I don't need my name in the marquee lights, I got my tabs and I got you with me tonight ...
CHAMELEON POLITICS: Texas Senate candidate James Talarico is changing colors to court voters, @LawrenceBJones3 warns.
— FOX & Friends (@foxandfriends) May 26, 2026
"I don't think this guy is electable in Texas." pic.twitter.com/iDGZl0S4ke
Ed: Neither do I. As I pointed out earlier, Talarico has had the race to himself for almost three months, and he's still not scoring above 46% in polls. I think that's a ceiling for Talarico, not a floor, especially in the normal midterm voter turnout model we'll likely see.
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Niall Ferguson at The Free Press: The devil is always in the detail in such matters. No judgment can be anything but provisional until three questions are answered:
What exactly will be the future governance of the Strait of Hormuz? If the Institute for the Study of War is right, the Iranians are seeking to establish a “Persian Gulf Strait Authority” and to force oil-importing countries to sign transit agreements with them or face either high tolls or exclusion. That would be a major improvement in Iran’s strategic position and the end of a half-century of effective American control of the strait.
What exactly are the concessions the Iranians are prepared to make about their nuclear program? If they really are making “commitments . . . to never pursue nuclear weapons and to negotiate over a suspension of [their] uranium enrichment program and the removal of [their] stockpile of highly enriched uranium,” that would indeed represent a major improvement on the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action—which only temporarily limited Iran’s nuclear program—and a victory for Trump (and Netanyahu).
Is there any substance to Trump’s latest suggestion that the Abraham Accords could be expanded to include Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and even Egypt, Jordan, and Turkey—perhaps even Iran (“it would be an Honor to have them also be part of this unparalleled World Coalition”)? That would be a stunning diplomatic coup, though the fact that Trump says he is “mandatorily requesting” it somehow makes me skeptical.
We shall see. At some point we get off the roller coaster. At some point the mushrooms wear off.
Ed: It helps not to eat the mushrooms in the first place. Read it all. Behavior matters more than talk, and Iran's lack of response to the resumption of Project Freedom-ish actions leads me to believe they want a way out that saves some face.
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Donald Trump on Truth Social: 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, and if their entire remaining Leadership signs all necessary “Documents of Surrender,” and admit their defeat to the great power and force of the magnificent U.S.A., The Failing New York Times, The China Street Journal (WSJ!), 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, it wasn’t even close. The Dumacrats and Media have totally lost their way. They have gone absolutely CRAZY!!! President DJT
Ed: Trump posted something very similar last week or perhaps two weeks ago. Apart from the substance of the argument – with which I agree – this looks like another indicator that a signed MOU may be close. This is called "shaping the battlefield" when it comes to media coverage.
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Guy Benson at WashEx: The U.S. remains fully prepared to scuttle any agreement if the final details are not satisfactory to Trump’s overarching nuclear demands, Jennings conveyed.
“If Iran doesn’t deliver on commitments, they get nothing,” he wrote.
But the regime is already getting something quite valuable: survival. And time. If Iran doesn’t deliver on concrete commitments in very short order, merely withholding sanctions relief isn’t nearly enough. What that should earn Iran is an immediate resumption of U.S.-Israeli coalition military attacks. The president has been threatening renewed bombings, sporadically, for weeks, repeatedly backing down to allow for more negotiations. If the final result of this saga is an airtight agreement that truly achieves — not “in principle,” but in actuality — America’s war goals, that would be a significant success.
As a reminder, those objectives include: dismantling Iran’s nuclear program, removing existing highly enriched uranium from the country, massively degrading the regime’s conventional weapons “umbrella” and future capacity, and ending its regional terrorism. Anything less, however, would amount to an inexplicable retreat.
Ed: Hard to argue with this, too. However, the leaks coming from both sides matter less than the behavior of both sides while the negotiations continue. The US is toughening up responses and forcing the Strait of Hormuz open; that tells me that Trump thinks he can achieve his objectives without an agreement, and that's real leverage.
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"Circular firing squad":
— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) May 26, 2026
Democrats' Minnesota convention is this weekend -- Craig v. Flanagan -- and Dems really don't want these events to turn out like Michigan's spectacle with boos, jeers and a circus-like atmosphere
Slotkin: “I’m kind of done with Democrats being a…
Slotkin: “I’m kind of done with Democrats being a circular firing squad when we’ve got Trump in the White House doing what he’s doing. I think he’s more than happy to have Democrats at each other’s throats.”
Are these conventions brewing a new tea party or firing Dems up for November?
Ed: If Dems don't want circus-like atmospheres for their conventions, maybe they need to stop being clowns. They have sown revolt and chaos for the last six years in Minnesota; why would they expect to reap anything else at their convention? Speaking of which ...
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Jim Geraghty at NRO: It was only a month ago that Axios was telling us that while the AOC is a ubiquitous social media presence, she doesn’t like doing sit-down interviews, and when she does, “it’s usually with an ideologically sympathetic outlet or reporter.”
We saw this with Joe Biden, and we saw this with Kamala Harris. We are beset by overambitious, under-studied politicians who are absolutely convinced they’re ready to sit behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office and order U.S. troops into combat when needed, but not ready to sit down for an hour with a major cable news host who’s going to ask them tougher-than-usual questions. If you want to be president of the United States, then you need to be able to sit down with someone who’s going to say some variation of, “your policies, ideas, and agenda stink, and you should not be trusted with power” and you need to be able to respond, “no, my policies, ideas, and agenda are the right answers, and here’s why” in a persuasive matter. This is Politics 101.
If you need to be wrapped in bubble wrap to get through a national tour, you are not going to get through the challenges of a presidential campaign.
Ed: See also, "Harris, Kamala, 2019-2026." AOC is a vapid rabble-rouser and an intellectual lightweight. That's why she avoids reporters except those who share her ideology. Fortunately for AOC, that's most of the Protection Racket Media.
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Graham Platner was a trust fund tankie, who managed to leave Iraq with an SS tattoo, dropped out of GW due to PTSD, then became a Reddit shitposter, then became a contractor at Blackwater, then became a DSA candidate.
— Caroline Downey (@carolinedowney_) May 26, 2026
This doesn’t scream “senator.” It screams unstable.
Ed: The two of them are cut from the same cloth, just with different tattoos.
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Axios: The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is employing an unusual tactic to blunt what they say is Republican meddling in their primaries:
They have teamed up with the candidates they see as the "strongest" in key battleground districts, launching joint ad buys to squeeze out their Democratic primary opponents.
Why it matters: This practice has infuriated parts of the party, particularly the progressive wing.
"If DCCC were a good judge of electability, then we wouldn't be in the mess we're in," said Ravi Mangla, a spokesperson for the progressive Working Families Party, in a statement to Axios.
Ed: The DCCC is complaining about a practice they practically invented in 2010 and 2012, when Democrats manipulated voters into nominating fringe figures in the Tea Party movement against weak Democrat incumbents. The NRCC and NRSC tried to push back in those cycles too, which alienated the activists and limited GOP gains in those cycles. Hillary Clinton used the same strategy to boost Donald Trump in 2015, which backfired spectacularly. There are good lessons for both parties in the wisdom of that strategy.
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#SpencerPratt has responded to Lisa Rinna after telling Variety at the #AMAs that she doesn’t want to see a reality TV star become mayor of Los Angeles:
— Variety (@Variety) May 26, 2026
“Hey Lisa, if you’re against me because I was on a TV show in my 20s, wait till you learn what Karen Bass was doing in her… pic.twitter.com/EjfpUIpUfL
“Hey Lisa, if you’re against me because I was on a TV show in my 20s, wait till you learn what Karen Bass was doing in her 20s…”
Pratt’s message included a clip from a TV interview in which he claimed Bass supported Fidel Castro in her younger years.
Ed: That's hardly a "claim," as Variety characterizes it. Bass spent time in Cuba in the 1970s as part of Castro's Venceremos Brigade, Fidel's attempt to spread communism and revolution in the US. She went to Cuba eight times in the 1970s as part of that effort, starting in 1972. When Fidel died, Bass expressed her condolences for the death of the “Comandante in Jefe,” part of the reason Biden chose Harris over Bass as his running mate in 2020.
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New York Times, October 1972: Dwight D. Crews, a deputy in the Jefferson Parish (New Orleans) sheriff's offi‐ce, told the subcommittee of the House Committee on Internal Security that he had been assigned to learn more about leftist groups in New Orleans.
He said he had infiltrated the Vietnam Veterans Against the War chapter in New Orleans and then later applied for a trip to Cuba with the Venceremos Brigade, which had sent five such groups to Cuba for instruction in leftist principles. Venceremos is a slogan meaning “we will win” adopted by Cuban Premier Fidel Castro and his followers.
“To be a member of the brigade, you had to be confirmed as a Marxist‐Leninist,” Deputy Crews said. ...
To get into the Venceremos Brigade, he said, required filling out a detailed application, undergoing interviews concerning his political beliefs and three‐and‐a‐half months of twice‐a‐week indoctrination sessions.
Ed: Bass is a big-time Fidelito. She's not the only Communist mayor in the US either, although this next one is more direct about it ...
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IT BEGINS…
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) May 26, 2026
NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani unveils plan to "transfer ownership" from landlords to "the community" pic.twitter.com/uybGFPk5eD
Ed: Expropriation of private property is where socialists start ... and it's never where they finish. Anyway, good luck in the effort to "transfer ownership" to the proletariat. David will have more on this tomorrow.
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Shipwreckedcrew: The Opinion comes in Margolin v. Nat. Assoc. of Immigration Judges (NAIJ), The facts of this case are quite simple and straightforward, and the legal issue is relatively benign.
But the very short — only 5 pages — decision lays down a couple of principles with broader application while delivering a stern rebuke to the Fourth Circuit by pointing out that it’s a repeat violator of the “Party Presentment” principle — deciding cases on issues not raised by the parties, i.e., engaging in judicial activism. ...
The date of that decision is important — June 3, 2025 — after the inauguration and start of the Trump Administration 2.0.
In an astonishing example of judicial activism, the Panel decided further inquiry by the district court — lacking jurisdiction — was necessary to address an issue not raised by either party to the case.
Ed: This is a great analysis by Ship of a real abuse taking place in district courts, and by appellate jurists in some circuits. The Supreme Court just stomped on those heads.
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Why was a US Senator spending his Memorial Day protesting federal law enforcement to the point of getting pepper sprayed? https://t.co/zoHA2N9f4y
— Will Chamberlain (@willchamberlain) May 26, 2026
Ed: This isn't quite as stupid as continuing to honor George Floyd six years after his death, but it comes close. Being a member of Congress does not exempt one from the outcome of playing stupid games. Kim joined a demonstration that became illegal when they attempted to blockade the ICE facility, as reported by NJ.com:
The DHS said “rioters obstructed law enforcement from exiting” the facility and officers “issued multiple lawful verbal commands for rioters to clear the area.”
“Rioters refused to follow law enforcement commands and continue to obstruct the exit route,” the agency said. “Our law enforcement followed their training and used the minimum amount of force necessary to protect themselves, the public, and federal property.”
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I'm sorry how the hell do you get an "accidental tattoo" pic.twitter.com/ELw1DgAxcN
— Will Chamberlain (@willchamberlain) May 26, 2026
Ed: Sounds like the politics equivalent of ...
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