May 19, 2026 — Steven Hayward

Podcast: Michael Auslin’s “National Treasure”

Featured image Normally I’m not much of a Nicholas Cage fan, and I have mostly outgrown action-adventure movies, but I do very much like the short scene, excerpted in the cold open in the podcast file below, from “National Treasure,” set in the National Archives, where Cage gazes reverently at the Declaration of Independence and recites the “right of revolution” passage from the middle of the famous second paragraph, after which he »
May 19, 2026 — Scott Johnson

The word from Aimee Bock

Featured imageAs I have noted a time or two before, Aimee Bock will be sentenced by Judge Nancy Brasel this Thursday. Bock is the convicted ringleader of the massive Feeding Our Future fraud. Awaiting sentencing, Bock is cooling her heels at present in the Sherburne County Jail. The Star Tribune’s Jeffrey Meitrodt caught up with Bock for this past Sunday’s disgraceful “new documents” story. The New York Post has joined in »
May 19, 2026 — Scott Johnson

ICE officer charged

Featured imageWe support law enforcement and we supported Operation Metro Surge. However, certain incidents that went down in the course of the operation are virtually inexplicable. The operation contributed to the departure of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem from the Trump administration and the assignment of Tom Homan to right the ship here. Unfortunately, one of the Metro Surge incidents gave rise to a charge Soros-supported Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty can »
May 19, 2026 — John Hinderaker

Civil War at the Times?

Featured imageThis story comes from the New York Post, which got it from something called Puck News: A civil war has erupted inside the New York Times over Nicholas Kristof’s explosive column alleging widespread sexual abuse of Palestinians by Israeli prison guards. Staffers at the newspaper are questioning whether some of the most incendiary claims, including an allegation that Israel trains dogs to rape Palestinian detainees, would have ever cleared the »
May 19, 2026 — Scott Johnson

All he is saying

Featured imagePresident Trump said Monday that he’d planned to strike Iran “tomorrow” (i.e., today), but was persuaded to give peace a chance, or one more chance. He atttributed this decision to the request of Arab leaders in the region. “I have been asked by the Emir of Qatar, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia and the President of the United Arab Emirates to hold off on our planned Military attack of »
May 19, 2026 — Scott Johnson

From Saint Paul to San Diego

Featured imageOn Sunday afternoon we went to see Douglas Murray speak at the Temple of Aaron in Saint Paul. Douglas spoke in conversation with Ken Agranoff, who is retiring after 39 years as the temple’s executive director. The event was held to honor Ken’s service and his retirement. Ken has kept the trains running on time at the temple through rabbinic administrations dating back to the great Rabbi Bernard Raskas, of »
May 18, 2026 — John Hinderaker

The Face of Evil

Featured imageLuigi Mangione, the Left’s murderous heartthrob, made a court appearance today, as the New York court addressed his lawyer’s motions to exclude evidence. As always, an admiring throng of (mostly) women turned out to support him: Luigi’s fans don’t want to free him because they think he is innocent, they want to free him because they know he is guilty and approve of his murder. If this video doesn’t come »
May 18, 2026 — Scott Johnson

Quote of the day

Featured imageIn the third of Pirate Wires’ Three Morning Takes today, Riley Nork writes under the heading “Please accept our aporogy.” That got my attention. Referring to this NBC News story, Nork writes: * * * * * [The following take was written with assistance from Pirate Wires’ in-house counsel.] Readers: we’re sorry. On May 13, 2026, we covered the story of Eileen Wang, the California mayor who confessed to working »
May 18, 2026 — Scott Johnson

Feeding Our Fraud: Silver Blaze revisited

Featured imageFor all its allged revelations, Jeffrey Meitrodt’s big Star Tribune story — “‘An open secret’: New records reveal officials failed to act on fraud warnings” — omitted the keys to understanding. Think the proverbial dog that didn’t bark in the Sherlock Holmes story “Silver Blaze.” Here are omissions from Meitrodt’s story that I liken to the silence of of the dog in the story: • Meitrodt did not mention the »
May 17, 2026 — John Hinderaker

Who Our Friends Are

Featured imageIs the special relationship between the U.S. and Britain on the rocks? I think it depends on which Britons you ask. At yesterday’s Unite the Kingdom rally, they showed pictures of world leaders on the screen. One after another was booed by the crowd, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer getting the loudest boos. Until they came to… Tommy Robinson led the crowd in a chant: At the Unite The Kingdom »
May 17, 2026 — Bill Glahn

Bock implicates Omar

Featured imageFrom the New York Post, Minnesota ‘Squad’ Rep. Ilhan Omar knew about $250M COVID meal fraud, scheme ‘mastermind’ claims in jailhouse interview. The Post reports, The Minnesota “mastermind” of the state’s massive COVID meal fraud claims “Squad” Rep. Ilhan Omar was in on the $250 million scam. Aimee Bock, founder of nonprofit Feeding Our Future, was convicted in March 2025 of conspiracy, bribery and wire fraud for allegedly helping restaurant »
May 18, 2026 — John Hinderaker

The Case For Mandatory Detention

Featured imageThe Trump administration is taking the position that federal law does not just permit the government to detain illegal immigrants, it requires such detention. This position has inspired outrage on the left, and circuits that have addressed the issue have split. So it is on to the Supreme Court. The question is a tricky one, involving interpretation of a law that is not particularly well drafted. That is probably due, »
May 18, 2026 — John Hinderaker

Cuban Drone Attack?

Featured imageSomeone in the Trump administration told Axios they are concerned about the potential for a drone attack by Cuba: Cuba has acquired more than 300 military drones and recently began discussing plans to use them to attack the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, U.S. military vessels and possibly Key West, Fla., 90 miles north of Havana, according to classified intelligence shared with Axios. Why it matters: The intelligence — which »
May 18, 2026 — Bill Glahn

Malpractice

Featured imageThe Minneapolis Star Tribune has been publishing a series of “exclusive” reports based on documents stolen (my word) from secret FBI files. One article goes under the headline, Here’s what to know about newly released records in the Feeding Our Future fraud case. The records were not “newly released.” They were stolen. The Star Tribune reports, The records, obtained by the Minnesota Star Tribune, include FBI interviews with current and »
May 17, 2026 — John Hinderaker

The Middle Corridor: A Little-Known Foreign Policy Success

Featured imageTransportation of goods between Asia and Europe is, obviously, of great importance. There are basically three routes, or potential routes: Our goal, and Europe’s, is to identify a route that does not go through Russia or Iran. That is now becoming feasible, as Armenia is swinging toward the West. The Telegraph has a long piece that you should read in its entirety. I will try to convey the gist: To »
May 17, 2026 — Scott Johnson

Feeding Our Fraud: The Star Tribune connection

Featured imageStar Tribune investigative reporter Jeffrey Meitrodt emailed me the URL for his long and long-awaited Star Tribune story on the Feeding Our Future case at 7:42 a.m. this morning. He must be proud of it. I have thanked him for the alert. Meitrodt’s 2,000-word story runs under the headline: “‘An open secret’: New records reveal officials failed to act on fraud warnings.” The subhead reads: “Newly obtained FBI interviews show »
May 17, 2026 — John Hinderaker

Looking Ahead to 2028 [Updated]

Featured imageThe 2028 election is a long way off, and much will happen between now and then. To mention just one non-remote contingency, it is possible that the Democrats will succeed in killing President Trump, so that by 2028 JD Vance is the incumbent president. That would render all current speculation moot. But who can resist? This post caught my eye last night: Is the author correct? Let’s go through the »