This is incredible

'We are pleased'

'We have to produce massive electricity'

'Government pressure was wrong'

'That executive decree is now frozen'

Poor Cleveland ... these guys can never catch a break

'This whole idea of negligence'

New Trump Ad Does Exactly What It Should and Brutally

In his 2023 book “End Times,” Peter Turchin argued that America’s social pyramid has become top-heavy, with too many elites and “elite aspirants” competing for too few positions in the upper reaches of business and politics. As the equilibrium between elites and the majority leans too far in favor of elites, serious political instability becomes inevitable. Elite aspirants always outnumber elites, but the number of aspirants in America today is at an all-time high. With fewer opportunities and diminishing returns, the group has become frustrated and desperate.Turchin calls this “elite overproduction,” and it’s largely responsible for our political turmoil today. Unless something changes, the three groups — elites, elite aspirants, and the majority — will be locked in a death spiral and headed for a violent political rupture.Witnessing the uglier side of the best and brightest helped you finally see all the lies and injustices you’d bought in to as you painfully climbed that greasy pole.By every definition of the term, I am an elite aspirant. And if you’re reading this, odds are that you are too. So I would like to address my fellow elite aspirants, particularly those of you who don’t know how to make sense of this treacherous political landscape.Maybe you’re like me, a sharp kid from the lower middle class who left a deep-red area for a fancy education and a good job, and now you’re doing better than the folks back home. Maybe you’re like me and the shock of going somewhere from nowhere had you reeling, and you had to learn the hard way that the humble values you grew up with, even your patriotism, aren’t respected elsewhere.Maybe you felt like an alien imposter, and you slowly adopted the new ways of talking and thinking, always hiding your light under a bushel. Or worse, maybe you felt ashamed of where you came from and began looking down on the folks back home. Maybe you were scared that if you truly “brought your whole self to work,” you’d strain relationships, miss opportunities, and risk sliding down that greasy pole, right back to where you came from.Seeing the conflict for what it isThen Trump came along. It didn’t matter whether you supported him or not, but maybe, like me, you were surprised to find that almost everyone around you suddenly despised him with a relentless intensity that you couldn’t understand. Maybe the histrionics, resentment, and denunciations made you uncomfortable, especially when you saw how much the folks back home loved and admired him.And maybe after a while you became a little resentful yourself, watching otherwise friendly and intelligent people hurl invective at Trump’s supporters, mocking them for their backwardness and stupidity while questioning their humanity and comparing them to terrorists and fifth columnists.Maybe it finally started to get under your skin, too, as you realized they weren’t just talking about strangers — they were talking about your grandmother and the folks back home. Maybe you began to wonder what these otherwise friendly and intelligent people really thought about you. If you’re like me, witnessing the uglier side of the best and brightest helped you finally see all the lies and injustices you’d bought in to as you painfully climbed that greasy pole.If you’re like me, maybe you realized that you’d adopted the hubris of a hostile caste and that by doing so, you had betrayed your own values and the people who love you most. Maybe you finally started listening again, and beyond the bombast and noise, you heard truth ringing, just as it did when you were young.Maybe you're like me and it all came crashing down, and you noticed that the red-hot hatred and suffocating fear provided a convenient smoke screen for a failed elite whose sins were far greater than Trump's. And maybe through all the fire-and-brimstone sermons, you finally saw the naked face of tyranny: a lawless regime — greedy, bloodthirsty, and, above all, undemocratic.Maybe you saw the regime lie, break every rule, and violate every norm to destroy Trump, making a mockery of the Constitution and the basic principles of democratic government. Maybe you saw all the leaks, lawfare, censorship, surveillance, and “election fortification” as little more than good old-fashioned corruption, just with better packaging. Maybe you came to realize that the campaign against Trump was also an assault on the folks back home and their right to self-government.Maybe you’re like me and now see this as a contest of liberty against tyranny, freedom against slavery, and government by, with, and for the people against oligarchy. Maybe you see that it’s not really about Trump, JD Vance, or Robert F. Kennedy Jr., but about the future of America as a republic, rather than a permanent bureaucracy where a special caste controls our most fundamental rights and privileges.The coming defectionsIf you’re an elite aspirant, like me, you might be hesitant to wage war against the same culture, institutions, and governing philosophy that you’ve pledged fealty to. Maybe you’re afraid of ostracizing yourself, sacrificing your career, and sliding down that greasy pole. Maybe you feel there aren’t adequate incentives.I’m not here to tell you what’s best for your career and personal life, but we’re at an inflection point. Whoever wins this contest will decide whether America can endure as a republic with a right to self-government or whether a permanent bureaucratic tyranny will replace it.You might think it won’t affect you, but I promise it will — and if not you, then your children and the good folks back home. Hard work, creativity, and merit are how outsiders like us succeed; without them, you don’t climb the greasy pole. But the coming tyranny is deeply hostile to these values. It demands obedience above all, and even then, obedience will only take you as far as the regime permits. If you’re a spiritual bureaucrat, this may appeal to you, but if you’re like me — young, hungry, innovative, and willing to live and die for something greater — you will suffer tremendously under this new system.This regime, which feels so threatened by Trump, offers you quotas, castes, censors, and surveillance. It promises to punish and reward according to its own priorities, not yours. Most of all, it guarantees that your most basic freedoms will be outsourced to some anointed caste or impersonal process, regardless of your hard work, creativity, or merit.If you’re already struggling under the weight of a burdensome status quo, remember that it doesn’t have to be this way. The values you grew up with still matter, and they will serve you well once this boot is off your neck. But I also hope you understand the stakes and the consequences of inaction. You must defect.We’ve already seen several key elite defections — Elon Musk, JD Vance, RFK Jr., and many more. These defections will only accelerate as we move closer to November.So now is the time to pick a side. It isn’t about Trump, and it isn’t even about the folks back home. It’s about you and your future, and I hope you’ll join us.

Close your eyes and picture Ireland. You’re probably imagining lush green fields, charming villages, and thatched cottages. Now, open your eyes and acknowledge reality. Nearly one in five people living in Ireland wasn’t born there. In Galway, a city that’s a stone’s throw from where I grew up, Muhammad recently surpassed Michael and Martin as the most popular name for newborn boys. That’s right — Muhammad, a name synonymous with Islamic tradition. This is not the Ireland you know or thought you knew. It’s a country in the midst of a radical transformation. Cases like Mohamed Mohamud Mohamed, a passport-destroying migrant who was refused asylum in multiple EU countries before coming to Ireland and sexually assaulting a woman in a Dublin toilet, only affirm totally reasonable concerns people have about mass immigration into Europe being 70% male. Ireland is going to hell in a handbasket, and its elected leaders are complicit in its descent.Collision of civilizationsWhat's happening in Ireland has become a sobering reminder of the effects of out-of-control immigration and incompetent leadership. A country that was once cohesive and orderly now struggles with overwhelmed services, strained resources, and rising tensions. This is more than a clash of values; it’s a collision of civilizations. The issue isn’t merely the number of people entering the country; it’s the kind of people. Immigration, when properly managed, can strengthen a nation. More doctors, dentists, and engineers would be welcome. But instead, Ireland has opened its doors to an influx of dole-drawing delinquents and rapists. Communities are being decimated, Irish women are being violated, and cultural traditions are being eroded.Documenting the decayThe Ireland of today is unrecognizable to the Ireland of 20 years ago. To understand why, it helps to get the thoughts of someone who has studied the issue in great detail. Enter Ciarán O’Regan, an essayist intimately familiar with the decay.Over the past few years, along with my family and childhood friends back home, O’Regan has kept me informed about the chaos consuming the country. However, unlike my family and close friends, O'Regan documents this chaos with remarkable insight and eloquence. A man so Irish he bleeds Guinness, O’Regan cares passionately about the direction in which the country is headed.He tells Align, in no uncertain terms, that “on paper, Ireland is one of the wealthiest countries in the EU. And if you were to talk to highly educated and well-paid bourgeois with sheltered lives in leafy suburbia, things can be pretty damn good — especially if they only consume media within the establishment narrative.” On the other hand, says O'Regan:Ask people who have had mass immigration rammed down their throats, and things are not so good. Cases like Mohamed Mohamud Mohamed, a passport-destroying migrant who was refused asylum in multiple EU countries before coming to Ireland and sexually assaulting a woman in a Dublin toilet, only affirm totally reasonable concerns people have about mass immigration into Europe being 70% male.An unholy allianceO'Regan paints a damning picture of an unlikely union between the Lifestyle Left and the de-nationalized globalist right. A Catholic writer from Cork who’d rather be discussing Tolkien or Nietzsche than the downfall of this once-great nation, he argues that this unholy alliance is at the heart of the country's unraveling.O'Regan suggests that the globalist right seeks to flood the labor market with cheap, imported workers. The goal is to undercut the indigenous working class, making life easier for the sheltered elites and big capital. This strategy is driven not by any concern for the nation but by a desire to maximize profits and maintain the status quo. But this "penetrative assault on national interest" requires a moral veneer, and that’s where the Lifestyle Left comes in. These hyper-moralists are less interested in traditional class politics and more focused on advancing what he terms "gay race communism" — a radical ideology that insists "all white people are racist" and "transwomen are women," while dismissing dissent as far-right extremism. This intimate association between transnational capital and virtue signaling has even earned a nickname: "Globohomo," a blend of the terms "global" (or "globalist") and "homosexual." And if this starting point holds any truth, O'Regan provocatively suggests, then reckless immigration policies might not just be about economic exploitation. Instead, it could be a deliberate strategy to import a very specific type of voting bloc — one that helps the Globohomo regime quash any indigenous political dissent.Waiting for rock bottomWhen it comes to addressing the crisis in Ireland, O'Regan is torn between cautious hope and the nagging fear that this hope might be nothing more than a delusion.O'Regan at first viewed the coalition’s March 2024 referendum defeat as a hopeful sign — suggesting Ireland might be joining its European neighbors in a "common sense populist revolt." This landslide defeat of what he dismisses as regime nonsense seemed to suggest that Irish voters were waking up to the grim realities around them. The referendum itself, in line with the aforementioned "Globohomo" agenda, sought to expand the definition of family to include "nontraditional" relationships outside of marriage — a move that could be viewed as a concerted effort to dismantle traditional social structures.Since then, however, O'Regan's optimism has waned. He fears that Ireland has not yet decayed enough to jolt the necessary number of voters — and crucially, potential counter-elites — out of their "tranquilizing apathy." He likens the situation to that of an addict needing to hit rock bottom before being driven to make life-changing changes. A telling example of this political lethargy is the June re-election of Abul Kalam Azad Talukder, a Muslim Fianna Fáil councillor in Limerick who last November openly called for anti-immigration rioters in Dublin to be "shot in the head." Blaming the 'far right'O'Regan draws a parallel to France, the "jihad capital of Europe," where despite nearly 100 Islamist attacks and 350 deaths, Marine Le Pen’s party — openly critical of Islamism — managed only 38% of the vote in recent elections. Such events suggest that even in the face of escalating violence, a significant portion of the electorate remains indifferent or unwilling to support meaningful change. This indifference is further highlighted by the Irish establishment’s efforts to redirect public concern away from a suspected Islamist stabbing of a Catholic Irish army chaplain and back toward the ever-elusive "far right" specter — a term so nebulous that Justice Minister Helen McEntee herself admits there’s no clear definition for it.Given this bleak outlook, O'Regan advocates for a broader approach, one that includes meaningful communitarian endeavors designed to enrich and strengthen the social fabric of Irish life. As Ireland crumbles, O'Regan’s message is clear: The struggle is far from over. The people of this island must look beyond traditional politics to find the strength to endure, overcome, and, if possible, save what remains.