1399 - King Richard II of England surrenders to his cousin Henry Bolingbroke at Flint Castle after promising to abdicate if his life was spared 1493 - Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I becomes Archduke of Austria on the death of his father and co-ruler Frederick III 1931 - Lefty Grove wins an AL record-tying 16th consecutive game 1990 - Dodger José Offerman hits a home run in his first at-bat 1991 - Conservative members of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union attempt to depose Mikhail Gorbachev in a coup d'état 2016 - A six-way tie for first place occurs in the final of the equestrian individual jumping competition at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics; Nick Skelton of Great Britain wins the gold medal jump-off 2018 - Monsoon rains finally ease in Kerala State, India, with flooding taking 350 lives and 200,000 in relief camps 2023 - MLB Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Trea Turner hits two solo home runs in the same inning in a 12-3 win over the Nationals in Washington More Historical Events »

Guess who they expect to do the fighting? The post Germany Too Busy Doing Nothing With Military to Provide Troops for Ukraine appeared first on Frontpage Mag.

The same crackdown Newsom has been resisting. The post Gov. Newsom Claims Credit for Drop in ‘Homelessness’ Due to Trump’s Immigration Crackdown appeared first on Frontpage Mag.

'Going to require both sides'

'court signature is not required'

The late professor Ted J. Smith accused the liberal networks of an “omnidirectional bias,” of granting negative coverage to Republicans regardless of where the winds blow, or the facts land. Nothing can go right or deserve praise. That goes double for President Trump over his talks with Russia and Ukraine. We've seen a lot of CBS Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan squabbling with Secretary of State Marco Rubio over whatever President Trump is doing globally. In this case, Brennan attempted to draw a contrast between Zelenskyy being lectured at the White House for being ungrateful (“bullied”) and Trump cordially meeting Putin on the tarmac in Alaska. She suggested European leaders were coming to the White House to avoid Zelenskyy being “bullied” by Trump and J.D. Vance again. Rubio shot back: “They're not coming here tomorrow to keep Zelenskyy from being bullied…this is such a stupid media narrative that they're coming here tomorrow because Trump is going to bully Zelenskyy into a bad deal.” You have to guess Brennan is hearing this from Democrats who've run the State Department, like John Kerry.  The ongoing narrative is that Trump is somehow “Putin’s poodle,” and never mind that President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton pushed a “Reset Button” to try to be warmer to Russia. The Democrats are always considered wiser, whatever it is they do. By Monday afternoon, they were having trouble finding anything wrong with the Zelensky meeting. Zelensky dressed up and said thank you repeatedly, so the meeting was smooth. NBC's Keir Simmons suggested Putin would be disappointed there weren't fireworks and yelling.  The only thing more annoying that reporters trying to give Trump an L when not a whole lot has happened yet? "Fact checkers." The live-blog analysis at PolitiFact was trashing Trump at every turn, and defending Obama. You can't say Obama "gave" Crimea to Putin! Well, Putin took it, and Obama offered nothing to stop it. Oh wait -- he put out a statement of disapproval. This is what reporters think is What Smart People Do.  This sounded like Yamiche Alcindor of PBS getting angry with Trump at a press conference in Europe in 2019: “Why do you keep using the misleading statement that Russia outsmarted President Obama!...Why keep repeating what some people would see as a clear lie?” Enjoy the podcast below, or wherever you enjoy your podcasts.   

The legacy media provided ample coverage to the Texas House Democrats fleeing the Capitol in order to deny a quorum on efforts to redistrict the Lone Star State’s congressional map ahead of the 2026 midterms. But there was nary a peep from the legacies as the fleebaggers skulked back home. The updated fleebagger saga did draw some coverage on Fox News’ Special Report with Bret Baier. Here is that full report in its entirety: FOX NEWS SPECIAL REPORT WITH BRET BAIER 8/18/25 6:31 PM BRET BAIER: Texas’ state house was able to achieve a quorum today following a two-week walkout by Democrats trying to derail a Republican redistricting effort. Correspondent Garrett Tenney shows us tonight from Austin, Texas. DUSTIN BURROWS: A quorum is present and it’s time to resume the work the people of Texas sent us here to do. GARETT TENNEY: After more than two weeks, the Texas House is able to do its work after dozens of Democrats in hiding returned to the state. Taking a victory lap after fleeing Texas and delaying a vote on the GOP's new congressional map.  GENE WU: The quorum break was successful, I think, beyond our wildest dreams. (VIDEO SWIPE) This is now the talk of the land because of the quorum break. TENNEY: The Texas legislature could pass the new congressional map as soon as this week. And House Democrats say they plan to challenge that map in court immediately. DEMOCRAT LEGISLATOR: We know that this is going to be impossible that they can defend this in court. This absolutely violates the Voting Rights Act. MICHAELA PLESA: That's what we fought for: fair maps. But if Republicans want to play dirty, Democrats can take their white hat off, too. TENNEY: This week, California Democrats are expected to pass their own new congressional map that would create five new Democratic districts if voters approve the map in November. Former president Barack Obama is now joining the redistricting fight as well, headlining a major fund raiser in Martha's Vineyard tomorrow for the National Democratic Redistricting Committee headed by his former Attorney General Eric Holder. But some Republicans argue that Democrats need to look in the mirror. BRIAN HARRISON: They are just angry that a Republican state is finally standing up and doing what the Republican voters of their state want because the reality is, Democrats state after Democrat state after Democrat state for over a decade has been gerrymandering the hell out of their states. TENNEY: The Texas House will next meet on Wednesday. And the House Speaker isn't taking any chances with Democrats not showing up again. A state trooper has been assigned to every lawmaker who fled the state, and will stay with them until the next session. Bret. BAIER: Garrett Tenney in Austin. Garrett, thanks. The media’s love affair with the Texas Democrat flight of 2025 was brief but intense. Our very own Bill D’Agostino conducted a study that found interviews of Democrats far outstripped those of Republicans. As Bill noted: Whereas four years ago the absentee legislators were celebrated as heroes, now their friends in the media media are portraying them as plucky but ultimately helpless victims, rather than brave revolutionaries. That might be because they know there is ultimately nothing the Texas Democrats can do to stop the Congressional districts from being redrawn. There just wasn’t any time to cover this: not on ABC, CBS, or NBC. The guilty plea of Matthew Perry’s ketamine dealer was just too important to ignore, as was the price cut of weight loss medication.  That reality is what drove House Democrats back to Austin. And after the legacies did what they could to puff them up, there was simply zero time to cover this very important development within the ongoing political debate. Things are (D)ifferent now, you see.