The final Democratic Senate debate before next week’s Michigan primary was overshadowed Monday night by Abdul El-Sayed’s recently leaked comments about putting the head of an “ogre” on a pike, as rival Rep. Haley Stevens argued the far-Left candidate was more interested in national political fights than representing Michigan. The confrontation came just hours after leaked audio from a donor call thrust El-Sayed into a new controversy, giving Stevens fresh ammunition just one week before the August 4 primary.  Stevens opened the debate by accusing El-Sayed of pursuing political celebrity rather than public service. “Abdul is running for celebrity,” Stevens said. “Republicans are propping up his campaign, and Mike Rogers just the other day said in a secret phone call that he makes it easier for him to win, that he’s the one he wants to run against.” “Look, this isn’t about the D.C. or New York influencer crowd. This is about putting Michigan first,” she added. Later, moderator Roop Raj confronted El-Sayed about the leaked audio, noting that many Democrats had taken offense to his comments about putting an “ogre” on a pike. “Do you regret any of the comments that you’ve made?” Raj asked. El-Sayed declined to directly apologize, instead arguing he has consistently urged civility among his supporters. “I took to Twitter last week and said that the tone in which people talk about my opponent is unkind,” El-Sayed said. “I asked anybody who supported me to not talk about her that way.” He then sought to clarify that the “ogre” remark was not directed at Stevens but at Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. John Fetterman. “I was referring to a guy named John Fetterman, who’s a senator from Pennsylvania, who has done terrible things, got elected on a set of values, and is now completely throwing those values in the mud,” El-Sayed said. El-Sayed quickly pivoted back to one of his core campaign themes, accusing Stevens of benefiting from millions of dollars in outside spending tied to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). “When we talk about unkindness, I also just want to speak to the fact that, on behalf of my opponent, UDP — another name for AIPAC — has been running attack ad after attack ad after attack ad on my character,” El-Sayed said. Stevens responded by using the controversy to reinforce a broader critique of her opponent, arguing that his own recorded remarks showed he was preoccupied with national political ambitions rather than Michigan. “There was something else that was revealed in the phone call,” Stevens said. “He said that he’s not going to be able to get much done, that he’s not focused on policy for the first two years that he is in the United States Senate, that he’s going to be focused on national politics.” Pressed again on civility, Stevens pointed to El-Sayed’s past remarks about prominent Michigan Democrats.  “Only he can account for saying that Whitmer is ‘bought and paid for,’ or that ‘no one cares about Debbie Stabenow,’ or that Mallory McMorrow ‘isn’t smart enough,'” Stevens said. El-Sayed again argued the race should focus less on personalities and more on the influence of wealthy donors and special interests. “I told you at the outset that my opponent was going to make this race about me and her,” El-Sayed said. “But this is about you,” referring to Michigan Democratic voters. The sharp exchange briefly gave way to one of the night’s lighter moments after El-Sayed clarified the “ogre” remark referred to Fetterman rather than Stevens. “Thank you for clarifying that you didn’t call me an ogre,” Stevens quipped.  

Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback and CBS analyst Tony Romo refused to submit to an intoxication test after his arrest last week for suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol, according to new court filings. Court records first reported by the California Post show Romo was cited for “refusing to take test for intoxication after arrest” during his July 23 arrest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Authorities previously alleged Romo was operating a vehicle while intoxicated after being stopped on southbound Interstate 43 following a round at the Wisconsin Amateur Championship golf tournament. According to the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office arrest report, Romo performed poorly on standardized field sobriety tests before being taken into custody, booked, and later released. The newly filed citation alleges Romo refused an intoxication test after arriving in custody. A copy of the citation has not yet been publicly released. Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office officials have said the case is being handled as a traffic violation rather than a criminal offense under Wisconsin law. Romo has not publicly commented on either the arrest or the newly disclosed allegation; neither has his attorney, Julius Kim. The 46-year-old is scheduled to appear in court on September 21. The arrest also appears to have affected Romo’s golf schedule. Over the weekend, he withdrew from the upcoming M&P Group Texas State Open, where he had been expected to compete. Neither CBS nor the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office has commented on the new filing. Romo retired from the NFL following the 2016 season after spending his entire 13-year career with the Dallas Cowboys, where he remains the franchise’s all-time leader in passing touchdowns with 248. Since joining CBS Sports in 2017, he has become one of the network’s top NFL analysts and signed a reported 10-year, $180 million contract extension in 2020.  

Minnesota schools and hospitals will provide dolls with removable genitals to children as young as four in order to allow them to express their sexual identities. MyGender Dolls were created by staff at the University of Minnesota, a publicly funded university. They are intended for use as an educational toy for children ages four through ten. The idea for the dolls came from University of Minnesota professor Rachel Becker-Warner. Associate professors Dr. Dianne Berg and Nic Rider then developed the dolls for a research project, later turning it into a commercial venture. MyGender Dolls website describes the toys as “a new play-based therapeutic approach for trans and gender diverse children — and the clinicians who support them.” “We make gender fun! Our award-winning dolls and services are community-informed, research-driven, culturally-attuned, and grounded in gender-affirming clinical practice,” the website said, adding that the dolls will be released to educators this year. The New York Post said the toys are “like a trans Mr./Mrs. Potato Head” and come with removable internal and external genitalia, and over 100 interchangeable pieces of clothing including underwear and skirts. “The concept is similar to classic paper dolls; kids can select bodies, genitals, clothes, and other accessories as a way to visualize their anatomy and genders,” according to a deleted summary of the project from the University of Minnesota’s Eli Coleman Institute for Sexual and Gender Health (ISGH) recovered by Fox News. “I think everyone should know that there’s diversity in gender identity and that what is ‘real’ is not what your body parts are, but how you think and feel,” Berg stated on social media and in a now-deleted article in the university’s Discovery Magazine. Berg also admitted that she and other medical professionals have been using the dolls on their child patients to help them explore their identity and get them to talk about their private parts. “We were able to explore and brainstorm not just what our bodies are able to do now but what we want our bodies to do and look like in the future,” Adjunct Assistant Professor Elizabeth Panetta said. The University of Minnesota Medical School’s Institute for Sexual and Gender Health paid the families of “trans and gender diverse children” between $20 and $60 to play with the dolls and “talk about gender and bodies” in groups. Governor Tim Walz (D-MN), who received the “Distinguished Sexual and Gender Health Champion Award” in 2023 from the University of Minnesota’s ISGH, has been giving $15 million annually to “increase the medical school’s research capacity” and “ensure its national prominence.” Dr. Quentin Van Meter, past president of the American College of Pediatricians, called the dolls a “grooming tool” that would likely only create anxiety and confusion. “The younger kids — many of them still believe in the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy. And you’re then presenting them with paper dolls that kind of look fun, and you can change clothing, hair, genitals … It’s well beyond their ability to sort out fantasy from reality.” “Until age 7 years, kids don’t really understand the immutability of the sexes,” Van Meter told the College Fix, adding that gender dysphoria is “emotional trauma caused by ideologues as parents or teachers or counselors.” A university spokesperson told The Post that no public funds were diverted “to support MyGender Dolls’ commercialization efforts,” but refused to mention whether taxpayer funds went into either the research and development of the dolls or to the salaries of the professors who worked on the project.

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan suffered multiple broken bones and nearly lost an eye in a serious car crash earlier this month, according to the team and longtime friend, NFL analyst Chris Simms.  The 49ers announced Saturday that Shanahan will have a limited role during training camp after breaking his nose, hand, and three ribs while requiring 40 stitches to his face, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported. Statement from the San Francisco 49ers. pic.twitter.com/13ugQr94bQ — San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) July 25, 2026 The July 14 crash occurred near Shanahan’s Northern California home when his vehicle collided with an SUV. Authorities said the other driver was not injured, both drivers cooperated, and neither showed signs of impairment or was cited.  General manager John Lynch said the team will let doctors determine when Shanahan can fully return.  “Kyle basically is going to be like in the protocol. We’re going to let the doctors dictate how he comes back, when he comes back,” Lynch said. “He’s been in the building, so we’ve seen him. It’s kind of like we do with our players: a phased-back approach. Number one for Kyle and the Shanahan family is getting him back right.” Former NFL quarterback and current NBC Sports football analyst Chris Simms explained during a Monday appearance on “PFT Live” that his close friend Shanahan almost lost his eye in the accident. Simms said Mandy Shanahan, Kyle’s wife, sent him pictures of the injuries just after the crash. “When you first see it, and it’s fresh, and some of the cuts are still wide open, I mean, it’s jarring,” Simms said. “He was emotional about it, because he realized how close it was to being just a complete, you know, utter disaster,” he added. “He could have lost his right eye. It could have been a lot worse.” “You know, he’s very concerned about the woman he got in the accident with and how she is handling that situation. So there’s just a lot there. And I think it was a lot for him to process.” With no timetable for Shanahan’s return, assistant head coach Chris Foerster will take over as the acting head coach. Shanahan has coached the 49ers since 2017 after previously serving as offensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons. He is the son of legendary head coach Mike Shanahan, who led the Denver Broncos to back-to-back Super Bowl victories. 

It’s estimated that somewhere between 500 and 1,000 travel diaries — possibly the most popular literary genre of the 19th century — were written by foreign visitors to the United States in our first century of existence. The Frenchman Alexis de Tocqueville’s “Democracy in America,” written after his visit to these shores in the 1830s, was and remains the most popular. Hundreds of others, from Charles Dickens’ “American Notes for General Circulation” to Fukazawa Yukichi’s “An Encouragement of Learning,” are still in print. America’s distinctiveness on the world stage drew observers from all over the world seeking to understand what this “new order” meant. Not all the reviews were positive. More aristocratic tourists criticized the directness of our manners, while others were bewildered at the emotionalism of some church services. Most all hated the American man’s addiction to tobacco-chewing — and spitting. I must confess to reading over 50 of these books, which is probably why I’m reminded of them as a witness to soccer fans from around the world coming to America for this summer’s World Cup. In ways we should be thankful, we don’t have to wait many months or a year to read a book about their experience. With a quick scroll through social media, one can see video after video from Germans, Ghanaians, Japanese, and Norwegian soccer fans as they express their overwhelming shock at life in these United States. Videos are plentiful of Dutch fans eating barbecue and Japanese fans dumbstruck while walking through Bass Pro Shops. Scottish fans in Boston were stunned by how frequently Americans would buy them drinks. But it’s the interviews with fans who are asked about their views of Americans that are the most revealing. Norwegian soccer star Erling Haaland went to an NHL game where he witnessed the Americans’ full-throated singing of our National Anthem. He said, “They have so much pride for the country. They love their country so much. It’s everything about it. The national anthem was incredible. Amazing. I had goosebumps all over.” Nineteenth-century visitors could be forgiven for their amazement at what they saw in America. There was literally nothing like us in world history — a thriving, if contentious, multiethnic republic. What’s the excuse now, two centuries later? The answer, of course, is found in what these fans have been told about America (and Americans) by their media, governments, and schools. Many of those criticisms, from our supposed xenophobia to our greedy self-centeredness, appear to be collapsing upon contact with reality. In this there’s an obvious reconnection with many of the themes you’d see from the travelogue writers in the 1800s: Americans are good-natured: As the Englishman, Charles Latrobe, wrote when visiting in 1832, “The people of the United States may truly be said to be a gregarious race. The truth of this is exemplified in their summer enjoyments, when, in spite of the inconveniences entailed upon collecting together in large numbers, during a season when the heat is truly oppressive.” Americans love big things: The Parisian clergyman, Jean Grandpierre, observed during his visit in the early 1850s, “In America everything takes gigantic proportions.” Americans are innovators: “The great glory of the Americans is in their wondrous contrivances, in their patent remedies for the usually troublous operations of life,” said Englishman Anthony Trollope, in 1861. Americans are infectiously energetic: During her visit in 1849, the Swedish novelist Fredrika Bremer described, “Nothing strikes me so much as the youthfulness of this people — I might almost say childish fervor and love of adventure. They hesitate at nothing, and regard nothing as impossible.” Americans love their country: The British medical missionary, Isabella Lucy Bird, described the typical American man she met in Chicago in 1854: “their very appearance says to you, ‘Stranger, I belong to the greatest, most enlightened and most progressive nation on earth. I may be the President or a millionaire next.” I could go on, but you get the picture. The difference now is that these past visitors are stunned by what they’re learning about America for the first time. Today’s visitors are having to unlearn what they’ve been told. Of course, it’s also true that we as Americans have also been surprised by the overwhelmingly positive reactions by these World Cup fans, and this speaks to what we’ve told ourselves (or been taught) about this country. The decline in American patriotism is evidenced in several recent national surveys. It’s logical to wonder how these travelers will impact views of America upon their return to their native lands. For our part, on this 250th year, we’d do well to consider the wonder these fans continue to express, and be grateful for the place we call home. *** Pete Peterson is dean of Pepperdine University School of Public Policy and its Braun Family Dean’s Chair.