For years, the New York Times has taken an openly and aggressively progressive stance on immigration — favoring expanded legal immigration, citizenship for illegal immigrants, and asylum protections, while opposing strict enforcement measures like expanded border walls, mass deportations, or reduced refugee admissions.Anyone who thought otherwise was labeled racist, xenophobic, or a white nationalist.But it seems one of the Times’ biggest names has begun to backtrack ever so slightly.Last week, BlazeTV host Christopher Rufo sat down with opinion columnist and podcaster Ezra Klein for an honest conversation about a number of divisive issues, including immigration.Klein’s surprising comments may be symptomatic of cracks forming in the progressive consensus that treated any hesitation about mass immigration as inherently bigoted. Reflecting on the interview, Rufo tells co-host Jonathan Keeperman, “I made the argument that it’s totally legitimate to be concerned about rapid, large-scale immigration change.”To his surprise, Klein didn’t totally disagree.“In some versions [of white nationalism], ... if you have too much of a country not sharing a common heritage, you lose solidarity. In some cases, we’re talking about something much darker than that, right?” Klein contrasted. “There are people who just don’t like the way their community is changing, and there’s the KKK.”“But would you say someone who is, like, for example, hesitant about rapid, large-scale demographic change is just a kind of 1% white nationalist? Because that would be, like, the majority of the country,” Rufo pressed.“Yes, I don’t think it is a problem or unfair or even wrong to worry about large-scale, rapid demographic change,” Klein conceded.Rufo believes this response is indicative of a broader shift.“A couple years ago, you would not hear a prominent New York Times voice saying that it is totally legitimate, reasonable, and understandable to be concerned about large-scale, rapid demographic change,” he says, noting how the left routinely scorned such fears as byproducts of “the Great Replacement theory” and “KKK-style white supremacy.”“Is this a concession? Is this going to be the ... moderate left’s or the establishment left's new position moving forward?” he asks.Keeperman doesn’t believe Klein’s rhetorical concession amounts to much.“It does not surprise me at all to hear him concede rhetorically that these things matter, that it’s OK to be concerned about ... rapid demographic change, to have some concern about national identity,” he tells Rufo. “That is meaningless, however, unless it’s backed up by actual policy preferences that he’s willing to get behind.”Until the New York Times “[makes] some kind of policy concession that would suggest they are serious about taking this concern to heart,” Keeperman refuses to believe the left is sincerely softening its stance on immigration.Want more from Rufo & Lomez?To enjoy more of the news through the anthropological lens of Christopher Rufo and Lomez, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Maryland police said they were surprised to realize the victim of a truck robbery was also the perpetrator of a burglary at the same time.Jalen Godard, 29, of Odenton called police on Thursday morning to report that someone had stolen his truck at about 5:44 a.m.'Don't you hate it when your car gets stolen while you're committing a burglary?'The Howard County Police Dept. posted footage from officers' body cameras as well as surveillance video from the store."Man, someone took my truck," Godard said to the responding officer, according to footage released."Did you leave it here running?" the officer asked."I was at McDonald's," Godard replied.The officer realized there had been a burglary report at a Verizon store near the same location of the stolen truck, just a few minutes prior.Then another piece of evidence linked the two incidents: Blood was found at the robbery scene at the window that had been broken, and the officer noticed blood on Godard's hands."Let me just see your hands real quick. Let me see this hand," the officer said."All right, put your hands behind your back for me," he adds after inspecting Godard's hands.The officer tells Godard that he has blood on his hands, his glasses, and his shirt.Godard denies being in a Verizon store, but the video shows footage from the store of the crook that looks very much like the suspect."So, the gig's up. It's whether you want to be honest about stuff or not," the officer says. Godard continues denying that he robbed the store, which makes the officer laugh. "That's kind of some karma s**t right there, ain't it?" he says."Well, I left the keys in," Godard replies."Yeah, that's some karma s**t right there, dude!" the officer says.Godard was charged with burglary, theft, and destruction of property. RELATED: Cowboys football player says Chargers' video falsely portrays him as racist "Don't you hate it when your car gets stolen while you're committing a burglary?" the police department wrote on the post with the video. "Great work by PFC Buchanan connecting the dots to the burglary across the street when this suspect called to report his car was stolen," the department added. "Karma, indeed."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Thomas Jefferson wrote many letters to John Adams about government, liberty, and England’s corruption under King George III. Jefferson once put his disgust plainly: “It has been a strong reason with me for wishing there was an ocean of fire between that island and us.”Earlier in their political careers, Adams had chosen Jefferson to write the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson then penned a sentence that became the greatest line of revolutionary fire ever written, separating freedom from tyranny as clearly as any ocean of fire could.With one line, the tyranny present throughout human history was turned upside down. Humanity knew real liberty in a new and enduring way.During the classical era, pharaohs claimed godhood and treated their people as lesser beings, fit only for slavery and submission. Godhood placed the pharaoh and his ministers above the humanity beneath them.But in the land of Goshen lived the tribes of Israel. Freed by Moses, they came to camp in the shadow of Mount Sinai, where they received the Ten Commandments — the law of God on earth, demanding obedience from kings, priests, and commoners alike.Centuries later, democracies emerged along the Hellenic coasts of Greece, while the Roman Republic arose on the Italian peninsula. These societies were imperfect but freer than the empires around them.In Greece, that freedom lasted until Philip II of Macedon devoured the city-states and left an empire to his son Alexander. After conquering Egypt, Alexander demanded to be known as the “son of Amon,” claiming the aura of godhood and exerting a tyranny like that of the pharaohs.In Rome, the republic endured for nearly 500 years before falling to imperial rule. The Julio-Claudian line eventually produced Caligula, who demanded to be adored as a god in the Temple of Solomon itself. Thus came the tyranny of the Caesars.In medieval Europe, kings could not claim to be gods. But they could claim to be anointed by God, placing their crowns above ordinary men as surely as the stars appear above the sea.King John of England ruled through vis et voluntas — force and will. The rapacity of his will and the weakness of his rule led to Magna Carta in 1215, the first great liberating document written in Europe since the Roman Republic.A descendant of King John, Henry VIII, placed in his own person the powers of king and head of the church. He claimed to rule by divine right. The kings who followed asserted the same claim: that all beneath the sun was beneath them by God’s will.So it is that the history of humanity is, in large part, the history of tyranny.Then a descendant of that line, George III, inspired Jefferson’s line of revolutionary fire: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.”That sentence means all of us possess the same rights, and no one has a superior right to take them away — no pharaoh, emperor, conqueror, king, queen, or dictator.RELATED: America’s birth defect did not define our destiny Stevanovicigor/Getty ImagesIf our rights are given to us equally by God, then none may rule over us by claiming we are unequal. Among those rights are faith, speech, assembly, and the right to remove from power those who misgovern us.Thus, our government is our servant — never our master.By that one line, the tyranny present throughout human history was turned upside down. Humanity knew real liberty in a new and enduring way.The foremost lesson of history is that tyranny is always with us.In recent history, the murderous Bolsheviks toppled the 300-year empire of the czars, looted and burned churches, and murdered priests. They knew God would never be a socialist Bolshevik, so they placed themselves above God.When Hitler came to power, he sought to eradicate the Jewish people, murdering 6 million Jews. He knew that neither the Jews nor God would join the socialist Nazi Party, so he placed himself above God.In China, Mao Zedong drove the moral center out of his nation through a murderous purge, killing tens of millions of his own people in the name of revolution. Confucius had no place in Mao’s socialist order, so Mao placed himself above God.Such is tyranny in our own time.In America today, democratic socialists attack the faith of our Jewish neighbors and fellow citizens. They seek the removal of the Ten Commandments from schools and public squares. They attack Christianity and Western civilization. They insist that our nation under God is evil and must be remade.It is socialism in America that must be defeated.As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the greatest sentence ever written in the history of freedom, let us hold fast to God, the creator and guarantor of our rights.Let us hold fast to that line of revolutionary fire with a will of steel — for the sake of all our liberties.

Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida said the congressional oversight committee should investigate the Patriot Front group after its march on the Fourth of July.Masked members of the white supremacist group marched through Washington, D.C., and at one point were photographed surrounding a black woman on public transit.'There are plenty of things that I see that I might personally find offensive, reprehensible, but in America, free speech is allowed.'On Monday, Luna said the group should finally be investigated."What I find odd about Patriot Front is how under Biden they were never investigated," she wrote in a statement on social media Monday."Well funded. Never investigated," she added. "FBI under Biden looked into Catholics instead. So, looks like [the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform] should do some digging.About 400 members of the group marched through D.C. on Saturday, and some carried the U.S. flag upside down to signify distress.Interior Secretary Doug Burgum defended the group's right to free speech on CNN's "State of the Union.""Certainly what they stand for is nothing that I could possibly agree with," Burgum said, "but one of the foundational principles of the United States, which makes democracy messy, is free speech, and there are plenty of things that I see that I might personally find offensive, reprehensible, but in America, free speech is allowed, and this is by the whole spectrum of things."RELATED: 'You have to be completely out of your f**king mind': Eric Adams rips into Mamdani aide over white supremacist comment Burgum would not commit to advise President Donald Trump to condemn the demonstration.Luna is the chair of the committee's Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Veteran political strategist Donna Brazile faced fierce criticism after her response to sexual assault allegations against Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner.Platner has faced a damaging series of scandals, but the latest allegations are leading many Democrats to rescind their endorsements and call for him to step down.'He's got a pattern of abusing women and you're empathizing with him?'While Brazile did call for Platner to be replaced, she also said he needed time to heal."It's time for Mr. Platner to step aside and be replaced," she wrote in a post on social media. "Platner needs time to heal, focus on his family and well-being. Enough. Enough," she continued.Her strange reaction was lambasted by critics online."Why does he need 'time to heal' from assaulting women?" one user responded. "So your main concern here is the mental health and well-being of the accused rapist? Interesting you didn't say anything about his victim," another reply reads. "Wait a minute. Platner's accused of sexual assault, and HE needs 'time to heal'?? It sounds like he needs time to chill behind bars!" another user said."Heal from what? He's got a pattern of abusing women and you're empathizing with him?" another user replied. "The time for Platner to heal will be after his ironically named cellmate Tiny, who is also a sexual reprobate, is done with him," another user joked.Politico first reported the allegations of rape by a woman who dated Platner nearly five years ago. RELATED: 'Should be nowhere near Congress': Even 'The View' thinks Platner is a TERRIBLE candidate Platner was also accused of sending sexually explicit messages to women while he was still married to his wife. If Platner chooses to step down from the campaign, it would severely deflate Democrats' hopes of wresting away control of the U.S. Senate from Republicans. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!