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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" > <channel> <title>Instapundit</title> <atom:link href="https://instapundit.com/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /> <link>https://instapundit.com</link> <description></description> <lastBuildDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 20:45:58 +0000</lastBuildDate> <language>en-US</language> <sy:updatePeriod> hourly </sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency> 1 </sy:updateFrequency> <generator>Instapundit</generator> <item> <title>THAT THING THAT NEVER HAPPENS KEEPS HAPPENING: Kentucky Driver’s License Scam = Registering Illega</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738617/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Stephen Green]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 20:54:18 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738617</guid> <description><![CDATA[THAT THING THAT NEVER HAPPENS KEEPS HAPPENING: Kentucky Driver’s License Scam = Registering Illegal Aliens To Vote.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>THAT THING THAT NEVER HAPPENS KEEPS HAPPENING: <a href="https://www.battleswarmblog.com/?p=66774">Kentucky Driver’s License Scam = Registering Illegal Aliens To Vote.</a></p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>I THINK EVEN KASH IS SURPRISED: ‘I Was Blown Away’: Kash Patel Describes Explosive FBI Burn Room D</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738651/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Charlie Martin]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 20:45:58 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738651</guid> <description><![CDATA[I THINK EVEN KASH IS SURPRISED: ‘I Was Blown Away’: Kash Patel Describes Explosive FBI Burn Room Discovery.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I THINK EVEN KASH IS SURPRISED: <a href="https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2025/08/15/kash-patel-describes-explosive-fbi-burn-room-discovery-n4942745">‘I Was Blown Away’: Kash Patel Describes Explosive FBI Burn Room Discovery</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>IT’S TIME FOR VICTORIA TAFT’S West Coast, Messed Coast™: Gavin Newsom Falls Hard for Trump Troll,</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738640/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Stephen Green]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 20:23:46 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738640</guid> <description><![CDATA[IT’S TIME FOR VICTORIA TAFT’S West Coast, Messed Coast™: Gavin Newsom Falls Hard for Trump Troll, and It’s Glorious. “As President Donald Trump was preparing for his big meeting with Vladimir Putin in Alaska, California Gov. Gavin Newsom was falling hard for what he said was a “sick and pathetic” — and hilarious — Trump […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>IT’S TIME FOR VICTORIA TAFT’S <a href="https://pjmedia.com/victoria-taft/2025/08/15/west-coast-messed-coast-gavin-newsom-falls-hard-for-trump-troll-and-its-glorious-n4942726">West Coast, Messed Coast™: Gavin Newsom Falls Hard for Trump Troll, and It’s Glorious.</a> “As President Donald Trump was preparing for his big meeting with Vladimir Putin in Alaska, California Gov. Gavin Newsom was falling hard for what he said was a “sick and pathetic” — and hilarious — Trump troll in L.A. A shocking stat from the mean streets of Portland, Ore.. More reaction to Dog Park Karen. Portland, protesters are so violent that a school has decided to move away from THEM. In Washington, Republicans are out and murders are up.”</p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>READER FAVORITE: Headlamp Rechargeable 3000 High Lumens Super Bright LED Head Lamp for Adults. #Comm</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/737870/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Helen Smith]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 20:16:13 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=737870</guid> <description><![CDATA[READER FAVORITE: Headlamp Rechargeable 3000 High Lumens Super Bright LED Head Lamp for Adults. #CommissionEarned]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>READER FAVORITE: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DMS9XRDM?ref=t_ac_view_request_product_image&campaignId=amzn1.campaign.1120NU491XLNK&linkCode=tr1&tag=wwwviolentkicom&linkId=amzn1.campaign.1120NU491XLNK_1754848198731">Headlamp Rechargeable 3000 High Lumens Super Bright LED Head Lamp for Adults</a>. #CommissionEarned</p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>AMERICA’S NEWSPAPER OF RECORD: https://twitter.com/TheBabylonBee/status/1956117388962734122</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738642/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ed Driscoll]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 20:14:13 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738642</guid> <description><![CDATA[AMERICA’S NEWSPAPER OF RECORD: JB Pritzker Joins Police Force In Hopes Of Getting Sandwich Thrown At Him https://t.co/7IUUsIlSVB pic.twitter.com/0lnMItYEuT — The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) August 14, 2025]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>AMERICA’S NEWSPAPER OF RECORD:</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">JB Pritzker Joins Police Force In Hopes Of Getting Sandwich Thrown At Him <a href="https://t.co/7IUUsIlSVB">https://t.co/7IUUsIlSVB</a> <a href="https://t.co/0lnMItYEuT">pic.twitter.com/0lnMItYEuT</a></p><p>— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheBabylonBee/status/1956117388962734122?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 14, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>ANALYSIS: TRUE. Florida’s Ron DeSantis is the Model for How a Pro-Gun Governor Operates.</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738507/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Glenn Reynolds]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 20:00:50 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738507</guid> <description><![CDATA[ANALYSIS: TRUE. Florida’s Ron DeSantis is the Model for How a Pro-Gun Governor Operates.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>ANALYSIS: TRUE. <A HREF="https://www.shootingnewsweekly.com/gun-nation/floridas-ron-desantis-is-the-model-for-how-a-pro-gun-governor-operates/">Florida’s Ron DeSantis is the Model for How a Pro-Gun Governor Operates.</A></p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>CHANGE (IT BACK): How to raise reading scores: ‘We taught the research-based stuff and cut the fluff</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738563/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Stephen Green]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 19:52:17 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738563</guid> <description><![CDATA[CHANGE (IT BACK): How to raise reading scores: ‘We taught the research-based stuff and cut the fluff.’]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>CHANGE (IT BACK): <a href="https://www.joannejacobs.com/post/how-to-raise-reading-scores-we-taught-the-research-based-stuff-and-cut-the-fluff">How to raise reading scores: ‘We taught the research-based stuff and cut the fluff.’</a></p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>WONDERS IN THE TIME OF TRUMP: Hillary Clinton Says She’d Nominate Trump for Nobel Peace Prize — fo</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738648/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Charlie Martin]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 19:33:28 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738648</guid> <description><![CDATA[WONDERS IN THE TIME OF TRUMP: Hillary Clinton Says She’d Nominate Trump for Nobel Peace Prize — for Real.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>WONDERS IN THE TIME OF TRUMP: <a href="https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2025/08/15/hillary-clinton-says-shed-nominate-trump-for-nobel-peace-prize-no-joke-n4942741">Hillary Clinton Says She’d Nominate Trump for Nobel Peace Prize — for Real</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>FLORIDA MAN FRIDAY [VIP]: Why’d It Have to Be Snakes? “Florida Man Friday is back after a one-week h</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738619/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Stephen Green]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 19:21:56 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738619</guid> <description><![CDATA[FLORIDA MAN FRIDAY [VIP]: Why’d It Have to Be Snakes? “Florida Man Friday is back after a one-week hiatus, and this week, we’ll learn why the gender pay gap actually runs the other direction (thank goodness), what a quiet night at Waffle House sounds like, and how New York Man broke pretty much all the […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>FLORIDA MAN FRIDAY [VIP]: <a href="https://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/2025/08/15/florida-woman-catches-60-invasive-pythons-wins-10000-dollars-n4942734">Why’d It Have to Be Snakes?</a> “Florida Man Friday is back after a one-week hiatus, and this week, we’ll learn why the gender pay gap actually runs the other direction (thank goodness), what a quiet night at Waffle House sounds like, and how New York Man broke pretty much all the laws in one headline. “</p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>IT’S HILARIOUS, BUT IT’S ALSO EVIDENCE THAT WE’RE FACING CIVILIZATION-DESTROYING LEVELS OF DUMB-AND-</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738644/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Glenn Reynolds]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 19:08:38 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738644</guid> <description><![CDATA[IT’S HILARIOUS, BUT IT’S ALSO EVIDENCE THAT WE’RE FACING CIVILIZATION-DESTROYING LEVELS OF DUMB-AND-CRAZY: This video is THE BEST. It's like a real life SNL skit. So many nuggets of gold, too — from the "blue haired manager" to Crystal calling herself "a retard" and then following it up with "I can call myself whatever I […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>IT’S HILARIOUS, BUT IT’S ALSO EVIDENCE THAT WE’RE FACING CIVILIZATION-DESTROYING LEVELS OF DUMB-AND-CRAZY:</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">This video is THE BEST. It's like a real life SNL skit. So many nuggets of gold, too — from the "blue haired manager" to Crystal calling herself "a retard" and then following it up with "I can call myself whatever I want." Every time I watch it I feel I catch something new.</p><p>— Alex Zoltan (@AmazingZoltan) <a href="https://twitter.com/AmazingZoltan/status/1956381255702032478?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>LIMITED TIME DEAL: Instant Pot Pro (8 QT) 10-in-1 Pressure Cooker. #CommisisonEarned</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738342/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Helen Smith]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 19:02:22 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738342</guid> <description><![CDATA[LIMITED TIME DEAL: Instant Pot Pro (8 QT) 10-in-1 Pressure Cooker. #CommisisonEarned]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>LIMITED TIME DEAL: <a href="https://amzn.to/415Z0Qo">Instant Pot Pro (8 QT) 10-in-1 Pressure Cooker</a>. #CommisisonEarned</p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>BEEGE: There’s No Pinched Sour Face Like Nicole Wallace Pinched Sour Face. Over the years, major</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738555/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Stephen Green]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 18:50:54 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738555</guid> <description><![CDATA[BEEGE: There’s No Pinched Sour Face Like Nicole Wallace Pinched Sour Face. Over the years, major dad and I have come up with a nickname for these chicks who adopt this sort of world-weary, affected, always disgusted mien: MISS PERPETUALLY PAINED Dana Bash is one, Brianna Keilar yet another, and MSNBC’s Nicole Wallace is a […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>BEEGE: <a href="https://hotair.com/tree-hugging-sister/2025/08/14/theres-no-pinched-face-sour-like-nicole-wallace-pinched-face-sour-n3805824">There’s No Pinched Sour Face Like Nicole Wallace Pinched Sour Face.</a></p><blockquote><p>Over the years, major dad and I have come up with a nickname for these chicks who adopt this sort of world-weary, affected, always disgusted mien:</p><p>MISS PERPETUALLY PAINED</p><p>Dana Bash is one, Brianna Keilar yet another, and MSNBC’s Nicole Wallace is a shining example of the variety.</p><p>Where once there was an all-American, kind of attractive girl with brains and potential, there’s now a bitter, hard, shrewish harpy.</p><p>How does being a successful progressive do that to you?</p></blockquote><p>Being ugly on the inside eventually shows through. </p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>ESCHEW ALL MODALITIES OF COCKSUREDNESS: The 2026 Midterms Are Looking More Like 1934 Than 1938. Tha</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738637/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ed Driscoll]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 18:35:05 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738637</guid> <description><![CDATA[ESCHEW ALL MODALITIES OF COCKSUREDNESS: The 2026 Midterms Are Looking More Like 1934 Than 1938. That 1934 midterm election was notable because the momentum from Roosevelt’s historic defeat of GOP President Herbert Hoover in 1932 carried over two years later as FDR and his administration were still in the early throes of combating the effects […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>ESCHEW ALL MODALITIES OF COCKSUREDNESS: <a href="https://amac.us/newsline/politics/the-2026-midterms-are-looking-more-like-1934-than-1938/">The 2026 Midterms Are Looking More Like 1934 Than 1938</a>.</p><blockquote><p>That 1934 midterm election was notable because the momentum from Roosevelt’s historic defeat of GOP President Herbert Hoover in 1932 carried over two years later as FDR and his administration were still in the early throes of combating the effects of the Great Depression.</p><p>This momentum kept going through to 1936 when Roosevelt was re-elected for a second term.</p><p>Only in 1938, following a new recession and an unpopular court-packing battle, did FDR and the Democrats suffer the historically traditional midterm defeat.</p><p>President Trump may now also be on the cusp of avoiding the dreaded “midterm curse.” The reasons for this unusual reversal appear to come from the perception that, despite President Trump’s return to the presidency after being defeated for re-election in 2020 (only the second time in U.S. history a president has won non-consecutive terms), his current administration is bringing about more and quicker change than he did during his first term, which was upended by the global pandemic. The rapid and relatively abrupt change we have seen thus far resembles FDR’s first two years in office.</p><p>Of course, it is only conjecture at this point that 2026 will resemble 1934 and not 1938. But given the GOP successes so far, and the Democrats’ historically low approval rating resulting from their apparent post-2024 drift to the far left, it would seem to be a reasonable current conjecture.</p></blockquote><p>On the other hand, if Democrats do win the midterms next year, former(?) Democrat Ruy Teixeira warns them of <a class="pencraft pc-reset line-height-44-JcViWb font-display-nhmvtD size-36-qKvSib weight-bold-DmI9lw decoration-hover-underline-ClDVRM reset-IxiVJZ" href="https://www.liberalpatriot.com/p/the-fools-gold-of-midterm-success" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“The Fool’s Gold of Midterm Success,”</a> which is well worth a read.</p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>THIS KEEPS HAPPENING: Sanctions for Another Lawyer Filing AI-Hallucinated Material.</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738497/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Glenn Reynolds]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 18:30:50 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738497</guid> <description><![CDATA[THIS KEEPS HAPPENING: Sanctions for Another Lawyer Filing AI-Hallucinated Material.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>THIS KEEPS HAPPENING: <A HREF="https://reason.com/volokh/2025/08/14/sanctions-for-another-lawyer-filing-ai-hallucinated-material/">Sanctions for Another Lawyer Filing AI-Hallucinated Material.</A></p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>ARNOLD “SCREW YOUR FREEDOM” SCHWARZENEGGER IS “READY FOR THE GERRYMANDERING BATTLE:” Accordin</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738631/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ed Driscoll]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 18:22:02 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738631</guid> <description><![CDATA[ARNOLD “SCREW YOUR FREEDOM” SCHWARZENEGGER IS “READY FOR THE GERRYMANDERING BATTLE:” According to Politico last week, “Schwarzenegger [is] ready to fight Newsom on redistricting.” Which is quite a change of pace for Arnold, who effectively governed as just another Sacramento Democrat during his time in office, gave Newsom his blessing after he beat his recall […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>ARNOLD <a href="https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/567433-schwarzenegger-to-anti-maskers-screw-your-freedom/">“SCREW YOUR FREEDOM”</a> SCHWARZENEGGER IS “READY FOR <a href="https://x.com/Schwarzenegger/status/1956385355130929618">THE GERRYMANDERING BATTLE:”</a></p><p><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-738632" style="border: 1px solid black; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;" src="https://instapundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/arnold_schwarzenegger_gerrymandering_08-15-2025.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="800" srcset="https://instapundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/arnold_schwarzenegger_gerrymandering_08-15-2025.jpg 1116w, https://instapundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/arnold_schwarzenegger_gerrymandering_08-15-2025-375x600.jpg 375w, https://instapundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/arnold_schwarzenegger_gerrymandering_08-15-2025-500x800.jpg 500w, https://instapundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/arnold_schwarzenegger_gerrymandering_08-15-2025-768x1229.jpg 768w, https://instapundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/arnold_schwarzenegger_gerrymandering_08-15-2025-960x1536.jpg 960w" sizes="(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" /></p><p>According to <em>Politico</em> last week, <a href="https://www.politico.com/newsletters/california-playbook-pm/2025/08/04/exclusive-schwarzenegger-ready-to-fight-newsom-on-redistricting-00493130">“Schwarzenegger [is] ready to fight Newsom on redistricting.”</a> Which is quite a change of pace for Arnold, who effectively governed as just another Sacramento Democrat during his time in office, <a href="https://instapundit.com/474391/">gave Newsom his blessing</a> after he beat his recall election, and <a href="https://instapundit.com/681041/">endorsed Kamala</a> last year.</p><p><iframe title="Hasta La Vista, Arnold!: What California's Budget Mess Means for America" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZzhbBbZJVN4?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>RAYMOND IBRAHIM: The Arab Siege of Constantinople 718: When Greek Fire — and God’s Wrath — Saved</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738609/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Stephen Green]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 18:19:07 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738609</guid> <description><![CDATA[RAYMOND IBRAHIM: The Arab Siege of Constantinople 718: When Greek Fire — and God’s Wrath — Saved the West.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>RAYMOND IBRAHIM: <a href="https://pjmedia.com/raymond-ibrahim/2025/08/15/the-arab-siege-of-constantinople-718-when-greek-fire-and-gods-wrath-saved-the-west-n4942739">The Arab Siege of Constantinople 718: When Greek Fire — and God’s Wrath — Saved the West.</a></p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF EARTH-SHATTERING KABOOMS: When the U.S. almost nuked Alaska—on purpose: P</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738493/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Glenn Reynolds]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 18:00:46 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738493</guid> <description><![CDATA[FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF EARTH-SHATTERING KABOOMS: When the U.S. almost nuked Alaska—on purpose: Project Chariot intended to detonate six bombs to build a harbor.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF EARTH-SHATTERING KABOOMS: <A HREF="https://www.popsci.com/science/nuclear-bomb-alaska/">When the U.S. almost nuked Alaska—on purpose: Project Chariot intended to detonate six bombs to build a harbor.</A></p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>CDR SALAMANDER: China’s Show of Force in… the Arctic. When you have the world’s largest navy,</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738552/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Stephen Green]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 17:48:13 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738552</guid> <description><![CDATA[CDR SALAMANDER: China’s Show of Force in… the Arctic. When you have the world’s largest navy, you soon realize you can be everywhere, all at once, because you want to. We all had fun at the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) navy and coast guard’s expense yesterday in Operation Bumper Boats, but now it is […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>CDR SALAMANDER: <a href="https://cdrsalamander.substack.com/p/chinas-show-of-force-in-the-arctic">China’s Show of Force in… the Arctic.</a></p><blockquote><p>When you have the world’s largest navy, you soon realize you can be everywhere, all at once, because you want to.</p><p>We all had fun at the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) navy and coast guard’s expense yesterday in Operation Bumper Boats, but now it is time to get back to serious things.</p><p>As we discussed six months ago, the PRC is not an Arctic nation. It has, at best, a tertiary concern with the Arctic. Just look at the chart at the top of last week’s post, no PRC coastline to be seen.</p><p>That isn’t stopping her.</p><p>While we continue to try to figure out a way to catch up in the icebreaker game, the PRC is already there.</p><p>They are not doing this for pure research; they are looking at how to leverage every corner of the planet for military and economic gain for themselves.</p></blockquote><p>Read the whole thing — and remember, this is a zero-sum game. Each CCP gain is a loss for the US.</p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>TYLER O’NEIL ON THE BIDEN BURROWERS: Exposing a Potential Deep State Threat Against the Second Trum</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738606/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ed Driscoll]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 17:35:31 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738606</guid> <description><![CDATA[TYLER O’NEIL ON THE BIDEN BURROWERS: Exposing a Potential Deep State Threat Against the Second Trump Administration.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>TYLER O’NEIL ON <a href="https://www.dailysignal.com/2025/08/14/biden-burrowers-exposing-potential-deep-state-threat-against-second-trump-administration/">THE BIDEN BURROWERS: Exposing a Potential Deep State Threat Against the Second Trump Administration</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>GOOD: Novel monoclonal antibody targets deadly sepsis by preventing ‘cytokine storms.’</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738491/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Glenn Reynolds]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 17:30:53 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738491</guid> <description><![CDATA[GOOD: Novel monoclonal antibody targets deadly sepsis by preventing ‘cytokine storms.’]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>GOOD: <A HREF="https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-08-monoclonal-antibody-deadly-sepsis-cytokine.html">Novel monoclonal antibody targets deadly sepsis by preventing ‘cytokine storms.’</A></p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>LITERALLY THE INSURRECTIONARY PARTY: https://twitter.com/jimgeraghty/status/1956380071033528458</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738628/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Glenn Reynolds]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 17:29:39 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738628</guid> <description><![CDATA[LITERALLY THE INSURRECTIONARY PARTY: Every president, cabinet member, member of Congress and civil service or uniformed services, takes the oath: "I, [name], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear… — Jim Geraghty (@jimgeraghty) August 15, […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>LITERALLY THE INSURRECTIONARY PARTY:</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Every president, cabinet member, member of Congress and civil service or uniformed services, takes the oath: "I, [name], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear…</p><p>— Jim Geraghty (@jimgeraghty) <a href="https://twitter.com/jimgeraghty/status/1956380071033528458?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>2025: A MORGENTHAU ODYSSEY: Germany’s Industrial Core Is Collapsing Under The US Trade Deal And The</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738610/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ed Driscoll]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 17:22:27 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738610</guid> <description><![CDATA[2025: A MORGENTHAU ODYSSEY: Germany’s Industrial Core Is Collapsing Under The US Trade Deal And The Green Agenda. In its May survey of over 21,000 companies, only 23% reported positive business expectations—down five points—while 30% expected deterioration. In industry, one in three anticipates fewer orders. Just 19% plan to increase investment, while about a third […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>2025: A MORGENTHAU ODYSSEY: <a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/germanys-industrial-core-collapsing-under-us-trade-deal-and-green-agenda">Germany’s Industrial Core Is Collapsing Under The US Trade Deal And The Green Agenda</a>.</p><blockquote><p>In its May survey of over 21,000 companies, only 23% reported positive business expectations—down five points—while 30% expected deterioration. In industry, one in three anticipates fewer orders.</p><p>Just 19% plan to increase investment, while about a third plan to cut back. High energy prices, labor shortages, and political uncertainty are seen as the main drags. The DIHK forecasts a 0.3% recession for 2025, but adjusting for state spending, the real decline is closer to 4–5%.</p><p>Daily surveys confirm the same message: Germany is being deindustrialized, losing hundreds of thousands of core-sector jobs. The social security deficits already emerging are just the beginning. Yet both politics and business refuse to conduct an honest diagnosis.</p><p>The Green Deal remains sacrosanct. <a href="https://www.prognos.com/en/projekt/energiepreise-industrie-internationaler-vergleich?utm_source=chatgpt.com">Energy costs</a> for German industry are up to three times higher than for US competitors, double that of French firms—pushing energy-intensive sectors out of the country.</p><p><strong>Dancing Around the Golden Calf</strong></p><p>Nobody dares openly challenge Brussels’ climate agenda. A rare exception came in June, when a <a href="https://www.welt.de/wirtschaft/weltplus/plus256350550/Brandbrief-an-Friedrich-Merz-Nie-waren-so-viele-gute-Arbeitsplaetze-bedroht-wie-heute.html">group of works council representatives</a> wrote an open letter to the Chancellor, naming the Green Deal as a root cause of decline.</p><p>But most CEOs dodge the question. Mercedes-Benz chief Ola Källenius cites “weak demand, high production costs, and US tariff uncertainty” for falling margins—but ignores the Green Deal’s role. VW CEO Oliver Blume calls for lower energy prices and tax incentives for EVs—essentially more subsidies to keep the transition alive.</p><p>Corporate leadership is now fused ideologically with the Green Deal. The energy transition has battered Germany’s industrial base: sectors like construction and automotive have been knocked completely off track.</p></blockquote><p>The ghost of <a href="https://instapundit.com/601755/">Henry Morgenthau smiles</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>KEEP YOUR PET HEALTHY: Probiotics for Cats for Digestive Support – Liquid Cat Probiotics. #Commiss</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738620/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Helen Smith]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 17:17:28 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738620</guid> <description><![CDATA[KEEP YOUR PET HEALTHY: Probiotics for Cats for Digestive Support – Liquid Cat Probiotics. #CommissionEarned]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>KEEP YOUR PET HEALTHY: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DM9G7VJF?ref=t_ac_view_request_product_image&campaignId=amzn1.campaign.12HE1OW8RXTSI&linkCode=tr1&tag=wwwviolentkicom&linkId=amzn1.campaign.12HE1OW8RXTSI_1755278180708">Probiotics for Cats for Digestive Support – Liquid Cat Probiotics</a>. #CommissionEarned</p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>CHANGE (IT BACK): The Era of ‘Defining Deviancy Down’ Is Over.</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738586/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Stephen Green]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 17:17:22 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738586</guid> <description><![CDATA[CHANGE (IT BACK): The Era of ‘Defining Deviancy Down’ Is Over.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>CHANGE (IT BACK): <a href="https://pjmedia.com/rick-moran/2025/08/15/the-era-of-defining-deviancy-down-is-over-n4942725">The Era of ‘Defining Deviancy Down’ Is Over.</a></p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>WELL, GOOD: Trial shows promise for new bloodborne staph infection treatment.</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738489/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Glenn Reynolds]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 17:00:43 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738489</guid> <description><![CDATA[WELL, GOOD: Trial shows promise for new bloodborne staph infection treatment.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>WELL, GOOD: <A HREF="https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2025/08/14/bloodborne-staph-infection-new-treatment-clinical-trial/4421755188491/">Trial shows promise for new bloodborne staph infection treatment.</a></p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>INDEPENDENCE INSTITUTE: Colorado’s Race To The Bottom. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9fI4BtXa5</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738466/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Stephen Green]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 16:46:00 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738466</guid> <description><![CDATA[INDEPENDENCE INSTITUTE: Colorado’s Race To The Bottom. I got to have a great chat recently with Jon Caldara about the Colorado that used to be, but now is.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>INDEPENDENCE INSTITUTE: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9fI4BtXa5Y">Colorado’s Race To The Bottom.</a></p><p><iframe title="Ep. 143 - Colorado's Race To The Bottom - Stephen Green" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/k9fI4BtXa5Y?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p><p>I got to have a great chat recently with Jon Caldara about the Colorado that used to be, but now is. </p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>AS ALWAYS, LIFE IMITATES THE EARLIER, FUNNIER EPISODES OF SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE: Shot: Announcer:</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738612/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ed Driscoll]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 16:30:09 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738612</guid> <description><![CDATA[AS ALWAYS, LIFE IMITATES THE EARLIER, FUNNIER EPISODES OF SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE: Shot: Announcer: It’s time for “The Franken & Davis Show”, starring Al Franken and Tom Davis. And now, here’s Al and Tom! [ dissolve to Al and Tom standing on stage ] Al Franken: Thank you, thank you! Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>AS ALWAYS, LIFE IMITATES THE EARLIER, FUNNIER EPISODES OF <em><a href="https://snltranscripts.jt.org/78/78cfranken.phtml">SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE</a>: </em></p><p>Shot:</p><blockquote><p><strong>Announcer</strong>: It’s time for “The Franken & Davis Show”, starring Al Franken and Tom Davis. And now, here’s Al and Tom!</p><p>[ dissolve to Al and Tom standing on stage ]</p><p><strong>Al Franken</strong>: Thank you, thank you! Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! It’s GREAT to be back!</p><p><strong>Tom Davis</strong>: That’s right. And, tonight, we’d like to stick our necks out a little bit on national television, and call for a violent overthrow of the United States government! [ he bows, as the audience applauds ]</p><p><strong>Al Franken</strong>: Thank you! Thank you! You see, besides being a professional comedy team, Tom and I are international Communist revolutionaries… and we believe that nothing can really be changed in this country, through the Democratic process! [ brief applause ] Oh, thank you! We’re glad a lot of you feel that way!</p></blockquote><p>—NBC’s <em>Saturday Night Live,</em> October 21<sup>st</sup>, 1978.</p><p>Chaser: <a href="https://archive.is/Frwfu">Abolish the Senate. End the Electoral College. Pack the Court</a>.</p><p>—<em>New York Times</em> headline, yesterday.</p><p>I’m so old, I can remember when Emperor Palpatine was supposed to be the bad guy in <em>Star Wars. </em>Though as Jim Geraghty <a href="https://x.com/jimgeraghty/status/1956377410116448579">tweets</a>, “<span class="css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3">It is helpful to everyone for the modern American left to come out and openly acknowledge what has been obvious, but denied, for a long time: their objective is to repeal and replace the existing U.S. Constitution.</span>“</p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>NICE: ‘Small but Mighty Cohort’: Trump Honors Sons of Liberty.</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738584/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Stephen Green]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 16:15:32 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738584</guid> <description><![CDATA[NICE: ‘Small but Mighty Cohort’: Trump Honors Sons of Liberty.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>NICE: <a href="https://pjmedia.com/catherinesalgado/2025/08/14/small-but-mighty-cohort-trump-honors-sons-of-liberty-n4942716">‘Small but Mighty Cohort’: Trump Honors Sons of Liberty.</a></p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>I CHALLENGED DUKE’S DEI DOGMA – AND PAID WITH MY JOB: I worked at Duke for 10 years without inc</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738604/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ed Driscoll]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 16:00:18 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738604</guid> <description><![CDATA[I CHALLENGED DUKE’S DEI DOGMA – AND PAID WITH MY JOB: I worked at Duke for 10 years without incident before spending the last few years of my tenure battling the 2021 policy – at the cost of my job as an emergency room physician, which is now the subject of a separate lawsuit I […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2025/08/14/i_challenged_dukes_dei_dogma__and_paid_with_my_job_1128755.html">I CHALLENGED DUKE’S DEI DOGMA – AND PAID WITH MY JOB</a>:</p><blockquote><p>I worked at Duke for 10 years without incident before spending the last few years of my tenure battling the 2021 policy – at the cost of my job as an emergency room physician, which is now the subject of a separate lawsuit I have brought. As much as I would like to proclaim victory, I do not want this episode to get memory-holed by organizational leaders who would rather we forget the moral panic that gripped them and the price many of us paid for their destructive and divisive efforts. As the country pulls back from the pernicious ideology of DEI, there are countless other people like myself who suffered the repercussions for refusing to buckle to the madness.</p><p>Lest there be any misunderstanding, let me be clear: Everyone I know is opposed to racism, bias, and hate, but Duke distorted those words to indict white doctors and nurses for complicity in the poorer health outcomes of black patients.</p><p>My own form of resistance began in 2018 when Duke’s chief diversity officer gave a talk on implicit bias at a physicians’ meeting. I was shocked by what I heard.</p></blockquote><p>Read the whole thing.</p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>CUTTING OFF THEIR NOSES TO SPITE THEIR FACES: Allies, in jab at Trump, threaten not to buy F-35s. “T</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738463/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Stephen Green]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 15:44:04 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738463</guid> <description><![CDATA[CUTTING OFF THEIR NOSES TO SPITE THEIR FACES: Allies, in jab at Trump, threaten not to buy F-35s. “The F-35, made by Lockheed Martin, is especially vulnerable to this sort of economic turbulence. Its parts come from more than 100 suppliers around the world, and big overseas orders help keep the price of each jet […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>CUTTING OFF THEIR NOSES TO SPITE THEIR FACES: <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/13/trump-tariffs-allies-f-35-00508201">Allies, in jab at Trump, threaten not to buy F-35s.</a> “The F-35, made by Lockheed Martin, is especially vulnerable to this sort of economic turbulence. Its parts come from more than 100 suppliers around the world, and big overseas orders help keep the price of each jet down. If countries pull out or cut back, costs go up for everyone. The combined price tag for Spain’s and Switzerland’s F-35 orders was about $15 billion for several dozen planes each.”</p><p>Spreading the production around globally was supposed to A) keep prices down, and B) keep allies on board through domestic job creation. So I guess we’ll see whether they’ll go through with the threats. </p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>YES. NEXT QUESTION: Are Democrats Really This Desperate to Defend Crime?</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738602/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Charlie Martin]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 15:16:55 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738602</guid> <description><![CDATA[YES. NEXT QUESTION: Are Democrats Really This Desperate to Defend Crime?]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>YES. NEXT QUESTION: <a href="https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2025/08/15/are-democrats-really-this-desperate-to-defend-crime-n4942727">Are Democrats Really This Desperate to Defend Crime?</a></p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>YES. NEXT QUESTION? Does Poor Little Mamdani Really Deserve This Treatment?</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738548/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Stephen Green]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 15:13:19 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738548</guid> <description><![CDATA[YES. NEXT QUESTION? Does Poor Little Mamdani Really Deserve This Treatment?]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>YES. NEXT QUESTION? <a href="https://pjmedia.com/robert-spencer/2025/08/14/does-mamdani-deserve-this-treatment-n4942718">Does Poor Little Mamdani Really Deserve This Treatment?</a></p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>READER FAVORITE: Lenovo 15.6″ Laptop Computer for Home Business Student. #CommissionEarned</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/737692/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Helen Smith]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 15:02:47 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=737692</guid> <description><![CDATA[READER FAVORITE: Lenovo 15.6″ Laptop Computer for Home Business Student. #CommissionEarned]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>READER FAVORITE: <a href="https://amzn.to/4lqjQkN">Lenovo 15.6″ Laptop Computer for Home Business Student.</a> #CommissionEarned</p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>SCREW THESE GUYS: Trump’s debanking order could create headaches for banks, sources say. U.S. Pre</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738459/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Stephen Green]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 14:42:45 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738459</guid> <description><![CDATA[SCREW THESE GUYS: Trump’s debanking order could create headaches for banks, sources say. U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order requiring banks not to discriminate against clients on political or religious grounds could create uncertainty and administrative headaches for the industry, sources said. Trump signed an executive order on Thursday directing the Treasury Department and bank […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>SCREW THESE GUYS: <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/trumps-debanking-order-could-create-headaches-banks-sources-say-2025-08-14/">Trump’s debanking order could create headaches for banks, sources say.</a></p><blockquote><p>U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order requiring banks not to discriminate against clients on political or religious grounds could create uncertainty and administrative headaches for the industry, sources said.</p><p>Trump signed an executive order on Thursday directing the Treasury Department and bank regulators to ensure lenders do not have policies in place that deny services to customers based on political or religious beliefs, a practice known as “debanking.” Any wrongdoing uncovered could result in fines, disciplinary measures, and even referrals to the Justice Department.</p><p>The order came days after Trump accused JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N), opens new tab and Bank of America (BAC.N), opens new tab last week of debanking him, and alleged that lenders discriminate against conservatives. Large banks have denied rejecting clients on political grounds, and instead blamed unclear rules for some of the account closures.</p></blockquote><p>Seriously, screw these guys.</p><p>Debanking and other cancellation efforts didn’t become a thing until Big Business lefties — particularly in Too Big to Fail banks that we, the people, had bailed out — felt powerful enough to do whatever the hell they wanted to people they disagreed with.</p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>PREFERENCE FALSIFICATION: 88 percent of students pretend to have progressive views: Northwestern sc</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738487/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Glenn Reynolds]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 14:30:14 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738487</guid> <description><![CDATA[PREFERENCE FALSIFICATION: 88 percent of students pretend to have progressive views: Northwestern scholars.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>PREFERENCE FALSIFICATION: <A HREF="https://www.thecollegefix.com/88-percent-of-students-pretend-to-have-progressive-views-northwestern-scholars/">88 percent of students pretend to have progressive views: Northwestern scholars.</A></p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>GOOD LORD: AZ Judge Is Freeing Illegal Alien Kidnapper/Sexual Predator.</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738550/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Stephen Green]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 14:11:49 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738550</guid> <description><![CDATA[GOOD LORD: AZ Judge Is Freeing Illegal Alien Kidnapper/Sexual Predator.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>GOOD LORD: <a href="https://pjmedia.com/catherinesalgado/2025/08/14/az-judge-is-freeing-illegal-alien-kidnapper-n4942719">AZ Judge Is Freeing Illegal Alien Kidnapper/Sexual Predator.</a></p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>CHANGE: Harvard accreditor considers pulling DEI from standards amid federal pressure.</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738485/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Glenn Reynolds]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 14:00:14 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738485</guid> <description><![CDATA[CHANGE: Harvard accreditor considers pulling DEI from standards amid federal pressure.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>CHANGE: <A HREF="https://www.campusreform.org/article/harvard-accreditor-considers-pulling-dei-standards-amid-federal-pressure/28451">Harvard accreditor considers pulling DEI from standards amid federal pressure.</A></p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>I WENT TO LAW SCHOOL WITH PAUL MAHONEY. HE’S A GOOD GUY WITH A TOUGH JOB: Scott Gerber: A letter</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738591/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Glenn Reynolds]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 13:44:25 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738591</guid> <description><![CDATA[I WENT TO LAW SCHOOL WITH PAUL MAHONEY. HE’S A GOOD GUY WITH A TOUGH JOB: Scott Gerber: A letter of suggestions for U.Va.’s interim president. Ryan put the University in legal peril — Mahoney has major challenges ahead of him.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I WENT TO LAW SCHOOL WITH PAUL MAHONEY. HE’S A GOOD GUY WITH A TOUGH JOB: <A HREF="https://www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2025/08/gerber-a-letter-of-suggestions-for-uvas-interim-president">Scott Gerber: A letter of suggestions for U.Va.’s interim president. Ryan put the University in legal peril — Mahoney has major challenges ahead of him.</a></p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>I ALREADY THINK IT’S A GREAT IDEA, YOU DON’T HAVE TO KEEP SELLING ME ON IT: Israel’s West Bank set</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738455/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Stephen Green]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 13:40:15 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738455</guid> <description><![CDATA[I ALREADY THINK IT’S A GREAT IDEA, YOU DON’T HAVE TO KEEP SELLING ME ON IT: Israel’s West Bank settlement plan could ‘bury’ the prospect of a Palestinian state. Here’s why.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I ALREADY THINK IT’S A GREAT IDEA, YOU DON’T HAVE TO KEEP SELLING ME ON IT: <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/14/middleeast/settlement-plan-israel-palestinian-state-intl">Israel’s West Bank settlement plan could ‘bury’ the prospect of a Palestinian state. Here’s why.</a></p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Trump Hilariously Manhandles Newsom’s Sad Attempt to Troll Him. “There a</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738475/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Stephen Green]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 13:09:18 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738475</guid> <description><![CDATA[KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Trump Hilariously Manhandles Newsom’s Sad Attempt to Troll Him. “There are people in America who believe that California Governor Gavin Newsom is a tough, competent warrior in the Democrats’ battle against everything that President Donald Trump does. Collectively, these people are known as the mentally insane. Fortunately for America, there aren’t nearly […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: <a href="https://pjmedia.com/stephen-kruiser/2025/08/14/the-morning-briefing-trump-hilariously-manhandles-newsoms-sad-attempt-to-troll-him-n4942715">Trump Hilariously Manhandles Newsom’s Sad Attempt to Troll Him.</a> “There are people in America who believe that California Governor Gavin Newsom is a tough, competent warrior in the Democrats’ battle against everything that President Donald Trump does. Collectively, these people are known as the mentally insane. Fortunately for America, there aren’t nearly as many of them as Gov. Gav and the Democratic Party elites think.”</p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>A FLASH OF SANITY FROM CALIFORNIA: Local Calif. School Board Bans Trans Athletes From Girls’ Sports.</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738451/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Stephen Green]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 12:38:27 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738451</guid> <description><![CDATA[A FLASH OF SANITY FROM CALIFORNIA: Local Calif. School Board Bans Trans Athletes From Girls’ Sports. The Kern County Board of Education voted on Tuesday to adopt a resolution related to Title IX, KBAK/KBFX reported. Title IX is a federal law that requires equal opportunities for boys and girls in school sports and programs. Under […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>A FLASH OF SANITY FROM CALIFORNIA: <a href="https://www.newsmax.com/us/california-school-board-ban/2025/08/14/id/1222494/">Local Calif. School Board Bans Trans Athletes From Girls’ Sports.</a></p><blockquote><p>The Kern County Board of Education voted on Tuesday to adopt a resolution related to Title IX, KBAK/KBFX reported.</p><p>Title IX is a federal law that requires equal opportunities for boys and girls in school sports and programs.</p><p>Under California law, transgender students can compete in sports that match their gender identity.</p><p>“Now, there be it resolved the Kern County Board of Education affirms it is for Title IX and calls on athletic governing bodies to uphold its protections by ensuring fairness in girls’ sports,” trustee Lori Cisneros said.</p></blockquote><p>To be fair, Kern is majority Hispanic, and culturally and politically pretty conservative. </p><p>Meanwhile, a bit further north: <a href="https://thepostmillennial.com/washington-state-elementary-school-brings-in-drag-performance-to-stage-r-rated-rocky-horror-picture-show-for-kids">Washington state elementary school brings in drag performance to stage R-rated Rocky Horror Picture Show for kids.</a></p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>HOW “INDEPENDENT NONPARTISAN” THINGS USUALLY WORK: https://twitter.com/mattsgorman/status/1956077</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738483/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Glenn Reynolds]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 12:30:49 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738483</guid> <description><![CDATA[HOW “INDEPENDENT NONPARTISAN” THINGS USUALLY WORK: Why is a member of the supposedly “independent redistricting commission” at this partisan rally? https://t.co/L0LQ2nES2H — Matt Gorman (@mattsgorman) August 14, 2025]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>HOW “INDEPENDENT NONPARTISAN” THINGS USUALLY WORK:</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Why is a member of the supposedly “independent redistricting commission” at this partisan rally? <a href="https://t.co/L0LQ2nES2H">https://t.co/L0LQ2nES2H</a></p><p>— Matt Gorman (@mattsgorman) <a href="https://twitter.com/mattsgorman/status/1956077910814810172?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 14, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>COMMISSAR MAMDANI, TAKE NOTE: Say Goodnight and Good Luck to Missouri’s City-Owned Grocery Store.</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738472/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Stephen Green]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 12:07:28 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738472</guid> <description><![CDATA[COMMISSAR MAMDANI, TAKE NOTE: Say Goodnight and Good Luck to Missouri’s City-Owned Grocery Store.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>COMMISSAR MAMDANI, TAKE NOTE: <a href="https://pjmedia.com/rick-moran/2025/08/14/say-goodnight-and-good-luck-to-missouris-city-owned-grocery-store-n4942707">Say Goodnight and Good Luck to Missouri’s City-Owned Grocery Store.</a></p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>EVERY INSTITUTION HAS BEEN CORRUPTED, EVERY DATUM HAS BEEN FALSIFIED: A DC Police Sergeant Exposed</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738447/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Glenn Reynolds]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 12:00:34 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738447</guid> <description><![CDATA[EVERY INSTITUTION HAS BEEN CORRUPTED, EVERY DATUM HAS BEEN FALSIFIED: A DC Police Sergeant Exposed Her Superiors for Misclassifying Crimes To Make Stats Look Low. The City Just Quietly Settled Her Lawsuit.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>EVERY INSTITUTION HAS BEEN CORRUPTED, EVERY DATUM HAS BEEN FALSIFIED: <A HREF="https://freebeacon.com/crime/a-dc-police-sergeant-exposed-her-superiors-for-misclassifying-crimes-to-make-stats-look-low-the-city-just-quietly-settled-her-lawsuit/">A DC Police Sergeant Exposed Her Superiors for Misclassifying Crimes To Make Stats Look Low. The City Just Quietly Settled Her Lawsuit.</A></p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>CHANGE? https://twitter.com/DrEliDavid/status/1956161543218844075</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738587/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Stephen Green]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 11:50:30 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738587</guid> <description><![CDATA[CHANGE? Police in Paris arrest a rioter 👇 Rioter: “I just said Free Palestine” Policeman: “Shut the f*ck up. Go to Palestine if you've got the balls” 🤣 pic.twitter.com/IlV4quciQP — Dr. Eli David (@DrEliDavid) August 15, 2025]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>CHANGE?</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Police in Paris arrest a rioter 👇</p><p>Rioter: “I just said Free Palestine”</p><p>Policeman: “Shut the f*ck up. Go to Palestine if you've got the balls” 🤣 <a href="https://t.co/IlV4quciQP">pic.twitter.com/IlV4quciQP</a></p><p>— Dr. Eli David (@DrEliDavid) <a href="https://twitter.com/DrEliDavid/status/1956161543218844075?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>LIMITED TIME DEAL: Like-New Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (16 GB). #CommissionEarned</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738578/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Helen Smith]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 11:39:11 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738578</guid> <description><![CDATA[LIMITED TIME DEAL: Like-New Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (16 GB). #CommissionEarned]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>LIMITED TIME DEAL: <a href="https://amzn.to/3V2Qdes">Like-New Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (16 GB).</a> #CommissionEarned</p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>JOHN LUCAS: We were warned. Now Retired Lt. Colonel Anthony Aguilar’s embellishments stretch the cr</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738580/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Glenn Reynolds]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 11:38:05 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738580</guid> <description><![CDATA[JOHN LUCAS: We were warned. Now Retired Lt. Colonel Anthony Aguilar’s embellishments stretch the credibility of his tales about war cimes to the breaking point.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>JOHN LUCAS: <A HREF="https://johnalucas6.substack.com/p/validating-falsus-in-uno-falsus-in">We were warned. Now Retired Lt. Colonel Anthony Aguilar’s embellishments stretch the credibility of his tales about war cimes to the breaking point.</A></p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>THE PENTAGON SEEMS TO BE IN DENIAL: From the Front Lines of Ukraine: A Soldier’s Warning to Americ</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738445/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Stephen Green]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 11:36:47 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738445</guid> <description><![CDATA[THE PENTAGON SEEMS TO BE IN DENIAL: From the Front Lines of Ukraine: A Soldier’s Warning to America. What does this war look like now? A 20-year-old soldier sits in his bunker with a small team, on a mission he planned himself, flying $500 drones that were assembled by volunteers in some basement according to […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>THE PENTAGON SEEMS TO BE IN DENIAL: <a href="https://www.thecipherbrief.com/front-lines-of-ukraine-warning">From the Front Lines of Ukraine: A Soldier’s Warning to America.</a></p><blockquote><p>What does this war look like now?</p><p>A 20-year-old soldier sits in his bunker with a small team, on a mission he planned himself, flying $500 drones that were assembled by volunteers in some basement according to a constantly updated distributed protocol. Refinements to the drones are made at his battalion’s informal drone lab, where some parts are 3D-printed and others are crowdfunded. The young soldier monitors via Starlink a constantly rotating livestream of quadcopter or fixed-wing expendable drone ISR platforms, either freely asking to kill or waiting to be directed by a duty officer to do so. His team is always making small adjustments and trying new things with their drones, ground stations, and antennas, even though most of them had zero engineering experience before finding themselves here. This is a far cry from the duties of a U.S. Marine infantry lance corporal.</p><p>From his position a few kilometers from the front, our drone soldier will fly his drones against infantry just one to ten kilometers deep into enemy territory. The infantry they hunt walk relentlessly forward, around the clock, like zombies, singly or in pairs (or small teams) through rubble, tree lines, and even open fields. They have little choice but to take a rifle and press forward for a quick death – what waits behind them is worse. Some ride motorbikes just to speed the process.</p><p>Even if 95% of them are killed in their march, a small percentage will pass through the large gaps in the porous, thin Ukrainian defenses, and could surprise and gun down the unsung Ukrainian infantry or mortar teams. Some may even make it far enough to slaughter drone teams in their hides. If they take even one tree line a day across a front, it is more than enough.</p></blockquote><p>Win, lose, or draw, Ukraine has changed how wars are fought — and Russia, the laggard until the last year, has played an impressive game of catch-up.</p><p>But few in NATO capitals seem to be paying much attention. </p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>APPARENTLY YOU CAN BE A CRAZY LEFTIST — SERIOUSLY CRAZY — AND GET A JOB AT THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTI</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738438/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Glenn Reynolds]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 11:30:56 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738438</guid> <description><![CDATA[APPARENTLY YOU CAN BE A CRAZY LEFTIST — SERIOUSLY CRAZY — AND GET A JOB AT THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. WELL, YOU COULD BEFORE TRUMP, ANYWAY. HE’S GONE NOW. Pink-Shirted Guy Who Threw a Sandwich at a D.C. Fed Has a Day Job, and, Oh Boy. Now, if your first thought when you saw this […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>APPARENTLY YOU CAN BE A CRAZY LEFTIST — SERIOUSLY CRAZY — AND GET A JOB AT THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. WELL, YOU COULD BEFORE TRUMP, ANYWAY. HE’S GONE NOW. <A HREF="https://pjmedia.com/victoria-taft/2025/08/14/pink-shirted-guy-who-threw-a-sandwich-at-a-dc-fed-has-a-day-job-and-oh-boy-n4942702">Pink-Shirted Guy Who Threw a Sandwich at a D.C. Fed Has a Day Job, and, Oh Boy.</A><BLOCKQUOTE></p><p>Now, if your first thought when you saw this Nancy Boy screeching at officers and throwing his $13 sub at the cop was, “I wonder where he works?” then you’re on your game. This is D.C., after all. There are a lot of government employees buying subs, screaming at cops, planning resistance, and moonlighting as underground Antifa activists. </p><p>Attorney General Pam Bondi answered the question. </p><p>The pink-shirted sandwich assaulter is Sean Charles Dunn, who’s 37 and old enough to know better. Now for the ultimate Find Out moment — bring on the cuffs.</BLOCKQUOTE></p><p>Seriously, how was this guy ever hired, even under Biden? Oh, who am I kidding? We know how.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The guy screaming “fascist” and hurling his sub sandwich at a rank-and-file cop just doing his job in DC was literally a DOJ Criminal Division employee — and the 'Free DC' activist group protesting Trump’s crime crackdown in the city is actually led by people with criminal…</p><p>— Neil Patel (@NeilPatelTDC) <a href="https://twitter.com/NeilPatelTDC/status/1956081277246845156?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 14, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">You'll find my utter lack of surprise to find that a DOJ trial attorney threw a sub sandwich at an officer. </p><p>See exhibit A. </p><p>My initial federal prosecutor, Patrick Scruggs, who is on trial in September for stabbing a defenseless driver.</p><p>— The Lectern Guy🇺🇸 (@lecternleader) <a href="https://twitter.com/lecternleader/status/1956097435131858974?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 14, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Not a trial attorney. The trial attorney with the same name is 15-20 years older and has been at DOJ since at least the 2000s.</p><p>The sassy sub chucker is a non-attorney who works in the criminal division as an international affairs specialist. He was hired in 2022. <a href="https://t.co/nDHrlagzcZ">https://t.co/nDHrlagzcZ</a></p><p>— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) <a href="https://twitter.com/seanmdav/status/1956063507062960612?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 14, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p><p>“Sassy sub chucker.” Love it.</p><p>UPDATE:</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The best part of this is him mincing about in his country club pink polo shirt and little gay shorts, screaming about fascism (yawn), and flinging meatball sandwiches. </p><p>The liberals have just become comedy clickbait fodder. <a href="https://t.co/N703n7keZS">pic.twitter.com/N703n7keZS</a></p><p>— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) <a href="https://twitter.com/RealJamesWoods/status/1956032107639370065?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 14, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>HOW IT STARTED: Denim ads get people riled up. Does it all flow from the foundational contrast betw</title> <link>https://instapundit.com/738511/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ed Driscoll]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 11:14:51 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://instapundit.com/?p=738511</guid> <description><![CDATA[HOW IT STARTED: Denim ads get people riled up. Does it all flow from the foundational contrast between starch and flesh? No doubt the minds behind the Sweeney campaign wanted to stir memories of Brooke Shields, declaring to Richard Avedon’s camera, in 1980: “You wanna know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing.” In […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>HOW IT STARTED:</p><blockquote><p>Denim ads get people riled up. Does it all flow from the foundational contrast between starch and flesh? No doubt the minds behind the Sweeney campaign wanted to stir memories of <a href="https://archive.is/o/bsCjj/https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-interview/brooke-shields-never-knew-normal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Brooke Shields</a>, declaring to Richard Avedon’s camera, in 1980: “You wanna know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing.” In another ad for the campaign, Shields, mock-struggling to put on a pair of skintight jeans, says, “The secret of life lies hidden in the genetic code.” The element of perversion, the artistic touch, in that Calvin Klein ad was Shields’s age, which was fifteen. Sweeney is twenty-seven. No great artist directed these commercials. The allusion is incoherent, unless, of course, we root around for other meanings, and we don’t have to search for long: genes, referring to Sweeney’s famously large breasts; genes, referring to her whiteness. (American Eagle has said that the campaign “is and always was about the jeans.”) Interestingly, breasts, and the desire for them, are stereotyped as objects of white desire, as opposed to, say, the Black man’s hunger for ass. Sweeney, on the precipice of totalizing fame, has an adoring legion, the most extreme of whom want to recruit her as a kind of Aryan princess. To them, she signals, as my colleague Lauren Michele Jackson <a href="https://archive.is/o/bsCjj/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/05/27/tits-up-sarah-thornton-book-review" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a>, a “rejoicing in a perceived return to a bygone beauty standard in the wake of all that overzealous feminism they blame on the left.”</p><p>A lot of people don’t like the ad campaign, and there are plenty of reasons not to: there’s no irony or camp to leaven the trashy, dog-whistle atmosphere. But the fawning from conservatives—everyone from Megyn Kelly to J. D. Vance—is reactive, precipitated by the dislike, which, yes, reached a pitch of outrage, but dissipated, fairly quickly I think, into a bored fatigue. Still, everyone wants to elect their perspective of sobriety and proportion. <a href="https://archive.is/o/bsCjj/https://www.newyorker.com/culture/on-television/what-the-cancellation-of-stephen-colberts-late-show-means" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Stephen Colbert</a>, who now hosts “The Late Show” with a persecuted swagger, chastised the outraged, those who see the ad as master-race propaganda, claiming that they were overreacting. Can’t you handle a stupid pun, in other words? To be clear, many of us—the Negroes, the queers, the hairy feminists, et cetera, et cetera—do not react out of a feeling of personal injury, as if the blondeness-as-beauty standard has terrorized us.</p></blockquote><p>—<a href="https://archive.is/bsCjj">“The Banal Provocation of Sydney Sweeney’s Jeans,”</a> Doreen St. Félix, the <em>New Yorker,</em> August 2nd.</p><p><a href="https://x.com/memeticsisyphus/status/1956127224769216635">How</a> <a href="https://x.com/feelsdesperate/status/1956128625658298484">it</a> <a href="https://x.com/Chet_Cannon/status/1956159141904576807">is</a> <a href="https://x.com/analyticfusion/status/1956153183144960394">going</a>:</p><p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-738514" style="border: 1px solid black; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;" src="https://instapundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/memetic_sisuphus-doreen_st_felix_new_yorker_08-14_2025.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="452" srcset="https://instapundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/memetic_sisuphus-doreen_st_felix_new_yorker_08-14_2025.jpg 1269w, https://instapundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/memetic_sisuphus-doreen_st_felix_new_yorker_08-14_2025-600x542.jpg 600w, https://instapundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/memetic_sisuphus-doreen_st_felix_new_yorker_08-14_2025-800x723.jpg 800w, https://instapundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/memetic_sisuphus-doreen_st_felix_new_yorker_08-14_2025-768x694.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" /><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-738513" style="border: 1px solid black; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;" src="https://instapundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/coddled_affluent_professional_doreen_st_felix_new_yorker_08-14_2025.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="582" srcset="https://instapundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/coddled_affluent_professional_doreen_st_felix_new_yorker_08-14_2025.jpg 1273w, https://instapundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/coddled_affluent_professional_doreen_st_felix_new_yorker_08-14_2025-515x600.jpg 515w, https://instapundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/coddled_affluent_professional_doreen_st_felix_new_yorker_08-14_2025-687x800.jpg 687w, https://instapundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/coddled_affluent_professional_doreen_st_felix_new_yorker_08-14_2025-768x894.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" /><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-738515" style="border: 1px solid black; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;" src="https://instapundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/chet_cannon_doreen_st_felix_new_yorker_08-14_2025.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="393" srcset="https://instapundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/chet_cannon_doreen_st_felix_new_yorker_08-14_2025.jpg 1272w, https://instapundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/chet_cannon_doreen_st_felix_new_yorker_08-14_2025-600x472.jpg 600w, https://instapundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/chet_cannon_doreen_st_felix_new_yorker_08-14_2025-800x630.jpg 800w, https://instapundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/chet_cannon_doreen_st_felix_new_yorker_08-14_2025-768x604.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" /><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-738512" style="border: 1px solid black; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;" src="https://instapundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/low_yield_larry_doreen_st_felix_new_yorker_08-14_2025.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="489" srcset="https://instapundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/low_yield_larry_doreen_st_felix_new_yorker_08-14_2025.jpg 1271w, https://instapundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/low_yield_larry_doreen_st_felix_new_yorker_08-14_2025-600x587.jpg 600w, https://instapundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/low_yield_larry_doreen_st_felix_new_yorker_08-14_2025-800x782.jpg 800w, https://instapundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/low_yield_larry_doreen_st_felix_new_yorker_08-14_2025-768x751.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" /></p><p>Once Rufo began retweeting her, St. Felix of course <a href="https://x.com/realchrisrufo/status/1956162611181183197">deleted her X account</a>, but not before many of her tweets were screencapped. Her next article, in which she claims she was the innocent victim of a witch hunt, will be an amazing read.</p><p>As Wesley Yang <a href="https://x.com/wesyang/status/1956110020598219151">tweets</a>, “<span class="css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3">Chosen as a staff writer at the <em>New Yorker</em> three years out of Brown University at age 25 because it was important to be aligned with the emerging thing that was going to dominate the next decade. Who can dispute that they chose rightly?”</span></p><p><span class="css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3">In a follow-up tweet, Yang <a href="https://x.com/wesyang/status/1956156130645680555">adds</a>, “</span><span class="css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3">Was the <em>New Yorker</em> merely following the trend or were they making it happen, or were they making it happen because something impelled them to do so? It’s hard to remember why it seemed to make sense to the editors of the <em>Atlantic</em> to hire Ibram X. Kendi when they did, why Jacob Blake’s shooting was seen as urgent national news, why any of this resulted in the Democratic party leadership kneeling in kente cloth. It’s all gone down the memory hole. But periodically some pseudo-event (like a TV commercial for a denim company) will dredge up the miasma once again.</span>”</p><p>Exit <a href="https://archive.is/oCrcV">quote</a>:</p><p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-738532" style="border: 1px solid black; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;" src="https://instapundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/doreen_st_felix_new_yorker_tricknological_holocaust_08-15_2025.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="201" srcset="https://instapundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/doreen_st_felix_new_yorker_tricknological_holocaust_08-15_2025.jpg 1114w, https://instapundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/doreen_st_felix_new_yorker_tricknological_holocaust_08-15_2025-600x241.jpg 600w, https://instapundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/doreen_st_felix_new_yorker_tricknological_holocaust_08-15_2025-800x322.jpg 800w, https://instapundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/doreen_st_felix_new_yorker_tricknological_holocaust_08-15_2025-768x309.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" /></p>]]></content:encoded> </item> </channel></rss> If you would like to create a banner that links to this page (i.e. this validation result), do the following:
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