally tried to project a front of high-minded virtue, giving lip service to established values even as you defied them.

"In recent decades, though, Democrats have dumped all ethical pretenses in favor of utilizing any tactic, any strategy, to gain and maintain power, and to squeeze out every last dime and every last privilege, no matter what the cost to anybody else.

"The entry of ideology into everyday politics has rotted everything it touched. A system infected by it is ruined and best destroyed in hopes of protecting everything else. It could be any ideology—right, left, center—the effect is the same. But America has suffered the grave misfortune of contracting possibly the worst form: leftism, that is, socialism based on the Marxist dialectic.

"As is true of all previous cases—the USSR, Red China, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Cuba, Nicaragua—the key element is the control of everything, whether it’s political in the accepted sense or not (“the personal is the political” is one of the root concepts here). Everything outside of the ideological structure is a target, against which any tactic can be justified.

"Richard Daley knew where to stop. Zohran Mamdani does not.

"There’s no question that the Dems will eventually go over the edge. It’s going to happen. It’s baked into the very process of adapting leftism. The only questions are “when” and “what do we do about it?” . . 

This next is what I feel is the key point of which must be fought with vigor and dedication:.

 . . ."There is a concept called “stochastic terrorism,” in which overheated, extreme rhetoric, or actions by establishment figures in politics, media, or the law, create a climate in which unbalanced members of the public — the mentally ill, the obsessive, the fanatical — are encouraged to carry out atrocious acts that might never have occurred otherwise. It’s a form of terrorism that seems to arise spontaneously and mysteriously out of nowhere, but in fact is the direct result of demagoguery by supposedly uninvolved public figures.

"It’ll come as no surprise that most of the stochastic terrorists on record have emerged from the Left. James HodgkinsonStephen Paddock, Thomas Crook, Luigi Mangione, and Tyler Robinson can serve as examples. Note that many of these cases involve lots of head-scratching in the media — and even in law enforcement — as t.o the “motives” of the shooter. Note also that many of them are brushed off the headlines in short order, becoming back-page items, and sometimes not even that" . . .


Stochastic Terrorism: When Words Become Weapons    . . . "This phenomenon is known as stochastic terrorism. It explains how public figures can be demonized until their deaths are not only foreseeable but, in some circles, celebrated.  It is the bridge between words and bloodshed, where cultural cues and political messaging prime unstable individuals to commit atrocities while sympathizers applaud from the sidelines.

"Scholars have outlined how this process works.  Molly Amman and J. Reid Meloy (2021) wrote that stochastic terrorism “creates a climate in which violence against a target becomes not only possible but probable, and the social reaction afterward can serve as reinforcement for future acts.”  James Angove (2024) added that “the impact…lies not only in the initial act but in its reception; where public or political communities legitimize the violence, the cycle is sustained.”  Kurt Braddock explained that when leaders portray opponents as existential threats, “somebody will” commit violence, especially if such acts are later celebrated online.  Rachel Kleinfeld warned that violence spreads when communities excuse or valorize it.  In other words, both the rhetoric before and the reaction after are what complete the cycle."

"The assassination of Charlie Kirk fits this model.  For years, left-wing activists, media voices, and cultural influencers portrayed him not as a man with political disagreements but as a racist, a fascist, and a danger to democracy itself.  That constant delegitimization laid the groundwork for violence.  No one had to issue an explicit order; the endless drumbeat of vilification made it inevitable that someone would see his murder as “necessary.” . . .

Zohran Mamdani Dragged on Twitter/X for Passive Statement About Murder of National Guard Member Sarah Beckstrom

The Gateway Pundit


"New York City’s mayor-elect put out a statement about the National Guard member Sarah Beckstrom, who died after being shot in Washington, DC this week. Mamdani’s message is being slammed on Twitter/X for leaving out or twisting rather important details about the incident.

"See if you can spot what is wrong with his message. Take a look below:"

"Passing? She just passed away? That’s what happened?

"From RedState:

Many noticed that the X comment from Zohran Mamdani, the mayor-elect of New York City, in response to the news of Beckstrom’s death, was seriously lacking in some fundamental things." . . .

. . . "He didn’t mention anything about Beckstrom being killed or murdered. He didn’t mention it was allegedly by an Afghan national who yelled, “Allahu Akbar.” He didn’t mention that the police are alleging it was an ambush and are investigating it as possible terrorism. He didn’t mention Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe."        More...

 Mike LaChance has been covering higher education and politics for Legal Insurrection since 2012. Since 2008 he has contributed work to the Gateway Pundit, Daily Caller, Breitbart, the Center for Security Policy, the Washington Free Beacon, and Ricochet. He has also written for American Lookout, Townhall, and Twitchy.

Trump threatens perjury charges if Biden claims involvement in autopen process

 Revealed: Biden's motives behind his venomous hate-Trump speeches at the State of the Union, the dark, red-lit Freedom Hall, and the Democrat convention that all but put out a cry for any Trump assassin. TD

Fox News  

"During Biden's presidency, he signed 162 executive orders, in addition to hundreds of memoranda, proclamations and notices."

Lucianne

"President Donald Trump announced on Friday he is terminating all documents allegedly signed by former President Joe Biden with the Autopen.
"In a Truth Social post, Trump claimed 92% of documents signed during Biden's presidency were done so with the device.
" 'The Autopen is not allowed to be used if approval is not specifically given by the President of the United States," Trump wrote. "The Radical Left Lunatics circling Biden around the beautiful Resolute Desk in the Oval Office took the Presidency away from him."
"Trump said he is canceling all executive orders and "anything else that was not directly signed by Crooked Joe Biden, because the people who operated the Autopen did so illegally."
"The autopen device, which holds a real pen and signs paper using a handwriting template, automatically reproduces a person’s signature with high accuracy.
"The U.S. government has used autopens since the Truman administration, and the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel previously confirmed use of the device is legal for presidential signatures on legislation and executive acts, so long as it is authorized by the president.
"However, Trump claimed Biden did not approve the signatures, and threatened to charge him with perjury if he says he was involved in the autopen process." . . .


The Investigation Into Joe Biden’s Handlers Using the Autopen  . . . "As part of the Oversight Committee’s investigation into The Biden Autopen Presidency, Chairman James Comer and Committee staff conducted transcribed interviews with several of Joe Biden’s former senior aides and advisors. […] Their testimony revealed that President Biden’s cognitive deterioration was real, visible, and widely discussed inside the West Wing.

"Witnesses further confirmed that critical executive actions and even presidential pardons were executed without Biden’s direct authorization, signed instead by an autopen. Several aides confessed they did not know who was approving or controlling its use.” WATCH:"



World Relief was linked with George Soros pro-immigration groups and funded groups attempting to change how Evangelical Christians think about the subject. World Relief worked with the National Immigration Forum and Baptist Press to promote open borders.

The prize and the praise

American Thinker

”The operative question is whether Trump’s praise of Mamdani is to please the Qataris.  The litmus test will be if the Trump administration designates the entire Muslim Brotherhood — whose primary funder and promoter is Qatar — as a terrorist organization.The Nobel Peace Prize was wrongly given to Obama.  Is Trump trying to appease the Muslim world and Mamdani in order to get that prize?" 

"Barack Hussein Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize despite a record of non-achievements.  Obama was nominated just days into the start of his presidency in 2009, and, in the intervening years, there were no substantive accomplishments pertaining to peacemaking beyond the eloquent rhetoric that marked his campaign and the eight years of his presidency.  The Nobel committee, whose membership were Scandinavians with a white guilt complex, decided that the Peace Prize should go to Obama because he was a non-white person who spoke of lofty ideals.

"Similarly, President Donald J. Trump praised Zohran Kwame Mamdani, the Democratic-Socialist mayor-elect of New York City, who has made persuasive statements about “affordability” regarding housing, food, and transportation, without presenting a plan for how he intends to make it happen.  The Hill’s 11/21/2025 headline read, “Trump offers praise for ‘rational’ Mamdani in remarkable White House meeting.”  Trump added, “I think you’re going to have, hopefully, a really great mayor.”

"Like Obama’s lackluster term in office, Mamdani has done nothing to merit the president’s praise.  His tenure as a member of the New York State Assembly since 2021, the only political position he has ever held, was absent any significant achievements.

"New York City has never had a Muslim mayor.  Mamdani embraces the red and green ideologies of the radical left, which is anti-capitalist and pro-Islamism.  Ironically, it was Trump who called Mamdani a “communist” and, in his first term, denied U.S. entry to those Muslims applying from terror-supporting Muslim states. 

"Mamdani openly supports the Hamas terror group, which the U.S. government has listed as a terrorist organization.  He co-founded a chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at his alma mater, Bowdoin College.  SJP is a rabidly anti-Israel and antisemitic movement responsible for organizing the anti-Israel and anti-Jewish riots that have been taking place on American campuses since October 7." . . .  More...

Thanksgiving Isn’t for Atheists

Aubrey Harris  
"Thanksgiving should come with a conscious effort to overcome our habitual insensibility to the movement of God in our lives. If we can do it on the last Thursday of November, perhaps we can do it on the last Friday, too, and maybe the days that follow." A.H.

Babylon Bee: Turkey Pardoned By Biden Administration 4 Times Commits Violent Turkey Murder


"It’s that time of year again.

"You know, that time of year when the price of a 16-lb turkey — a bird precisely nobody truly enjoys eating — suddenly matters to both politicians trying to make a salient political point and stressed-out grandmas preparing to host potentially riotous dinners.

"That time of year when supermarkets, dollar stores, and Hobby Lobby try to convince us that massive tall hats with oversized buckles really are nostalgic, while television networks in collusion with Apple TV+ (a streaming service almost no one pays for) continue to deprive us of A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving for no good reason.

"That time of year (yes, this phrase is getting a little old) when we drown political debates in whipped cream, pumpkin pie, and far too many hours of football games we find ourselves unexpectedly invested in.

"Of course, we all know Thanksgiving isn’t really about any of these superficial things — not the football, not the TV shows we grew up watching, not the political debates with our relatives, or even the price of turkey. It’s really about that awkward thing Mom makes us do before we fill up on the cornucopia that’s spilling out over our table: It is about giving thanks.

"Gratitude. It’s a virtue modern men tend to lack.

"Perhaps it’s the fault of our comfortable existence — most of us manage to have a roof over our heads, cars in our garages, food we didn’t have to grow ourselves in our refrigerators, and a myriad of tiny items capitalism has persuaded us will make us happier (but don’t). These blessings (and that’s what they are) manage to be so quotidian that we forget to recognize even their existence.

"Or maybe it’s the fault of the progressive mindset Enlightenment-era philosophers bequeathed to us via our modern political order — that mindset that tells us that satisfaction with the things our ancestors gave us serves as a roadblock in the eternal march of history toward its utopian conclusion. Satisfied and grateful men rarely make good revolutionaries." . . . More...

"Aubrey Harris is a graduate of Hillsdale College (2023), the former Intercollegiate Studies Institute fellow at The American Spectator and current columnist. She writes Spectator P.M. Newsletter for American Spectator subscribers where she rambles on current events, historical topics, and life in general." . . .

Do Democrats want to stoke racial violence in our nation?


Viral Rants And False Claims: Inside Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s Chaotic Fall Of 2025   "Here are four of her craziest moments from the fall of 2025.

"Sept. 12: Crockett Compares ICE To ‘Slave Patrols’

"United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are up 1,000% year-over-year, the agency reported in a Sept. 22 release, while death threats have climbed by 8,000%, according to an Oct. 30 release by the Department of Homeland Security. The Trump administration has blamed anti-ICE rhetoric for riots at ICE facilities across the country, including Chicago and Portland, Oregon, which have been the scene of multiple riots as opposition to the agency’s operations targeting illegal immigrants has intensified."

"RELATED: Plot Twist: The ‘Jeffrey Epstein’ Who Donated To Zeldin Also Funded Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett. . . "

From The Federalist Papers: "During a press conference, Dem Rep Jasmine Crockett spewed venom against Trump and his administration over immigration enforcement:" . . .

"This speech is disgraceful. On the same day Chuck Schumer openly admits Democrats want a path to citizenship for every immigrant, legal or illegal, Jasmine Crockett stands there portraying President Trump as a killer. Meanwhile, her own party is ignoring the will of the American people while demonizing ICE, border agents, and even the National Guard.

"The country cannot absorb the millions who have poured in under Democratic leadership, especially while taxpayers are still trying to recover from the economic wreckage of the Biden years. That reality is exactly why Trump was elected. The gaslighting, the fearmongering, and the nonstop attacks on law enforcement need to end. If Democrats keep stoking division, they’re going to spark even more unrest and dissent in this country." . . .

Federal Judges Are Becoming A Form Of Tyranny

 Andrea Widburg

  "The second is that you must have an honest judiciary. If you don’t, your country will become a kritarchy—that is, a dictatorship of judges:" . . .

Image created using AI.

As a litigator in the uber-left San Francisco Bay Area for three decades, I routinely witnessed left-leaning judges make up the law as they went along. One went so far as to say, “I know what the law is, but I think...” What constrained them a little was the fact that it was considered humiliating to be reversed by a higher court. Today’s leftist judges no longer operate under that constraint. Their goal isn’t justice; it’s to interfere in the political process, precisely as Judge Robert Yates predicted in 1787.

Eleven months into the second Trump presidency, it’s become old news that leftist federal judges at the district court level (that is, judges appointed under Article III of the Constitution) are blocking every single administrative initiative. My guesstimate is that roughly 80% of them have been reversed at the appellate or Supreme Court level. Significantly, these reversals haven’t been over subtle legal points. They’ve come about for gross errors that first-year law students wouldn’t make.

In the first half of 2025, the Supreme Court repeatedly batted down rogue rulings that don’t even reach the merits of a case but are simply intended to run out the clock. Three examples will suffice" . . .