News Gothictown Horror Novel Gothictown Getting Series Adaptation at AMC By Vanessa Armstrong | Published on November 12, 2024 Emily Carpenter photo credit: Sean Patrick Comment 0 Share New Share Emily Carpenter photo credit: Sean Patrick Emily Carpenter’s upcoming horror novel Gothictown is already getting a television adaptation. According to Deadline, Abby Ajayi (How To Get Away With Murder) is on board to write the series and serve as showrunner and executive producer. Gothictown isn’t set to come out until March 25, 2025, but is described as centering on a restauranteur who is wooed to a small Southern town via “pandemic-era incentives.” Here’s the official blurb for the book: The email message that lands in Billie Hope’s inbox seems like a gift from the universe. For $100 she can purchase a spacious Victorian home in Juliana, Georgia, a small town eager to boost its economy in the wake of the pandemic. She can leave behind her cramped New York City rental and some painful memories. Plus she’ll get a business grant to open a new restaurant in a charming riverside community laden with opportunity.After some phone calls and one hurried visit, Billie and her husband and daughter are officially part of the “Juliana Initiative.” The town is everything promised, and between settling into her lavish home and starting a new restaurant, Billie is busy enough to dismiss misgivings.Yet those misgivings grow. There’s something about Juliana, something off-kilter and menacing beneath its famous Southern hospitality. No matter how much Billie longed for her family to come here, she’s starting to wonder how, and whether, they’ll ever leave.   Gothictown is not Carpenter’s first book; her debut was the 2016 mystery thriller Burying the Honeysuckle Girls. The AMC project is still in its early days, so no news yet on casting or if/when it will go into production.[end-mark] The post Horror Novel <i>Gothictown</i> Getting Series Adaptation at AMC appeared first on Reactor.

Movies & TV Outlander The Penultimate Outlander Theme Song Invites You to Look and Listen How Bear McCreary’s iconic take on “The Skye Boat Song” transforms every season of Outlander By Natalie Zutter | Published on November 12, 2024 Credit: Starz Comment 0 Share New Share Credit: Starz Sing me a song of a lass that is goneSay, could that lass be I? The first time I saw the opening lyrics to Outlander’s theme song posted on a friend’s Facebook post, I thought it sounded ridiculous, way too on-the-nose to start every episode by acknowledging the series’ premise. YES WE GET IT CLAIRE YOU DISAPPEARED. That was before I actually listened to it, and watched the title sequence—and then, like Claire at Craigh na Dun, I fell hard. Now, I forbid my husband from fast-forwarding through the credits every time we watch… and considering that we binged a season at a time to get caught up in a matter of weeks, that means I’ve got it well memorized. But why do I find this particular TV opening so compelling? The answer, I think, is that it presses all of my nerd buttons: It’s a remix of a mashup, with an excellent invocation of Rule 63. It is the platonic ideal of a TV theme song, reinventing itself each season so that it is always familiar but never predictable. Spoilers for Outlander seasons 1 through 7. I knew that Bear McCreary is behind so many excellent modern scores, from Battlestar Galactica to 10 Cloverfield Lane, but I did not truly appreciate his expertise until I traced the origins of the Outlander theme. Because first he started off with the tune of the 1884 folk song “The Skye Boat Song,” which is not just any random Scottish ditty, but which chronicles the escape of Bonnie Prince Charlie (!) during the Battle of Culloden (!!) at the heart of the Jacobite uprising. Already, amazing season 2 synergy—and, years before we knew it, season 6, too—before the damn pilot has even started: Speed, bonnie boat, like a bird on the wing,Onward! the sailors cry;Carry the lad that’s born to be KingOver the sea to Skye.Loud the winds howl, loud the waves roar,Thunderclouds rend the air;Baffled, our foes stand by the shore,Follow they will not dare. And so forth. But, as Bear explained in his wonderfully detailed Behind the Music-esque blog posts, he wasn’t connecting with the original lyrics by Sir H. Boulton. It was Raya Yarbrough, the voice behind every iteration of the Outlander theme, who suggested swapping them out for Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1892 poem (same subject matter) “Sing Me a Song of a Lad That Is Gone”: Sing me a song of a lad that is gone,Say, could that lad be I?Merry of soul he sailed on a dayOver the sea to Skye.Mull was astern, Rum on the port,Eigg on the starboard bow;Glory of youth glowed in his soul;Where is that glory now? And on. Except that the tiresome fop Prince Charlie, the worst character from season 2 (I said it), doesn’t deserve to narrate the opening credits. And really, Outlander isn’t about any of the men—not him, not Frank, not Black Jack, not even dear Jamie. So then Bear conjured his inner fangirl and genderswapped RSL’s poem, so instead of Bonnie Prince Charlie talking, it’s Claire. And, let’s be honest, this stanza from the poem sounds more like her than any man anyway: Billow and breeze, islands and seas,Mountains of rain and sun,All that was good, all that was fair,All that was me is gone. And it all comes together like a brilliantly remixed fanfic, or an unexpectedly inventive dish on Chopped: UGH it’s SO GOOD. When the drums pick up after all that was me is gone and she takes off through the forest? /chefskiss In the words of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton, that could be enough. BUT THEN. It’s not enough to have achieved this remix excellence and just float on your laurels for what would turn out to be eight seasons. Then the brilliant minds behind these credits tapped into my favorite part of golden age of TV-era openings and changed it up for every season. Just as I still have a soft spot for appointment television, I earnestly miss TV show openings that change up the footage every season. It was always a treat to start up the new season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and gawk at all of the moments to look forward to (two Xanders?? a roving monster hand? and of course, the inevitable badass Buffy pose) over the next 22 episodes. Just imagine if every season of Game of Thrones had fleeting shots of Rob Stark getting stabbed, Joffrey purple and spluttering, Cersei’s dragonfire lighting shit up… To be fair, the Game of Thrones theme is its own work of art, and fits the show: Westeros is so massive, of course we need to see the entire world from the point of view of scholars and military strategists. Also, the twists in A Song of Ice and Fire are so big that to give even a hint of them would ruin many viewers’ experiences. Outlander had to show not so much where physically Claire would wind up, but where in time—to contrast the magic of the Dance of the Druids at the standing stones with the equal magic of turning a radio dial. That said, the series still very much leans in to its predilection for choosing a new country (sometimes a new continent) for each season. To wit, season 2 saw the Frasers going to France—so Bear and co. replaced the Scottish fiddle and drums with a baroque viola da gamba and even translated a verse into French: But France was short-lived, with Jamie and Claire returning to Scotland and the fated Battle of Culloden in the latter half of the season. The folks behind the credits could have just washed their hands of it and kept to the Frenchified titles. But do you think they were content with that? OF COURSE NOT. This is war, and the military Scottish snare drums, bagpipes, and shots of shirtless Highlanders versus musket-wielding British soldiers needed to reflect that: By the time I got to season 3, it was clear that changing the main titles every season has become an Outlander tradition. At first, the changes appear a bit subtler, but there: The radio is replaced by a flickering television, broken chains carry incredible significance, and while many of the Scottish elements remain, they’re more somber, more retrospective. Then, instead of adding or replacing something, Bear strips out the bagpipes—signifying the crushing defeat at Culloden. Seriously, every detail, every choice, is so delightfully deliberate: Thankfully, we do not linger on sadness for long. While the first half of season 2 was very classy and baroque, the latter half of season 3 is shaped by McCreary’s most out-there choice yet: “I cannot imagine any project other than Outlander that would allow me to set a soaring bagpipe melody over blistering congas!” Not unlike Hamilton’s Act 1 ending number “Non-Stop” (one of my favorites in the show), the next iteration of Outlander titles utilized congas and other Afro-Cuban influences to impressive dramatic effect. Pack your bags, kiddos, we’re going to the Caribbean: Then season 4’s credits seemed like the biggest departure for the series, as the Afro-Cuban percussion was replaced with the sounds of frontier life in America: the fiddle, perhaps (thanks to a sharp-eared commenter) some banjo and mandolin as well to evoke the kind of bluegrass tradition that came in part out of the music that Scottish immigrants brought to the New World. And, most intriguingly, more than one voice. There’s a chills-inducing moment where Brianna touches the stones on all that was me is gone, and then the chorus is suddenly a literal chorus of voices harmonizing Sing me a song of a lass that is gone / Say could that lass be I—stretching the “I” out so that what originally was one woman singing about her own disappearance becomes many women each telling the same tale with their own personal variations. Seriously, this show never fails to surprise me: But then season 5 said, Hold my 18th-century beer. In 2020, McCreary did away with all of the instrumentation, replacing it with an a cappella choral rendition. While season 4 layered in more voices, in what I took to be a representation of Brianna literally following her mother’s footsteps through the stones, here there are too many voices to count, all raised up in some mix of hymn and folk song. It represented a challenge for McCreary, who instead of drawing inspiration from a foreign land had to explore what other forms of American music existed beyond the bluegrass that dominated season 4. “I can tease that there’s going to be a continuation of the philosophy that music moves to the forefront of the journey,” he told Express at the time. “As our story continues in Colonial America, you will hear some near even more bold musical moments.” Bold here might mean polarizing; early fan response was less swayed by this rendition, nor was it my favorite. There is something lost in replacing one voice with many—Claire used to seem a singular time traveler, only for us to learn that she is but one of many who have stumbled their way back and forth across time. As time goes on, how she made it to Jamie becomes less special; instead, what becomes more important is how she stays alive. It’s a difficult adjustment to make. It would seem that this updated arrangement intentionally leaned into that dissonance; as Nerdeek Life’s Andee Galeno pointed out in her analysis, the soprano voices are singing an octave higher than the others. This sharpness (the best word I could come up with) in the repetition of Sing me a song of a lass that is gone and Over the sea to Skye could be meant to highlight those lines, just as the only images from the original credits that remain are the Dance of the Druids and Claire’s running feet. If the point is that the Frasers and MacKenzies are still finding their footing in America at least through this season and the next, then acknowledging and embracing that friction is part of the song itself. That footing, McCreary detailed in his season 5 retrospective, is about putting down roots: Rather than adjust the theme to match location, their goal was to explore how the song changes when Clan Fraser is growing in one place. As McCreary noted, “All these versions retained a huge instrumental crescendo at the return to the chorus, the final emotional swell that builds into the title card. This new version would be distinct not because of what was added, but what was removed. Just like the characters in the show, this Main Title Theme was not exploring a new frontier, but instead building something more sophisticated on the foundation we’d already laid down.” Yet they didn’t want to entirely lose the effect of Yarbrough’s voice, so they rerecorded the original theme song, a capella, to play after the harrowing season 5 finale. It’s a fitting choice to revisit the iconic start to the theme song, in stripped-down form, as Claire is returning to herself following the violence and violation of her rape and recommitting to her decision to stay in the past. McCreary also told Express that future iterations of the theme song may change in different fashions from before: “I think that will be my challenge moving forward, not completely reinventing the main title but finding way of tweaking it now that we’re planting a flag in American soil for the next couple of seasons.” For season 6—which premiered two years after the prior season, in a world forever transformed by the pandemic—that “tweak” appeared to be completely upending the original Outlander theme song’s premise: Sing me a song of a lad that is gone,Say, could that lad be I?Merry of soul he sailed on a dayOver the sea to Skye. YEP, THAT’S A MAN’S VOICE, after all this time with our beloved gender-swapped “Skye Boat Song.” Joining Yarbrough in this rendition is Griogair Labhruidh, who McCreary said has sung on cues in seasons 2 and 5, quoting Robert Louis Stevenson and bringing back memories of Bonnie Prince Charlie. Except that it seems clear that this is meant to represent Jamie: his voice and his story intertwining with Claire’s, both returning to the roots (!) of the theme song and also trying something new. It’s a big swing, initially jarring as it could be interpreted as undermining the idea of the song coming solely from Claire’s perspective. However, every transformation of the theme has been deliberate, and season 5 did introduce other voices to indicate the context of other time travelers in which she exists. At this point, the series hinges less on Claire deciding whether to go back and forth through the stones than on her committing to staying with Jamie, so it does make sense that the song would change to reflect that renewed partnership and communication between them. For that reason I was willing to trust the reversal and the reasoning behind it. Plus, Labhruidh turns in a lovely Gaelic translation of the theme: And after all that, Outlander delivered twofold on the song change, with a cheeky flashback that taps into the show’s mythology and the multilayered theme: The episode “Give Me Liberty” opens with the return of Bonnie Prince Charlie (Andrew Gower), acting out the original “Skye Boat Song” narrative, as he is smuggled out of Scotland after living in hiding for years. It’s a full-circle moment for the series, without undermining how the song has evolved through the seasons. And how do they do that? Why, by having Bonnie Prince Charlie embark on his voyage in a bonnet and corset—so that to all eyes watching, the lad remains a lass, sailing over the sea to Skye. Mark me, that’s how you keep things clever. For season 7, there was no need to top that excellent interpretation of their own song, so instead McCreary brought in a new powerhouse voice: Grammy award-winning Sinéad O’Connor presented her haunting take on “The Skye Boat Song,” with McCreary thanking the “legendary” singer for bringing her “voice and spirit to my music.” That the singer died a month after the credits were released amplifies the effect she had on the familiar song. While it was a polarizing adjustment from Yarbrough’s comforting renditions, this creative choice brought to mind Yellowjackets having Alanis Morissette perform a cover of their equally excellent theme song, “No Return,” as a way to amp up the nostalgia factor in season 2. It was a new voice, but someone so familiar that it helped bridge the gap. This version has more grit to it, more pain, reflecting Claire’s uncertain fate in jail at the start of the season. The visuals are also more difficult to parse, with wider shots where it’s harder to tell who’s who on the battlefield or on the open water; or where it’s clear that it’s Claire and Jamie (as in the preview photo below), yet it’s blurrier, like a half-remembered moment. What is clear is multiple shots of gems tucked into pockets and medals folded into palms—hinting at potential time travel or a fall at the battlefield, a symbol of wealth or honor standing in for the absence of someone beloved. It’s also very telling that the (again, blurry) shot on that key line Say, could that lass be I? looks to be Jamie, studying his own reflection in the water. With the usual caveat that I haven’t read the books, I will always wonder if Jamie could ever step through the stones on his own. Or, failing that, to Skye, for a long-awaited homecoming for the Frasers The setting may have changed, but the song stays the same: McCreary told inquiring fans that they had decided to keep O’Connor’s rendition through the second half of this season, to honor her memory. No beans to spill on this topic. We have kept Sinéad O'Connor’s incredible vocal performance, that tragically became her last, for the second half of the season. We are honored to have her involved with the show https://t.co/gPlk6xRxWx— Bear McCreary (@bearmccreary) October 1, 2024 Perhaps that’s why, when releasing this season’s new credits, Starz encouraged viewers to look closely for Easter eggs via the new clips and title cards for each actor. This season is less about listening for a difference and instead letting the same music take on new layers of meaning. Without getting too spoilery here, we’ll say that there’s plenty to be curious about this season. Could a set of clasped hands belong to a pair of new characters from the book Written in My Heart’s Own Blood? Whose hands are bloody, and who are they trying to save? Does Claire opening a set of shutters have anything to do with an episode intriguingly titled “Carnal Knowledge”? The Sassenach Files podcast has an excellent breakdown with plenty of theories, but be warned that it gives away several book-centric plot twists; ditto this Reddit thread. What we can appreciate here is how the new credits juxtapose the Frasers’ lives in the 1780s with the MacKenzies’ existence in the 1980s, from sunlight in the past giving way to Edison bulbs in the present, to Brianna’s car looking like one of the wooden toys that Roger carved for the kids back on Fraser’s Ridge. And then there’s the enduring visual of the ship, which has shown up in nearly every rendition. The Sassenach Files makes a similar observation about the title card for Caitríona Balfe, featuring the season 1 shot of Claire’s feet; our Sassenach seems to constantly be running, whether fleeing a threat or chasing hope. The ship’s place in the credits may shift, but it represents a similar constant movement between lands and between times. And finally, a detail that I didn’t catch until now: The final shot of the standing stones, usually static, is instead more dynamic as it pans over the place where it all began. And off to the side, an uprooted tree. This was in the season 7 part 1 credits, which led to an amusing exchange on Reddit; one fan wondered how it connected to the books and another responded that it didn’t, that instead it reflected real life. A storm felled that tree at Craigh na Dun, forever altering the iconic look of the place. To include it in the Outlander credits feels like a very fitting tribute, acknowledging how even for the relatively short time that the series has been connected to Craigh na Dun, it too has changed.[end-mark] Originally published in August 2018, and updated in November 2024. The post The Penultimate <i>Outlander</i> Theme Song Invites You to Look and Listen appeared first on Reactor.

News Avatar: The Last Airbender Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender Casts Key Roles for Season 2 We know who will play Long Fen and Joo Dee… By Vanessa Armstrong | Published on November 12, 2024 Credit: Netflix Comment 0 Share New Share Credit: Netflix Eight actors have joined the second season of Netflix’s live-action rendition of Avatar: The Last Airbender. They join the original cast, as well as Miya Cech, who we already knew was taking on the role of Toph. According to Variety, the new cast members include Chin Han (Mortal Kombat, Skyscraper), who will play Long Fen, the leader of the Ba Sing Se secret police. Hoa Xuande (The Sympathizer, Top of the Lake: China Girl) is taking on the role of Professor Zei, head of the anthropology department at Ba Sing Se University, with Justin Chien (The Brothers Sun, The Great Leap) playing King Kuei of the Earth Kingdom. Other additions include Amanda Zhou (Spinning Out, The Handmaid’s Tale) as Joo Dee, a public servant and guide for visitors to Ba Sing Se, Crystal Yu (Doctor Who, Good Omens) as Lady Beifong, Toph’s mother, Kelemete Misipeka (Sons of Thunder, Ray Donovan) as the earthbending wrestler The Boulder, and Lourdes Faberes (The Sandman, Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre) as the Earth Army leader, General Sung. Rekha Sharma (Yellowjackets, Battlestar Galactica) is playing a character named Amita, who was not in the original animated series. The second season of the show is already in production with new showrunners on board. We don’t have any news yet, however, on when season two (or the already greenlit season three, for that matter) will make its way to Netflix.[end-mark] The post Netflix’s <i>Avatar: The Last Airbender</i> Casts Key Roles for Season 2 appeared first on Reactor.

Although he wasn't a Founding Father, Abraham Lincoln is arguably one of the country's most admired historical figures. After working as a statesman and a lawyer, he became the 16th president of the United States during one of the darkest times in American history, the Civil War. Through his work and dedication to saving the country, he managed to preserve the Union, establish the modern United... Source

Many assumed Vice President Kamala Harris, as a woman, would have secured the vote among young women in the 2024 presidential election. However, according to an exit poll from The Associated Press, that was not the case. It turns out at least 40% of Gen Z women who are under the age of 30 chose to vote for Donald Trump in what experts have described as a “historic comeback” for the former president. It seemed Harris believed the best way to reach young women was to make abortion the epicenter of her campaign. In the 100-plus days of her candidacy, she touted the claim that a Trump victory would mean all so-called “reproductive freedoms” and “rights” would be stripped away. And while at least 13% of registered female voters listed abortion as their top issue, there were a large number of women who didn’t share this concern. According to The Daily Mail, 40% of this demographic said their No. 1 issue was the economy. Eleven percent named immigration as their biggest worry. Outside of abortion, Harris also attempted to cater to young women by raking in celebrity endorsements. Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, and other notable figures popular among this group announced their support for the Democratic presidential nominee. Additionally, Harris appeared to have immense support on the prominent social media platform TikTok, where she was commonly referred to by the nickname “Mamala.” Harris also chose to sit down for an interview with Alex Cooper, the host of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast—a show that largely emphasizes sex-related material. But despite doing what Harris felt would resonate best with young women, the results reveal that her efforts were, in many ways, unsuccessful. In fact, Breitbart noted that President Joe Biden ranked better with young female voters than Harris did during his 2020 campaign. Outlets have brought attention to the fact that Harris’ six- to eight-point lead among women in the 2024 election paled in comparison to Biden’s 25-point lead. And even in the 2016 election, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton still secured a 19-point lead. Several experts have taken a stab at explaining the reasons why more young women voted for Trump over Harris than expected. “There’s an assumption made about Gen Z,” psychotherapist and author Jonathan Alpert told The Daily Mail. “[M]any so-called political experts think that just because someone is in their teens to late 20s and female that means they automatically would vote for Harris.” However, he added, “At the end of the day, Gen Z cared about many things, but safety and prosperity seemed to trump other things that the Harris campaign gave way too much power to.” Cornell University professor Sabrina Karim believes “there were high expectations going into the election about how women would vote.” “[W]omen are not a monolithic group,” she said. “[T]heir concerns are multifaceted.” But according to the Family Research Council’s Mary Szoch, Harris significantly missed the mark when she decided to make abortion her main connection to women. “Kamala Harris centered her entire campaign around abortion,” she told The Washington Stand. “She told Americans that without the ‘right’ to kill their child through nine months, no one could achieve the American dream.” It was her primary topic, Szoch observed, which is why it stands out that “President Trump had a very different message.” Contrary to what Harris had to say, “He challenged Americans to recognize that we live in the greatest country on earth—and that we need to protect and defend the American dream.” Szoch continued, “He asked people if they are living better today than they were four years ago, when he was president, and the overwhelming response was ‘No.’ Americans want more than a president who believes that the most important policies include ways to exploit children who are born and kill children who are unborn.” Rather, “Americans—including women—want a president who believes the future for all Americans, including unborn ones, is bright provided they have others willing to protect and defend them.” According to Szoch, this is at the heart of why the exit poll revealed more women than expected turned for Trump this election cycle. However, she addressed the fact that there still are numerous Americans who did vote for Harris because of her stance on abortion. “To women who voted for Harris because of her promise to enshrine abortion until birth into law, I would say, you cannot imagine how much love you are capable of and how love transforms your life.” “Before my first son was born, I was terrified,” she admitted. “Parenting sounded so hard, like it involved completely dying to self and living for another.” But, as Szoch went on to say, “I was right. [P]arenting is hard, and it does involve putting another’s needs before your own, but I could have never realized [at the time] how much I would love every minute of it.” Szoch concluded, “To men and women who think abortion is the only option for your child, let God surprise you by transforming your heart and your life through the love of your baby.” Originally published by The Washington Stand The post Harris Gambled and Lost in Making Abortion Her Campaign’s Top Issue, Poll Finds appeared first on The Daily Signal.

PITTSBURGH—Walking out of the Allegheny County Republican election night event at a local luxury hotel, the young men waiting to valet my car got into a discussion with me about the just-announced election results. All four men were in their 30s. Two were white, one was black, and the other Hispanic. As I traditionally do, I asked them how they voted, and they all answered with President-elect Donald Trump. The conservative populist coalition was always right in front of reporters and experts in working-class neighborhoods, suburbs, and cities. If only they had not treated those voters as either racists, fascists, misogynists, garbage, stupid, or outliers to their narrative of what Americans should look like. These voters were directly observable. I saw them, heard them, and reported that welders, cosmetologists, barbers, and mechanics, as well as doctors, lawyers, engineers, and architects of all shapes, sizes, and colors, would be voting for their communities to thrive and for prosperity, safety, and more money in their pocketbooks. These voters were much more concerned that they would be able not to go into debt if their “check engine” lights went on in their cars than if there was access to abortion. They were more concerned that the school districts in their communities had enough funding, weren’t overcrowded, and were serving the future’s potential than if fossil fuels were causing the climate to burn. They were more concerned about the cost of butter than the insane notion that Trump is a fascist. They grew weary of the national news’ doomsaying or inaccurate reporting. Their pro-Trump votes should provide a reckoning to the industry that lost the trust of a large majority of voters. In a series of really bad “takes” coming from the national news, never mind the inaccurate reporting for a second, one of my favorites came toward the final days of the race when reporters, goaded in private messages from the Democrats, exulted that Trump rallygoers were leaving early or sleeping, or that rally events were half empty. The Associated Press reported the night before the election here at the same event I was attending with a headline that read, “Empty seats become a more common sight at Trump’s final rallies,” suggesting his support was waning with the sentence, “The occasional scenes of empty seats offered a notable contrast to Democratic nominee Kamala Harris’ biggest events.” That silly focus and suggestion that Trump was losing is exactly why, for the entire cycle, the press missed what mattered to voters in the rush to get a click over a story that was clearly not true. The events were full of enthusiasm. A person leaving early did not mean the person wasn’t voting for Trump. And if someone fell asleep waiting, which is another favorite story, it simply meant the person was tired. Trump’s win was evident in every state he won where I drove, talked to voters, and reported—from here in my home state of Pennsylvania to North Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Arizona. It was also evident in the places that did not end up mattering in the states I covered that he did not win, such as Virginia, New York, and New Jersey. Even there, Trump performed considerably better than reporters and experts believed he could or should. What reporters missed because of their dislike of center-right belief systems was that it was not Trump who was the fluke in politics in 2016. It was President Joe Biden who was the fluke in 2020, thanks in large part to COVID-19. They thought Biden was a rejection of the center-right trajectory of the country, but the results of 2024 show the opposite. Voters weren’t turned off by Trump’s brash approach. They wanted the bull to break up the china shop. Black, white, Asian, and Hispanic voters told me that, and AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 120,000 voters nationwide, confirmed it in a postelection analysis that showed well over half of voters said they wanted to see substantial change. Trump and Republican candidates were picked over Democrats because of the impact the economy was having on voters’ bottom line and the abysmal way Biden and Harris handled the enforcement of immigration laws or, for that matter, almost any kind of law. It was ridiculous to voters to see officials acting as if it were OK not to prosecute someone for breaking into neighborhood businesses or homes. Or to assault someone and be let out, often the same day, with cashless bail. Because 2016 was dismissed as a fluke, there was little reckoning within my profession in the national media or in the other powerful cultural curators in academia, corporations, institutions, Hollywood, and government to stop doing the things they always do. All insulated in counties of power and wealth, they spent four years bashing Republicans when Trump held the White House and four more years mocking Republicans and their voters all the way up until Election Day this year. That is why they never saw it. They thought this coalition had shrunk and that they had had the power to do that through the institutions they run. They didn’t. Voters didn’t just vote for Trump. They voted against the elitist institutions. After two full days, postelection, of watching left-leaning cable news and the once-vaunted national news reports, it is clear they still don’t understand not only what just happened but also what is continuing to happen. COPYRIGHT 2024 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 Cultural Curators Face Reckoning for Mocking Middle America appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Shocked by Donald Trump’s sweeping victory, Democrats are playing the blame game, and Joe Biden is the scapegoat. Democrats who knew Biden was well past his prime in 2020, and who concealed his frailty all the way until June, now say he was “selfish” to run for reelection. Yet Biden was the only Democrat capable of giving Trump a real fight, as Kamala Harris’ dismal performance proved. In fact, Democrats sealed their fate four years ago by picking a ticket that might work for 2020 but had no hope the next time, unless Republicans nominated someone without Trump’s popular touch and resilience. Make no mistake: Any Republican other than Trump would also have been branded a “fascist” and woman-hater, but unlike a typical politician, Trump never tried to soften his image to please his enemies. Biden could only compete with Trump because he reminded voters of the days before Democrats went woke. They wanted to believe they could still vote for the party of Franklin Roosevelt or John F. Kennedy, a patriotic party with a focus on blue-collar workers, not just the financial interests and identity-politics obsessions of the college-educated elite. Biden challenged Trump for Trump’s own voters, even if in truth Biden wasn’t so different from the politically correct yuppies who’ve run the Democratic Party since the 1990s. Biden was too infirm to fight a second election, yet Democrats had no one else—and no one on their horizon today looks ready to compete with the populist Trump-Vance version of the GOP. This leadership crisis began with Barack Obama. What’s true for kings is true for presidents as well: Success depends on producing an heir. But Obama left his party without anyone who could do what he did—maybe because what he did was less impressive than his admirers assumed. After all, Obama chose an already senior Biden as his vice president because Obama was inexperienced and unsure he could count on older Democrats’ support. Biden was a crutch in 2008—and still was in 2020. Once Democrats didn’t have anyone with Obama’s charisma to deflect concerns about the drift of the party, what did they have? They had Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris, who thought that being female—and, in Harris’ case, black and Indian—would earn them points regardless of their bankrupt policies. By contrast, Trump was an outsider, and that’s what voters longed for: someone to break with the weak border policies, foreign-policy incompetence and “Americans Last” globalist economics of Washington’s leadership class. Clinton and Harris—and other Democratic hopefuls from Pete Buttigieg to Gavin Newsom—only offered more of the same, plus identity politics and transgenderism for children. The closest things Democrats had to an alternative were the illusion of Biden the Ordinary Joe and the throwback socialism of Bernie Sanders. What do Democrats have now? There’s Newsom, under whom the Golden State is bleeding population—the climate’s no less alluring, but single-party Democratic rule has made California an increasingly hostile environment for middle- and working-class families. Then there’s Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who in the midst of Harris’ presidential campaign stopped to pose for a photo mocking the sacrament of Holy Communion, with the governor placing a Dorito on a kneeling social media influencer’s tongue. Josh Shapiro, the Pennsylvania governor Harris passed over when she chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate, is less offensive to ordinary Americans’ sensibilities. Yet the same things that kept Shapiro off Harris’ ticket will haunt him if he seeks the presidential nomination: Shapiro’s youthful involvement with the Israel Defense Forces is a deal-breaker for the anti-Israel wing of the party, and Shapiro is deeply disliked by Sen. John Fetterman and other powerful Democrats in his home state, who hint the governor has personal scandals that have yet to be fully exposed. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis isn’t as beholden to wokeism and identity politics as other leading Dems, though he would be tempted in a presidential run to boast of being the first openly homosexual candidate with a plausible shot at the White House. Polis is no economic populist, however, and while his libertarian streak might help with some general-election voters, even his modest support for school choice is likely to be fatal in Democratic primaries. The only man who can save the Democrats is the one they hate most: Donald Trump. They have to learn from his success, as Ronald Reagan’s success taught reluctant Democrats to appreciate free markets. Now they have to learn to appreciate secure borders and a perspective on economics and foreign policy that puts America and Americans first. If Democrats do that, they’ll naturally become less woke—and more electable. COPYRIGHT 2024 CREATORS.COM The post Democrats Are at a Dead End, Unless They Learn From Trump appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Federal officials are facing increased scrutiny after a whistleblower alleged that disaster-relief efforts were intentionally denied to supporters of now-President-elect Donald Trump. According to a report from The Daily Wire, Federal Emergency Management Agency supervisor Marn’i Washington told employees under her authority to “avoid homes advertising Trump” while administering disaster relief in Lake Placid, Florida, following the devastating 2024 hurricane season. At least 20 houses with Trump signs or Trump flags displayed were skipped over by FEMA with employees designating the houses with variations of “Trump sign, no entry per leadership.” “When we got there, we were told to discriminate against people. It’s almost unbelievable to think that somebody in the federal government would think that’s OK,” one FEMA employee related. “I volunteered to help disaster victims, not discriminate against them. It didn’t matter if people were black, white, Hispanic, for Trump, for [Vice President Kamala] Harris. Everyone deserves the same amount of help.” Another employee filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security regarding the directive, writing, “If they had damage or lost power for over [36] hours, it was my duty to inform them of benefits to which they are entitled through FEMA.” A FEMA spokesperson later said that agency officials were “deeply disturbed” and “horrified” by the directive and have “taken extreme actions to correct this situation,” including firing Washington from her role. FEMA Administrator Deanna Criswell announced Saturday, “This is a clear violation of FEMA’s core values and principles to help people regardless of their political affiliation. This was reprehensible.” She continued, “I want to be clear to all of my employees and the American people, this type of behavior and action will not be tolerated at FEMA, and we will hold people accountable if they violate these standards of conduct.” Criswell added that the case had been referred to a special counsel for investigation. Numerous Republicans have also launched or called for their own investigations. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, announced on social media, “At my direction, the [Florida] Division of Emergency Management is launching an investigation into the federal government’s targeted discrimination of Floridians who support Donald Trump.” He added: “The blatant weaponization of government by partisan activists in the federal bureaucracy is yet another reason why the Biden-Harris administration is in its final days. … New leadership is on the way in D.C., and I’m optimistic that these partisan bureaucrats will be fired.” DeSantis also warned incumbent President Joe Biden and FEMA leadership to preserve all records related to the incident. “Given the significant impact these decisions have on individuals and communities—many of whom are already vulnerable in the wake of a disaster—it is imperative that the full scope of any such misconduct be investigated and addressed,” a DeSantis representative told the White House and FEMA. “This is outrageous and should be investigated and punished to every extent of the law,” said Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla. The congresswoman also sent a letter to Criswell, saying, “It is completely unacceptable that a FEMA official was allowed to exploit Hurricane Milton to further their political beliefs at a time when Americans were struggling. … The opportunity to apply for federal aid through FEMA should never be used to discriminate against an individual.” She asked Criswell when FEMA was made aware of the controversial directive, whether the houses skipped have since been offered aid, what measures the agency has in place to ensure that directives are properly authorized, and how long FEMA’s own investigation will take. Criswell was given until Nov. 25 to respond in full. In an interview, Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., said of the FEMA directive, “Anybody involved with that should be fired immediately—not asked to resign, not brought in front of a congressional hearing, they should be fired immediately.” He added, “When it comes to FEMA, my recommendation for the Trump transition team is that FEMA becomes a stand-alone agency that directly reports to the White House. You have to get it out of Homeland Security. That agency is a massive labyrinth with a bunch of different departments.” Donalds continued, “FEMA should be a direct-report agency to the White House, because when disaster recovery needs to take place, we need quick answers out of FEMA, not bureaucratic ones that go through the labyrinth of federal departments.” Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., commented, “This is unconscionable discrimination, and Congress MUST INVESTIGATE!” Rep. Michael Cloud, R-Texas, observed, “This is the bureaucratic state weaponized against [American] citizens.” He warned, “Accountability is coming.” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said that the episode is further evidence that the government has been “weaponized against roughly half of all Americans.” Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., wrote in a letter to Criswell and DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, “It is simply outrageous that any FEMA personnel, let alone a supervisor, would condition aid to victims based on their political views.” She added, “I appreciate that Administrator Criswell has condemned these actions and fired the supervisor, but the American people need answers regarding how this happened and if anyone else was complicit, as well as assurance it will not happen again.” Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., also issued a letter, calling on the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general to launch a full investigation. He classified the FEMA supervisor’s directive as “totally illegal.” He added, “Everyone involved needs to be identified, fired—and if necessary, prosecuted.” The House Committee on Homeland Security declared that it will be investigating the matter, and the House Oversight Committee has summoned Criswell to testify before Congress. “This hearing will address FEMA’s response to recent major natural disasters, including Hurricanes Helene and Milton, and permit members to investigate recent reports that a FEMA official instructed relief workers to bypass hurricane-impacted homes displaying campaign signs for President Trump,” wrote Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky. He continued, “In the wake of the recent disasters that impacted Americans of all political persuasions, it is critical that FEMA adheres to its disaster-relief mission.” FEMA had been the subject of scrutiny and criticism earlier this year when it was alleged that the agency had spent more funds on housing and supporting illegal immigrants than on American citizens impacted by hurricanes. The agency was also accused of confiscating and diverting donations given to hurricane victims, funneling relief supplies and money to impacted urban areas and even to migrant shelters while neglecting rural and remote locations. Originally published by the Washington Stand The post Republicans Probing FEMA for Denying Hurricane Relief to Trump Backers appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Officials in Iran are considering negotiating and reconciling with incoming President Donald Trump instead of acting adversarially as in the past, The New York Times reports. Iran long has held disdain for Trump, having conducted cyberwarfare operations against his presidential campaign and working through various individuals to try to assassinate the former president in recent years. Now that Trump has locked in a second term, some Iranian officials are questioning whether the best way forward now is to deal with Trump diplomatically, according to five officials who spoke to the Times. That sentiment is being shared in Iranian media and among former officials. “Do not lose this historic opportunity for change in Iran-U.S. relations,” Hamid Aboutalebi, former political adviser to Iran’s government and established politician, wrote in an op-ed urging Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to congratulate Trump on his presidential win, the Times reported. To search for diplomatic solutions with Trump would represent a major shift in Tehran’s thinking. Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Obama administration’s nuclear deal with Iran in 2018, reimposed strict sanctions, and assassinated its top general, Qasem Soleimani, in 2020. In response, Iran has been targeting Trump and openly calling for violence against him. As recently as Friday, U.S. officials said that three individuals had been charged with attempting to assassinate Trump, one of many such ploys that have been orchestrated by or linked to Iran. Trump’s election to a second term represents a new opportunity to mend U.S.-Iran relations, the five Iranian officials told the Times. The officials said that Trump is known for his deal-making and negotiating abilities, which could be beneficial for Iran going forward. Trump has also become the undisputed figurehead of the Republican Party, meaning that any deals made could have longer-term staying power. The president-elect has also vowed to end the ongoing conflicts between Israel and terror networks in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, which Iran approves of, the officials told the Times. Masoud Pezeshkian, Iran’s new president, is described as more moderate than his hardliner predecessor. He should “avoid past mistakes and assume a pragmatic and multidimensional policy,” reads a story from major Iranian news outlet Shargh, according to the Times. Pezeshkian’s ability to deal with Trump will be limited by his power, even if he wants to work with the incoming U.S. president. In Iran, the supreme leader—Ali Khamenei—has ultimate authority over the country’s decisions, and Pezeshkian would have to run any decisions by Khamenei before they were made final. Khamenei had come out firmly against Trump and banned officials from negotiating with Trump’s team during his first term. Iran’s future relationship with Trump will also depend on how Trump chooses to deal with Tehran. Trump has said that he wishes no ill for the country, but that the U.S. would not allow the regime to build a nuclear weapon. On a more recent occasion, Trump suggested that Israel go after Iran and destroy its nuclear facilities. “Hit the nuclear first and worry about the rest later,” Trump said during a campaign event in October. But Trump “has no interest in regime change,” while also understanding that Iran is “the chief driver of instability in the Middle East,” according to Brian Hook, acformer Trump policy adviser on Iran who now serves on the president-elect’s transition team. Some Iranian officials’ previously held belief that a Democratic president would be more friendly than a Republican has vanished, according to the Times. And given that U.S. sanctions are already suffocating Iran’s economy, Tehran is running out of options—and dealing with Trump might be the best way forward. “We do not want more sanctions and more instability. But at the same time, a comprehensive deal with Trump has to give us some wiggle room to save face domestically and justify it,” political analyst Rahman Ghahremanpour told the Times. “That will be the big challenge.” Originally published by the Daily Caller News Foundation The post After Failed Assassination Attempts, Iran Reportedly Considers New Approach to Trump: Diplomacy appeared first on The Daily Signal.

As the race to become the new Republican Senate leader goes down to the wire, Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., is gaining momentum. A slew of endorsements came in for Scott over Veterans Day weekend as the Senate GOP conference prepared to choose a new leader for the first time in 18 years. Scott is pitted against Sens. John Thune, R-S.D., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, to replace Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. Although the internal conference election is set to be conducted Wednesday by secret ballot, some of Scott’s Senate colleagues have made their support public. In a press release Saturday, Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., endorsed Scott for leader. “Any leader of this new majority must be able to work hand-in-hand with President [Donald] Trump to advance his America First agenda. The Senate must lean into advancing this agenda,” Hagerty’s statement read in part. “That’s why I want to see a Senate majority leader who can join me in embracing the Trump agenda, which will unify Senate Republicans. On Wednesday, I will be voting for Rick Scott.” That evening, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., also endorsed Scott’s leadership bid. “I will be supporting Rick Scott for Senate majority leader,” Paul wrote on X. “The status quo of $2 trillion annual deficits is unsustainable.”  Scott’s Florida colleague, Sen. Marco Rubio, rumored to be Trump’s pick for secretary of state, issued his endorsement Sunday. “I will be voting for my Florida colleague @ScottforFlorida to be our next Senate GOP leader,” Rubio posted on X.  Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., also issued an endorsement of Scott on Monday, as reported by Breitbart News. “I’m looking for a new direction,” Tuberville told Breitbart News in an interview. “John Thune has been in leadership. John Cornyn has been in leadership. Rick Scott is a businessman by trade. He was governor of Florida, and he knows President Trump very well, has been with him the whole way.” Since then, Tuberville has pushed Scott’s candidacy in the media. Last week, the American people handed Washington a mandate: they want change.I didn't come to D.C. to vote for myself — I represent the great people of Alabama. And Alabama supports President Trump’s America First agenda all the way. That is why I support @SenRickScott to be… pic.twitter.com/vpMrZHVgEn— Coach Tommy Tuberville (@SenTuberville) November 12, 2024 Cornyn and Thune racked up their own endorsements from Senate colleagues to boast about. Thune recently earned the support of Sens. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., and John Hoeven, R-N.D. “I told both Rick Scott and John Cornyn today that I’ll be casting my first vote for John Thune,” Cramer told Fox News Digital. “Thune has never lied to me. I can’t say that of everybody.” Cornyn, meanwhile, has earned the support of Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. “I’m backing John Cornyn for majority leader. In the last two years, nobody has done more to win back the majority than he has,” Hawley’s public statement reads. “He tirelessly raised millions of dollars for competitive Senate races including mine.” Cornyn, a talented fundraiser, brought in $33 million for Republican Senate candidates in 2024 alone. Over the course of his Senate career, Cornyn has brought in over $400 million.  Yet, outside figures also have gotten involved in the Senate leadership fight. Although Trump has yet to endorse, many close allies of the president-elect have made their opinions known on social media. “Rick Scott for Senate majority leader!” Elon Musk posted on X, the social media platform owned by the billionaire entrepreneur. “I said it in May & stand by it today: @ScottforFlorida for Senate Majority Leader,” entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy proclaimed in a post quoting his previous endorsement of Scott.  I said it in May & stand by it today: @ScottforFlorida for Senate Majority Leader. https://t.co/g1lachKk1A— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) November 10, 2024 Right-of-center media figures also have boosted Scott’s candidacy. Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson, current and past Fox News hosts, piled on in support of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” agenda. “What the hell is going on in the U.S. Senate?” Carlson asked in a lengthy post on X. “Hours after Donald Trump wins the most conclusive mandate in 40 years, Mitch McConnell engineers a coup against his agenda by calling early leadership elections in the Senate. Two of the three candidates hate Trump and what he ran on. One of them, John Cornyn, is an angry liberal whose politics are indistinguishable from Liz Cheney’s. The election is Wednesday, it’s by secret ballot, and it will determine whether or not the new administration succeeds. Rick Scott of Florida is the only candidate who agrees with Donald Trump. Call your senator and demand a public endorsement of Rick Scott. Don’t let McConnell get away with it again.” Tuberville said he agrees with Carlson’s assessment of Cornyn and Thune’s MAGA bonafides. “The other two were kind of a little sketchy on President Trump early, finally decided to get on,” Tuberville told Breitbart, referring to Thune and Cornyn. “But at the end of the day, we’re going to have a majority in the Senate and be able to control the floor of the Senate for the next two years, and I want to make sure that we don’t do anything to take away from Donald Trump’s first two years because it’s going to be two of the most important years of our lifetime to get all these crazies out of the way [and] get our country back on track.” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, was scheduled to lead a private candidate forum Tuesday night for the GOP conference. There, Republican senators would hear each candidate’s leadership vision and how he plans to pass the Trump-Vance agenda.  Scott still needs to “earn it,” Tuberville added in his remarks to Breitbart. “The next two days, there’ll be a lot of discussion,” the Alabama Republican said. “They’ll be talking to the members, but the vote will be Wednesday and we’ll see what happens.” The post Key Endorsements for Rick Scott Shake Up Senate Leadership Race appeared first on The Daily Signal.