I’ve watched two American cities make opposite choices about the same problem. As a young man, I worked in Memphis: first as a traveling salesman, then as a law student, and finally as an attorney at a Memphis law firm. As an associate lawyer, I dreamed of escaping the daily grind by writing a great American novel. A fellow named John Grisham beat me to it, writing a book called “The Firm,” which was loosely based on my then-Memphis law firm, Baker Donelson. I guess that is why, many years later, I’m still a practicing attorney and John Grisham has written 55 published books. Although I reside in Springfield, I’ve spent considerable time in Chicago over the past 10 years. While Chicago is bigger than Memphis, the two cities are similar in that I love them both and both are high crime cities. Based on 2024 numbers, Chicago has led the U.S. in total murders for 13 years. Memphis ranked second in homicides per capita among large cities.  I happen to know what it means to be on the wrong end of urban violence. I was held up at gunpoint in Memphis. That experience taught me something that no policy paper ever could: When you’re facing a criminal with a weapon, political debates about federal jurisdiction become meaningless. What matters is whether your city is doing everything possible to keep people safe. To that end: Memphis said yes to federal help. Chicago said no. The results tell you everything you need to know about what happens when politics overrides public safety. Memphis Chose Cooperation In Memphis, the numbers speak louder than any political speech. When the city partnered with federal law enforcement through the Memphis Safe Task Force, murders dropped 48%, sexual assaults fell 49%, and robberies decreased 61% in just 56 days. Overall crime hit a 25-year low. Murder reached a six-year low. Sexual assault dropped to a 20-year low. A Memphis resident at a Grizzlies game said what statistics can’t: “It is so peaceful … we’re just enjoying life and it just feels so free.” Chicago Chose Politics  Chicago took a different path. Mayor Brandon Johnson stated that the city “does not intend to apply for any federal grants that require the city to comply with President Trump’s political aims.” The cost of that decision? A Chicago nonprofit lost $3.7 million in federal funding for violence prevention. Programs that could have saved lives disappeared because of political positioning. Meanwhile, only 6% of major crimes result in arrests in Chicago. Less than 20% of murders get solved. For non-fatal shootings, the clearance rate drops to 5%. The False Frame Some frame this as a battle between local control and federal overreach. That’s inaccurate. Memphis didn’t surrender authority. The city multiplied its resources. Federal agents brought additional manpower, expertise, and the ability to prosecute cases in federal court where sentences carry more weight. Mayor Paul Young said efforts were “guided by one purpose: to uplift our community.” The partnership worked because it focused on outcomes, not ideology. The real question is: Do you want leaders to prioritize safety or political statements? Politics Has a Body Count Do you want leaders to prioritize safety or political statements? I’ve seen both approaches. The difference isn’t subtle. In Memphis, people feel safer walking their streets. Crime data confirms what residents experience daily. Chicago rejected the offer of federal help, and encouraged a rebellion against enforcement of federal immigration law. In the past month, we saw another deadly teen takeover of downtown Chicago, career criminals terrorizing Chicago Transit Authority riders, school children beating up a mom with her child, and more gang violence. You can debate federal policy all you want. But when your city faces a crime crisis, the question becomes simple: Will you accept help or grandstand while people suffer? Memphis answered that question. So did Chicago. The results speak for themselves. Originally published by RealClearPolitics. We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal. The post Two Cities, Two Crime Strategies: What I Learned Living in Both appeared first on The Daily Signal.

FBI Director Kash Patel is back in the safe zone again. The on-again, off-again MAGA media lynch mobs gunning for Patel to be ousted from the key Cabinet post over his perceived mishandling of several high-profile investigations and unmet demands for transparency have crested and fallen too many times to count during his tumultuous nine months in office. But on Thursday, Patel instantly regained any lost footing after announcing the arrest of the alleged Jan. 6, 2021, pipe-bombing suspect. In a major breakthrough in one of the FBI’s most high-profile unsolved cases, the FBI Thursday morning arrested Brian Cole Jr., 30, in his family’s Woodbridge, Virginia, home and accused him of placing pipe bombs outside the Republican and Democratic Party headquarters in Washington, D.C., the day of the U.S. Capitol riot. Cole has been charged with transporting an explosive device and attempted malicious destruction using explosive materials, according to court documents. The bombs never detonated, and there’s a lingering question about whether they were capable of doing so. Regardless of the level of danger, the pipe bombs have fueled a flood of conspiracy theories over who planted them and why no law enforcement officers found the device placed at the Democratic National Committee headquarters, even though the Secret Service had swept the site before then-Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’ visit that day. As video footage of FBI agents surrounding Cole’s house played on several cable TV stations, Patel, surrounded by Attorney General Pam Bondi, Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino, and a phalanx of top federal law enforcement officials gathered under the klieg lights at the Justice Department press room for a victory lap on the arrest. The Trump administration investigators had pinpointed Cole not because of any new tip, but just old-fashioned police work, Patel said. Meanwhile, the Biden administration’s FBI let the case gather dust for years, Trump officials argued. “This cold case languished for four years until Kash and Bongino came to the FBI,” Bondi told reporters Thursday. An affidavit signed by an FBI agent who worked on the case and released to the public showed that the FBI tracked Cole’s bomb-making equipment to purchases at Home Depot and Walmart. It also said Cole’s cellphone pinged in the area of the Republican and Democratic Party headquarters on the night of Jan. 5, 2021, when video showed a shadowy individual in a hoodie planting the bombs. His car, according to the affidavit, was also a half mile from the bombs on the same night. The suspect’s motives remain a mystery, but reports surfaced Thursday afternoon that the alleged bomber had anarchist leanings. While critics, including former FBI agent and podcaster Kyle Seraphin, cast doubt that the evidence against Cole Jr. was anywhere near conclusive, Bondi and others, including U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro, heralded the arrest as a bombshell achieved through diligence and constant coordination between law enforcement agencies. “This execution was flawless in terms of teamwork, resilience, and just a good, old-fashioned way of police getting the job done,” Patel told reporters, noting it was Bongino who led the monthslong investigation. “When you let good cops be cops, this is what happens. I’m eternally grateful to the team behind me, to the leadership at the FBI who made this possible.” Bongino praised Trump for setting the tone and giving them marching orders to “go after the bad guys and stop focusing on other extraneous things not related to law enforcement.” Indeed, for many critics, especially those on the right, the FBI that Kash and Bongino inherited had become politically weaponized against Trump and conservatives to the point it public trust in the agency was at historic lows. Under Biden, the FBI had produced internal directives to investigate parents who criticized local school boards, including Catholics and pro-life individuals, and had spent an inordinate amount of time and resources interrogating and arresting individuals who entered the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, riots, even those who played no role in the violence. When Patel and Bongino arrived at the FBI, MAGA world cheered, but expected instant reforms and transparency on some of the most controversial law enforcement matters, including the Jeffrey Epstein underage sex trafficking scandal. Transparency on the Epstein case proved much harder to achieve, as rumors for months have swirled that a number of prominent politicians on both sides of the aisle, including former President Bill Clinton and even Trump himself, could be exposed for involvement. Bondi followed her promise to release the Epstein files with an embarrassing White House scene in February in which the attorney general handed out binders of what she inaccurately cast as newly declassified Epstein information to pro-Trump influencers who would later complain that they contained previously released files. Bongino was so unhappy about the “Bondi binders” and the public backlash over them that he considered leaving his job in July after a heated confrontation with the attorney general, followed by a threat to quit unless Trump fired Bondi. The ultimatum, which leaked to the press, fueled speculation over who would survive the next few weeks, Bondi or Bongino. The ugly spat subsided, and both Bondi and Bongino survived. But dissent from the left and the right against Patel and Bongino had ebbed and flowed during his nine months on the job with reports as recent as last week that Patel was on thin ice and set for removal. The rumors of Patel’s imminent departure reached a crescendo heading into and over the Thanksgiving weekend until the White House poured cold water on the reports that Trump was poised to fire Patel. Last weekend, The Telegraph, a British newspaper, citing anonymous sources, claimed that the “mood is miserable” inside Patel’s “chaotic” FBI. Rank-and-file FBI agents were reportedly angered by several perceived blunders, including that Patel had prematurely announced that the FBI had thwarted a potential terrorist attack in Michigan on Halloween, in what critics said allowed suspects to flee. Back in September, during the furious manhunt for Charlie Kirk’s assassin, he claimed a killer was in custody when he wasn’t. Democrats have always taken a dim view of Patel’s leadership at the FBI. Buoyed by reports that the White House was losing patience with the director, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker reminded Patel during a September hearing that a capricious boss might bring his career to an end.  “I don’t think you’re fit to head the bureau, but here’s the thing, Mr. Patel, I think you’re not going to be around long,” Booker said.” I think this might be your last oversight hearing.” Patel fired back that the senator was “an embarrassment.” Over the last month, prominent conservative voices have started to pile on. In mid-October, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson published a bombshell report showing that Trump shooter Thomas Crooks had a much larger and far more anti-Trump digital footprint than the Biden-era FBI had portrayed. The New York Post’s Miranda Devine advanced Carlson’s reporting by releasing even more of Crooks’ social media activity—including his visits to DeviantHub, a well-known gender-bending website frequented by furries. Even though the FBI declined to comment for the Devine’s report, a few days later Patel unsuccessfully tried to poke holes in the reporting in interviews with other reporters. Just last week, Patel also announced a “full force” “coast-to-coast” manhunt for the National Guard attacker when the murderer was already in custody. Patel subsequently clarified that the comments were related to a broader investigation into potential accomplices or a wider plot, and not the announcement of a new manhunt for the already apprehended primary attacker. Then on Dec. 1, Devine published a report from “an alliance” of anonymous active-duty and retired FBI agents and analysts claiming that the agency was a “rudderless ship” under Patel and Bongino, who were more concerned with building “personal resumes” and engaging on social media than reforming the agency. The alliance’s report also included an embarrassing tale about Patel refusing to disembark from a plane in Utah the day after Charlie Kirk’s assassination until he was given an FBI raid jacket and then ended up wearing a woman’s jacket. Patel has denied parts of the story, arguing that he needed a rain jacket because he had no time to pack before heading to Utah after Kirk’s killing. The alliance planned to send its 115-page report to Congress later that week. The same group had previously issued damning reports on the Biden-era FBI warning about crippling DEI and the political weaponization of the agency. Bongino fired back at the report, arguing that it was the work of disgruntled “deep-state” FBI agents who were angry over the reforms he and Patel had instituted.   Patel then touted several major reforms during his short tenure and a long list of accomplishments, which included the arrests of 25,000 violent criminals, a 100% increase from last year, and the location and identification of 6,000 victims of child trafficking. Patel also argued that espionage arrests are up 35% under his watch, while fentanyl seizures have increased by 31%. Still, as of Wednesday, the future of Patel’s and Bongino’s tenure felt rocky at best—until the big announcement that the pair, with the help of key senior FBI agents, had cracked the J6 bomber case. A source close to the White House and familiar with the president’s thinking described Patel as “a guy with nine lives because anytime you think you have him, he comes back around and does incredible work.”  The administration has repeatedly and strongly dismissed reports that Trump was considering moving on from his FBI director. To quell the rumors last month, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted a photo of Trump and Patel giving the thumbs-up in the Oval Office. After the arrest of the suspected J6 pipe bomber, the same source suggested that another beleaguered Cabinet member look to the FBI director as an example for managing presidential expectations—that “maybe Pete Hegseth needs to start taking pages from Kash Patel’s book.” Why keep Patel around? It’s simple, the source said. He puts more points on the board for the administration than he takes off with controversies. “If there’s talk about whether or not they’re going to drop you, but you keep on winning, even by a small margin, a win is still a win,” the source added, “and the GM is not going to fire you.”   Another source close to White House and familiar with Trump’s thinking argued that Patel, Bongino, Bondi, and even U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro are working closely and cohesively to “make America safe again.” “For all this talk about Pam and Kash being on the outs, you don’t have this level of success if there is a dysfunctional relationship between the FBI, the DOJ, and the D.C. attorney,” the source said. A senior Senate Republican brushed aside “the online back-and-forth” that had consumed Patel in recent weeks, dismissing the controversies as “Beltway chatter.” The results, particularly the arrest of the alleged J6 pipe bomber, not Patel’s pugnacious social media posts, speak to his record leading the FBI so far. “It’s obvious that Patel and Bongino are prioritizing public safety above everything else,” the aide told RCP before adding that the arrest is “a major example of how that leads to success.” Originally published by RealClearWire The post Pipe-Bomb Suspect’s Arrest Solidifies Patel’s Standing appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Google settled a racial bias lawsuit for $50 million. Merrill Lynch paid $20 million. Maryland taxpayers will have to pay $3 million to make a racial discrimination suit go away. “This is ridiculous! Taxpayers should not be on the hook for this!” complains Heather Mac Donald, author of “When Race Trumps Merit.” In our new video, she argues that companies and governments feel forced to pay because of a legal doctrine called “disparate impact.” “Most people don’t even know what it is!” I say. “It is their greatest weapon against excellence,” she replies, “and it is an abuse of the spirit of our civil rights laws.” Disparate impact rules say any policy or test in which some races or sexes do better than others is illegal discrimination, even if the policy has nothing to do with race or sex. “The Maryland State Police wanted to make sure state troopers could read at a very basic level,” says Mac Donald. But because black applicants got lower scores, the test was ruled racist. Because women got lower scores on the physical fitness test, the state was also found guilty of sexism. State politicians promised to change their standards and create new tests. Maryland taxpayers still have to pay millions. “Disparate impact means an institution can be completely colorblind, it can want to have as many different races as possible, but if it has a standard that blacks do poorly on, you got to throw out the standard,” says Mac Donald. New York taxpayers also paid about $2 billion because lawyers said a test for teachers was racist. Mac Donald says: “Even though you’ve spent decades throwing out every question on this exam that has too wide a racial divergence, you still didn’t have the same proportion of black applicants passing as white applicants, we’re going to throw out the exam. And you, New York taxpayers, are liable for $2 billion!” I push back, saying the reason blacks are behind “is because of the legacy of slavery … That’s all they’re saying. Remember that.” “No,” replies Mac Donald, “they’re saying much more than that! … We have way overcorrected. You can have meritocracy in an institution, or you can have diversity. You cannot have both.” Now President Donald Trump has ended disparate impact rules in the federal government. “We’re bringing meritocracy, the American way, back!” said his energy secretary. Trump also told colleges to get rid of DEI programs. “Some did kind of dismantle the DEI offices,” says Mac Donald, “but a lot of other ones just renamed them. ‘Diversity and Equity’ becomes ‘Belonging and Community.’” At the University of Virginia, staffers were caught bragging about it. “We have to change the names of some of our programs,” says one. “We have ‘queer brunch.’ You can’t call it ‘queer brunch’ anymore. You (have) to call it ‘cozy brunch’ … We’re doing the same stuff, but changing the names a little bit.” “It is an act of narcissism and ego on the part of these college administrators who only care about the photos that show up on their college website and making sure that they’re suitably diverse,” says Mac Donald. “None of your viewers should give any benefit of the doubt to these bureaucrats. There’s no knowledge required to be a diversity bureaucrat. The only thing necessary is you’re willing to prosecute the race hustle.” That’s doing real harm, she says. “You already have medical schools that have simply waived the medical college admissions tests for black students because they do so poorly on them. They are bringing blacks into medical schools with qualifications that would be automatically disqualifying if presented by whites or Asians.” These facts are unpleasant for many to hear. But they deserve to be heard. Institutions should have one standard for excellence. “Ban discrimination,” says McDonald, “but we do not ban excellence. We do not ban high expectations … Have a single level of excellence in this society. That is how we’re going to move forward.” COPYRIGHT 2025 CREATORS.COM We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal. The post Disparate Impact appeared first on The Daily Signal.

BEDFORD, Pennsylvania—A highly anticipated Christmas display in Pennsylvania that is both delicious and whimsical is when the Omni Bedford Springs Hotel in Bedford County transforms one of its main entrances into a culinary delight whose aroma hits your sensory palate long before you walk through the nearly 200-year-old front door. What began as a small decorative house has become a full-scale work of culinary art under executive pastry chef Harshal Naik. Known for his appearance on Food Network’s “Holiday Baking Championship,” he has taken it to the next level over the past five years. Guests and day visitors feel immersed in every display, from sprawling villages to candy cane streets to last year’s functioning gingerbread carousel. Naik is standing outside of his masterpiece—a 4-foot-wide, 9-foot-deep, 11-foot-tall gingerbread home—trying to get the coconut snow from clogging the train tracks of the Polar Express train that is chugging along inside the window of the life-size gingerbread home. “Everything is edible. Well, almost,” he says with a smile. The lobby is filled with people, young and old, peering in the window and all around the white picket fence (also edible). A family is gathered around the fireplace waiting to see what Santa will bring them as Saint Nick himself is leaving through the top of the chimney. Naik points to the fondant clothing, marshmallow and coconut snow, and intricate details that give the display texture, illustrating that, yes, everything is edible (except for the train). “We had several pastry women whose ages span 40 years who worked several hours a day for over a month constructing this,” he explained, adding that “everyone was up for the challenge.” All in all, they used nearly 400 pounds of gingerbread dough to make over 5,000 bricks held together by 50 gallons of royal icing instead of grout. Naik was adding the final starlight candles and miniature gingerbread men when we visited. The Bedford Springs resort is one of the nation’s oldest hotels. Its beginnings are traced to our frontier days when people first enjoyed the seven mineral springs that flow through this valley. In 1805, an enterprising doctor turned the center of the springs into America’s first grand resort. The “Springs,” as it is known both colloquially and by treasured guests from around the country, is drenched in classic Christmas revelry. Blitzes, the resort’s “speakeasy” tucked behind the luxurious indoor pool, is a step back in time, offering unique seasonal cocktails and mocktails. Children love the festive Shirley Temples. Visiting families can enjoy “Breakfast at the North Pole,” and Sunday featured the Grand Illumination, when guests and seemingly the entire town of Bedford gathered outside the hotel where Santa Claus led a countdown and lit the towering Christmas tree that sits on top of the space in the center of the roundabout outside the inn. Since its reopening 20 years ago, after sitting dormant for an equal amount of time, Bedford Springs hasn’t just welcomed visitors to its majestic lobby, restaurants, taverns, golf club, and cozy rooms; it has changed the fortunes of the community through employing 450 people, revitalizing the picture-perfect small town that is lined with unique small businesses in the Main Street grid with barely a trace of national stores in sight. There isn’t a shop or restaurant to be found in town that doesn’t credit the Springs for its prosperity—the hotel generously recommends shops and restaurants to visitors. Drive through the town, and each post along the street has garland draping along the sidewalks, evergreen bells with bright red ribbons crossing between the telephone poles like a scene out of “It’s a Wonderful Life’s” Bedford Falls street scape. If you are looking for a place that evokes a nostalgic sense of place for Christmas, Bedford Springs does just that, whether for a day trip or a night or two spent walking through the halls decorated with trees and dioramas. You can sit in the library and enjoy the rich collection of books, play chess, or sit by the fireplaces in the lobby. Each room tells a story that welcomes you for the day or the night, and it is what small-town America does best: celebrating your presence with a welcome mat that feels like you’ve just come home. COPYRIGHT 2025 CREATORS.COM We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal. The post Bedford Springs Delights With Small-Town Christmas Charm appeared first on The Daily Signal.

“There was no ‘kill them all’ order.” That is what Navy Admiral Frank “Mitch” Bradley told lawmakers this week in a classified briefing on the Sept. 2 military strike on an alleged narco-terrorist boat in the Caribbean that killed 11 people. What set this incident apart from the roughly 20 other strikes that have reportedly killed about 80 people was the second round of fire, which killed two individuals who had survived the initial attack. The controversy centered on a Washington Post claim that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth ordered, “Kill them all.” President Donald Trump defended the campaign, saying, “Every boat we knock out, we save 25,000 American lives.” And while military airstrikes on drug boats are indeed new, the use of military power against narco-terrorists is not. The modern war on drugs began in June 1971 when President Richard Nixon declared drug abuse “public enemy number one” and launched a national campaign to confront it. Two years later, he created the Drug Enforcement Administration to choke off the supply entering the U.S. In the 1980s, under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, the war intensified dramatically. But has the war on drugs succeeded? And will eliminating the cargo and crew of drug boats bring victory? The evidence says something is missing. For a president so skilled in business, Trump should appreciate the basic law of supply and demand. After more than five decades of the war on drugs, the risk of dying from overdose has not fallen; it has skyrocketed. In 1971, the U.S. recorded 3.3 overdose deaths per 100,000 people. By 2024, the number had risen to 24.3 per 100,000—more than a sevenfold increase. History and the inescapable law of supply and demand make clear that reducing supply alone does not eliminate the problem; it makes the trade more lucrative. The enterprise theory of crime holds that organized criminal groups arise only when there is a profitable demand for illegal goods or services. In other words, supply follows demand. One detailed study of darknet drug markets found that vendors cluster in high-consumption countries, not merely in producer nations. Their presence tracks where customers already are—demand pulls supply into place. If the war on drugs is ever to succeed, its focus must move beyond the criminal suppliers to the broken users who sustain the market. Reducing demand is essential, and that responsibility extends far beyond government. Drug use is fueled by social breakdown—family instability, isolation, peer pressure, economic despair, glamorizing media, and weakened institutions—and most prominently, spiritual emptiness that leaves individuals without purpose and hope. People without hope, purpose, a sense of identity, the freedom that comes from forgiveness, and a sense of God’s presence, which gives meaning to life, often turn to substances for escape. These social and spiritual deficits reinforce one another, meaning true recovery requires restoring relationships, addressing real-world pain, and confronting the spiritual void that leads people toward false comfort. Failing to confront the demand side of the drug crisis will only escalate the costs—to families, communities, and the nation. The real battle is not merely on the seas but in the hearts, homes, and institutions that shape the character of our people. Originally published by The Washington Stand. We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal. The post Supply, Demand, and The War on Drugs appeared first on The Daily Signal.