Many different phrases have been used to describe the American government, but MS NOW legal analyst Melissa Murray has managed to invent one so ridiculous it must never have been heard before. On Thursday’s episode of Deadline: White House, Melissa Murray claimed the government is “held together by friendship bracelets and norms,” a bizarre and childish description of her very own field of study to say the least. Just before that, Murray also criticized Congress for failing to use resources to “make the streets safer,” a curious accusation considering MS NOW’s commentary on Trump’s police and security methods in the past. Talking about the Justice Department under President Trump, host Nicolle Wallace wondered, “I mean, Melissa, I think a lot of people watching wonder why it can’t be stopped.” Murray replied: MELISSA MURRAY: I think people ought to be asking, what is Congress doing if these resources are being used in ways that don't make us safer, that don't make the streets safer, that actually may compromise our security in other ways? So that's one aspect of it.    The other point is the point I think Molly made. You know, in a lot of ways, we are a government kind of held together by friendship bracelets and norms. And we found someone who doesn't care about norms or friendship bracelets, and they're just moving fast and breaking things. And maybe we need to put some more guardrails in. This certainly needs to be what the next chapter looks like, rebuilding DOJ, but also putting in real guardrails that can hold in a situation like this.     For a legal scholar, Murray’s description of the government is frankly disappointing. Ignore the expansive American legal system and chain of command! Because Donald Trump “doesn’t care about norms or friendship bracelets,”  the American government has collapsed into his control. Murray’s choice of wording makes the insincerity of her argument clear, her description completely unserious in contrast to the way she reacted when the Biden DOJ was going after Trump. Murray also seemed very concerned about Congress not putting enough resources into making streets safer. Curious, considering MS NOW is the same network that described the violent BLM riots as “Mostly a protest… not generally speaking unruly” while a police headquarters burned down in the background. This is also the same network that backed the ‘defund the police’ movements from the same time period, and even more recently decried Trump's security measures in cities like D.C. and Minneapolis as authoritarian. Is Congress not putting enough resources into keeping the streets safe? Or should they be cutting those resources and presence instead? Murray can’t have her cake and eat it too. The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read: MS NOW’s Deadline: White House May 28, 2026 04:27:56 PM ET (...) NICOLLE WALLACE: I mean, Melissa, I think a lot of people watching wonder why it can’t be stopped. MELISSA MURRAY: I mean, it's a good question. I think it could be stopped. You know, one entity that could have a lot to say here is the entity that funds the government, Congress. Congress could step in, like, they have the power to call hearings. They can have oversight hearings about how this is being run. What these resources are being used for in the name of the people, and we just haven't seen appetite for that. And, you know, that's an open question.  I think people ought to be asking, what is Congress doing if these resources are being used in ways that don't make us safer, that don't make the streets safer, that actually may compromise our security in other ways? So that's one aspect of it.  The other point is the point I think Molly made. You know, in a lot of ways, we are a government kind of held together by friendship bracelets and norms. And we found someone who doesn't care about norms or friendship bracelets, and they're just moving fast and breaking things. And maybe we need to put some more guardrails in. This certainly needs to be what the next chapter looks like, rebuilding DOJ, but also putting in real guardrails that can hold in a situation like this. (...)

HBO’s blasphemous dramedy Hacks wrapped its final season Thursday, proving it learned nothing from last season’s backlash over its offensive mockery of the Holy Eucharist. Instead, season 10 doubled down with more anti-Catholic garbage and an anti-life assisted suicide message. In episode 1, “EGOT,” the offensive imagery starts immediately as Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) arrives home to a memorial after fans mistakenly believed she died. Fan art depicts her as Jesus, including a Barbie doll nailed to a cross with her initials DV at the top. One fan shouts, “She is risen,” when she exits her car alive and well: . @hbomax's 'Hacks' Doubles Down on Anti-Catholic Mockery in Final Season as main character is portrayed as Jesus on the Cross with her initials at the top. #CatholicX pic.twitter.com/J7aX4kDjtC — Dawn Slusher (@BlondeBlogger) May 30, 2026 Deborah: Oh, my God. Look at this. Fan: She has risen! Deborah: No, no! I was never dead. TMZ got a bad tip. They issued a retraction this morning. We thankfully got a reprieve until episode 9, “The Garden,” when Deborah rehearses for her Madison Square Garden comeback show. She jokes that the 12 apostles were gay and prepares to portray Jesus on the cross with three wise men in attendance: . @hbomax's 'Hacks' doubles down on anti-Catholic mockery in final season as main character jokes the twelve apostles were gay. #CatholicX pic.twitter.com/24EQdHzxzl — Dawn Slusher (@BlondeBlogger) May 30, 2026 Deborah: Hello, Madison Square Garden. I'm back from the dead. And just like Jesus, I love having 12 gay guys over for supper. This lining has to change. I just... Assistant: We're changing it. Deborah: But it needs to change, like now, because I have to rehearse in it. This is the stuff that's making me nervous. Thank you, New York. I'm still Deborah Vance. Good night. And then at that point, I am Jesus on the cross. And here come my three wise men, and... After her enemy buys out her MSG show to leave the venue empty, Deborah scrambles to stage a free Central Park performance the next weekend. As soon as she takes the stage, she yells, “First, I would like to acknowledge this is stolen land,” delighting her uber liberal assistant and best friend Ava (Hannah Einbinder), who screams, “I didn’t even tell her to say that!” By the final episode, “Hacks,” Deborah reveals that part of the cancerous mass she had removed was left behind and has spread. Things take a dark turn when Deborah explains to Ava she’s not going to fight and will instead undergo assisted suicide in Zurich: . @hbomax's 'Hacks' pushes assisted suicide in series finale. #CatholicX #prolife pic.twitter.com/IfXEvQtO2K — Dawn Slusher (@BlondeBlogger) May 30, 2026 Deborah: You're not gonna like this next part. Ava: Um, didn't love the last part. Deborah: Honey, I'm not doing chemo. I'm not putting myself through that. Ava: I get that, but don't worry, you know? Uh, you won't be alone. I'll go with you to the appointments and I'll help you with medicine. You know, I'll do whatever you need. Deborah: I'm not putting you through that. Ava: Okay, so what are you saying? Deborah: You know I like to do things on my own terms. I've done it all. I just did the best show of my life. I broke a record. Ava: That's why you had to do it that weekend. Deborah: Yes. It's not gonna get any better than this. I want to go out on top. Ava: Okay, it's a high for your career, but... Look, if anyone can beat anything, it's you, okay? And you said it yourself. You're gonna live till you're 109. Deborah: I'm not. And I want to call my own light. At the end of the trip, I plan on taking the train from Paris to Zurich. There's a place there called Dignitas. Ava: Is that one of those assisted suicide places? Deborah: Oh, not one of. It's the best one. But yes. Ava: Listen, Deborah, I'm sure this is really, really, overwhelming. And I'm so sorry that you're going through this, but I think you're not thinking straight, okay? This is crazy. Deborah: Actually, it's not. Comedians have a long, rich history of taking our own lives. Ava: Your whole thing is beating the odds. This is so not you. Deborah: It is. And I want you to come with me. We'll have a fabulous vacation first. Then you can go shopping. You can use my suitcase on the way home. Ava: Stop. That's not funny. Deborah: Oh, you joke about killing yourself all the time. Ava: I'm kidding. Deborah: Oh, suddenly, you're sensitive about it? You can walk the walk, but you can't swallow the pills? You can tie the noose, but not kick the chair? Ava: Stop. Yeah, we’re not laughing either. Especially knowing people who’ve lost loved ones to suicide are likely watching. Though it’s not surprising that a character whose been placed on the level of God would decide they should have the power to end a life, it’s still unnerving to watch Hollywood push their anti-life agenda. Deborah asks Ava to support her, but she refuses and calls a mutual friend to help change Deborah’s mind. When he tells her, “It’s her body, her choice,” Ava screams, “How dare you turn that around on me?” Funny how that slogan loses its appeal when you actually consider the choice being made. Eventually, she reluctantly shows up at the airport to support Deborah’s wish to kill herself, as any loving friend would do. /sarcasm But seeing Deborah so alive and happy in Paris makes the finality of her impending suicide hit Ava hard. As it should. While sulking through the city streets alone, she hears church bells and decides to go inside to light a candle for Deborah, a moment that ends up being pivotal but was completely ignored by the writers when Deborah later changes her mind. Because we can’t give any credit to God or prayer, of course. Even if they had, it would hardly make up for their treatment of Him and the Catholic faith. Especially considering the episode’s ending when, just before Deborah changes her mind, the two women misgender God for laughs at the train station in Paris: . @hbomax's 'Hacks' misgenders God as 'non-binary' in series finale filled with more anti-Catholic garbage. #CatholicX pic.twitter.com/HoxPrDc2Rg — Dawn Slusher (@BlondeBlogger) May 30, 2026 Ava: So, what are you gonna ask if you get to, you know, meet your maker? Deborah: My plastic surgeon? Ava: Ha. No, really. Deborah: In 1980, Burt Reynolds called me and I called him back, but he never returned. What was that about? Ava: That's what you wanna know? Deborah: I pretty much have everything else figured out. In fact, I think He or She, or, you know, They/Them might have some questions for me, actually. Ava: They/them? OK, non-binary God. Love. Deborah: Well, I meant more of an energy. I don't think there's gonna be a gender-fluid barista waiting for me at the pearly gates. Ava: That's too bad. I'd love a matcha when I get there. Um, we’re pretty sure blaspheming God might disqualify you from making it to those “pearly gates,” Deborah. Or, you know, mocking the Body and Blood of Christ. But, hey, it’s never too late for repentance, fortunately. Even for someone like Deborah. That would’ve been a much better message to go out on than disrespecting God, mocking the sacred values of billions of Catholics all over the world, and denigrating human life, but at least this awful show and its horrible agenda are finally over. For good.

On Saturday's episode of MS NOW's The Weekend, co-host Eugene Daniels offered a revealing defense of the Cuban regime: "It's their country, so them deciding what kind of government and political system they want to have, the leaders and the folks in that country, is their business, I think a lot of people would say." This is the standard sovereignty shield used to protect dictatorships. Daniels ignored that Cuba has been ruled by communist tyrants since 1959, with no free elections and a long record of suppressing "the folks." If those "folks" had a chance to express themselves in a free and fair referendum, does Daniels doubt the great majority would choose freedom? The selective outrage was especially clear when Daniels mocked Secretary of State Marco Rubio for being “obsessed” with liberating Cuba — a lifelong passion rooted in his family’s exile experience. Would Daniels, born in 1989, have used that same mocking tone toward Reverend Jesse Jackson? In 1984, Jackson delivered a fiery speech at the United Nations explicitly calling for strict sanctions against South Africa and demanding that U.S. corporations immediately divest and pull out of the country. Was Jackson “obsessed”?  Rhetorical questions, because Daniels and his colleagues surely would not have used that dismissive language against Jackson or other black leaders who aggressively pushed for external pressure to end apartheid. Yet when it comes to Marco Rubio and Cuba, the mockery flows freely. MS NOW’s Eugene Daniels: 'It's their country' — so Communist tyrants get to decide Cuba's future pic.twitter.com/zTlYLlE2HU — Mark Finkelstein (@markfinkelstein) May 30, 2026 The ideological double standard is glaring. When it comes to a communist dictatorship oppressing Cubans for 66 years, MS NOW shrugs and says “it’s their country.” When it was white minority rule in South Africa, external pressure and sanctions were not just justified — they were morally required. At the close of the segment, co-host Jonathan Capehart warned against testing the Cuban foreign minister’s threat of a “bloodbath” should the US intervene militarily. Capehart apparently believes that U.S. policy should be shaped by saber-rattling from a two-bit tyrant just 90 miles from our shores. Here's the transcript. MS NOW The Weekend 5/30/26 7:42 am EDT ANTHONY COLEY: David, there is another hotspot developing in the country. I'm going to take you over to Cuba. I think there is a real humanitarian crisis there. Can you take us into your reporting on what you're hearing both about the humanitarian crisis and about the possibility of military strikes there?  DAVID ROHDE: Yeah, the humanitarian crisis is really severe there. To be fair, part of that is the fault of the Cuban government, which has, I think, mismanaged the economy. There's also a U.S. boycott, and the U.S., under the Trump administration, has cut off oil shipments. Our colleague, Antonia Hylton, interviewed the Cuban foreign minister this week.  And it was interesting because, again, there was thinking that there was negotiations that were reducing tensions there. And at least in that interview, the foreign minister was really aggressive, and complaining about the U.S., saying that the blocking of oil and other supplies to the country was creating this terrible humanitarian crisis.  That's true, but he specifically attacked Secretary of State Marco Rubio and said that while they say certain things in private, American officials, Rubio is saying very different things in public. Accused him of being disingenuous. So that's concerning.  I don't think the United States at this point, the administration wants to launch a military operation in the second part of the world. For now, they want to pressure the Cuban regime economically, and try to sort of pull off, have a new leader emerge like Delcy Rodriguez, who will essentially do what the administration wants in Cuba. That leader hasn't emerged either, but I don't think we've seen, I don't see an imminent military action by the U.S. in Cuba right now.  EUGENE DANIELS: David, you mentioned Secretary of State Marco Rubio. I want to play what he said on Wednesday at the White House during the Cabinet meeting, about Cuba.  MARCO RUBIO: Cuba's in a lot of trouble because, unfortunately for them, it's run by a bunch of incompetent communists. And being communist is bad. Being an incompetent communist is, like, the worst. So we'll be talking to them. We'll be working on it. You know, we want something good for the Cuban people. And hopefully there'll be a good outcome there for them. There needs to be. It's 90 miles from our shores. And having a failed state 90 miles from our shores is a threat to the national security of the United States.  DANIELS: It's their country, so them deciding what kind of government and political system they want to have, the leaders and the folks in that country, is their business, I think a lot of people would say.  I will also say Marco Rubio has been, has his entire life, been kind of obsessed with overthrowing -- he literally wrote in his book, American Son, when he was running for office, basically that as a kid, he would have these fantasies where he was someone who would charge the gates and save the Cuban people.  . . .  JONATHAN CAPEHART: And as the Cuban foreign minister told Antonia Hylton, and I quote, "If Cuba were attacked, it would have to defend itself. It would lead to bloodbath, the death of thousands of Cubans, and also the deaths of young Americans." That could be saber rattling, but who wants to test that proposition? 

The self-styled fact-checkers at Snopes had an interesting Friday. On one hand, Rae Deng claimed there is insufficient evidence to label a left-wing conspiracy theory about a proposed bill in North Carolina making murdering women legal if they seek an abortion false. On the other hand, Jack Izzo was adamant that Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico is the victim of a “chronically online wing of the Republican Party” pushing claims of veganism. Deng (pronouns: they/them) wrote in the “key facts” summary, “It is not possible to rate the claim that a North Carolina bill would allow anyone to kill a pregnant person seeking an abortion. That's because the actual bill is so vaguely worded that, according to law experts, it would likely be up to a judge or a jury to interpret the law in the improbable event of its passage.” In the second “key fact,” Deng added, “The rumor stems from a real policy proposal introduced by North Carolina state Rep. Keith Kidwell, a Republican with a history of introducing extreme anti-abortion legislation that has so far gone nowhere. The proposal wants to define life as beginning at fertilization and then provide those 'lives' with the same rights as a human being under North Carolina law, including the right to defend oneself or another by use of deadly force.” Deng would proceed to write several words about how the bill was so poorly written that even strong pro-lifers have backed off supporting it. That may be true, but it is not the purpose of Deng’s fact-check. While Kidwell wrote that it is an “indisputable scientific fact” that life begins at fertilization, Deng took a brief timeout to digress, “(It is worth noting that whether life begins at the moment of fertilization is disputed. Scientists have no widely accepted consensus on when life begins.)” Fact-check: 95 percent of biologists, including huge percentages of Democrats, believe life begins at fertilization. Why a liberal biologist would say life begins at conception and still support abortion is a question for them to answer. Other states have laws that say life begins at conception and they haven’t had a problem with people murdering pregnant women seeking abortions. Still, despite Deng saying expert judgment makes it impossible to rule the conspiracy false, two of the three experts interviewed said the bill would not permit murder. The one holdout said Kidwell probably meant to allow violence against abortion providers because it would be illogical to kill the woman because doing so would also kill the unborn baby and a judge would probably rule accordingly. Deng’s unwillingness to bat down leftist conspiracy theorists stands in contrast to Izzo, who wrote that Talarico’s attempts to turn Texas blue has “made him the target of numerous barbed claims from a chronically online wing of the Republican Party, according to Wired. Dubious statements suggesting Talarico is transgender or has low levels of testosterone are an attempt to paint him as un-American, out-of-touch or otherwise unfit for the Senate seat.” He then adds, “Another of those barbs is the claim that Talarico is vegan. Talarico's opponent in the general election, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, has made the claim, as has President Donald Trump.” Izzo definitively added, “Talarico isn't vegan, and there's video evidence of him eating meat. The claim is false.” Like PolitiFact, Izzo reduced Talarico’s 2022 comments to a campaign stunt, “The closest thing Snopes found to Talarico saying he was vegan was at an event during the 2022 state House reelection campaign, where he said that the existential risk of climate change made it necessary to reduce meat consumption, and that he was therefore going to run a 'non-meat campaign,' buying vegan products from local vendors.” Also, like PolitiFact, Izzo declined to fact-check any of Talarico’s nutty comments. Back in March, colleague Joey Esposito affirmed Talarico did call God “nonbinary,” but did not fact-check the substance.  

Over there at The New York Post, Lisa Daftari “a foreign policy analyst and media commentator based in Los Angeles”, nails a real problem with the American media exactly. Her headline:  The mullahs’ best weapon isn’t a missile — it’s some in the US media Among other things, Daftari quotes President Trump as follows:  If Iran surrenders, admits their Navy is gone and resting at the bottom of the sea, and their Air Force is no longer with us, and if their entire Military walks out of Tehran, weapons dropped and hands held high, each shouting ‘I surrender, I surrender’ while wildly waving the representative White Flag… The Failing New York Times, The China Street Journal, Corrupt and now Irrelevant CNN, and all other members of the Fake News Media, will headline that Iran had a Masterful and Brilliant Victory over The United States of America. Daftari notes:  It reads like satire, but it’s a precise description of the coverage Americans are getting. It is information warfare, and it is working. Exactly. And there’s more Daftari did not mention. Namely: The recent “news” -- and I put that in quotes -- from former First Lady Dr. Jill Biden. CBS headlined the Jill Biden story this way:  Jill Biden says she was "frightened" by Joe Biden's 2024 debate performance, thought he was having a stroke.   CBS reported:  Former first lady Jill Biden said she was ‘frightened’ by her husband Joe Biden's 2024 debate performance and thought he was having a stroke. 'I was frightened, because I had never ever seen Joe like that before or since. Never,' Jill Biden told CBS News Sunday Morning's Rita Braver in an interview airing Sunday on CBS.  'I don't know what happened,' she said. 'As I watched it, I thought, 'Oh, my God, he's having a stroke.' And it scared me to death.' Well now. What, one media analyst might ask, is going on here? Answer: The American media is not about reporting the news. The facts. As the fictional Detective Sergeant Joe Friday would always say when questioning a suspect in that ancient TV show Dragnet: "All we want are the facts, ma’am. Just the facts.” Yes. And as is plain from no less than President Trump and, of all people Dr. Jill, “just the facts” is something that is averse to the American media.  In the long ago (2013), I had my first meeting with then private citizen Donald Trump, who was openly considering running for President in 2016. I asked him about what even then was seen by many Republicans as liberal media bias. His response was blunt. He would call it out and was unafraid to do so. That was a full thirteen years ago. And suffice to say, as just that one statement above from now President Trump makes clear, he has no hesitation in doing so. The problem is now decidedly for the media. Whether it’s coverage of President Trump’s Iran war operations or the coverage of former President Biden’s health, the media has repeatedly damaged its credibility in not even attempting “just the facts” news. And alas, it is exactly that tilted coverage that has proved so telling for the media’s credibility. Make that “lack of credibility.” What Americans are seeing unfold in front of them is indeed “information warfare.”  Perhaps most telling in all this is the coverage -- or lack of it -- provided on the health of former President Biden. For those unfamiliar with this particular bit of history, way, way back in the beginning of the 20th century, the United States was a major participant in World War One. And when it was over, the issue at hand was the US signing of the Treaty of Versailles, which not only ended the war but involved the US in the League of Nations.  President Woodrow Wilson, a Democrat, was a staunch supporter of the US joining the League and set out on a cross country train trip to get support for the Treaty and US League membership. In September of 1919, after a speech in Colorado, his wife discovered her husband the President seriously ill on his train. It was soon announced that the train trip was cancelled with the President returning to Washington. A handful of days after his return to the White House, Mrs. Wilson found him on the floor of a White House bathroom. She called the White House physician, who quickly realized the suddenly paralyzed President had suffered a stroke. Famously, historians would later learn that the secrecy of the extent of the President’s ill health was so tight that the American people did not know Mrs. Wilson was effectively running the presidency and did so until her husband’s successor, Warren Harding, was elected and inaugurated in 1920. This is notable because here in the media-centric 21st century one would think a similar problem with President Biden would have resulted in massive coverage and his resignation. But no.  In effect, the role of the protective Mrs. Wilson in 1919 was played this time around by a protective media -- and, yes, First Lady Jill Biden. What Americans have seen unfold in front of their eyes in terms of President Biden and his health was “information warfare.”  And as Daftari makes plain, “information warfare” has been at work in the media’s coverage of both Joe Biden (with the aid of Jill Biden) and in the coverage of the events in Iran. Whether the issue was the media “reporting” on President Joe Biden’s health during his presidency or today’s state of the war in Iran, “information warfare” is being waged by the media.  If the issue involves a liberal Democrat in the White House, the liberal media will, a la Joe Biden, rally to protect him. If a conservative Republican in the White House is defending the U.S. war effort in the Middle East, the lefty media will pile on.  The Democrats count on it. Our enemies can seek to exploit it.