YouTube Screenshot Atlantic magazine's Jonathan Chait recently experienced a brief flirtation with political sanity when he expressed panic over the possibility of communists (who now call themselves socialists) taking over his beloved Democrat Party.However, alas, poor Chait relapsed and embraced one of the most fervent Mad Hatter delusions of the extreme left, as you can see in the very title of his Wednesday descent down the Socialist (Communist) rabbit hole: "Abolishing the Senate Might Be the DSA’s Best Idea."The subtitle assures no return trip for Chait, who just flushed away the concept of American federalism: "A teardown of the upper chamber would be good for American democracy."Fasten your seatbelts as Chait took leave of his senses. Please note that, in his diatribe against the U.S. Senate, never once did the words "federal" or "federalism" appear [emphasis mine]:The Republican Party and its allied media organs have been blasting out messaging highlighting the radical views of the Democratic Socialists of America, whose views conservatives wish to associate with the Democratic Party. The particular extreme DSA stance they have chosen to highlight over the past week is the abolition of the U.S. Senate. The right-wing media is aflame with headlines such as “DSA Co-Chairman Defends Plan to Abolish Senate: ‘We Don’t Think That’s Extreme’” and “‘It’s Not Extreme’: Guess What the DSA Wants to Abolish Now.” (Answer: the Senate.)The odd thing about this choice is that, although the DSA’s platform is indeed chock-full of maniacal proposals, on this particular idea, the maniacs have a point. The Senate is a vestigial deformity upon the Constitution whose elimination, unlikely though it might be, would rank among the great democratic advances in American history.Sorry, Jonathan, but the idea of abolishing the Senate -- a pillar of the Constitution -- also ranks among the most maniacal proposals of the moonbat left.A few paragraphs later, Chait revealed the true source of his animus towards the Senate: "Studies have found that the Senate has a persistent tilt in favor of Republican candidates and conservative-policy outcomes. The tilt may be worse than it appears, given that Republicans have often squandered their structural advantage by nominating extreme candidates who have lost winnable races."Only at the very end of his piece did Chait let slip the likelihood of this happening without a full-on DSA coup:The DSA’s platform sets out an ambition to reduce the Senate to a symbolic institution like the House of Lords, which once exerted counter-majoritarian influence over the United Kingdom but now simply affirms policies enacted by the democratically elected Parliament. That is obviously an ambitious goal with no prospect of fulfillment anytime soon.More like a ridiculous goal with no prospect of fulfillment because it would require three-quarters of the states to agree to the end of the Senate.In fact, it is doubtful that even a quarter of the states would agree since it would mean that the smaller population states (a majority) would agree to the demise of their source of federal power, but anybody who does should not be deemed a defender of the Constitution by elite media and their friends in the so-called expert class.

Newsmax Angel Studio’s patriotic hit Young Washington is still flourishing in theaters nationwide, but liberal critics would have us believe it’s not due to a quality production with talented actors. One critic in particular called it “fraud” due to the company’s “Pay-It-Forward” ticketing system.As noted here last week, Young Washington has been a hit with an incredible box office performance. For its first weekend, the film opened to $19.4 million on a $20 million budget, with a first-day total of nearly $7.6 million, doubling Supergirl’s first-day total. Domestic total has now reached roughly $41 million, showing solid holdover appeal driven by audience enthusiasm. The Wrap’s William Bibbiani, however, accused Angel Studios of “voter fraud” over its “Pay it Forward” ticket model. Apparently, Christians and patriots voluntarily funding tickets for a movie celebrating America is now scandalous, specifically for a studio concerned with “corny,” “jingoistic,” and “religious films” and “panhandl[ing]” audiences.This, Bibbiani asserted, was proof Angel Studios films are only successful if tickets are free:Angel Studios repeatedly concludes their more jingoistic and religious films with a last-minute panhandle over the closing credits, flimsily disguising their scheme — to get their fans to buy extra tickets, for theoretical audiences who may never actually use them — to inflate the box office and potentially make it look like their films are more popular than they are.This suggests they don’t actually think conservative themes are popular, since otherwise they wouldn’t need to game the system. If you truly believe in voting with your money, then films like “Young Washington” — which conclude with an actor, in this case Kelsey Grammer, saying that giving Angel Studios extra cash is the same as “launching a movement” — can only be categorized as a form of voter fraud.“Young Washington” is made with such corny insistence on Washington’s and America’s greatness that it could, by all rights, be a hit film on the nation’s quarter-millennial birthday. I guess we’ll never know, since, if it does make a lot of money,
Angel Studios can’t brag about it, because the number of tickets that get sold to actual, interested audience members could be a lot smaller than the number of tickets technically sold. The dishonesty of the moneymaking enterprise poisons what could have merely been another artificial biopic, designed only to make (some) Americans feel good about themselves before their annual fireworks show.Bibbiani’s wishful thinking doesn’t make sense, however, when you consider the strong audience feedback: A tremendous 92% viewer score on Rotten Tomatoes, an impressive A from CinemaScore, and excellent IMDb reviews.It couldn’t be more obvious that audiences are loving the film, inspiring others to check it out, and thus the kind of magic every movie producer hopes for.A comment on Bibbiani’s critique defended Angel Studio’s “Pay it Forward” campaign:My understanding is that many of the tickets are provided through memberships that people voluntarily pay for. Those members choose to help make it possible for others to see films they believe are worthwhile. I don’t see anything improper about that. People donate books to libraries, sponsor museum admissions, and buy tickets for others to attend concerts and community events. This is simply another form of voluntary support. Someone may not like Angel Studios’ business model, but comparing it to “voter fraud” seems like an exaggerated analogy. If people freely choose to spend their own money so others can see a film, that’s a legitimate marketing and outreach strategy—not deception.Angel Studios themselves explained exactly what the system is and what it’s not here. In particular, it stated they have “revolutionized the entertainment industry by enabling viewers to play a part in creating and sharing stories that they deeply care about” and “empowered millions of people to take ownership...and help spread impactful messages” worldwide.Perhaps anti-Christian Hollywood is feeling threatened that a Christian production company is finding ways to be successful without them, and they hate that they’re losing control over the portrayal of Christians in entertainment?

ABC’s update on the ongoing cyclosporiasis outbreak, more commonly known to most as explosive parasite diarrhea, reminds one of that classic Alec Baldwin line in Glengarry Glen Ross: “Always Be Closing.” ABC did not miss an opportunity to insert a pet policy item into what SHOULD be a boring straight-news story.Watch as ABC conjures up an ACLU trans lawyer willing to come on and talk about runny bowels:Embed strangioThat was weird. Correspondent Elizabeth Schultze casts ACLU lawyer Chase Strangio, best known as the first trans attorney to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court (AND LOSE, thankfully), as some random citizen willing to come on and discuss the parasitic pain inflicted upon his manly bowels. No name in the chyron, absolutely nothing.Could Schulze have found some other random citizen to talk about their projectile poops other than someone famous for wanting to force states to allow the kids to be transed? The placement reeks very much of soft agenda on display by ABC.While we’re on the subject of cyclosporiasis, the Elitist Media are deft at discussing the disease and the broader outbreak without discussing the underlying cause. And in the case of cyclosporiasis, the underlying cause per the CDC is contamination of the various food items with human feces. More than likely, some poor farmworker trying to shortcut a bathroom break by dropping trou in the field and on the lettuce. It would be helpful for the media to actually inform the public about an urgent public safety matter instead of doing what ABC did here- using public safety as an opportunity to ever-so-softly push a preferred agenda item.Click “expand” to view the full transcript of the aforementioned report as aired on ABC World News Tonight on Wednesday, July 22nd, 2026:DAVID MUIR: Tonight, back in this country, that violent intestinal illness now spreading. Now 41 states, more than 11,000 cases. And here's Elizabeth Schulze with what you need to know. ELIZABETH SCHULZE: Tonight, cases of that parasitic stomach illness skyrocketing to record levels. More than 11,000 people have been sickened in 41 states. It comes just 24 hours after Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. tried to reassure the public.Does the federal government have this outbreak under control right now?ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR.: We do have the outbreak under control. We have done extensive forensics, epidemiological forensics, and we've identified the- the source of the outbreak.SCHULZE: The FDA has linked 1600 cases to lettuce supplied to Taco Bell in five states. Officials say the likely source of that cyclosporiasis outbreak is Taylor Farms iceberg lettuce from a farm in Mexico. All the companies potentially affected have removed the lettuce from their supply. In New York, Chase Strangio says he was one of more than 40 people sickened after eating a boxed lunch at a corporate event and had symptoms for weeks.CHASE STRANGIO: The main difference between this illness from the cyclospora parasite and other stomach bugs was that it last- it would not go away. It lasted a long time. I had ongoing pain.SCHULZE: David, there are more than double the number of cases we see in a typical year and we're only halfway through the season.MUIR: We’ll stay on this. Elizabeth, thanks so much.

Appearing as a guest on Tuesday's Morning Joe, New Yorker staff writer Lauren Collins joined show regular Al Sharpton in comparing the election of Donald Trump in 2016 to an 1898 coup by white supremacists in Wilmington, North Carolina.Host Joe Scarborough began the segment by recalling the violent episode written about in Collins's book, They Stole a City. Here's Scarborough:A groundbreaking new book is shedding light on what's thought to be the only successful coup in U.S. history. In They Stole a City, our next guest chronicles the city of Wilmington, North Carolina, in 1898, then considered a bastion of black success with a black middle class brimming with lawyers, educators, and elected officials. But in November of that year, white supremacists issued a white declaration of independence, gunning down scores of black men while chasing their families into hiding. They then marched to city hall and overthrew the democratically elected multiracial government at gunpoint.After Collins recalled how she became interested in the topic, and the basics of what happened, Sharpton invoked Trump in a follow-up question: Morning Joe Compares Trump Election to White Supremacist Coup from 1898 pic.twitter.com/JBb3NEEvro— Brad Wilmouth (@bradwilmouth) July 22, 2026 Lauren, talk about how there is the underlying principles of some of that when they see black advancement coming out of slavery, Reconstruction era, that they never lose the feeling of white supremacy that we are supposed to be in charge. And that's the underlying feeling that led to what happened in Wilmington. And some of us feeling that, in a less violent way, it has happened in modern times -- in our times of where you had a Barack Obama as President, black making advancement, and saw that a lot of the reaction was Donald Trump and a backlash, or even Donald Trump and a backlash to Kamala Harris. Talk about how that kind of underlying feeling may be the core of what we saw in Wilmington and still see some segments of that now.Collins began her response:Absolutely. I mean, we have to remember, this was only 30 years after slavery and emancipation. These people should have been celebrated for what they've done -- what they had done. It was a huge achievement. But instead it did it -- Wilmington is a case study, a flagrant case study of this pattern of white backlash to black political process -- progress. So pursue reconstruction, you get 1898 -- pursue desegregation, you're met with massive resistance -- elect a black President, endure a white nationalist one who claims that his predecessor was not a citizen.Transcript follows:MS NOW's Morning JoeJuly 21, 20266:47 a.m. EasternJOE SCARBOROUGH: A groundbreaking new book is shedding light on what's thought to be the only successful coup in U.S. history. In They Stole a City, our next guest chronicles the city of Wilmington, North Carolina, in 1898, then considered a bastion of black success with a black middle class brimming with lawyers, educators, and elected officials. But in November of that year, white supremacists issued a white declaration of independence, gunning down scores of black men while chasing their families into hiding. They then marched to city hall and overthrew the democratically elected multiracial government at gunpoint.Nearly 130 years later, the new book weaves together the stories of four Wilmington families who were present at the time, two white families who contributed to the violence, and two black families who survived it. And the author of that book, Lauren Collins, joins us now. She's a staff writer at the New Yorker, and Wilmington, North Carolina, is her home town.Thank you so much for being with us. You know, I think it was about a year ago that a lot of Americans who had never heard about the Tulsa race riots, never been taught it in school, heard about all the horrors of that. I think you could say the same thing about what happened in 1898 in your hometown. Talk about it. Talk about why it was so significant and why you wrote the book.(...)6:51 a.m. EasternAL SHARPTON: Lauren, talk about how there is the underlying principles of some of that when they see black advancement coming out of slavery, Reconstruction era, that they never lose the feeling of white supremacy that we are supposed to be in charge. And that's the underlying feeling that led to what happened in Wilmington. And some of us feeling that, in a less violent way, it has happened in modern times -- in our times of where you had a Barack Obama as President, black making advancement, and saw that a lot of the reaction was Donald Trump and a backlash, or even Donald Trump and a backlash to Kamala Harris. Talk about how that kind of underlying feeling may be the core of what we saw in Wilmington and still see some segments of that now.LAUREN COLLINS, THE NEW YORKER: Absolutely. I mean, we have to remember, this was only 30 years after slavery and emancipation. These people should have been celebrated for what they've done -- what they had done. It was a huge achievement. But instead it did it -- Wilmington is a case study, a flagrant case study of this pattern of white backlash to black political process -- progress. So pursue reconstruction, you get 1898 -- pursue desegregation, you're met with massive resistance -- elect a black President, endure a white nationalist one who claims that his predecessor was not a citizen.I think it's very important to keep in mind that white supremacy is not a blip. It's not a regression. It's a through line of our nation's history. And what Wilmington and the story of 1898 demonstrates is that white supremacists will continue to take what they think is theirs until the costs outweigh the spoils. You know, I think it's very important to keep in mind both the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI have designated white supremacy as the most persistent and lethal terrorist threat in America. So, absolutely, this is living history. The story is not over. And I think the origins of many of our current crises are here, right, you know, can be seen in our own violent past.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Department of Health and Human Services Secretary, announced that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) is pausing more than a billion dollars in Medicare and Medicaid funding to two states, California and Minnesota, in a press conference he held with other top administration officials Tuesday morning:“CMS is pausing more than a billion dollars in federal Medicaid payments to California and to Minnesota because of suspected fraud and non-compliance. That includes more than $867 million for California and over $200 million for Minnesota.”In order for Democrat Governors Newsom (D-Calif.) and Walz (D-Minn.) to have the funding unpaused, RFK Jr. explained that “all they have to do is provide basic documentation showing that these services are legitimate and not fraudulent.”Governor Walz criticized the move on X, calling it a ploy to take away Americans’ healthcare benefits: “This isn’t about fraud—it’s about cutting your healthcare so that Trump can afford the tax cuts he gave to billionaires.”….“They’re cutting more money in healthcare than they’ve prosecuted for fraud. The math doesn’t add up.”CMS Director Dr. Mehmet Oz estimates that a total of $413 million in underreported Medicare and Medicaid claims have been identified in Minnesota alone. Oz also said that the majority of the $199 million paused funds relate to the amount claimed by providers that Minnesota disenrolled on suspicion of fraud, the quarter before they were disenrolled. As for California, Oz raised concern over a 24% increase in California spending on in-home support services over the last two fiscal quarters, compared to a 12% increase nationwide, accounting for $391 million in paused funds. Another $250 million in claims were by providers deemed to have a high risk of fraud. Oz also alleged a widespread problem of claims involving illegal aliens, and $221 million were paused due to that concern. Secretary Kennedy used this opportunity to highlight the Biden Administration’s lack of effective anti-fraud measures, explaining how it cut anti-fraud staff and paid suspected fraudsters: “When Xavier Beccera came into this office, there were only 80 individuals involved in the program integrity program. By the time that I got in, there were only six; 74 of those were gone that is six individuals responsible for ensuring program integrity and guarding against fraud in 50 states and five territories. Even when they suspected fraud, the Biden HHS sent checks anyway and tried to claw back the money later. It didn't make sense and it didn't work. The scammers got paid. The taxpayers got stuck with these enormous bills.”Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Andrew Ferguson reiterated many of the concerns about fraud’s effect on social trust he previously leveled at anti-fraud roundtables:“Our society has disintegrated from the high trust society that it has been. And the only way that we can restore that high trust is to make sure that the money stays in the agencies or goes to people who actually need it – and if you get money fraudulently, you go to jail.“And that is what this is this anti-fraud effort is about. Not just protecting the fisc. It is restoring an America. It is making America great by making sure that the social trust that a self-governing democracy to survives can be restored.”