On Wednesday morning, the Supreme Court sided with fairness and the rule of law in its opinion in Louisiana v. Callais, which returned the Voting Rights Act to its original intent: to protect against intentional racial discrimination. This decision doesn’t discriminate; it says we are all Americans. It restores equal protection under the law, which should be easy for all of us to celebrate. The court sided with Martin Luther King, Jr.’s vision for a colorblind society and said that racial preferencing doesn’t belong in our elections, just as it doesn’t belong in college admissions. Following the ruling, I immediately called for our Tennessee state legislature to reconvene as soon as possible to redraw our map — this should yield another conservative seat. From hosting campaign schools to supporting strong conservatives up and down the ballot, I’ve worked to keep Tennessee a red state, and now we have an unprecedented opportunity to ensure Tennessee has nine solid Republican congressional seats by revisiting the state’s Ninth Congressional District, home to the solidly Democratic area of Memphis. As governor, I’ll work tirelessly to make this map a reality, but the fact of the matter is, we can’t wait that long. The legislature must reconvene as soon as possible to pass a new map for it to be in effect for this year’s elections. I was encouraged when President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social: “I had a very good conversation with Governor Bill Lee, of Tennessee, this morning, wherein he stated that he would work hard to correct the unconstitutional flaw in the Congressional Maps of the Great State of Tennessee. Likewise, all of the other Political Representatives of Tennessee have promised to do so.” Since the ruling, liberals have bemoaned that redrawing the lines would create a “lack of representation,” but it’s funny, I’ve never heard a liberal bemoan the lack of conservative representation in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Hawaii, or Delaware. There is no doubt: Tennessee is a conservative state — we don’t have a state income tax, we don’t allow illegals to run our state, we fight to protect faith, family, freedom, hope, and opportunity, and I want to keep it that way. In fact, that’s why I’m running for governor. We have the potential to be America’s conservative leader. But this is bigger than the Volunteer State; the trajectory of our country is at risk. If we are to make Tennessee America’s true conservative leader, this is where it begins. As Donald Trump himself said, this will “help Save our Country from the Radical Left Democrats, and their Country destroying Policies of High Tax, Open Borders, Transgender Mutilization[sic], Defunding the Police, ICE, and Border Patrol, No Voter ID, Soft on Crime, and so much more.” Immediately passing a new, 9-0 map is essential to cementing President Trump’s America First agenda and America’s Golden Age. I will do everything I can to support the legislators who take up this mantle and help us secure the future of our state and of our great nation. *** Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) is the state’s senior senator. She is also running for governor.

The New Yorker had a full-blown meltdown this week over E.P.A. Administrator Lee Zeldin’s unapologetic effort to carry out President Trump’s environmental agenda. In the process, the magazine unintentionally elevates Zeldin to folk hero status among the conservative faithful, making him look exactly like what many conservatives have long wanted: an E.P.A. chief who is finally willing to fight aggressive environmental leftism instead of accommodating it. Titled “Can the E.P.A. Survive Lee Zeldin?” the article begins by expressing outrage over Zeldin slapping the wrists of 144 insubordinate career E.P.A. bureaucrats who published a public letter excoriating their boss. The letter begins by stating, “Declaration of dissent: E.P.A. employees join in solidarity with employees across the federal government in opposing this administration’s policies,” while singling out Zeldin by name for special criticism. The letter reads like an Ilhan Omar press release. It alleges that “black communities,” “disabled communities,” “LGBTQIA+ communities,” and the usual mix of leftist special-interest groups are disproportionately impacted by climate change and environmental harm. The letter then chastises Zeldin for cutting back funding and staff dedicated to “environmental justice.” So much for career bureaucrats in Washington being dispassionate, politically neutral applicators of law and policy. Screenshot: The New Yorker For the crime of carrying out the elected president’s agenda, Zeldin is accused by career bureaucrats of “undermining public trust,” “promot[ing] misinformation,” and even backing “President Trump’s tariffs.” The E.P.A. is part of the executive branch of the federal government, and the administrator reports directly to the president. E.P.A.’s role is to implement environmental laws and policies consistent with federal law and the president’s direction. By definition, it is aggressively insubordinate for a federal agency’s bureaucratic employees to publicly criticize and issue a “Declaration of dissent” against the boss of their agency. How did Zeldin respond? He placed the offending employees on temporary administrative leave, receiving full pay and benefits. In other words, Zeldin gave the insubordinate staffers free vacation time. Reading The New Yorker article, however, one would think Zeldin sentenced the staffers to hard labor in a gulag. The New Yorker then goes on to attack Zeldin’s voting record in Congress. As an elected Republican, Zeldin voted “mostly along party lines” rather than joining Democrats in opposition to Republican-supported policies. According to the Heritage Action Scorecard, which tallies how often a member of Congress votes the conservative or liberal position on the most important congressional votes, Zeldin strayed from the conservative Republican position 22% of the time during his years in Congress. By comparison, so-called “conservative” Democrats Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema deviated from the liberal Democrat position just 21% and 10% of the time, respectively. Zeldin deviated from the conservative position more frequently than so-called conservative Democrats, and yet The New Yorker still brands Zeldin a conservative extremist. The New Yorker then complains that in the September 12, 2025, issue of the official E.P.A. newsletter, Zeldin engages in “mourning” Charlie Kirk’s assassination. To illustrate its outrage, The New Yorker points out, exasperated, that Zeldin wrote, “In Loving Memory” in the E.P.A. newsletter under a picture of Kirk. The fact is, The New Yorker, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and the rest of the leftist cabal are losing their minds because Zeldin is the most principled and effective implementer of common-sense conservative environmental policy in the history of the E.P.A. Under the squishy presidencies of George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, the two Bushes searched for the most environmentally leftist “Republican” they could find. Both cases were a futile effort to win Democratic votes. George H.W. Bush chose William K. Reilly, who previously served as head of the leftist environmental activist group World Wildlife Fund, to lead his E.P.A. George W. Bush chose one of the most liberal self-identified Republican politicians in the country, former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman, to lead his E.P.A. Lee Zeldin is unquestionably the greatest conservative administrator the E.P.A. has ever had. The New Yorker can’t stand that, and its amateurish hit job on a very competent and effective Zeldin only makes them look more toxic. * * * James Taylor (JTaylor@heartland.org) is President of The Heartland Institute.

The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), never a group to shy away from radical posturing, has officially declared its intent to abandon the classroom on May 1. In a move that effectively amounts to a one-day strike, the union’s 730-member House of Delegates approved a resolution joining a national movement calling for a day of “no school, no work, and no shopping.” The CTU isn’t just asking its members to walk out; it’s demanding that Mayor Brandon Johnson and the school board use state law to excuse students so they can participate in what the union calls “civic action.” The choice of May 1 is no coincidence. While the date’s origins trace back to the 1886 Haymarket Affair in Chicago, it was quickly co-opted by the global far-Left. In 1889, the Second International—a collection of socialist and labor parties—designated it as a day of demonstration. By 1917, it became the premier state holiday of the Soviet Union, complete with Red Square parades featuring tanks and missiles intended to signal the “proletariat’s” triumph over capitalism. While the United States spent decades trying to distance itself from these connotations—establishing “Loyalty Day” and “Law Day” on May 1 to counter communist influence—the CTU appears eager to revive the day’s most radical sentiments. The CTU’s resolution reads less like an educational mandate and more like a manifesto from a bygone era of class warfare. The union’s demands are explicitly political and heavily flavored with the “tax the rich” rhetoric synonymous with communist agitation. According to the resolution, the CTU intends to: Target the Wealthy: The union is demanding that the government “tax the rich to support our schools,” echoing the classic Marxist refrain of wealth redistribution. Abolish Enforcement: In a direct challenge to federal law, the union is calling for “ICE out of our cities,” referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Attack “Authoritarianism”: The resolution rails against “MAGA politicians,” “billionaire donors,” and “corporate interests,” claiming these groups are “attempting to cement authoritarian power.” CTU Vice President Jackson Potter stated, “Teaching our students what civic action looks like requires more than textbooks when the President sends federal agents to occupy our cities …” Meanwhile, CTU member Kevin Moore justified the walkout by claiming “public education is under attack,” asserting that taking children out of school to participate in political rallies is a way of “teaching our students how to use their voice.” Instead of math and literacy, the CTU wants students to engage in “age-appropriate” civic education, which apparently includes “mass resistance training” and “political education,” according to the union’s resolution. The union is also using the platform to weigh in on foreign policy, writing, “Trump has illegally declared war on Iran built on lies and deception.” Mayor Johnson, a former CTU organizer himself, signaled support for the “direct action,” though he vaguely promised to ensure “no loss of instruction time”—a difficult feat when the union is actively calling for “No School.” As the CTU pivots from education to overt political activism, it remains to be seen how Chicago parents will react to their children being used as pawns in a movement that shares more DNA with the Soviet Union’s “Workers’ Day” than with the American classroom.

Massachusetts Democrat Rep. Seth Moulton suggested that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth could be executed for war crimes. CNN host Erin Burnett played an exchange Moulton had with Hegseth in which Moulton attacked the War Secretary for saying the U.S. military should “keep pushing, keep advancing, no quarter, no mercy for our enemies” regarding the war with Iran, prompting Moulton to accuse Hegseth of inciting soldiers to commit war crimes. Burnett then turned to Moulton and asked, “Do you believe that the Secretary of Defense is guilty of war crimes?” “Absolutely,” Moulton answered. “I mean, he’s clearly behind the operation to shoot all these boats in the Caribbean when it’s very unclear that we actually have any confirmation that these so-called narco-terrorists — a term the administration invented to justify this action, are even on the boats. I mean, in fact, there’s a lot of evidence that these are just fishermen, you know, getting jobs, piloting these boats, trying to feed their families. There’s been press reporting on some of these individuals who’ve been killed who are clearly not criminals. And on top of that, we then have the strike where they came back and hit it again, a double tap, just purely to kill these survivors who were clinging to wreckage.” Then Moulton went beyond the pale: “It’s interesting, Erin, back in World War II, the Allies tried Nazi submarine captains for doing this exact same thing. And guess what the conclusion was? They got executed.” “Listen to that, Mr. Secretary,” he taunted. INSANE Democrat Rep. Seth Moulton FLAT OUT LIES to defend narcoterrorists and compares our military to “Nazis.” MOULTON: “Back in WWII the allies tried Nazi submarine captains for doing this exact same thing…they got executed. Listen to that Mr. Secretary [Hegseth].” pic.twitter.com/gAMSaDJ6Gg — RNC Research (@RNCResearch) April 29, 2026   In late March, Moulton appeared on CNN with host Anderson Cooper, where he huffed and puffed about the U.S. losing the war with Iran, saying: There is absolutely no plan. The administration clearly can’t even understand why they’re in this war, what their strategy is to get out of it. If you look every step of the way, they’re doing things, they’re changing their goals. They’re doing things that don’t even necessarily contribute to their goals. Apparently now, their primary goal is reopening the Strait of Hormuz, which, let’s be clear, was open before Trump started this war of choice. So, the reality is, at this moment, we are losing this war. If Trump were to stop the war tonight, he would have to negotiate with the Iranians to reopen the strait that they have closed. That’s why he’s begging, he’s begging our greatest adversary, the People’s Republic of China. The Chinese Communist Party. He’s asking to come and bail him out to reopen this Strait. It’s an unmitigated disaster. It’s very clear they don’t have a plan going forward.

This article is part of Upstream, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you. *** Welcome to the Bright Side, a weekly roundup of all the good news and ideas you might have missed from the past week. I was watching a funk band at the Five Spot in Nashville a couple nights ago when I suddenly noticed people in the audience filming the show. Some held their phones horizontally, others vertically. Since portrait mode is now the go-to format for mobile screens, I wondered if we could assume anything about someone’s social media habits based on the direction they shoot video. I quickly set my phone screen-down on the bar so I could focus on the music and the one spotlight giving me unintentional Lasik. This weekend, I’m wishing you moments worth savoring — even if we never watch those concert videos ever again. An inspirational quote from an entertainment legend “Say your prayers, take your vitamins, and you will never go wrong.” — Hulk Hogan.  You don’t need to be an ’80s pro wrestling fan to relive its glory days in the Netflix doc “Hulk Hogan: Real American.” Maybe your dad took Hulk vitamins as a kid. Or your uncle had the action figure from Hulk’s bad-boy New World Order era. Ever tasted Real American Beer? That’s his, too. With a nostalgia-fueled legacy that’s lasted long past his prime, Hulk said it himself: “I really was here for a reason, more than just wrestling.” He wasn’t perfect, but we’ll never have an American hero like him again, brother. The one-ton sea lion capturing hearts I haven’t stopped thinking about this chonky chunk since I heard of him. “Chonkers,” as he’s known around San Francisco’s Pier 39, deserves his affectionate nickname. At 2,000 pounds, Steller sea lions like him weigh up to 10 times more than your average California sea lion. He “looks more like a bear” and “sounds like an oak tree falling” when he flings himself onto the dock. (Save yourselves, other sea lions!)    View this post on Instagram   A post shared by The Wall Street Journal (@wsj) Chonkers has been swimming around the Bay Area for years, but his recent visibility has drawn lookers from around the country. Tune into a live-stream to catch a glimpse of this endearing “sea-lebrity” in the AM before he heads off to fish for the day.  We’re making mint juleps for the Kentucky Derby Give me sports but make it fashion with sun hats and fascinators. This might come as a shock, but I know nothing about horse racing and I base imaginary bets purely on the most fun horse names. Even if the odds are against them, my money’s on Right to Party, So Happy, or Chief Wallabee winning the 152nd Kentucky Derby on May 2. (They’re all winners in my book.)  Of course, the equine event of the year wouldn’t be complete without the official cocktail of Churchill Downs. Mix a mint julep by adding 15 fresh mint leaves to a julep cup or glass with one ounce of simple syrup. Gently crush the leaves with a spoon or wooden muddler, then loosely pack the glass with crushed ice, followed by 2 1/2 ounces of bourbon. With a mint sprig garnish and a drizzle of simple syrup, I won’t even be mad if Emerging Market (snooze) comes in first.   Stick the landing your next elevator entrance The elevator called. It wants its mojo back. With a bad rep for being slow, “farty,” and having the world’s worst muzak, your nearest lift is getting a makeover thanks to the Nonchalant Elevator Challenge.  @karlieplace The last one ☠️ w/ @Colin Ringas #elevatorchallenge #elevator #nonchalant ♬ original sound – Karlie Place The goal is to interrupt the closing doors of a waiting elevator with the most creative effortlessness. Toss a hat into the crack of the door, catch it before it falls, and flip it onto your head as you saunter in. Or just throw your shoe. You do you.  You catch more flies with White House honey The British royals popped by America this past week (I assume it was mostly so Chuck could catch up with his cousin, Donnie). For their state dinner, the King and Queen dined on garden herb velouté with hearts of palm, herb ravioli, and Dover sole with snow peas and pavé potatoes. But let me tell you about that dessert course. ‘Twas a beehive-shaped chocolate cake filled with vanilla custard and served with crème fraîche ice cream and floral White House honey. Tragically, you can’t buy White House honey online; only the Trumps can “bee”-stow it upon you. Still, I couldn’t take my eyes off the new White House beehive shaped like The White House. Its two new colonies double the 70,000-bee program launched by Michelle Obama in 2009. If you’re jonesing for high-class honey, you can snap up a jar of Highgrove Royal Orchard Spring Honey straight outta King Charles’ backyard.  Honorable mention to the president for giving us another iconic image.