Mr. President, Don’t Mock the Dead; You make it harder to defend you in other things

The Free Press  "Americans have become inured to Trump’s social media taunts. Yet he still finds ways to shock us on occasion."

"Trump almost certainly won’t walk it back, and the usual suspects will find some rhetorical contortions with which to defend this outburst. But there is no point in anyone defending this. It should be widely opposed—particularly by those who otherwise support him." 

GIPHY

"Even Rob Reiner’s contributions to American culture—from his days as a sitcom star on All in the Family to his direction of iconic films such as When Harry Met Sally and A Few Good Men—it was entirely appropriate for the president of the United States to weigh in on his horrifying death over the weekend.

"Sadly, the way President Donald Trump has done so is beyond the pale. His Monday post on Truth Social is worth reading in full, in part because many Republican lawmakers will spend the next few days claiming not to have seen it.

"This is what we know. Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, were found stabbed to death on Sunday. Their troubled son, 32-year-old Nick Reiner, has been arrested for their murder. There is no evidence that the slaying had anything to do with Trump. But the president has a penchant for making everything about himself, and so he has here, casting their deaths as somehow the result of their opposition to him and his politics.

"We’re living through an era of political violence, something we take very seriously. We’ve published numerous essays on how Americans can and must come together and solve our differences the way they are meant to be solved: civil debate, the democratic process, a respectful airing of differences. Those values are at the heart of everything we do. ' . . .

It’s Time for Ilhan Omar to “Face the Music”

 

Broc Smith

It’s Time for Ilhan Omar to “Face the Music”  "Minnesota’s Ilhan Omar has always been a controversial figure in the House of Representatives. Now that her involvement with a massive scam regarding non-profit organizations in the state of Minnesota has come out, perhaps it’s time we take a look back at her personal behavior.

"On August 12, 2016, powerlineblog.com posted the following…

"  'A reader has written us to point out that the Somali website Somalispot posted information last week suggesting Omar’s involvement in marriage and immigration fraud. The post notes that Omar married Ahmed Hirsi in 2002. Hirsi is the father of Omar’s three children. Omar is depicted with Hirsi and their children on Omar’s campaign website here.

"The post further notes that Omar married her brother Ahmed Nur Said Elmi in 2009, implying that the latter marriage assisted his entry into the United States. Her brother was a British citizen. “As soon as Ilhan Omar married him,” the post continues, “he started university at her [a]lma mater North Dakota State University where he graduated in 2012. Shortly thereafter, he moved to Minneapolis where he was living in a public housing complex and was later evicted. He then returned to the United Kingdom where he now lives.”

"So, she was legally married AND married her brother while married to Hirsi, finally legally divorcing her brother in 2017.

"But wait… there’s more…

. . . "It was President Teddy Roosevelt who said, and I paraphrase, There is no such thing as a half American. You cannot hold loyalties to two countries at the same time. If you don’t swear allegiance to America, then you don’t need to be here.

Representative Omar needs to face punishment for her actions involving the Minnesota scam. In fact, every representative or senator who has been involved in the illegal activities needs to be called out and punished for them. The two-tier justice system, which has spread throughout the country like a cancer, must be rectified so that we may truly be a country that can probably proclaim “justice for all”.

Until He Comes, KJ

Did Iran Orchestrate the Hannukah Murder of Jews at Bondi Beach?

 The American Spectator  

"But even more disturbing than Iran’s potential involvement in the recent attack, is that the Australian authorities failed to prevent such a mega attack."

A Hanukkah menorah is projected onto the sails of the Sydney Opera House in memory of the victims of a shooting at Bondi Beach, in Sydney on Dec. 15, 2025. A father and son opened fire on a Jewish festival at Australia's Bondi Beach in a shooting spree that killed 15 people, including a child, authorities said on December 15, denouncing the attack as antisemitic "terrorism."   USA Today

"As of this writing, at least two terrorist shooters have murdered 15 people at a Hannukah celebration in Bondi Beach, including Chabad Rabbi Eli Schlanger who was Chabad’s emissary in Sydney since 2008, and Holocaust survivor Alex Kleytman, who was able to shield his wife and save her from death. Arsen Ostrovsky, a human rights lawyer and popular figure on social media who was a refusnik who fled the Soviet Union with his family to Australia in 1987, and then moved to Israel, was also wounded in the attack. The Hannukah celebration was reportedly attended by approximately 2,000 people.

In a sliver of good news, Ahmed al-Ahmad, a 43-year old Muslim fruit shop owner, succeeded in tackling and disarming one of the shooters, avoiding further loss of life. Such heroism resulted in praise from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who stated: “We saw an action of a brave man — turns out a Muslim brave man, and I salute him — that stopped one of these terrorists from killing innocent Jews.”

"One of the gunmen has been identified as Naveed Akram from Pakistan. Mike Burgess, the head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), stated that “One of these individuals was known to us, but not in an immediate-threat perspective, so we need to look into what happened here.”

somalispot

"In the wake of that statement, one can’t help asking if Iran has its hands in this attack. Indeed, there are reports that Australia is investigating if this is the case. Additionally, an unnamed senior Israeli security official told Israeli press outlet Israel Hayom that “in recent months there has been increased activity by Iran to orchestrate attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets around the world,” adding: “There is no doubt that the direction and infrastructure for the attack originated in Tehran.”

"Such an attack on the “soft targets” of Jewish religious and civil life would not be out of Iran’s wheelhouse. Australia assessed that Iran has orchestrated other recent attacks on Jews in Australia. This August, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stated that “The Iranian government directed at least two of these attacks. Iran has sought to disguise its involvement but ASIO [the Australian Security Intelligence Organization] assesses it was behind the attacks.” Specifically, the ASIO had established links between the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and “cut-outs, including people who are criminals and members of organised [sic] crime gangs to do their bidding or direct their [IRGC’s] bidding,” according to ASIO’s chief Burgess. Albanese confirmed this assessment in that authorities were: “able to trace the chain of command, if you like, right back to the IRGC.' ” . . .

What we know about the victims in the Bondi Beach Hanukkah attack | CBC News  

• GTA Jewish community calls for support against antisemitism after Bondi Beach attack
• What we know so far about the Bondi Beach attack on a Hanukkah event
• What we know about the victims in the Bondi Beach Hanukkah attack
• Police increasing presence at Hanukkah events after Bondi Beach attack
• Australian police suspect father, son behind deadly mass shooting at Hanukkah event

American Families Pay The Price For Excessive Litigation

Issues & Insights

   "Such is the case with another TPLF bill, Litigation Transparency Act, sponsored by California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa. Ensuring this bill is ready for passage would underscore Congress’s commitment to addressing the issue."  

"Over the last five years, inflation has crushed American families. Despite great progress over the past year thanks to President Donald Trump, many household budgets are still stretched too thin. To make things even worse, the American economy is losing hundreds of billions each year due to out-of-control tort litigation. To address America’s affordability crisis, legislators, regulators, and courts can and must curb the expansion of costly, profit-driven lawsuits. 

"For years, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform has been sounding the alarm on the costs of such lawsuits. The total cost of the abuse amounted to $529 billion in 2022, equal to about 2% of America’s entire economic output. For businesses, tort costs are increasing by an average of 8.7% a year.  

"These litigation-related costs currently equate to $4,207 per American family each year, with households in some states paying far more. Californians are hit with an annual “tort tax” of $5,429 and New Yorkers face a tort burden of more than $7,000 each year. This increasingly high economic cost can be seen in rising prices, fewer jobs, and lost innovation and product choices.  

"Out-of-control tort litigation makes American businesses less competitive, decreases worker productivity, and discourages companies from investing in their operations – instead having to hold money back for the potential of a rent-seeking lawsuit. 

"However, some states are demonstrating that it’s possible to greatly reduce excessive tort costs. West Virginia legislators passed reforms that introduced more transparency in predatory third-party litigation financing (TPLF). The measure also addressed the consequences of misleading legal advertising. These and other reforms resulted in a 20% reduction in West Virginia tort costs from 2016 to 2022, giving the state the lowest per-household cost in the nation – at about half the national average." . . .  

No, nobody on the right is celebrating the murder of director Rob Reiner. (Please let this be so. TD)

 Monica Showalter

  "Nearly all conservatives are just as shocked and saddened as everyone else. Conservatives never wanted him dead, some just wanted him to shut up. That's far from dancing with glee and singing with joy as some (and not all) on the left did on the death of Charlie Kirk."

"

It's hard to prove a negative, but I didn't see anyone on the right celebrating the tragic murder of lefty Hollywood director Rob Reiner and his wife, Michelle Singer Reiner, reportedly at the hands of their second son, Nick, in a domestic dispute, stabbed after an argument. The New York Post reports that the son is "in custody."

" 'Sure, Reiner was a lefty. But people are more than just their politics. And a guy who focuses his entire life on making movies might not be a very deep thinker on politics anyway, even if he was vociferous.

" 'My immediate response upon hearing the news was one of sadness and sorrow. Such an amazing talent -- The Princess Bride, Stand By Me, Spinal Tap, When Harry Met Sally -- such misguided politics, but a nice guy all the same, meeting a an ending no one deserves. 

" 'And no more good movies for us from him, either.

" 'All I could think was that despite living a glittering life as a prince of Hollywood, renown for his excellent movies, there must have been a lot of suffering in Reiner's home, having a son, Nick, who was made addicted to drugs by some evil person at the age of 15, and Reiner paying for 17 trips to rehab for him by the time he was 19. Drug addiction is hell on whole families, not just the addict, it can happen to good families, too, while the failure of rehab to cure it is pretty common. He must have loved that son.

" 'So there's a certain amount of nonsense out there on the left, claiming that conservatives are celebrating the death of Reiner in these circumstances the same way a certain segment of the left (and it wasn't Reiner) celebrated the death of Charlie Kirk." . . .

One of Reiner's most famous scenes

Rob Reiner's words on Charlie Kirk murder echo sadly after director's death

. . . “ 'Absolute horror and I unfortunately saw the video of it,” Reiner replied. “It’s beyond belief what happened to him. That should never happen to anybody. I don’t care what your political beliefs are. That’s not acceptable. That’s not a solution so solving problems.”

“ 'And I felt like what his wife [Erika] said at the service at the memorial they had, was exactly right,” he continued. “I’m Jewish but I believe in the teachings of Jesus and I believe in ‘do unto others’ and I believe in forgiveness and what she said to me was beautiful. She forgave his assassin. And I think that is admirable.' ” . . .  

Far more than one would expect from a 2025 Democrat. Thank you, sir. TD

Rob Reiner and Wife Had Throats Slit By Family Member, Report Says  

"A source also told TMZ that the daughter (Reiner has another daughter from his marriage to the late Penny Marshall) who found the slain Reiners told police to focus on a family member who “should be a suspect” because this person is “dangerous.' ”

Mayor Frey wolfs down ‘Somali slop’ to spite Trump but the look on his face is worth 1000 words

Democrats hold allegiance to political power at the expense of America and her heritage, history, and traditions, all of which bind us as a nation and allow us to heal from our wounds. Wounds caused by mistakes of the past. Leftists - politicians, professors, celebrities, all consider it their need to daily scrape the scabs off wounds we all hope to heal. TD

BPR   "Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has set new standards when it comes to pandering to the Somali demographic, and a video of him chowing down on a plate of the African nation’s traditional fare has gone viral on social media.

"The far-left Democrat has taken great issue with President Donald J. Trump’s recent criticism of his city’s Somali community and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) as “garbage,” and he apparently thought that devouring the foreign grub was a way to spite the leader of the free world. And maybe it would have been if his facial expression didn’t look like he was wolfing down something that dripped out of a dumpster.

"In the short video that blew up X on Friday, the wimpy mayor is seen sitting at a table in a local restaurant and stuffing his face with the concoction, which greatly pleased his fellow diners while Somali music plays, and Frey has the appearance of a man battling the urge to throw up." . . .

Minneapolis mayor draws fire for Somali victory speech after third-term win | Fox News 

. . . "He then proceeded to list a number of Somalian regions, saying, "Whether you are from Bosaso or Mogadishu, whether you are from Hargeisa or Garowe, whether you are from Beledweyne or southwest, Minneapolis is a place where you come to seek prosperity, where you come to raise your family."

"Here is what this election means. This election means this is a moment for unity, where the entire Somali community can come together and say, ‘This is our people. This is our city. We are united behind each other," he said."

. . . "Having entered office in 2018, Frey was elected to his third term as Minneapolis mayor on Tuesday. He is best known for marching with protesters during the 2020 Black Lives Matter riots, which were particularly destructive in Minneapolis, the city where George Floyd died. Frey was also seen kneeling and weeping by Floyd’s casket at a memorial service."

Douglas Murray Drops Shocking FINDINGS on Congresswoman Ilhan Omar "Nobody beats Douglas Murray in a honest and factual debate."

If there is a Jewish Nobel for saving Jews, Ahmed al-Ahmed just won it - comment

 Jerusalem Post   "Ahmed al-Ahmed belongs in that moral family tree of the "Righteous Among the Nations.' "

SHOCKING FOOTAGE: 11 MINUTE VIDEO OF THE HANUKAH TERROR ATTACK IN SYDNEY AUSTRALIA pic.twitter.com/nWmZqoQN5b

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) December 14, 2025

 "The footage is hard to watch, and impossible to forget.

"On the eve of Hanukkah’s first night, as families gathered on Bondi Beach to celebrate the Festival of Lights, gunfire tore through the crowd. Then, in the middle of chaos, one man did the unthinkable. Identified by Australian and international media as Ahmed al-Ahmed, a 43-year-old Sydney fruit shop owner and father of two, he moved toward the attacker, wrapped him from behind, wrestled away the long gun, and forced the shooter to retreat. He was shot and hospitalized, but his split-second decision is widely credited with preventing even greater carnage.

"There is something profoundly Hanukkah about that moment.

"Not because Ahmed is Jewish (as far as the reporting shows, he is not), and not because heroism belongs to any one people or faith. It is Hanukkah because Hanukkah is the insistence that light is not a metaphor. It is a responsibility. A candle does not negotiate with darkness. It pushes back, stubbornly, flame-first."

"In Jewish history, the phrase “Righteous Among the Nations” is reserved for non-Jews who risked everything to save Jews during the Holocaust, recognized by Yad Vashem under a framework established by Israeli law. The names are etched into the Jewish conscience: Oskar Schindler, who used his factory to save Jews marked for death, and Raoul Wallenberg, who helped rescue Jews in Budapest with Swedish protective papers. Chiune Sugihara, a Japanese diplomat who issued visas that became lifelines. Irena Sendler, a Polish social worker who helped smuggle Jewish children out of the Warsaw Ghetto. The Ulma family in Poland, murdered for hiding Jews." . . .

New vision emerges of shooters loading and firing   The sirens are nonstop, but nobody arrives.

12 Dead in Sydney Terror Attack As Gunmen Target Jewish Families at Bondi Beach Hanukkah Gathering

 RedState 

 “This attack was designed to target Sydney’s Jewish community on the first day of Hanukkah,” he added. “What should’ve been a night of peace and joy celebrated in that community with families and supporters has been shattered by this horrifying evil attack.”

"At least 12 people (including one gunman) were killed in a targeted terrorist attack against the Jewish community during a Hanukkah celebration at Sydney's Bondi Beach on Sunday evening.

"The shooting occurred around 6:45 p.m. local time in Archer Park near the Bondi Pavilion, where over 1,000 people had gathered for an event known as "Chanukah by the Sea 2025."

"The event was to celebrate the first night of the Jewish holiday, Hanukkah, but two armed men broke the peaceful celebration when they began to open fire from a bridge.

"One gunman has reportedly been killed, while another has been taken into custody in critical condition, officials said. Another 29 individuals are known to have been wounded in the attack at this time.

"Videos of the attack have surfaced on social media." . . .

Elsewhere: Brown Shooting That Killed 2, Wounded 8 Might Have Targeted Jewish Economics Professor   . . . "Rachel Friedberg is Teaching Professor of Economics, Faculty Associate of the Program in Judaic Studies, and Faculty Associate of the Population Studies and Training Center. Friedberg served for four years on the faculty of the Department of Economics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

"Her research focuses on the economics of immigration, specifically econometric analysis of the outcomes and impacts of immigrants in the United States and Israel, about which she has testified before Congress and participated in Knesset committee deliberations. She is currently exploring the intersection of economics and Jewish studies. 

SENDCONGRESSHOME   

"Australia took away almost all firearms from the public so these shooters were shooting at least 10 minutes straight without anyone firing back

"I don't ever want to hear anyone tell us to weaken the 2nd Amendment

Tyler Robinson Smiles and Laughs in First In-Person Court Appearance

American Greatness

 Candace Owens Turned Charlie Kirk’s Murder Into a Stage for Herself     "When Charlie Kirk was assassinated on September 10, America didn’t just lose a leader—we lost a stabilizing force, a moral compass, and a man who spent his entire adult life lifting others. I wrote For Christ and Country: The Martyrdom of Charlie Kirk because his death deserved seriousness, honesty, and moral clarity—not spectacle. Unfortunately, Candace Owens chose spectacle.

"In the days and weeks following Charlie’s murder, while millions of Americans were grieving and searching for answers, Candace wasn’t pursuing justice or truth. She was pursuing attention. She didn’t treat Charlie’s assassination as a tragedy; she treated it as content—a new stage on which to perform, posture, and provoke. And that alone tells you everything.

"She did not wait for facts or investigators or the family or the people closest to Charlie to speak. She rushed forward with innuendo, insinuation, and theatrics—not to illuminate the truth, but to position herself at the center of a national tragedy she had no proximity to and no responsibility for. In a moment that demanded humility, she chose hubris. In a moment that demanded sobriety, she chose sensationalism." . . .  More...

Tyler Robinson Smiles and Laughs in First In-Person Court Appearance

Robinson seemed unbothered by the charges of aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, obstruction of justice, two counts of witness tampering, and commission of a violent offense in the presence of a child.

Trouble in Lefty Paradise? Recent Mamdani Moves Might Already Be Giving His Radical Base Buyer's Remorse

"Zorhan Mamdani’s Democratic Socialist Party just published its concern that he won’t be able to deliver all those promised freebies and that DSA will suffer from the backlash. DSA admits those promises were made when they thought it was unlikely he would become mayor." Sue Ellena

Rich Terrell

"With a little over two weeks to go before New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is sworn into office, Americans all over the country will be watching as the Big Apple begins its experiment in socialism. Mamdani is a textbook socialist. He comes from a well-to-do family and has never had a real job, with the possible exception of State Assemblyman. He has lots of grandiose socialist ideas in mind, but no idea how to pay for them. But as he gets closer to the Mayor's Office, the people who helped get him there are afraid he is going to go squishy on them and their causes after Inauguration Day on January 1.

The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) claim Zohran Mamdani as a member, and they amassed an army of roughly 99,000 people who conducted door-knocking, phone banking, and other campaign operations for him. Mamdani still has ties to the group, so much so that among the hundreds of people on his transition team, 26 of those are members of New York City's DSA chapter. So, what has the DSA convinced that Zohran Mamdani is going to go wobbly on them once he is the mayor?

"Since his victory in November, Mamdani has announced that Jessica Tisch would remain New York City Police Commissioner, not a popular move with a group that advocates for abolishing police and prisons. Mamdani has also endorsed New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who is not a DSA candidate, in his run to unseat Democrat Rep. Dan Goldman (NY-10). But perhaps Mamdani's most egregious offense is his Oval Office meeting with President Donald Trump, which appeared to be friendly. Trump also stated that he and Mamdani agreed on many issues, like affordability and crime. 

"While the DSA is still publicly supportive of Mamdani, Stu Smith, an analyst at City Journal, who is an observer of DSA politics, said this about a possible rift in the group over the incoming mayor," . . . More...

Becky Noble has been a political writer for over ten years. She has written for Politichicks, The Black Sphere, and The Political Insider. She holds a degree in Communications/Journalism from Regent University. Her Substack page is "Gumshoe Politics," and she hosts a weekly short podcast called  "In Your Face." 

Trump's support costs Machado liberal support

 Don Surber  

"Reporter: “If you can seize a tanker without killing anyone, shouldn’t that be how we handle these fishing boats?”   Senator Eric Schmidt: “FISHING BOATS?! The drug runners?! Those aren’t FISHING BOATS.” Reporter: “Yeah, but...' ”

"María Corina Machado left her hiding place in Venezuela to visit Oslo, where her daughter accepted the Nobel Peace Prize for Machado on Wednesday—just as President Trump seized an oil tanker that was trying to smuggle contraband oil for the Venezuelan regime. The seizure was not a covert operation to overthrow the government because Trump is quite transparent about his activity.

"In Norway, Machado faced the press.

Reporter: Yesterday, the U.S. seized a ship off the coast of Venezuela. Would you welcome a U.S. military intervention in Venezuela?

María Corina Machado: Look, some people talk about an invasion in Venezuela, the threat of an invasion, and I answer: Venezuela has already been invaded. We have Russian agents. We have Iranian agents. We have terrorist groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas operating freely with the regime’s approval.

We have the Colombian guerrilla and drug cartels controlling 60% of our territory, involved not only in drug trafficking but also in human trafficking and networks of prostitution. This has turned Venezuela into the criminal hub of the Americas.

What sustains the regime is a very powerful, well-funded system of repression. Where does that funding come from? From drug trafficking, the black market in oil, arms trafficking, and human trafficking.

We need to cut those flows. Once that happens and the repression is weakened, it’s over, because violence and terror are all the regime has left. We ask the international community to cut those sources, because the regimes supporting Maduro and the criminal networks have turned Venezuela into a safe haven for their operations across Latin America.

"A reporter asked her how she got to Norway. She replied, “One day I will be able to tell you, because certainly I don’t want to put [those who helped her] at risk right now." . . .

'Gaza doctor murdered Israeli hostage by injecting air into her veins... before her father received video of her dying and begging for her life'

Tell me again, Gen Z, who exactly are the "Nazis"? 

Follow-up to previous Legal Insurrection post in the Tunnel Wall: Report: Gaza ‘Doctor’ Murdered Hostage Noa Marciano, 19, as She Begged For Mercy. The Tunnel Dweller

UK Daily Mail 

"He added that what he went through was the 'biggest nightmare you could ever imagine', saying there are mornings he still wakes to the image of her murder replaying in his mind."

"The father of an Israeli woman abducted on October 7 has revealed his daughter was murdered in Gaza by a civilian doctor - and that he was later sent a video showing the moment she was killed.

"In the footage, Avi Marciano said a medical worker is seen injecting air into his 19-year-old daughter's veins as she lies on a bed inside Shifa Hospital, begging for her life. 

"Marciano, who was speaking publicly to a small crowd for the first time, said that by the end of the clip 'she was sweating and showing no signs of life'.

"His daughter was later identified as Cpl Noa Marciano, who the IDF said had suffered injuries during heavy bombing and gunfire but none that were considered life-threatening.

"As Israeli forces advanced towards where Noa was being held, her captors moved her to Gaza City, where she was later killed.

"Marciano said the video was sent to him on Telegram and showed clearly how his daughter died while in Hamas captivity. 

"He added that what he went through was the 'biggest nightmare you could ever imagine', saying there are mornings he still wakes to the image of her murder replaying in his mind."

Marciano seen in a Hamas propaganda video while in captivity.

Avi Marciano, the father of murdered IDF Cpl. Noa Marciano said he learned of his daughter’s death in Hamas captivity through a video of her last moments shared by Israel activist Shai DeLuca on Wednesday

Noa, 19, was one of seven female soldiers to be kidnapped from the Nahal Oz military base on October 7 – the other being Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, Agam Berger, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy and Ori Megidish – and the only one not to have returned alive.

Celebrity narcissists looking for another virtue to signal have alighted upon a fresh cause appropriate to their moral stature: freedom for a notorious mass murderer of the innocent.